Bishop's Stortford & district · Local news you can trust
The town's Christmas Fayre is Saturday 5 December, 9.30am to 4.30pm, with over 100 stalls. Hertford Castle and Knebworth both run 27 to 29 November.
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Events
What's On in Bishop's Stortford: Oktoberfest, Fireworks 7 Nov
Oktoberfest on Sworder's Field on 24 October, half-term films from £5, Fairport down to 21 seats, then free fireworks on 1 November and rugby's on the 7th.
Local Info
Bishop's Stortford Roadworks: No Trains 17-18 Oct, M11 J7
No trains at Bishop's Stortford on 17-18 October; buses run. The M11 J7 exit at Harlow shuts for two months from 19 October. This week's closures, checked.
East Herts Council
East Herts Housing Register: 12-Month Residency Rule Planned
East Herts plans to shut its housing register to new applicants who have not lived in the district for 12 months. The Executive considers it on 6 October.
Sawbridgeworth
Mackay Property, Sawbridgeworth: £468,920 Owed to Creditors
Two Mackay Property companies were wound up on 8 September owing £468,920, with HMRC owed £257,956. The Bell Street office now trades as Muvin.
Bins
Bishop's Stortford Christmas bins: 2026 dates and last year's
East Herts moved every collection from 25 December to 16 January last year, some by three days. The 2026 table is not out yet; here is last year's in full.
Schools
Bishop's Stortford term dates 2026/27: half term by school
Herts half term is 26 to 30 October, but Hockerill and the College break for two weeks from 17 October and St Mary's returns on 4 November. Every date here.
Recycling centre
Bishop's Stortford tip: shut Tue and Wed, ePass needed
Bishop's Stortford tip opens 8.30am to 4pm, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and every car now needs a free ePass. Christmas closures and the nearest daily sites.
Trains
Bishop's Stortford Christmas trains: 2025 ran to Stratford
Last Christmas Liverpool Street shut for eight days and Stortford trains ran to Stratford. Greater Anglia's 2026 plan is not out yet; here is what to expect.
Half term
Bishop's Stortford half term: 26-30 Oct, free pumpkin patch
Herts half term is 26 to 30 October. A free pumpkin patch, £5 children's films, a skeleton hunt at Mountfitchet and the forest car park that shuts on Mondays.
Hatfield Forest
Hatfield Forest in winter: car parks shut Mon and Tue
From 26 October Hatfield Forest's car parks and café close every Monday and Tuesday, last car in 2.30pm. Shut 25 and 26 December. Parking £9 for non-members.
East Herts Council
East Herts Community Assets: Buyers Get a Full Year
Councillors decide on 29 September whether community groups get 12 months, not six, to buy a listed pub. Sawbridgeworth Library joined the register in May.
House prices
East Herts house prices: terraces hit a record £415,559
Terraced homes set a record £415,559 in July, the only East Herts type that rose. The district average slipped £732 to £457,417. Full figures.
This site covers two parts of Hertfordshire that do not usually get put together. Bishop’s Stortford sits on the Stort and the Essex border, with Sawbridgeworth below it and Stansted Airport a few minutes up the road. Broxbourne, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt and Hoddesdon are further west, strung along the Lea and the road and rail lines into London.
They are in different district councils, and we are straightforward about that throughout, because it decides who empties your bin and who rules on the application next door. What the two halves share is a county, a set of railway lines into Liverpool Street, and the same problem of decisions being published where nobody reads them. We read them and report what they say, with a link to the document each time.
The Local Info hub collects these and everything else we hold on the practical side of living here. News and What’s On follow as the site grows.
Every fact carries a link to its official source.