Startop takes its namesake from Startop’s End, a hamlet, farm, nature reserve and reservoir - one of four that makes up ‘Tring Reserviors’, alongside Marsworth, Tringford and Wilstone. The area is believed to have expanded from Startop Farm, which in turn was likely named after its owners, members of the Startop family. The etymology of the surname can be traced back to ‘Startup’,  from the Middle English styrtan-up (to leap up), denoting someone of Read more >

Deep below an Iron-Age hill-fort, in Hexton, near Hitchin, lies a sleeping warrior king. One day he will wake to reclaim his kingdom...

In 1784, the “Daredevil Aeronaut” Vincenzo Lunardi, accompanied by a dog, a cat and a pigeon, set off in his hydrogen balloon from London to Standon Green End. He paused only to touch down in Welham Green to release the cat, as it seemed airsick…

The Alchemist of Lilley, Hertfordshire, is the tale of Dr John Kellerman, a scientist and practising magician who honed his talent for the dark arts in his mansion-come-laboratory! Kellerman’s mansion was supposedly converted into a highly-guarded fortress where the doctor would perform alchemy to create heaps of gold. Once his secret got out and the fort was compromised, The Alchemist escaped through his skills of disappearance and vanished, along with his secret methods, forevermore. Read more >