I was born in the Hitchin of Herts. Well, to be precise, I was born in the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, but Hitchin has always been home.

Having lived 'full-time' in Hitchin for eighteen years, I saw it grow and change as I did. We bade farewell to Woolworths and Safeway, saw off a questionable development regarding a cinema and multi-storey car park around St Mary's - and welcomed a Premier Inn.

Hitchin is a small market town with a big reputation.

When I went to the University of Nottingham in 2014, making Hitchin my 'part-time' home, I was surprised by how many people had heard of it. Be it passing a sign on the A1, or stopping off halfway between Cambridge and London. Having now lived in West Berkshire for three years, I am finding that Hitchin's notoriety extends throughout the Home Counties, as well as to the Midlands.

Hitchin is more, of course, than the excellent April Fool's of hitting unwitting participants' chins, and its relative fame is testimony to this.

Within its boundaries lie three excellent secondary schools; I know, because I attended all of them as part of the Hitchin Schools Sixth Form Consortium.

While this isn't entirely unique to Hitchin, it's certainly not standard fare, and is something pretty special in my humble opinion.

Hitchin Girls' School, however, was the school I attended primarily for seven years, the last year of which I spent as deputy head girl.

The walk to school was just over a mile in length, and I spent my first couple of years bemoaning the distance (and hefty hill!), having been much closer to my primary school.

Yet, as the years went by, I developed a new appreciation for my daily route. I have often thought the view of St Mary's church from the other side of the river to be the iconic shot of Hitchin, and I very much miss seeing this beautiful building twice daily.

While Windmill Hill was a worthy adversary at 8am each morning, the views it offered of miles around softened my views towards it over time. Hitchin Girls' School itself was a fantastic choice for me, and I have many memories from there which will never fade.

I was lucky enough to have some truly incredible, unforgettable teachers, and I was heartbroken to learn of my music teacher's untimely passing last year.

While I would never have wished it under such circumstances, his funeral afforded me the opportunity to reunite with some of my other teachers, and update them that I have followed in their footsteps.

Following three years of living part-time in Hitchin, part-time in Nottingham, I achieved a First Class degree with Honours in English, moving the very next month to Cold Ash, a village in Berkshire, to start my first full-time job at a boarding school.

After two years of living in a boarding house, I moved out to Newbury, a large market town (with striking similarities to somewhere else I've lived!) and am now a full-time English teacher at the same school.

I purchased my first home in July, although the process of buying during a pandemic was an education I could have happily gone through life without!

Newbury may now be where my sat nav welcomes me 'home' - but Hitchin is the place I come to visit my mum for weekends and holidays at 'home'.