The guide to local rivalries between Hertfordshire towns : Part 1

Hertfordshire is a county like no other. Well that is according to many of its residents. Whether you were born and bred in Hertfordshire or moved to one of the Hertfordshire towns for a piece of that fine Hertfordshire life, you will know that it is one of the best places to live in the UK.

Hertfordshire continues to poll high in many surveys looking at living standards, income and overall happiness. These have included the ‘Sunday Times Best Places to Live’ and independent surveys from the likes of USwitch.

Whilst this has been great for ‘team Hertfordshire‘, polls looking at individual Hertfordshire towns (and ranking them) have created division and a touch of snobbery. Historically, there have always been rivalries between towns located near each other however, there are some unique rivalries between Hertfordshire towns. Over a series of posts and potentially a documentary, we are going to create ‘The guide to local rivalries between Hertfordshire towns‘.

The guide to local rivalries between Hertfordshire towns

• Does St Albans believe its head and shoulders above the rest because of their city status?
• Who really cares Watford have had a premiership team?
• Do Letchworth & Hitchin still vie over the number of pubs they have?

These are the types of friendly rivalries we would like to get to the bottom of. We are not talking purely sports rivalries. That would be too simplistic. We will be looking at the history of local ‘friendly’ rivalries between Hertfordshire towns. Our goal is to focus on:

• Historical ties that have caused rivalries
• Rivalries started because of local amenities
• Bizarre claims to fame
• and last but not least, simple old jealously.

What next?

At this stage, we want to get local input from residents in Hertfordshire. We want to know which town you come from and who you which Hertfordshire town do you think is your towns rival?

We have ranked the various Hertfordshire towns based on populations and selected the top 20. We will collate the views and opinions from Hertfordshire locals on who they think is their town’s rival and why.

#	Settlement	District	Population (2011)
1	Watford	Watford	131,982
2	Hemel Hempstead	Dacorum	94,932
3	Stevenage	Stevenage	89,663
4	St Albans	St Albans	82,146
5	Welwyn Garden City	Welwyn Hatfield	48,380
6	Cheshunt	Broxbourne	45,832
7	Hoddesdon	Broxbourne	42,253
8	Bishop’s Stortford	East Hertfordshire	37,838
9	Hatfield	Welwyn Hatfield	37,577
10	Borehamwood	Hertsmere	35,489
11	Hitchin	North Hertfordshire	34,266
12	Letchworth	North Hertfordshire	33,249
13	Harpenden	St Albans	30,240
14	Hertford	East Hertfordshire	26,658
15	Bushey	Hertsmere	25,328
16	Rickmansworth	Three Rivers	23,973
17	Potters Bar	Hertsmere	22,639
18	Berkhamsted	Dacorum	20,641
19	Abbots Langley	Three Rivers	19,574
20	Ware	East Hertfordshire	18,799

How to get involved?

At this stage, we would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the subject. You can leave them at the bottom of the page. You can discuss it on social media with us using #TrendLifeHertfordshire or you can follow the discussions on Facebook – We are adding the Facebook group chats overtime.

All Things St Albans – Facebook discussion
We are from Hitchin – Facebook discussion
Hoddesdon, Hertford & Ware Local Community – Facebook discussion

Why are we doing this?

For fun and to learn more about the history of our towns from a different perspective. We as Hertfordshire locals always hear funny reasons why people have their favourite towns or towns they avoid. We want to find our some of the reasons and present them to residents of Hertfordshire. At this stage, we are only looking at Hertfordshire but we plan to do the same for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Then we can look at the picture across the Three Counties.