What better to do on a day off than venture to a historic city and have a look around? After recently enjoying visits to Canterbury and Norwich, I decided to tick St Albans off the list. I tend to choose places with a cathedral (I’m even sad enough to keep a record of the ones I’ve been to) to visit, as, even though I’m not particularly religious, I’ve always found Christian buildings and their history fascinating.
Upon arriving at St Albans City railway station, I was initially not impressed by what greeted me. Victoria Street is a fairly underwhelming place, with cafés, an Iceland, a dentist, a pub and barbers. The Trinity United Reformed Church is also there, the site of which will soon be home to a Hindu temple – a metaphor for Britain’s changing religious and cultural landscape. If you were playing the online game GeoGuessr, which sees players being dropped on random roads on Google Street View only to guess where they are, it would prove near impossible to figure out which British city you were in.
However, as I ventured closer to the centre, where the body of Edward I’s wife Eleanor once lay on her journey to London in 1290, I got what I came for.
The centre of St Albans is positively thriving, and full of a wide variety of shops.
This is a far cry from many towns across the country at present, as many of the UK’s once proud and busy high streets now resemble the opening shots of London at the start of the British zombie horror film 28 Days Later.
As the Specials once asked: “Do you remember the good old days, before the ghost town?”
However, St Albans is your classic London commuter city, and so disposable income is not a novelty here.
I was reminded of my recent trip to Frome, a place where immigrants from the capital have boosted businesspeople’s fortunes.
House prices in St Albans had an overall average of £654,975 over the last year, according to Rightmove.
The UK’s average sold price is £263,600, according to Zoopla.
Nevertheless, it is always nice to see a bustling high street, however virtually guaranteed.
Independent businesses, such as a Greek bakery, bookshop, tailor, arcade, radiator specialist and even an old school department store, exist alongside huge national and international chains, as well as an inordinate number of estate agents and some charity shops.
I couldn’t help noticing, however, an empty retail unit in the town’s Maltings shopping centre, opened in 1988 by Princess Diana.
Straight away, I made a beeline for the 948-year-old St Albans Cathedral.
Looking around to the somewhat ominous sound of a piano being tuned, I was initially a tad underwhelmed (Canterbury Cathedral made sure that I have a very high bar when I go to these places).
But I was really impressed with artwork on the columns that, I presume, had been rescued from efforts to get rid of them during the Reformation.
Now faded, the paintings of Christ on the cross are tantalising remnants of what worshippers saw many centuries ago.
But the one thing that completely blew me away was the High Altar.
Originally built in the 1480s by Abbot William of Wallingford, and later restored in the late 1800s by Lord Aldenham, it towers above visitors, and features a crucified Christ, flanked by sculptures of saints.
I struggled to pull myself away from it.
Hungry, I then dropped by the George Street Canteen.
Its friendly and attentive staff ensured that my visit was rounded off nicely with a “Hogfather” ham hock sandwich and hot chocolate (I went for a run the following day, which, I told myself, offset this treat).
Unfortunately, a visit to the city’s museum slipped my mind.
But this provides me with a reason to return to St Albans.
