Church End is where I grew up. It is situate in the southern part of the village of Redbourn in Hertfordshire, a few miles north of St. Albans. My family moved there when I was a few months old and until I left home for university it was my home and the place where my earliest experiences were forged. It is also an historic place, one of the earliest parts of the village, with many old houses (even though I grew up in one of the more modern ones). It has a pub, and in my early life had a store opposite the house as well. As the name suggests, the parish church is at the end of the road, and acted as barometer of change in the village. Before I went into my teens, my days were measured by the chiming of the church clock, and the pulse of the village by the christenings, weddings and funerals that regularly took place there.

When I was away at college my father moved away and I never lived there again, but I still have an affinity with the place. It is a beautiful road, the finest in the village and with a claim to being one of the best in Hertfordshire. It’s importance is even shown on maps where it is labelled separately from the rest of the village.

As a historian I have always maintained a desire to find out more about the street and its past. This, for what it is worth, is that attempt.