St Albans Old Town Hall

One of my snatched evening sketches. The town hall has a nice cafe below and hosts various exhibitions/performances/sales in the rather grand space above. I have a vision of waving grandly to the assembled crowds from the balcony.......

St Albans Cinema

When I was small this town had 2 cinemas. One became a block of flats when I was quite young but this one was where I saw all the films of my childhood. It was rather brutaly chopped into about 4 screens before falling into disuse & leaving the city without a proper cinema.

Now a campaign has raised over a million pounds towards the cost of refurbishing it.

http://www.therexberkhamsted.com/stalbans.asp

Bat & Ball

I find myself on a Tuesday with some free time between dropping off and collecting various Teenagers. Time to park the car somewhere interesting (where nobody can look over my shoulder) and draw. This lovely narrow building was a pub long before I can remember. It has housed various shops, and is currently a nail parlour. My father taught me to look up when walking through towns to see the heritage above.

Hovis Bakery

Inspired by Urban Sketchers I've been trying to record places that interest me in St Albans. This corner shop is no longer a bakery but still a useful & friendly little shop overlooking a park where I sometimes walk with my dog. It's a little piece of my childhood. My Grandparents used to live around the corner when my mum was a baby. When I was young we walked their dog across the Heath and played on the swings & slide.