As we leap into the New Year, this is a great chance to look at some of the highlights of last year. I have written almost 50 columns about food and drink in our local area, and as anyone knows who lives around here, there are some wonderful places to eat and drink.

A bereaved Welwyn Garden City mum has told how she is “silently screaming in pain” 16 years after the death of her young son.

Tucked away in pretty Ayot Green, The Waggoners is a bit of a local’s secret, although it has been there for around 400 years!

Winter is the perfect time to head to a cosy pub and sit by a real log fire, and if that is after a country walk, all the better.

A pop-up men’s choir in Welwyn Garden City has raised £7,705 for three mental health charities after challenging themselves to put on a major concert.

A man who shook a crying, teething baby in Hatfield was today given a chance to put the incident behind him.

Shoppers in Welwyn Garden City have been giving their opinions on the current political turmoil.

Dozens of Traveller caravans are on unauthorised sites in Welwyn Hatfield, figures show.

A man who was fatally stabbed in a block of flats in Welwyn Garden City was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, a court has heard today.

Pretty Datchworth is tiny, but incredibly well-served for good food, with The Tilbury and lovely Datchworth Coffee.

Quarrying at a site in Hatfield – earmarked for mineral extraction by the county council – could pollute the water supply, it has been claimed.

Food waste collection options will be considered as part of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council efforts to increase recycling rates.

A 32-year-old was caught in Potters Bar after the gang he was part of used an electronic device to steal an £89,000 Range Rover from a driveway.

Two young men, one of whom is from Welwyn Garden City, have been sentenced for hurling Islamic abuse while punching and kicking their dark-haired victim - who was not in fact Muslim.

Welwyn Garden City’s male voice choir has boosted its numbers since it set up a charity pop-up choir for men who had hardly sung before.

Just a short drive or bike ride from Hatfield, The Saddlery café is located inside the Osprey shop on Coopers Green Lane.

There was more than one stalking and harassment case reported every day in Welwyn Hatfield over the last 12 months, figures reveal.

Benefit caps have been imposed on dozens of families in Welwyn Hatfield over the last year, new figures show.

More than one in five houses bought last year in Welwyn Hatfield were purchased as second homes or properties to rent out, figures show.

Dozens of rogue drivers are still on the roads in Welwyn Hatfield, despite racking up enough points for a ban.

Welwyn Hatfield is one of the fastest councils in Britain at processing new housing benefit claims, figures have revealed.

A Hatfield man who admitted being involved in a fight in Hatfield town centre told a judge today that he was going to try to “clean up his act”.

The next chief executive of Hertfordshire County Council has been appointed – earning him more than the Prime Minster as he rakes in £180,000 a year.

Plans to change the way libraries across Hertfordshire are run have been given the go-ahead by councillors, as part of a drive to save £500,000.

A bus driver raised eyebrows when he was caught short midway through his journey in Welwyn Garden City.

Nearly 40% of parents who have their child maintenance payments controlled by the Government in Welwyn Hatfield are failing to pay their ex-partners.

People in Welwyn Hatfield are less happy than they were a year ago, according to a new survey from the Office for National Statistics.

Back to school and college this month, so I’d like to focus on the amazing training college for chefs that is right on our doorstep – did you know it was here?

Going from rookie singers to confident performers, a pop-up men’s choir is tuning up to sing in aid of mental health charities at Hatfield House.

Hatfield has been named as one of the worst places in the UK to buy investment properties aimed at students.