Nash Mills
Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal the River Gade, in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. It takes its name from the mill owned by John Dickinson in the 19th century. Part of its area was reassigned in the 1980s from Three Rivers District Council & Abbots Langley Civil Parish; the borough council ward extends beyond the parish boundary. A corn-mill in the area was recorded in the Domesday Book in the 11th century; the mill had been converted to papermaking in the late 18th century and subsequently purchased in 1811 by John Dickinson and George LongmanNash Mill was renowned for its production of tough thin paper for Samuel Bagster's "Pocket Reference Bible". A major fire in 1813 was a setback, but the insurance enabled redevelopment for large scale production. After an experiment in 1887, fine rag paper was produced on electrically driven machines: a successful innovation at Nash Mill. In 1989, Nash Mill was sold to the international Sappi Group and continued to make paper until 2006, when it was closed down and sold.
Redevelopment plans for housing were publicised in September 2007. By late 2010, the Mill site had been cleared, leaving the mill house, Stephenson's Cottage and the war memorial. John Dickinson had Nash Mills School built in 1847. Arthur Evans, the archaeologist and excavator of Knossos. Sir John Evans and father of Arthur Evans. Abbot's Hill School Apsley, Hertfordshire John Dickinson Stationery Limited Media related to Nash Mills at Wikimedia Commons Nash Mills Parish Council
Cublington
Cublington is a village and one of 110 civil parishes within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about seven miles north of Aylesbury; the village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, means "Cubbel's estate". In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Coblincote; the parish church of St Nicholas is built in the perpendicular style. The tower of the church is decorated with blank tracery windows. Inside, the chancel arch has unusual corbels of a monkey. At one time there was a Methodist Chapel in the village. 500 yards from the church is a small man-made hill, about 20 ft. high, known as "The Beacon", it is in fact the motte of a small Norman castle. North west of the church the 18th century stable block of the former manor house survives, it is an impressive building built of brick. A granary survives built on an arcaded basement; this is rare. This type of agricultural building was raised from the ground to deter rodents. There are some houses of note, these include: Old Manor Farm, a large low house with a created series of spectacular gardens.
Neales Farm is an H plan half-timbered house dating from circa 1600. The village has many old cottages, as well as small enclaves of newly built houses. In 1971, the Report of the Roskill Commission on the London Airport expansion selected Cublington as the location of a proposed third airport for London on the basis of Cost Benefit Analysis. One Commission member, planner Colin Buchanan, produced a dissenting report rejecting the proposal to build on Cublington as "an environmental disaster." The government rejected the Roskill recommendation on environmental grounds, in favour of a site at Maplin Sands, Foulness. The village pub is called "The Unicorn". In World War 2, the pub and village were popular destinations for personnel serving at nearby RAF Wing and the military hospital built close to Cublington. Cublington parish website
Flamstead
Flamstead is a village and civil parish in northwest Hertfordshire, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original Verulamstead. Flamstead stands on a ridge above the River Ver; the first documented record of the village was in 1006, it was recorded in the Domesday Book eighty years later. In the Middle Ages it was important enough for a market and fair to be held there, though it is now a dormitory village for neighbouring towns, several of which can be reached by bus from the village; the current population is around 1,306. From a distance the village is dominated by the parish church of St Leonard, with its characteristic "Hertfordshire Spike" spire. St Leonard’s is believed to stand on the site of a ninth-century Saxon chapel, though the oldest parts of the present structure date from around 1140. Features of interest include mediaeval wall paintings, the Saunders Memorial of 1670, a fine fifteenth century rood screen.
The village has a Methodist church, Other notable buildings in Flamstead include the almshouses in the High Street, built in 1669. Flamstead has 65 listed buildings. Flamstead has a pre-school and a primary school, though older local children have to travel to secondary schools elsewhere in Hertfordshire; the present school dates from the late 1950s, the previous school building adjacent to the churchyard is now used by the pre-school and as the Village Hall. Beechwood Park School, now a preparatory school, was once the site of a Benedictine nunnery and a Tudor mansion, it lies in the parish. Beechwood Park gave its name to a song by The Zombies, written by the group's bassist Chris White, who grew up in Markyate; the Old Watling Street in the parish, as its name suggests, follows the route of the original Roman road. The modern A5 runs parallel with it but closer to the River Ver. In 2008 Channel 4's Time Team discovered a unknown major Roman temple complex near Watling Street at nearby Friar's Wash.
The programme about the dig was first broadcast on 4 January 2009. Since 2002, an annual Scarecrow Festival has been held in Flamstead to raise funds for the upkeep of the church and for local charities. Since 2014 the village has held a Literary Festival - Books in the Belfry - attracting best-selling authors including Tony Parsons, Sophie Hannah, Jane Hawking, Jonathan Stroud, Alex Scarrow, Clare Mulley, Ian Ridley and Michael Calvin. Proceeds go to restoration of medieval wall-paintings in the village church; the village website, with links to other sites of interest The parish council's website GENUKI page Flamstead
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is one of the home counties in the south east of England. It is bordered by Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it is placed in the East of England region. In 2013, the county had a population of 1,140,700 in an area of 634 square miles; the four towns that have between 50,000 and 100,000 residents are Hemel Hempstead, Watford and St Albans. Hertford, once the main market town for the medieval agricultural county, derives its name from a hart and a ford, used as the components of the county's coat of arms and flag. Elevations are high for the region in the west; these reach over 800 feet in the western projection around Tring, in the Chilterns. The county's borders are the watersheds of the Colne and Lea. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is agricultural and much is protected by green belt; the county's landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in the new town of Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, to Leavesden Film Studios.
The volume of intact medieval and Tudor buildings surpasses London, in places in well-preserved conservation areas in St Albans which includes some remains of Verulamium, the town where in the 3rd century an early recorded British martyrdom took place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill, his martyr's cross of a yellow saltire on a blue field is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire is well-served with railways, providing good access to London; the largest sector of the economy of the county is in services. Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913. Hertford is derived from meaning deer crossing; the name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011. Deer feature in many county emblems. There is evidence of humans living in Hertfordshire from the Mesolithic period, it was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the Bronze Age.
This was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, the aboriginal Catuvellauni submitted and adapted to the Roman life. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill, his martyr's cross of a yellow saltire on a blue field is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire as the yellow field to the stag or Hart representing the county. He is the Patron Saint of Hertfordshire. With the departure of the Roman Legions in the early 5th century, the now unprotected territory was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 6th century the majority of the modern county was part of the East Saxon kingdom; this short lived kingdom collapsed in the 9th century, ceding the territory of Hertfordshire to the control of the West Anglians of Mercia. The region became an English shire in the 10th century, on the merger of the West Saxon and Mercian kingdoms. A century William of Normandy received the surrender of the surviving senior English Lords and Clergy at Berkhamsted, resulting in a new Anglicised title of William the Conqueror before embarking on an uncontested entry into London and his coronation at Westminster.
Hertfordshire was used for some of the new Norman castles at Bishop's Stortford, at King's Langley, a staging post between London and the royal residence of Berkhamsted. The Domesday Book recorded the county as having nine hundreds. Tring and Danais became one—Dacorum—from Danis Corum or Danish rule harking back to a Viking not Saxon past; the other seven were Braughing, Cashio, Hertford and Odsey. The first shooting-down of a zeppelin over Great Britain during WW1 happened in Cuffley; as London grew, Hertfordshire became conveniently close to the English capital. However, the greatest boost to Hertfordshire came during the Industrial Revolution, after which the population rose dramatically. In 1903, Letchworth became the world's first garden city and Stevenage became the first town to redevelop under the New Towns Act 1946. From the 1920s until the late 1980s, the town of Borehamwood was home to one of the major British film studio complexes, including the MGM-British Studios. Many well-known films were made here including the first three Star Wars movies.
The studios used the name of Elstree. American director Stanley Kubrick not only used to shoot in those studios but lived in the area until his death. Big Brother UK and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? have been filmed there. EastEnders is filmed at Elstree. Hertfordshire has seen development at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. On 17 October 2000, the Hatfield rail crash killed four people with over 70 injured; the crash exposed the shortcomings of Railtrack, which saw speed restrictions and major track replacement. On 10 May 2002, the second of the Potters Bar rail accidents occurred killing seven people.
Fire services in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty agencies; these are known as a fire and rescue service, the term used in modern legislation and by government departments. The older terms of fire brigade and fire service survive in informal usage and in the names of a few organisations. England and Wales have local fire services which are each overseen by a fire authority, made up of representatives of local governments. Fire authorities have the power to raise a Council Tax levy for funding, with the remainder coming from the government. Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire services, so their authorities are committees of the devolved parliaments; the total budget for fire services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion. Central government maintains national standards and a body of independent advisers through the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, created in 2007, while Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services provides direct oversight.
The devolved government in Scotland has HMFSI Scotland. Firefighters in the United Kingdom are allowed to join unions, the main one being the Fire Brigades Union, while chief fire officers are members of the National Fire Chiefs Council, which has some role in national co-ordination; the fire services have undergone significant changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process, propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational procedures in the light of terrorism attacks and threats. See separate article History of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom Comprehensive list of recent UK fire and rescue service legislation: Fire services are established and granted their powers under new legislation which has replaced a number of Acts of Parliament dating back more than 60 years, but is still undergoing change. 1938: Fire Brigades Act 1938. This Act provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain and made it mandatory for local authorities to arrange an effective fire service.
1947: Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. 1959: Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act. It was repealed in Wales along with the 1947 Act. 1999: Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In 2002, there was a series of national fire strikes, with much of the discontent caused by the aforementioned report into the fire service conducted by Prof Sir George Bain. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the industrial action still ongoing. Bain's report led to a change in the laws relating to firefighting. 2002: Independent Review of the Fire Service published 2004: Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 only applying to England and Wales. 2006: The Regulatory Reform Order 2005 This piece of secondary legislation or statutory instrument replaces several other acts that dealt with fire precautions and fire safety in premises, including the now defunct process of issuing fire certificates.
It came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises: 2006: The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the National Assembly for Wales powers to pass laws on "Fire and rescue services. Promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation." But does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries. There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association, its website outlines future changes, specific projects: "The aim of the Fire Modernisation Programme is to adopt modern work practices within the Fire & Rescue Service to become more efficient and effective, while strengthening the contingency and resilience of the Service to react to incidents. " The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons select committee. In June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report.
Committee report The committee's brief is described on its website: The Communities and Local Government Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure and policy of the Department for Communities and Local Government and its associated bodies. Government response This document, the subsequent government response in September 2006, are important as they outlined progress on the FiReControl, efforts to address diversity and the planned closure of HMFSI in 2007 among many issues. Both documents are interesting as they refer back to Professor Bain's report and the many recommendations it made and continue to put forward the notion that there is an ongoing need to modernise FRSs. For example, where FRSs were inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office. Fire Control On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Governm
Great Gaddesden
Great Gaddesden is a village and civil parish in Dacorum Hundred in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, north of Hemel Hempstead; the parish borders Flamstead, Hemel Hempstead and Little Gaddesden and Studham in Bedfordshire. The Church of St. John the Baptist was the site of a pre-Christian sanctuary; the church shows features of every period since the 12th century. Part of the chancel with Roman bricks dates back to the early 12th century; the old church was extended by the south aisle in the 13th century and the north aisle in the 14th century, while the west tower was built in the 15th century and the north chapel in the 18th. The medieval convent of St Margaret's stood northwest of the village. For a while the site served as a WW2 Royal Canadian Air Force transit camp and a boarding school for children with special needs, it is now a Theravadin Buddhist monastery, the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, complete with temple. Gaddesden Place, east of the village, was built from 1768 to 1773 for the Halsey family.
It is surrounded by a large park. In 1905 a fire destroyed the interior of the main house; the River Gade takes its name from Gaddesden. Its clear water is used for watercress beds along the river, at Water End, south of Great Gaddesden, is an old corn mill; the bridge over the river at Water End was built in the 19th century. Media related to Great Gaddesden at Wikimedia Commons
RAF Nuthampstead
Royal Air Force Station Nuthampstead or more RAF Nuthampstead is a former Royal Air Force station in England. The airfield is located in Hertfordshire between the villages of Nuthampstead and Anstey and the hamlet of Morrice Green in Hertfordshire and Langley, Lower Green and Clavering Park Wood in Essex; the eastern part of the airfield including part of the East-West Runway, the Fuel Store, the dispersal areas of 600 and 601 Squadrons and the northeastern perimeter track were all in Essex. RAF Nuthamstead is located four miles to the east of the A10 Hertford to Royston road. Construction began in 1942 with the facility being built by the 814th and 630th Engineer Battalions of the US Army for the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force. Nuthampstead was assigned USAAF designation Station 131. Two T-2 hangars were constructed with the technical site consisting of Nissen huts were situated to the west of the airfield and dispersed within the small village of Nuthampstead. During the construction of the airfield, rubble from the blitzed areas of East London and Coventry were used for the foundations and today, farmers turn up bricks still bearing fragments of their original wallpaper or paintwork or the remains of a wall light switch still attached.
Although the airfield was built to accommodate heavy bombers, from September 1943 until April 1944 the 55th Fighter Group used the airfield, arriving from McChord AAF Washington on 14 September 1943. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command. Aircraft of the 55th were identified by a green/yellow checkerboard pattern around their cowlings; the group consisted of the following squadrons: 38th Fighter Squadron 338th Fighter Squadron 343d Fighter Squadron The 55th FG began operations with Lockheed P-38H Lightnings on 15 October 1943, was the first to use these aircraft on long-range escort missions from the UK. The P-38H differed from earlier versions in being powered by 1425 hp Allison V-1710-89/91 engines; the Lightnings' engines were troubled by the addition of alcohol used as an anti-knock compound in their fuel supply. Another British attempt to correct fuel composition caused lead metal deposits to coat cylinders and foul plugs throughout the squadron.
The -H series Lightnings did not have adequate cooling for extended high-power usage, as their engine development had outstripped the cooling capacity of the integral intercooler which ran through the wing's leading edge. Pilots were instructed to restrict their periods of highest engine power to defined time limits, but many did not; as a result of these various influences, the Group's Lightnings suffered a high rate of attrition. 55FG P-38H pilots provided cover for missions against aircraft plants during Big Week in February 1944. Lt. Col. Jack Jenkins led the group on 3 March 1944, when they became the first Allied fighters to reach Berlin on an escort mission. On 16 April 1944 the group moved to RAF Wormingford in Essex to accommodate the arrival of the 398th Bomb Group; the 55FG converted to North American P-51D Mustangs in July 1944, continuing their primary task of escorting Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers that attacked such targets as industries and marshalling yards in Germany, airfields and V-weapon sites in France.
From April 1944 until June 1945 the 398th Bombardment Group used the airfield, arriving from Rapid City AAF South Dakota. The group was under the command of the 1st Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Air Division. Equipped with Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses, its tail code was a "Triangle-W"; the group consisted of the following squadrons: 600th Bombardment Squadron 601st Bombardment Squadron 602d Bombardment Squadron 603d Bombardment Squadron The 398th BG entered combat in May 1944, until V-E Day operated against strategic objectives in Germany, attacking targets such as factories in Berlin, warehouses in Munich, marshalling yards in Saarbrücken, shipping facilities in Kiel, oil refineries in Merseburg, aircraft plants in Münster. The group temporarily suspended strategic missions to attack coastal defenses and enemy troops on the Cherbourg peninsula during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944; the group struck gun positions near Eindhoven in support of the air attack on the Netherlands in September 1944, raided power stations and bridges during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945.
A formation of 38 aircraft from this group were responsible for the mistaken Bombing of Prague on 14 February 1945. The group flew missions attacking airfields to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945; the 398th flew its last combat mission, attacking an airfield in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, on 25 April 1945. After V-E Day the group transported liberated prisoners from Germany to France. From Nuthampstead, the 398th Bomb Group flew 195 combat missions losing 58 B17C Flying Fortesses; the unit returned to Drew AAF Florida and was inactivated on 1 September 1945. With the departure of the 398th, Nuthampstead was transferred from the USAAF to RAF Maintenance Command on 10 July 1945; the airfield was used as an ordnance store until being placed under care and maintenance on 30 October 1954. Nuthampstead was closed on 1 March 1959. With the end of military control, the concrete hardstands and most of the perimeter track were removed for hardcore to construct Britain's first motorway, the London to Leeds M1 motorway, with single-lane farm access roads being retained for agricultural use.
Most of the runways were removed for aggregate, however a small end of the west secondary runway was
Media related to Nuthampstead at Wikimedia Commons
