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Cocktail bar The Perch registers at The Meating Room's Station Road address
The Perch, a cocktail bar with a second venue in Berkhamsted, has registered as a food business at 5 Station Road, Harpenden. A late licence on that stretch would matter more than the paperwork.
Sarakh on Grove Road, Harpenden, rated 5 for food hygiene
The restaurant at 2 Grove Road, which we reported registering in September, was given the top food hygiene score on 5 October.
Playgrounds for under-fives in Harpenden, Southdown and Batford
Porters Hill Park in Batford is the place to start with a toddler. Oakley Road in Southdown is the fenced, smaller alternative, and the best-known park is not necessarily the best fit for the very young.
366 bus skips Wheathampstead stops until Friday
The 366 from Harpenden and Batford will not serve the stops near St Helen's Church in Wheathampstead today or tomorrow, between 9.30am and 4pm.
321 bus skips Chequer Street stop in St Albans tonight
The Luton–Harpenden–Watford 321 will not call at the Town Hall stop on Chequer Street from 8pm tonight until 5am on Saturday 10 October.
Five teenagers given behaviour agreements over Harpenden parks
Police say five young people have signed Acceptable Behaviour Agreements after drinking and abusive behaviour in Rothamsted Park, Harpenden Common and Oakley Road.
X10 skips two St Albans stops until Friday
Marshalswick Lane is closed around the clock until Friday 2 October, so the Harpenden-to-Hatfield X10 is sending passengers to Colney Heath Lane instead.
Harpenden's High Street has one bank counter, shared five ways
Harpenden spent years without a single bank counter of its own. What it has now is a shared one at 35 High Street, open weekdays with a different bank on duty each day — modest, and a good deal better than nothing.
Children's books in Harpenden: two bookshops and a free library week
The library's rhyme times and storytime cost nothing and run every week, including through the holidays. Add a High Street bookshop that Waterstones lets keep its own name, and a charity shop with the strongest children's shelves in town. Checked 27 September 2026.
Police drop speeding as a Harpenden priority
Two drivers summonsed to court after enforcement on Redbourn Road and other local routes, and speeding comes off the neighbourhood priority list.
New restaurant Kalimera registers on Leyton Road
Kalimera is registered at 14B Leyton Road and awaiting its first hygiene inspection, the usual sign that a food business is about to open.
Toddler groups in Harpenden, day by day
Five mornings, four venues and one town with nowhere indoor when it rains. Where to take a baby or a toddler in Harpenden this term, checked against the operators' own pages.
Police write to parents over Harpenden park drinking
Officers have identified a group of young people behind drinking and drug use in Harpenden's parks and have contacted their parents, alongside extra patrols with the town council.
Fly-tipping fines in Harpenden treble to £3,000
St Albans council agreed on 10 September to raise the maximum on-the-spot penalty from £1,000, with duty-of-care fines up to £1,000.
New restaurant Sarakh registers on Grove Road
Sarakh has registered as a restaurant at 2 Grove Road, near Harpenden station, and is awaiting its first hygiene inspection.
Bread Ahead picks Harpenden for its first bakery outside London
The Borough Market bakery and baking school takes over the old Jacksons Plumbing unit on Harpenden High Street on 12 October, bringing all-day dining downstairs and a classroom above.
Harpenden has two pools for baby swimming. Nobody tells you
The directories still send Harpenden families to St Albans and Markyate to teach a baby to swim. They need not go: Leyton Road and Aldwickbury both run lessons inside the town. Here is what each offers, for whom, and when.
Where to take a baby or toddler in Harpenden
Free rhyme time on the High Street, church-hall drop-ins from £1.50, and a family-centre baby group at Southdown. A guide to what is on for under-fives in Harpenden, with days, times and prices, checked on 7 September 2026.
Four new Harpenden food businesses await first inspection
Three bakers and a mobile caterer have newly registered in Harpenden and have yet to be given a hygiene rating.
Battery in a Batford bin sets fire to refuse lorry
A battery put out with household waste in Batford started a fire in a refuse lorry on Common Lane on 21 July; the crew ejected the burning rubbish and firefighters arrived within four minutes.
Harpenden school bus routes renumbered from this term
Red Eagle's school services to St George's and Katherine Warrington schools changed numbers, timetables and routes on 1 September.
Three drivers reported in Harpenden speed checks
Speed enforcement on Luton Road, Cravells Road, Lower Luton Road and Station Road has produced three traffic offence reports, with more checks promised at varying times.
Council offers £2,000 grants for community projects
St Albans City and District Council is offering grants of up to £2,000 for projects it says will make the district more inclusive, accessible and connected. The district includes Harpenden.
Cash arrives at Harpenden's charged parking bays
St Albans council says 1,150 drivers a day are using Harpenden's on-street pay-and-display bays, and cash is now accepted as well as the app.
New caterer registered at Crabtree Junior School
Nourish Contract Catering has been registered at the Crabtree Lane school and is awaiting its first hygiene inspection.
