Welham Green is about seven miles east of St Albans and three miles south of Hatfield.
It is a Hertfordshire village in the Welwyn Hatfield district, in the parish of North Mymms. It has grown in the last three decades, partly due to the opening of its own railway station.
Recent housing developments have joined Welham Green with neighbouring Hatfield – a move met with disdain by residents wishing to maintain the character of the village.
A stone plinth in the village marks the first landing of a hydrogen filled balloon in England – by Italian balloonist Vincenzo Lunardi on September 15, 1784. Bizarrely, he apparently handed a cat and a dog to a local woman before re-ascending.
Amenities
There is a doctors’ surgery, dentist, baker, pharmacy, Roman Catholic church, post office, hairdresser, Londis and a garage.
Transport links
Welham Green train station and local bus services serve the village. It is about an hour’s drive to Oxford and Cambridge and approximately half an hour by rail into central London.
Welham Green is situated a mile west of the Great North Road, a coaching route that formerly ran through the nearby hamlet of Bell Bar, from London to York and the north. The Great North Road is bypassed now by the A1(M).
The village is considered fairly close to the main London airports – Heathrow, Luton and Stansted.
Schools
St Mary’s Church of England Primary Schoool, in Dellsome Lane, is the local primary school in Welham Green, which has a preschool in the grounds for younger ones. It was found to require improvement by Ofsted in 2014.
Chancellor’s School, Brookmans Park, Hatfield, is a secondary school serving older children, aged between 11 and 18 years. A six-minute drive away from the village, it is a large active community, which specializes in maths, computing and languages. It was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in 2014.
Food and drink
The Hope and Anchor – a two-bar community pub built in the 17th century – and The Sibthorpe Arms (selling local beers and ales, complete with games room and beer garden) are both in Station Road in the village itself and are popular with locals.
Just outside of Welham Green there are two pubs in Water End – The Old Maypole and The Woodman.
For takeaway food, try Welham Tandoori, Oriental Express, Hong Kong Kitchen or Lotus Fish Bar.
Deliveries to the village can be made from Kurma Indian Takeaway and The Raj Tandoori in Brookmans Park. If you like pizza, Perfect Pizza in Potters Bar sounds promising or there’s Hatfield-based Quality Pizza.
Sport and leisure
North Mymms Youth and Community Centre offers community provision for all, run voluntarily as a registered charity by villagers for villagers.
Welham Martial Arts teaches a high standard of Ju-Jitsu in a friendly safe environment.
North Mymms Cricket Club Ground is based in Home Farm, Welham Green, and was founded in 1861 by the church with the aim of encouraging sport and keeping local farmhands out of the pub!
Welham Green Recreation Ground in Bushwood Close has full-size and junior grass football pitches and tennis courts.
Slimming World is a sociable event as well as a weight-loss support group and meets in the local primary school.
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