Hitchin, an old market town

In 1978 I moved to Hitchin with my then husband. In 1979 I gave birth to our first child, a lovely daughter. We lived in a flat that was in Garrison Court, virtually across the street from the market square.

Although now best known for it's weekly market Hitchin's history stretches far back in time.

The earliest part of Hitchin's history begin with King Offa of Mercia, who founded a religious house in AD792 on land occupied by the Hicce tribe. This was the beginning of Hitchin's parish church, second only in size to St Albans Abbey in the county.

In the Domesday Book of 1086 Hitchin is recorded as a Royal Manor and by medieval times it was a thriving town on the banks of the River Hiz. Today it still gives an air of peace and prosperity.

The present church dates from the 13th century and was built with money from the wool trade. The surrounding lands favored the breeding of sheep on the hillsides, while the flat land grew excellent crops of wheat, barley and lavender, and trade grew rapidly.

St Mary's Church taken across the River Hiz















After the 17th century, Hitchin became a frequent staging post for London coaches and many of the inns from that time, with their picturesque courtyards, can still be seen in Hitchin's narrow streets.


One of the old coaching inns that still exists. It is now a pub and a B&B. In fact my parents stayed in The Cock once when they visited us.









By the middle of the 19th century the railway had arrived, and with it a new way of life for Hitchin. The Corn Exchange was built in the Market Place and within a short time Hitchin established itself as a major center for grain trading.

The latter half of the 20th century has also brought great changes in communication to Hitchin. Motorways have shortened the journey time and brought Luton, a few miles away on the Ml, and the Al(M) even closer.


Some photos of the town.























I'll be taking more photos of Hitchin and will add them here.

In 1981 we moved to Stevenage. We had another child, a son.

I'm still in Stevenage

The Baby Loss Awareness Campaign

Today in Hitchin's Market Square there were several charity stalls and activities for the kiddies.





























One of them was North Hertfordshire's SANDS. SANDS stands for Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society

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SANDS supports anyone affected by the death of a baby and promoting research to reduce the loss of babies' lives.

I went today because they were having a balloon release in memory of babies who have died during pregnancy or at/soon after birth. I wanted to release a balloon for a baby that touched my heart even though we had never met.

I became friends with Hayley through a message board. She became pregnant and I was honored and privileged to be included in the updates of her bump.

Phoebe Jean came early and sadly Hayley and her husband were told that they wouldn't have Phoebe for long. Six weeks after Phoebe was born she passed peacefully in her parents' arms.

So I got a pink balloon, wrote Phoebe's name on it and let it go to the heavens so she could play with it.


On Monday October 15th at 7pm where ever you are in the world, please light a candle that will burn for at least 1 hour.






You will then be taking part in the global 'Wave of Light' in memory of all the babies who lit up our lives for such a short time.

Did you know that 17 babies are stillborn or die within the first 4 weeks of their young lives - that's over 6,2000 babies in the UK!

SANDS offers support to anyone affected by the death of a baby and works with health professionals to improve the quality of services provided. It also promotes research into the causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths and changes in practice that could reduce the loss of babies' lives.


For more information in the UK go to: http://www.uk-sands.org

In the USA go to: http://www.babyloss-awareness.org/

And ibs wins again. :(

Sad to say I had to give up the cabbage soup diet due to a bout of irritable bowel syndrome. So I decided then to go back to the South Beach Diet, which is tried and true and good for diabetics. All went well with that until the pistachios decided to do a tap dance on the above said bowels. What have I ever done to pistachios that they would hate me so?

So I am doing what I did before and did lose weight. Please don't tell any of my SBD friends. lol

Oh, what am I doing? I have a small bag of crisps, salt and vinegar as a snack. It's 25 grams,131 calories,the carbs are only 12.5 grams but with the fiber of 1.0g, it lowers the carbs to 11.5. The fat content is 8.3 grams. More importantly it satisfies a mouth hunger and a tummy rumble.




For my main meal I have something vegetarian, natch, around 1:30pm, so you can say I just have 1 meal a day. I might snack with the crisps or have an avocado, or something that might have take my fancy in a supermarket. It works for me. Before the diabetes decided to reside in me I would only have 1 meal a day, so this way of eating makes me happy.