Literally minutes outside of London, a short journey up the A1(M), you will find Hatfield. By no means the largest town in Hertfordshire, it is however home to the University of Hertfordshire, which has a student body totalling over 18,000 over the four campuses, with students from approximately 80 countries studying over 450 courses at the university. There are a large number of students living on campus, so there is an effervescent young feel to Hatfield.
The town itself is split into two distinct parts, the New Town and the Old Town. The New part of the town is primarily housing, built shortly after World War II to house the workers of the famous British AeroSpace plant (now disused). The Aircraft factory built planes including the Comet, Trident and Mosquito before it closed in the early 1990's, and caused unemployment in the area to rise.
Since then Hatfield has been recovering, and new developments, such as the Galleria Outlet Centre, built over the A1(M) tunnel, which houses over 60 outlet stores, including TK Maxx, BHS For Less, County Book Shop, CBS, Rosebys and many more, selling goods at up to 60% off the high street prices, along with restaurants and a nine screen UCI cinema.
There is a relatively small High Street shopping area, with regular markets selling anything from Meat to Flowers, but the most notable part of Hatfield Town centre is the new ASDA supermarket, which dominates the area with its futuristic styling and great size. Other aspects of Hatfield's town centre include a leisure centre, indoor swimming pool, town library, restaurants and pubs ranging from the small 'locals' to larger chain restaurants.
Hatfield's disused aerodrome has been used for many purposes in recent years, including part of the filming for the hit film Saving Private Ryan, staring Tom Hanks, and is also the location for the filming on Tom Hanks and Steven Spielbergs new drama A Band of Brothers, which has involved the building of a small European war torn town on the old airfield, to be used as the set for filming. The airfield also contains the Hatfield Business park, with companies including Securicor and Booker, and many technology based businesses in modern offices.
In terms of overnight accommodation, Hatfield offers hotels such as The Comet, Hatfield Lodge and a Travel Inn. Prices vary, but expect to pay from £40 a night upward. A 5-minute drive in any direction out of town will find you in the fresh air of Hertfordshire's countryside.
Books and maps about Hatfield... (listed by popularity)
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