We were meant to be camping on Cheltenham Racecourse. We were looking forward to this, and I even checked to see if there were races planned for the time that we would be there. Racecourses are fun places to camp in, as long as you are not in a tent. We once stayed in the motorhome on another racecourse, and they moved all the campers out into the centre of the course on race day, and gave us free admission to the races. Luckily no one had to dismantle tents. It was really exciting. And we went back to the warmth of the van, in between races. Such luxury!
Unfortunately we did not notice that Cheltenham Racecourse Camping Ground closes for the season at the end of November, which we found out when Walter rang to book into it. So it was off to Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. Garden city? Walking? Yes it seemed to fit our criteria. So off we went, with high hopes.
Our hopes were dashed, at least at first. We arrived late in the afternoon, on a very bitterly cold day, with leaden skies. The van was built to cope with minus temperatures so the warmth inside was not a problem. But the camping ground was next to a run down and neglected NHS hospital, which looked like as if it was due to be axed in the very near future. The outlook was not good.
We thought the best option, would be to go for a long walk, and look for a lovely pub, for dinner. So we passed the run down hospital, turned left at the first corner, and headed down a rough looking street, which appeared to be part of a large neglected social housing estate. So much for a picturesque walk. We should have known. But we carried on, relentlessly.
There were empty cans of super strength beer lying around on the grass verges, and two very drunk young lads were busily throwing more empty cans into bushes. Luckily they giggled at us, when we passed, which was preferably to having abuse shouted at us. We arrived at a pub, with sinking stomachs, next to dilapidated and mostly empty shops. The front porch of the pub smelled like it was used as an urinal. Thank goodness the pub did not serve food.
We were then directed to the next shopping area, which took another half an hour to reach. This area looked slightly better, but the pub was full of happy drunks and no food. The happy drunks assured us that if we kept on walking we would reach a pub where there was food. But we had given up by this time, so bought a paper from the newsagent, who told us how to take a short cut through a park, in order to get back to the hospital. It was a lovely park, but darkness was setting in, it was bitterly cold, and we were frozen, so we were beyond enjoying the scenery. At least we were out of the very rough area. And lo and behold, we came across a lovely little pub, without any drunks. Relief. And we had a reasonable meal, in the warmth, and went back to our van, via the run down hospital, feeling happy and contented.
The next dawned, and it was still extremely cold and overcast. So we decided to head for the shopping centre, in the hope that maybe we will see some of the 'garden city' there. And we were not disappointed.
The town centre was pretty impressive, with shops running alongside a park, and then when you turned at the end of the shopping street, there was another wide garden/park with Neo Georgian houses on the other side. In fact the whole city centre was built in the Neo Georgian style. There was a very modern shopping centre (Howard Centre ) at one end of the shopping area. Most shops were upmarket, with John Lewis being the busiest. The people shopping in the town centre looked well dressed, and prosperous. Obviously they do not live in the area beside the camping ground.
And later I researched the history of Welwyn Garden City, as the area was starting to intrigue me, by this stage. Welwyn Garden City, was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s, following his previous experiment in Letchworth Garden City. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. The two garden cities where meant to exemplify the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which they were built. Welwyn Garden City was designated a town in 1948. Apparently, due to its historical importance, Welwyn Garden City attracts visitors from around the world. I just hope they do not visit the hospital.
Although the town was built on relatively flat land, I noticed there was no provision for bicycle paths. Obviously encouraging cycling, through designated cycle paths, was not part of later town planning. This is such a shame, as the town is relatively flat, and spacious, and perfect for cycling. It certainly would have enhanced the 'Garden City' concept.
Welwyn, by the way is pronounced without the ‘w’ (Wel-in), which we did not do, and caused the locals much mirth. Welwyn is yet another one of those mysterious English pronunciation of place names, such as Wrotham (Root-ham) and Meopham (Maip-ham) that we, from down under, get wrong. It is important to swallow a few sounds with quite a number of place names in Britain.
So, after two days spent in the city (town?) centre, drinking lovely coffee, and looking in the smart shops, and walking around the beautiful gardens, we left Welwyn Garden City feeling that we had made a very good choice for our two days away in the motorhome.
