Welwyn Garden City & district · Local news you can trust
WGC station is 100 on Monday 5 October. Volunteers need the last £2,000 of £24,000 for a bronze welly boot sculpture by Ben Twiston-Davies.
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Hertfordshire
Our Next Step: Herts Dating With No Swiping, £9.99 a Month
A Hatfield founder's Hertfordshire dating site will have no swiping: every introduction is made by hand, for one £9.99 monthly price. Joining the list is free.
Transport
Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City 20mph Survey Closes 11 Oct
Hertfordshire County Council is asking which Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City streets should drop to 20mph. Main roads such as Comet Way and Bessemer Road are left out. The survey closes on 11 October.
Hatfield
Anglia in Bloom 2026: Hatfield Silver Gilt, WGC Parkway Gold
Hatfield took Silver Gilt and the Small City title at Anglia in Bloom, Parkway and Howardsgate won Gold, and a Hatfield children's garden won a national RHS award.
Events
What's On in Welwyn Garden City: Music, Then Halloween
Hatfield House Music Festival from 8 October, the vegan market on the 10th, a free pumpkin patch on 30 October and the lights trail from 15 November.
Hatfield House
Hatfield House this winter: house shut, events to 18 Dec
Hatfield House is closed for the season and the gardens shut on 27 September. What is on in the park from October to Christmas 2026, with dates and prices.
Christmas
Santa in Welwyn and Hatfield 2026: First Grotto 29 Nov, £10
Essendon Country Club's grotto opens the season on 29 November at £10 a child. Hatfield Park's Santa sold out last year and its 2026 dates are still due.
Christmas
Welwyn and Hatfield Christmas markets 2026: 15 and 29 Nov
Two free Christmas markets confirmed: Mill Green's craft fair on Sunday 15 November and Essendon Country Club's on 29 November, with a £10 Santa's grotto.
Hatfield
Southfield School's Adventure Golf Course Turns One
Brocket Hall built an adventure golf course inside Southfield School in Hatfield. A year on, pupils count strokes on scorecards and visit the club itself.
Cuffley
Cuffley Smell: Motion Blames Biogas Plant, 52,000 Tonnes
Councillors want the Environment Agency to investigate smells blamed on the Cattlegate Farm plant, which its operator says can take 52,000 tonnes a year.
Welwyn Garden City
Free Singing Taster in Welwyn Garden City, 8 October 7.30pm
The only Hertfordshire Learn to Play session is a free choir evening at Templewood School on Thursday 8 October, 7.30pm to 9pm. Drop-ins welcome.
Business
Søstrene Grene Welwyn Garden City: Now Open in the Howard Centre
Søstrene Grene Welwyn Garden City is open on the Howard Centre ground floor: 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm Sunday. Christmas hours and FAQs.
Hatfield
Hatfield Hostel at Beales Hotel Approved to March 2028
The former Beales Hotel on Comet Way can stay a 53-room homeless hostel until 31 March 2028, with no objections. 142 flats are approved to replace it.
Welwyn Garden City was laid out from 1920 as the second garden city, and the plan is still visible in it: the tree-lined parkway, the separation of houses from industry, the deliberate low density. Hatfield next door grew a different way, around an aerodrome and a great house and now a university. Hertford, the county town, and Ware sit east of both on the Lea.
Welwyn Online covers all four. Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield share one borough council; Hertford and Ware are in a different district, so the answer to a question about bins or planning depends on which side of the boundary you are. We name the right authority every time and link to its own record.
Nothing is published here that we cannot link to a source.