Parking
There was no official car park for the residents living above the shops at The Parade, Marlowes. The shop beneath us had an arrangement with a private club to rent a warehouse in a yard, and we got word from the Hemel Hempstead Bowling Club that had a bowling green behind us, that we could park in their car park.
At the time we needed to park Dad's shop van, Mum's Wartburg estate car, my brother's Ford Zephyr. And then there was my car.
1. My first car was a Ford Capri and I used to park it in the bowling green car park. Before long, the bowling green, orchard, and car park were sold for development of the Guinness Trust flats on Alexandra Road. The flats came with parking spaces but those were strictly for use by the residents of those flats, so, I began to park beside the kerb on Marlowes. This was ok if you could find a space that wasn't taken up by a bus stop, as the traffic wardens were keen on protecting that space for buses.
When the council decided to put down a yellow line we had to park elsewhere.
2. When you could find a space, there was more unrestricted parking available in front of Maitland Joseph House, and if not there, in a free public bay off Dacorum Way.
Parking limitations were then put on the spaces in front of Maitland Joseph House, and, I think on those spaces at Dacorum Way, although overnight parking was easier there. But as a shift worker, I needed daytime parking, too. It wasn't long after that, that Dacorum Borough Council decided to reserve those bay spaces just for its council employees.
So we had to park elsewhere.
3. So we parked in a public car park used for visitors to the council offices. Then the council decided to make entry to this area limited to council staff cardholders only. So we had to park elsewhere.
4. So we tried squeezing into spaces left on Alexandra Road nearby. Then the council decided to restrict parking on that road to 1 hour. So we had to park elsewhere.
5. Sometimes, we were lucky and could get into spaces on another nearby residential road. But it wasn't long before the council decided to bring in residents-only parking (for people living on that residential road). So we had to park elsewhere.
6. There were spaces at Gadebridge Park next to a newly created playground. These spaces were even further to walk back to the house than all the other previous options. Then the council decided to introduce a charge to park in this car park: 50p for a maximum of 2 hours.
7. So I moved.
8. My first flat - 1977/8 - I made sure the place I chose came with a garage!
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