Now, let’s talk logistics. Royston sits on the Thameslink and Great Northern line. You can get to King’s Cross in about 40 minutes. That’s faster than getting across London in a taxi. It’s absurdly convenient.
You’ll see people in suits running for the 7:43 train, clutching coffee and existential dread. But here’s the thing: they chose that commute. They could have moved to Stevenage, but they picked the town with the mystery hole. That counts for something. You trade a bit of city nightlife for a shorter commute and a garden.
The High Street: A Time Capsule
The high street is a glorious mess. You have a WHSmith, a Boots, and a charity shop that always smells faintly of mothballs and regret. But you also have an excellent butcher, a bakery that sells sausage rolls that could solve world peace, and a shop that sells only walking sticks and hearing aid batteries. It’s a complete demographic snapshot.
There’s a café called “The Greenery” where the owner will remember your order after one visit. That’s terrifying or charming, depending on your level of social anxiety. The secret is to embrace it: you are now a local character, even if you just bought a loaf of bread.
