Market Place
Christmas Carousel
Every year, very near to Christmas, a wonderful carousel built in 1899, appears in Hitchin’s Market Place. Fun for children and adults alike.
A Routemaster London ‘Double-Decker’ bus in Hitchin’s Market Place
A red ‘Routemaster’ London ‘Double-Decker’ bus passing through Hitchin’s Market Place. In the background is Starbucks coffee shop. But before it was that, it used to be the locally owned ‘The Tea and Coffee House’. We really do live in a pretty little market town.
Christmas Market Place
The Christmas Tree in The Market Place in Hitchin forming part of the Christmas decorations around the town.
Rooftop Hitchin
For a change, I thought I would include a more ‘aerial’ view of Hitchin by showing it from a much higher level. This was taken from St. Mary’s Church bell tower roof looking across the roof tops of properties in churchyard towards Market Place. This is a view most people won’t see as they won’t go up the bell tower of the church or just never look up at the buildings that surround them.
You can see the old Corn Exchange (now Que Pasa) and to its right, the building that houses Waterstones’ bookshop and the snooker hall above it. Immediately to the right of those is the building that contains Merricks (the sweetshop) and the dentist L. Granhed above that.
Market Place Cabin
This Edwardian Cabmen’s Shelter used to stand on the forecourt of Hitchin Railway Station and was paid for by the donations of rail users collected by Edward Boxall who ran a cab business from The Red Lion that used to be in Bucklersbury (Now the new age shop ‘Harvest Moon’) It was used as a shelter for cab drivers waiting for fares until 1976 when it was sold by British Rail and stood in the garden of John and Patsy Myatt. They donated it to the town, whereby it was restored and promoted by The Hitchin Historical Society and Hitchin businesses. On the 10th Of October 1998, it was finally handed over to the Hitchin community and moved to The Market Place.
Since then, the Hitchin Historical Society have lampooned the Cabin on their Christmas cards; one famous card’s comments being, it was designed by a little known Chinese architect Lu Tien. He thought he’d been asked to design a lantern, and when the drawings were returned to the railway company, the engineers misunderstood his size specifications and accordingly built it as a full sized shelter. The text was littered with shameless clues such as the name Crisp. E. Duck as well as the name Lu Tien, which is a parody of Sir Edward Lutyens name. (A great Victorian Architect) Unfortunately, this story was picked up by a local railway historian who failed to spot the obvious clues and included the curious history of the cabin in his recently published book on the local railway.
Love hearts Graffiti
Apart from the now ubiquitous and wonderful but decaying ‘Dog Full Of Money’ stickers around town; There now appears some unusual but cute graffiti. Looking very much like ‘Love Hearts’ sweets, they liven up dull, out of the way and unnoticed places such as this doorway usually blocked by Starbucks Coffee Shop’s foul smelling and unsightly rubbish bins to the side of the shop in between Market Place and Churchyard.
Market Place Clock
At the very heart of Hitchin and its Market Place, stands a lovely Victorian Style clock donated by Gatwards Of Hitchin (W B Gatward & Sons) in the year 2000 to the town of Hitchin as part of the Millenial celebrations. This company was established in 1760 and is one of England’s oldest family jewellers.
Market Place
I like this pattern created in the cobblestones of the road that encircles the Market Square (Called ‘Market Place‘)in the centre of Hitchin. It lends it a medieval look. The texture created by the interplay of light and shade and depth is nice. The sound of the cars driving over them is enjoyable too. In short, the whole ‘Experience’ of this unintentional ‘Installation‘ is pleasurable. A ‘Must-See’ for all art enthusiasts.