The urban guide to the countryside -

Herts & Beds

Well, hello!

I'm Katrina, editor of Muddy Herts & Beds, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable in the area.

Gotta Have It

Advance warning: the grimmest day of the year is approaching. But here's how to make Blue Monday blue in a pleasingly different way this year.

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

This girl can!Juggling motherhood, jiggly bits and the barriers to exercising, This Girl Can is back with its brand new campaign and we *love* it!
Special Muddy hotel deal!January getting you down? I know, go on holiday. Marvellous Muddy extras for you and yours if you book one of the five stunning Luxury Family Hotels before 31 Jan. Get in quick!
10 of the best places to eat veganGoing vegan for January or just fancy a bit of a health kick? We've rounded up the places across the counties to try plant-based eating for size.
Muddy’s best winter walksWrap up warm, grab your walking boots and go in search of your own winter wonderland! Here's where we'll be striding out over the coming months.
Put a face to your indie favouritesWanna find out what it's really like to run a local business? We chat to some entrepreneurs in our area about why it's so important to get behind them, and how we can all do our bit.

What's On

This Weekend

Fri 17 - Sun 19 Jan

This Week

Mon 20 – Sun 26 Jan: From the British Wildlife Photography Awards Exhibit to a talk on Anne Frank and children’s theatre there’s something for everyone this week in our ‘hood.

This Month

January 2020

Little Black Book

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

Eat Out View more

10 of the best places to eat vegan

Going vegan for January or just fancy a bit of a health kick? We’ve rounded up the places across the counties to try plant-based eating for size.
- Muddy’s best winter walks
  
  Wrap up warm, grab your walking boots and go in search of your own winter wonderland! Here's where we'll be striding out over the coming months.
- 6 best afternoon teas
  
  Gather your girls, block out the diary and pass the bubbly and cucumber sandwiches
- Gastro Heaven!
  
  30 of the best cookery courses across the Muddy counties to tantalise your tastebuds, and impress even the fussiest dinner guest.
- Muddy Eats: The George of Harpenden
  
  This recently updated pub has had a serious facelift, shedding its rep as a dingy old boozer, and appealing to a far more refined Harpenden crowd with its Med-inspired all-day menus and luxe interiors. I booked in for Sunday brunch with friends.

School Reviews

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Read the reviews

Fun Finder

Making plans? Find your perfect Pub, Inn, Hotel, Café, Restaurant or Bar across the Muddy counties.

Call me Cupid! 46 romantic stays across the Muddy counties

In the mood for love? Of course you are, pussy cat! Here, allow us to assist with the rumpy pumpy with 46 romantic boltholes across the Muddy counties.
- 5 West Country wellbeing stays
  
  Looking for a Devon, Cornwall or Somerset escape? Hell yeah! Check out these stunning self-catering properties, all with on-site extras, from yoga and wine tasting to massage.
- Muddy reviews: Lawn House B&B
  
  This bucolic B&B in the grounds of Hatfield House in Herts makes an ideal stopover for those looking for a relaxing, rural bolthole, with plenty to explore on the doorstep.

Fashion View more

J’adore/ J’abhor

Leopard-print has come a LONG way from Bet Lynch’s barmaid wardrobe. It’s flipping everywhere now. But is it still chic? Cue an almighty rumble in the jungle with two Muddy staffers with very different views.
- Witness the fitness
  
  New year, new fitness routine? We're with you! Here's the Muddy edit of stylish sportswear that'll have you in tip-top form in no time.
- Let it snow
  
  Heading on a skiing holiday this year? Here's our shopping checklist for looking stylish on the slopes.

Beauty View more

- J’adore/ J’abhor
  
  To Ink or not to ink? That is the question that's getting the Muddy office fired up this week. Two editors battle it out (*ducks for cover*).
- J’adore/ J’abhor
  
  It's Movember, the month when blokes grow moustaches to raise money for charity. Turns out the Muddy crew have VERY mixed views on men's facial hair. Where do you stand?

Arts & Culture View more

This month’s best new reads

What kind of insaniac leaves the house in January? Retire to the sofa and get stuck into one of pro bookworm Kerry Potter’s enthralling new literary picks.
- Book now! The 2020 cultural picks you must not miss
  
  There's a ridiculous amount of amazing art, books, film, TV, music and theatre landing this year. Muddy's culture vulture Kerry Potter picks out the best of the bunch.
- Review: Sleeping Beauty at Rhodes Arts Complex
  
  For an all-singing, all-dancing twist on a fairytale favourite, with a stonking production team and a cast that really gives it some welly get your tickets now for this Christmas cracker of a panto.
- Review: The Snow Queen at Hertford Theatre
  
  It's panto but not as you know it... This 10th anniversary show is a sparkling specatacle of high energy performance and dazzling sets that won't disappoint.
- The best children’s books of the year
  
  From toddlers to teens, we've got the 16 best kids'reads of the year.

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Home View more

House beautiful! 5 chic interiors trends for 2020

New year, new decade, new home trends – time to go shopping, methinks…
- Speedy supper, anyone? Make THIS tonight
  
  The UK's most successful gymnast Max Whitlock has a recipe just for you. If you ask nicely he might just come round and cook it too.
- J’adore/ J’abhor
  
  Homemade Christmas decorations - part of the festive fun or a totally twee step too far? Two Muddy staffers duke it. What do YOU reckon?
Wellbeing
- Working (out) from home: 5 on-demand exercise classes
  
  Tear your eyes away from Netflix and get moving with these streaming fitness classes. No excuses now!
- This girl can!
  
  Juggling motherhood, jiggly bits and the barriers to exercising, This Girl Can is back with its brand new campaign and we love it!

Work View more

How to be happier at work

Don’t let work pressures and stress get you down. Founder of The Mind Tribe, Anji McGrandles, shares some tools and tips for keeping your wellbeing in check during the 9-5.
- Put a face to your indie favourites
  
  Wanna find out what it's really like to run a local business? We chat to some entrepreneurs in our area about why it's so important to get behind them, and how we can all do our bit.
- Flexible working – a personal view
  
  It's a contentious issue, that's for sure! As a full-time working mum and business owner, I can see both sides of that fence. Wanna know what I think?
Kids
- Feel the Rush
  
  Have an energetic toddler who needs wearing out? My daughter and I bounced our way over the border to High Wycombe's Rush trampoline park and new soft play area.
- St Edmund’s Prep School, Ware
  
  This Catholic co-ed Prep in a gloriously rural setting benefits from acres of land, senior school facilities and focuses on modern day values like kindness and community spirit.

People View more

Exclusive interview! Muddy meets…. Laurence Fox

The actor-turned-singer has been front page news since an incendiary appearance on Question Time last week. In this exclusive interview, he talks midlife crises, death threats and groupies with Muddy’s Kerry Potter.
- Muddy meets Josie Long
  
  We caught up with (we reckon) the most positive comedian in the business about motherhood, MasterChef, making people laugh and her new tour, Tender.
- Meet the woman who’s declared war on plastic
  
  We met Beth Noy, the founder of Plastic Freedom, an online shop collating the best plastic-free brands around. She's got some brilliant advice for us all.
- Yup, stage school works!
  
  Another year and another surge of nascent stars of the stage and screen graduate from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. Want to meet them?
- When Muddy met Shappi
  
  Comedian Shappi Khorsandi discusses new tour, her tips on how NOT to be funny and why you should do things that scare you (hell yeah!)