THE NEW & THE OLD

In the last post, I promised you a look at the buses of Welwyn Garden City. The new(ish) town was once firmly in the grip of London Country and here is one of its Leyland Nationals. 

Deregulation in 1986 saw two new operators, Sampson's and Welwyn Hatfield Line.

Both of the above were photographed at the grubby old bus station. 

The building of the Howard Shopping Centre meant a new bus station was built, where we see a Sovereign (successor to London Country North East) Alexander PS type saloon.

Here are some of the more modern operators serving Welwyn Garden City's bus station.

Right, that's it for WGC, so now we must cross the valley of the River Mimram, which the East Coast Main Line does very nicely. (Creative Commons License)

That means that our next stop is Welwyn North railway station. The horse doesn't look too bothered by the LNER express.

The station has not changed much since GNR days, as an up HST hurtles through..

Welwyn North station, actually in Digswell, is about a mile from Old Welwyn, but fortunately McMullen's have provided a pub next door to the railway, the Cowper Arms.

Correctly called Welwyn, what was once an important town is now a very pleasant place, though perhaps a bit too upmarket. Here's Church Street around 1920.

The Church on Church Street, dedicated to Saint Mary.

The Wellington Inn suffered a major fire and had to be rebuilt, though they've done a good job of it. The pub is a bit too foody for my liking.

If you're into real ale, then maybe the White Horse is the one for you.

We finish this part of the blog at a real proper boozer in the heart of Welwyn, The Tavern. The Mac's AK was superb when I last called in.

So, we've been to Welwyn, tomorrow we'll be well out!