Tell me about Harpenden and the surrounding!

[HumBugsey]

I've been offered a job in Harpenden out of the blue so I was wondering if you lovely people could tell me about it? I live in Somerset at the moment and I'm from this side of the country so it's a big move! I won't be earning much so I'm going to have to houseshare/lodge which I have done a few times but there's only so much a map can tell you about a commute! Seeing as I have a bit of a choice of where I live I don't really want to be driving more than 20mins a day and I'm a country girl but do like doing things too, cinema etc.

What about riding schools? What are prices like? Any good ones? Any to avoid?

Everything is all a bit mental at the moment so any ideas are most welcome!

 

[coffeeandabagel]

I tried to send this the other day and it just got stuck - so here goes again


Harpenden is about 9 or 10 miles or 30 mins from where I live - we are looking for a short term lodger at the moment so if you need a temp place message me!

Harpenden itself has some very expensive bits and is quite posh but its a small market town basically. St Albans is close by and is also quite an expensive place to live but has good facilities. Avoid Luton if you can. Wheathampstead is OK, Codicotre, Kimpton - small villages.

I think there a few horsey places Harpenden way and funnily enough I was looking at this one tonight since I need to fnd livery for my two.

http://www.greenacresequestrian.co.uk/index.html I dont know if its any good though, but looks nice.

good luck with your new job and welcome to Herts

 

[gingerfan]

Yes the summary about Harpenden is about right. Depending on which side you're working St Albans is about 10 minutes drive away and an easy commute as everybody is going in the opposite direction! Horsewise Harpenden is good with plenty of stables all around, particularly to the south, from upper end full livery and training centres (like Greenacres) to DIY yards so there's lots of choice. There is some very good hacking with little roadwork, again especially in the south, and competition centres like Patchetts and Bury Farm within 30-40 minutes drive. Welcome to Hertfordshire, the natives are quite friendly!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Used to live near St Albans/Harpenden. Really pretty good place horse wise.
Good tack shops too eg Titmuss just outside Wheathampstead. Oaklands college at St Albans do BHS stages too, and also hiring the indoor school there was quite cheap in evenings/hols.

The one thing that might be different from what you are used to, and I will word this carefully but it is based on vast personal experience unfortunately, is quite a high level of theft of horsey related stuff in the area.In our specific neighbourhood it was (and proven to be in many cases, so not being unfair) pretty much all down to the local travellers site, of which there are a lot. Some sites probably no problem but some certainly are.

So make sure all your stuff is well secured and well insured. Horses themselves werent touched but anything else that wasnt bolted down would go, even down to electric tape, rugs off backs etc. It can be very localised tho, so you could never have any issue at all.

 

[Molasses]

I'm in this area, its lovely but very expensive.
Ditto which part of Harpenden as it can take 20min just to drive the length of it. It's basically one long town from St. Albans to Luton with a few green bits inbetween. But a circle around Harpenden captures some very horsey countryside and amazing bridleway networks. Also you can be on the M1 or A1 in a moment so it's great access to comps.

PM me if you like as I'm only fresh to the area so I'm familiar with what moving here involves and finding the way around. I've only been here a year now and I still really like it.

Also London is only 1/2 hour on train so everything feels very accessible.

 

[CBFan]

I live in the area. It is nice, but will be more expensive than you're used to ... As already said, I would consider living in St. Albans, Harpenden, Jersey Farm (part of st. Albans), Sandridge (village), Wheathampstead (village) also consider Redbourne... AVOID Luton (although it does have some ok parts..)

Riding is second to none! A fantastic network of bridleways and quiet ish country lanes...and a good choice of livery yards starting at £90 per month DIY up to around about £150 per month depending on the facilities.. Part seems to be around £400 per month, anything more than that I'm not sure. It's definitely worth you paying a little more for better facilities and possibly a smaller yard as some of the bigger ones can be a bit of a free-for-all

In terms of 'riding schools' there are a few around but if I'm being honest, for the standard of tuition, you are better off looking a little further afield (I can recomend Contessa in Ware which is about 1/2 hour drive away)... This is just my personal opinion, I'm sure plenty would disagree..

 

[HumBugsey]

Hi all, thank you so much for your replies! I kept checking this thread and there was nothing so I didn't come for a few days and here everyone is!

I would love to meet a few people once I'm up and around.

I'm coming up to look at a few places tomorrow so hopefully I'll find something. Two are in harpenden, on in hemel and one in luton although it's so on the south edge I think it has houses on one side and fields on the other! lol

I don't have my own horse atm so that's not a problem and at currently weight most RS's will dismiss me out of hand. Was lucky at current place, they have a few well conditioned to weight chunks and know that I ride with a balanced, independent seat but obv new places won't know me from adam. *sigh* I'm working on it

CoffeeandBagle, thanks so much for the offer! I already have a crash pad if I need it in the shape of another forum member who is around there(ish) and if I can help it I wouldn't want to move twice.

It's all so exciting and scary at the same time!

 

[HumBugsey]

I'm going to be living in Caddington

 

[coffeeandabagel]

How is it going?

 

[galaxy]

Found this thread really useful as I also am almost certainly moving to the St Albans area by the end of this year.

OH's office will be in St Albans and we will want to live within 10 miles (but not in a town, outskirts housing estate ok (of a modern feel!)) and then the horse within 5 miles of us. We have no idea where to start but OH has given the go ahead to find a home for the horse first and we'll find somewhere to live near there (bless him!). We had already decided either east of west, but not north or south. Very good to hear there are a good choice of livery yards, I will be wanting DIY with good off road hack, min 20x40 school and all year daytime turnout, 24/7 in the summer months. If anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them! I have been looking on *******, but not all yards advertise on there.