Party & Wedding band bookings in Hertfordshire

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St Albans was the location of the major Roman town in what is now Hertfordshire, and has been an important centre since the Romans chose it as the site of Verulamium, one of their finest towns in Britain. It was important to the Normans, too; and when they built their great abbey church, the present cathedral, they incorporated in its fabric a central tower of red brick from the earlier Roman town. The abbey was not a rich one, however, and because of the lack of abbey funds in the Middle Ages, the rest of west Hertfordshire's churches are serviceable rather than striking, though the flint parish church in Hatfield, up by the gate to Hatfield House is delightful and had, when I was living in the area, a magnificent pipe organ with base notes that made your insides shake. I recall as a child asking the organist to play music at the end of the service that used all the bass pipes. He usually obliged.

Thatch, half-timbering, tiles and weather-boarding are the dominant styles in west Hertfordshire's villages. The county is lacking in durable stone for building as it consists mainly of undulating chalk-lands, such as the gentle eastern slopes of the Chiltern Hills—with some deposits of clay in the river valleys to the south. Delightful beechwoods cover the high ground around Ashridge Common near Little Gaddesden in the north-west.

Main roads from the Romans' Watling Street to the M1 have always sliced through Hertfordshire. But between Hitchin and St Albans is a belt of unspoilt countryside that is typical of rural Hertfordshire. There are numerous scattered villages, such as St Paul's Walden where the Queen Mother was born in 1900 at a house called The Bury, home of the Bowes-Lyon family. Leafy lanes zigzag through the countryside only a few miles from two traffic-laden motorways; and large trees, reminders that Hertfordshire used to be densely wooded, soften the contours of grassy hills and steep little valleys.

From ancient times, good roads from the coast through London have taken travellers hurrying across Hertfordshire on their way to the North. The Romans built Ermine Street, which ran from Pevensey to York. The Great North Road (A1 and A1M) became the backbone of the county, and divided it in half as effectively as a natural barrier.   Modern  motorways  have  taken  the  dismemberment of the county a stage further.

Between the main roads to the North, however, old villages remain unspoilt, with little traffic, and there are pleasant circuitous routes running from west to east. An exceptional number of Elizabethan and Jacobean houses were built in this area, which had the advantages of being near London and offering good hunting in the forests, which still survive in scattered patches of the county.

Many small rivers flow to join the River Lea, itself a main tributary of the Thames. Northwards, the land rises where the heavy clay of the Thames Basin is overlaid by chalk; the highest points are the easternmost humps of the Chilterns. There are well-signposted footpaths crossing the area and a maze of lanes leads through a landscape filled with the charm of a typical English rural scene.

The Industrial Revolution did not greatly affect Hertfordshire, as the county had no coal or iron: but the continuing growth of London has encroached a good deal. Britain's first garden city, Letchworth, was planned in 1903. The second was Welwyn Garden City (1920). Then came the new towns built round an existing nucleus in the 1940’s: Steven-age, Hatfield, and the further extension of Welwyn Garden City. There is a good deal of industry, both light and heavy, and the agriculture is also mixed. In the Lea Valley around Waltham Cross and Cheshunt there are acres of heated glasshouses under which are produced salad crops.

Sopwell HouseCottonmill Lane St Albans Hertforshire, AL1 2HQ, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding of Julie & Robert  The BF String Quartet ref: 2665

St Albans, AL1 3FN, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The BF String Quartet ref: 2665

St.Albans, AL1 3FN, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The BF String Quartet ref: 2665

The city of St Albans dates back 2000 years and is the third important town on the site. The Belgic tribes who spread through the area had a settlement here; there are earthworks in Prae Wood, 11 miles west of the town. The Romans built Verula-mium beside the River Ver, to the west of the present city. It is thought from a reference in Tacitus, the Roman historian, that Verulamium may have been one of the few examples in Britain of a municipium, in which the inhabitants had the same rights as citizens of Rome. The Roman hypocaust, or heating system, and a theatre can still be seen, and there are other remains in the nearby museum. Just to the east is one of Britain's oldest inns, Ye Old Fighting Cocks, which was rebuilt in 1600 on medieval foundations. The i8th-centurv clock tower, 77 ft high, offers a fine view-over the city.

The cathedral, St Albans Abbey, crowns a hill. Alban, a Roman soldier executed outside Verulamium in AD 303, was the first Christian martyr in Britain; the Saxons built an abbey on the supposed site of his martyrdom. The abbey was rebuilt by the Normans, and enlarged in the 13th century. It became a cathedral in 1877, when the bishopric was created. At the same time the Puritans' whitewash was cleaned from the piers of the long Norman nave, to reveal a series of medieval wall-paintings. More fine paintings have come to light during restoration in recent years.

 

St Peter's Church, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3HG, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The BF String Quartet ref: 2665

The Maltings Arts TheatreLevel 2 The Maltings St Albans Herts, AL1 3HL, Hertfordshire

 

Big birthday party The BL Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4319

St. Paul's Church, Blandford Road, St Albans. , AL1 4JP, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The WT Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4082.2

Gurney Court Road - Residential House163 Gurney Court Road St Albans, AL1 4QY, Hertfordshire

 

50th Birthday Party - Alison The TS Ceilidh Band ref: 6182.2

The university used to be Hatfield Technical College, which was attached to Hatfield Technical Grammar School, a grammar school that specialised in science (this was where the first Computer Science GCSE was taught and examined), and pupils had access to the very early punch tape computer in the College. However it was a place of excellence for music, with the head master Dr Hutton, a chemist, was also a bassoonist and music lessons being offered in a wide range of instruments. The next headmaster, Mr Slaney, was a fellow of the Royal College of Organisers as well as being, I seem to recall, a mathematician? So there was no shortage of musical influence at the school. It also had close connections with the Hertfordshire Youth Orchestra, that had such prestigious conductors as Leonard Hirsch, who conducted the National Youth Orchestra, and had lead the Hirsch String Quartet. There was also Muir Mathiason, who was also the conductor of the Rank Organisation Film Orchestra. The university has now taken over all the buildings and the school, assuming it still exists, has moved.

Outdoors, College Lane Campus, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts. , AL10 9AB, Hertfordshire

 Barbeque for research students and supervisors The CN String Quartet ref: 2025

 

The population of this old coaching town increased hugely in 1946, when a new town was built to the west of the main road. But on the east the charming Georgian old town survives; Houses in the High Street, dating from 1681, are notable far their decorative plasterwork, more characteristic of East Anglia. The old town climbs a hill which is crowned by the 13th-century St Etheldreda's Church flint walled church, and the 15th-century Old Palace. Elizabeth I lived in the palace as a child and it was there that she heard the news of her sister Mary's death and her own accession in 1558.

The Old Palace is the threshold to Hatfield House, one of the finest Jacobean houses in Britain. It was built from 1608-12, in the shape of an E, by Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury and Elizabeth I's Secretary of State. It contains mementoes of the queen. The house is the home of the present Marquess of Salisbury, and is surrounded by 1500 acres of parkland, with woods and some farmland.

At the gates there used to be an old first world war tank as a monument, but I believe it has been allowed to rust and is no longer there.

The Forum Hertfordshire, College Lane Hatfield Hertfordshire , AL10 9AB, Hertfordshire

 Live music booking for Wedding reception The FR Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4565

The Style Bar, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, Hertfordshire

 

New Year Gathering for Doctoral College at University of Hertfordshire The LS Trio ref: 6402

All Saints Pastral Centre, Shenley Lane,  London Colney,  Herts. , AL2 1AF, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The LS Trio ref: 6402

Bricketwood social Club nr St Albans, AL2 3LQ, Hertfordshire

 

Surprise 65th Birthday The TS Ceilidh Band ref: 6182.2

OA Sport, Woollam Playing Fields, 160 Harpenden Road, St Albans, Herts. , AL3 6BB, Hertfordshire

 

Burns Night The LT Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4541.1

Woollam's Playing Fields, 160 Harpenden Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire. , AL3 6BB, Hertfordshire

 

Charity Ball The NN Party / Covers Band ref: 5914

Broomhill Shooting Ground, Windmill Lane, Markyate, Hertfordshire. , AL3 8LP, Hertfordshire

 

Live music booking for Wedding The LT Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4541.1

Cherrie's house104 Fishpool St. St Albans Herts, AL34RX, Hertfordshire

 

SURPRISE Husband's (Chris) 60 th birthday The ER Jazz Trio ref: 6027

Colney Heath village hallHigh Street Colney heath St Albans Herts, AL4 0NS, Hertfordshire

 

40th birthday party The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

Village Hall,High Street, Colney Heath, St Albans, Herts. , AL4 0NS, Hertfordshire

 

A 70th birthday party barndance The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.2

The Memorial Hall, Marford Road, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. , AL4 8AY, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The WT Ceilidh/ Barn Dance Band ref: 4082.1

Royal Oak Cottage, Lower Luton Rd, Wheathampstead, Herts, , AL4 8HQ, Hertfordshire

 

40th Birthday & 10th Wedding Anniversary The AHA Ceilidh /Barn Dance Band ref: 4788

Mid Herts Golf Club, Lamer Lane, Gustard Wood, Wheathampstead, Herts. , AL4 8RS, Hertfordshire

 

40th Wedding Anniversary The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.1

one of the characteristics of this golf course is that it is surrounded by mature trees in a very attractive part of the Hertfordshire countryside. It doesn't push the business of being a wedding venue in the same way that many golf clubs have it very high on their agenda, so this is presumably very much a golfers golf club and golf course, but they do offer the club facilities which are excellent, to nonmembers, and the clubhouse conceit up to hundred and 20 guests, which is an ideal size either for a jazz band to play, sufficiently small for a string quartet to be heard effectively the wedding reception, or enough room for a ceilidh.

Mid Herts Golf Club, Lamer Lane, Gustard Wood, Wheathampstead, Herts. , AL4 8RS, Hertfordshire

 

Social evening The OD Ceilidh/ Barn Dance Band ref: 4831

Mid Herts Golf Club, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts. , AL4 8RS, Hertfordshire

 

St Patricks Dinner & Ceilidh The BK Ceilidh /Barn Dance Band ref: 4395

St Albans Tennis Club Jersey Lane, St Albans , AL4 9AE, Hertfordshire

 

Retirement Party  The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

Little Orchard, Roundhouse Farm, Roestock Lane, Colney Heath, St Albans, Herts. , AL40PP, Hertfordshire

 

40th wedding anniversary The MT Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4369

Harpenden Common Golf Club Cravells Road East Common Harpenden , AL5 1BL, Hertfordshire

 

Birthday Party - Joint - Janet and Keith The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.1

Harpenden House Hotel, 18 Southdown Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire. , AL5 1PE, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The ST Jazz Trio ref: 3711.2

The old High Street of Harpenden has picturesque houses and shops, a reminder ot the time when this present-day London commuters' town was an agricultural village. The common, off the High Street, slopes south and gives good views of the Harpenden Valley

The Grove Junior School Dark Lane Harpenden Hertfordshire , AL5 1QB, Hertfordshire

 

40th party/fundraiser in a school  The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2FE, Hertfordshire

 

40th birthday celebration small garden party The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

Park Hall, Leyton Road, Harpenden. , AL5 2LX, Hertfordshire

 

50th birthday party The BA Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4417

The Oval Chapel, Ambrose Lane, Harpenden, Herts, , AL5 4BX, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The AR String Quartet ref: 2028

Crabtree Fields Scout Hut Waldegrave Park Harpenden, , AL5 5SF, Hertfordshire

 

Fundraiser for High Beeches Primary School The VA American Barn Dance Band ref: 4868

Tewin Bury Farm Hotel, AL6 0JB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding of Jane and Adrian The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.1

Tewin Bury Farm Hotel,  , AL6 0JB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The TD Jazz Trio ref: 3791.1

Tewin Bury Farm Hotel, B1000 Hertford Road, Nr WELWYN, Hertfordshire. , AL6 0JB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The SG Jazz Trio ref: 3791.2

Tewin Bury Farm Hotel, B1000 Hertford Road, Nr Welwyn, Herts, , AL6 0JB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding of Jane and Adrian The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.1

Tythe Barn, Tewin Bury Farm, Welwyn , AL6 0JB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The LT Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4541.1

the tithe barn is real barn, smartened up but not change so much that is lost the effect of the original barn. It even has a solid oak floor, but avoids the drafters of a barn with underfloor heating. Of course, this gives a perfect setting for a genuine American barn dance, or English country dance, both of which are very popular for the evening entertainment wedding reception, but it also has a minstrel's gallery. This can be used to great effect by a string quartet, jazz trio or other small ensemble, making sure that the sound reaches even the back of the room so that all guests can hear the music, without it becoming obtrusive to those close by or inaudible from those further away. Minstrel calories are very rare now in modern architecture, although I do know a couple of hotels to have such galleries in their rooms, but on the whole architects these days seem to have lost the plot regarding acoustics and live music, and tend to build spaces which are unsuitable for music, and indeed have acoustics that are soporific even conversation. The guys who built the old baronial halls, and places like this but, must have been used to having live music and understood the acoustic requirements. Having said that, I guess the minstrel's gallery and this barn is properly a modern addition, people didn't normally sit in minstrel's gallery playing music to the cows and goats, so this was probably a decision of a current day architect. Clearly there are still some architects around who understand music. Good on you Sir or M are adam!

But architects these days seem to Memorial Hall, Lower Green,Tewin , AL6 0LE, Hertfordshire

 

40th birthday party The LY Barn Dance /Ceilidh Band ref: 4326.1

Welwyn, Herts, AL6 9NN, Hertfordshire

 

Birthday party The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

Tewin Bury Farm, Hertford Road, Welwyn, Herts, , AL6 OJB, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The BF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 6064

The 40 arches of the Welwyn viaduct span the valley and was built in 1850 by the Great Northern Railway to link Peterborough and King's Cross

The Shamrock Club, , AL7 2AD, Hertfordshire

 

40th Birthday Party The TL Ceilidh/ Barn Dance Band ref: 4881.4

The Shamrock Club, Ridgeway, Welwyn Garden City, , AL7 2AD, Hertfordshire

 

40th Birthday Party The TL Ceilidh/ Barn Dance Band ref: 4881.4

Elizabeth House - Care Home Elizabeth Close, Moors Walk, Welwyn Garden City , AL7 2JB, Hertfordshire

 

Cheese and Wine party for relatives  Latin American harpist - Ricardo ref: 2497

Mill Green Golf Club, Gypsy Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire , AL7 4TY, Hertfordshire

 

60th Birthday party The BK Ceilidh /Barn Dance Band ref: 4395

Down Hall Country House Hotel. Matching Road, Hatfield Heath, Nr Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. , CM22 7AS, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The AV String Ensemble ref: 2031

Manuden Village Community Centre, David Collins Drive, Manuden Bishop's Stortford Hertfordshire , CM23 1EH, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding reception barn dance The TL Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4881.5

Summercroft School Plaw Hatch Close, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 5BJ, Hertfordshire

 

Hogmanay / 30th Birthday  The TL Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4881.5

High Lea Conference centreLord Street, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire , EN11 8SG, Hertfordshire

 

Ceilidh as part of our church weekend away The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.2

YHA Lee Valley, Windmill Lane, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. , EN8 9AJ, Hertfordshire

 

60th birthday family-friends reunion The WT Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4082.2

Watermill Hotel London Road, Bourne End, Hemel Hempstead , HP1 2RJ, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding Reception The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.2

 

50th Birthday Party The LR Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4830.2

The museum at Tring has a fine collection of stuffed animals where visitors can watch raw silk being produced by silk worms. Beside the ruins of the 14th-century village church a gate leads across a field to a beautiful little church with a Grecian front, built by Nicholas Revett in 1778-9.

Wilstone Village Hall Wilstone, Nr Tring, , HP23 4PE, Hertfordshire

 

70th Birthday Party The TS Ceilidh Band ref: 6182.2

Cecilia Church Hall Beaulieu Road Nr Lyndhurst , HP23 4PR, Hertfordshire

 

Sixtieth birthday The BL Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4319

2 Manor Road Tring, Herts, HP23 5DA, Hertfordshire

 

18th Birthday for family and friends  The GL Function / Covers Band ref: 6392

Wigginton village hallChesham road Wigginton Herts , HP236EH, Hertfordshire

 

50th birthday party The OX Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4750.2

Lacey Green Millenium Village Hall Main Road, Lacey Green, HP27 0QT, Hertfordshire

 

Charity Burns Night The LD Ceilidh / Barn Dance band ref: 4734.2

Speen Primary School Pye Lane Speen, HP27 0SX, Hertfordshire

 

Family Party The CS Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4302.3

Princes Risborough Community CentreThe Grove Ilkley, HP27 9AX, Hertfordshire

 

Birthday Party The OX Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4750.1

Street Farm, Bovingdon , HP3 0JR, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The KF Barn Dance / Ceilidh Band ref: 4522.1

Ashridge Management College, Berkhamsted, Herts, , HP4 1NS, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding The CN String Quartet ref: 2025

Berkhampsted is an attractive country town on the Grand Union Canal. There is a large church, parts of which are 13th century, where the father of the poet William Cowper was once rector. Cowper was born in Berkhamsted rectory in 1731. The Norman castle, now in ruins except for earthworks and a moat, was a favourite royal residence until Elizabeth I's time.

 

Potten End Village HallThe Green Potten End Nr Berkhamsted Herts, HP4 2QG, Hertfordshire

 

Live music hire for Wedding Party The OX Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4750.1

Restore Hope Restore Hope, Latimer Park Farm, Chesham , HP5 1TU, Hertfordshire

 

Fundraising barn dance  The RG Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 0342.1

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Buckthorn Avenue STEVENAGE , SG1 1TN, Hertfordshire

 

Church barn dance and hog roast  The TL Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4881.5

Nearby Much Hadham is one of the county's showpieces. The village has impressive old buildings because it was for centuries the country seat of the Bishops of London. Their palace, near the originally 12th-century church, is mainly Jacobean. Much Hadham Hall dates from 1735, and the house called The Lordship has William and Mary stables and huge yew hedges. The 16th-century Morris Cottage was the home of William Morris's sister.

 

Great Hadham Golf Club Great Hadham Road, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire , SG10 6JE, Hertfordshire

 

Burns night to raise funds for charity  The OX Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4750.2

The Great Hadham Country and Golf Club, Great Hadham Road, Much Hadham, Herts, , SG10 6JE, Hertfordshire

 

40th birthday party The NU Ceilidh / Barn Dance Band ref: 4880

 

St Edmund's College Chapel, Old Hall Green, Ware, Herts, , SG11 1DS, Hertfordshire

Live music hire for Wedding The CN String Quartet ref: 2025

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