What’s going for it? Hertford is a gentle place of small pleasures, like its greatest son George Ezra. Everyone fancies a bit of George – even if it is just singing karaoke drunk at a ’Spoons on a Friday night. Likewise, only the harshest of hearts could savage Hertford. It might not be where you want your life to end up, but there are worse places. Its grand Saxon street pattern sprawled across the confluence of four rivers, its castle grounds and handsome centre of Georgian townhouses draped in creepers, and half-timbered salmon-pink cottages, speak of a time when Hertford was a big kahuna. Local lore even suggests this is the burial place of the Holy Grail, lurking somewhere in mysterious tunnels beneath the streets.
These days, though, Hertford is comfortable with a more sedate lot in life, a picturesque commuter town for those priced out of Edmonton. The museum has the largest collection of toothbrushes in the country (plucked from the Addis factory when it closed). Enjoying a pint on the riverside terrace at the Woolpack; small pleasures. That’s not to say Hertford can’t cut some rug when it wants to. Look at the 1970s theatre and arts centre, poised for reinvention by zippy architects Carmody Groarke, as avant garde as anything one could find in, ooh, St Albans.
The case against Gentle pleasures won’t cut it for some.
Well connected? Trains: five or so an hour from its two stations to London Moorgate (via Highbury & Islington) or Liverpool Street (via Tottenham Hale), around 50 minutes; hourly to Stevenage to connect with the east coast mainline (around 13 minutes). Driving: 15 minutes to the A1 (M), 20 to the M25 or the M11, 45 to Stansted airport.
Schools Primaries: Bengeo, St Joseph’s Catholic, St Andrew CofE, Hollybush, Morgans and Mill Mead are all “good”, says Ofsted, with Abel Smith and Simon Balle “outstanding”. Secondaries: Richard Hale and The Sele are “good”, with Simon Balle “outstanding”.
Hang out at… Lussmanns. All you’d want in a brasserie (black cherry and kirsch tiramisu). A sustainable menu and lots of accolades.
Where to buy There’s a surprisingly large historic centre with all your usuals plus, on and off the main roads out of town, some very good Victorians and occasional Regency between London and Ware Roads eastwards, especially.
Also Queen’s Road (“one of Hertford’s premier roads”) and Hagsdell Road, south and around. Bengeo for suburbans. Large detacheds and townhouses, £800,000-£2.5m. Detacheds and smaller townhouses, £525,000-£800,000. Semis, £350,000-£1m. Terraces and cottages, £300,000-£750,000. Flats, £200,000-£625,000. Rentals: a one-bedroom flat, £700-£950pcm; a three-bedroom house, £1,200-£2,700pcm.
Bargain of the week Potential for renovation. Three-bedroom Victorian terrace, £375,000, with williamhbrown.co.uk.
From the streets
Tom Handysides “Long tailbacks every rush hour, and nasty rat runs in narrow residential roads like Nelson Street. But good real ale and craft beer.”
Peter Dougherty “Giambrone’s cafe – the best coffee in town.”
• Do you live in Kendal, Cumbria? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 21 May.
