This expanse of land that stretches across seemingly never-ending fields and woodland to west of the A10 has practically no residential or suburban development, apart from a small number of detached houses, cottages, and farm buildings. It’s hard to believe that this vast expanse of open green space its only an hour and a half away from central London. Protected nationally due to its delicate and diverse ecology and history, it’s also home to Broxbourne Woods National Nature reserve, Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club and Paradise Wildlife Park. However, just on the other side of the A10 is Broxbourne, which is a semi-rural enclave accessible on the West Anglia Main Line. The neighbourhood’s quiet, countryside nature and relatively straight forward commuting distance to London makes it ideal for raising a family.

It doesn’t take an archaeologist to look at this area’s landscape and see that it probably hasn’t changed much in several centuries. The land has barely been developed and instead was passed down from owner to owner. A few excavations show evidence of Roman and Medieval settlements using coppiced woodland for fuel wood and grazing cows on pastures. The Knights Templar were even thought to have used the area as their own grounds. Broxbourne, on the other hand has been a residential spot since the 11th century. It became relatively well-known in the 19th century for terra cotta works and specifically for artificial rock garden features.

The area is also home to a very niche museum – the Speedway museum, celebrating a rare brand of motorsport. The museum ended up in this rural location because the owner of Paradise Wildlife Park, Peter Sampson, was a successful speedway rider in the 1960s. The museum is apparently open to anyone “who may never have had the opportunity to experience the unique noise, smell, speed and sheer excitement of the sport.”

Unsurprisingly, the locality has limited transport links, amenities or housing – it essentially has very little infrastructure in general. Residential Broxbourne also has a few disadvantages of its own, the key one being the long and sometimes unpredictable connections into London.

The open spaces of the area are fiercely protected by the local authorities, so expansion is unlikely to be seen any time soon. However, nearby in Cheshunt and Wormley there are significant developments on the way – specifically the creation of Brookfield Garden Village which will provide 1500 new homes and a variety of new amenities including a school and commercial space.