Bishop's Stortford news
Bishop's Stortford news, newest first, from Bishop's Stortford News: planning, roads, schools, business and what's on in Bishop's Stortford, with every story linked to its source.
Top story
Bishop's Stortford carols: 28 Nov, Nine Lessons 20 Dec
Bishop's Stortford's carol dates: Salvation Army community carols on 28 November, Nine Lessons on 20 December and the bandstand singalong on the 23rd.
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Christmas
Christmas Shopping in Bishop's Stortford: 13 Shops Worth the Trip
We checked 13 shops near Bishop's Stortford, from Coopers on Bridge Street to Eye Mind Heart in Hertford, for hours and addresses. Updated November 2026.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford Weather: 7-Day Forecast and Today's Hourly Outlook
Bishop's Stortford weather today: drizzle, 10°C by day and 8°C overnight, with a 65% chance of rain and winds up to 5 mph.
Christmas
Bishop's Stortford Christmas fun run: Sun 29 Nov, from £7
Grove Cottage's Festive Fun Run is Sunday 29 November at Sworders Field: 5K or 1K at 11am, adults £14, children £7, antlers included. Times and booking.
Christmas
Bishop's Stortford Santa's grotto: £19, 76 of 89 sold out
South Mill Arts' grotto is £19 a child; 76 of 89 sessions had gone by 5 November, and only 5 and 22 December have several left. Plus Audley End's Santa.
Flooding
Bishop's Stortford Flooding: Stansted Road Tops East Herts
Stansted Road has more reported flooding incidents than any other road in East Herts, a new council study says. The streets, river banks and sewers it flags.
Business
Bishop's Stortford New Companies: 37 Formed in September
37 new companies registered a Bishop's Stortford office in September 2026, up from 25 in August. A tyre hub, a playbarn, a bakery and the rest of the list.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford Christmas markets: Fayre Sat 5 Dec
The Christmas Fayre fills the town centre on Saturday 5 December with over 100 stalls; Harlow's market is set for 12 to 20 December. Hertford, Knebworth too.
Crime
Bishop's Stortford Crime Figures: Shoplifting Up 41%
Shoplifting reports in central Bishop's Stortford rose 41% in a year, to 311, and July set a record for all crime. The full police.uk figures.
Halloween
Bishop's Stortford Halloween 2026: What Was On
Pumpkin picking at Hatter's Farm from £5 and Cammas Hall from £6.95, both open from 3 October, plus a free town-centre pumpkin patch on 30 and 31 October.
Christmas
Bishop's Stortford Santa sleigh: 8 nights from 4 Dec
The Round Table's Santa sleigh plans eight nights from Friday 4 December, Parsonage Lane first and Bishop's Park last. The areas and dates, and how to track it.
Events
What's On in Bishop's Stortford: fireworks, Christmas lights
The rugby club's last fireworks on 7 November, Remembrance on the 8th, the Christmas lights on at 4.30pm on the 15th and the panto from the 26th.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford Roadworks: North Street One-Way 9 Nov
North Street goes one-way on Monday 9 November and car-free at weekends from 13 November, as M11 junction 8 works begin. This week's closures near the town.
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. Full Council votes on 14 October.
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
Bishop's Stortford College, Hockerill, TBSHS, Herts and Essex and St Mary's term dates for 2026/27 side by side, with the county's dates and next year's too.
Recycling centre
Bishop's Stortford tip: shut Tue and Wed, ePass needed
Bishop's Stortford tip opening times, the two weekdays it shuts, the free ePass every car now needs, Christmas closures and the nearest sites open daily.
Trains
Bishop's Stortford Christmas trains: Liverpool St stays open
Stortford trains run to Liverpool Street this Christmas: last trains by 10pm on Christmas Eve, none on Christmas Day, Boxing Day a Stansted Express only.
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.
Bishop's Stortford
Old River Lane: 171-Home Scheme No Longer Viable
Cityheart has told East Herts the 171-home Old River Lane scheme cannot be built as proposed. An all-affordable option is now on the table, with no timetable.
Fireworks
Bishop's Stortford fireworks: RFC's last display Sat 7 Nov
The rugby club's last ever display is 7 November, fireworks 7pm, £25 a family; Cammas Hall Farm runs 7 and 8 November at £36.50 a car. Updated November 2026.
Bishop's Stortford
Stortford Christmas lights on 15 Nov at 4.30pm, Fayre 5 Dec
Belle from the panto switches the lights on around 4.30pm on Sunday 15 November, with free parking at Northgate End; the Fayre is Saturday 5 December.
Bishop's Stortford
Stortford panto: Beauty & the Beast from £15.50, 26 Nov
Beauty & the Beast runs 36 shows at South Mill Arts from 26 November, £15.50 to £28.50 a seat. Christmas Eve 3pm has 65 seats left; 28 December is nearly empty.
Bishop's Stortford
Stortford Remembrance Sunday: 8 Nov, roads shut 10.30am
Service 10.50am Sunday 8 November at Castle Gardens. The 2026 order shuts Link Road and The Causeway 10.30am to 12.30pm; three car parks are locked in.
Bishop's Stortford
Water Lane Hall: Council Asked for £22,500 to Proceed
East Herts is asked to spend £22,500 on legal work towards handing Water Lane Hall to a community company. The Executive decides on Tuesday 8 September.
East Herts Council
East Herts £440k Overspend: BEAM Deficit Hits £302k
East Herts is three months into the year and £440,000 over budget. BEAM in Hertford is forecast to lose £302,000, and planning agency staff add £297,000.
Housing
Scholars Walk Bishop's Stortford: Prices From £482,500
Bellway's 208 homes on the old Bishop's Stortford High School site are on sale from £482,500. First residents move in early 2027, and the travel plan is now in.
Bins
Bishop's Stortford bin collection days: 5 bins, 3 weeks
How to look up your Bishop's Stortford bin day, which of the five bins goes out each week, and how bank holidays, Christmas and missed collections change it.
Parking
Parking in Bishop's Stortford: all day from £4.40
Every Bishop's Stortford car park's all-day charge, from Apton Road and Basbow Lane to Northgate End, plus the free half hour, Sundays and the station.
Council Tax
Bishop's Stortford council tax bands: band D £2,413.91
What each band from A to H pays in Bishop's Stortford in 2026/27, how much it rose and who took the rise, plus how to check your band and claim discounts.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford August Bank Holiday 2026: What Was On
What ran over the August bank holiday in and around Bishop's Stortford: Cammas Fest on the farm, reggae at the Rose & Crown and a free jam night. Kept as a record.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford house prices: £416,250 town median
The middle Bishop's Stortford home sold for £416,250, the lowest median of the four East Herts towns. Plus medians for Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon and Cheshunt.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford trains to London: 37 min, £5,492/yr
How long the train takes from Bishop's Stortford to Liverpool Street, first and last trains, peak frequency, contactless fares and 2026 season tickets.
Bishop's Stortford
Things to do in Bishop's Stortford: free museum, £9 forest
The town museum is free and the castle mound is open to climb. Checked 2026 prices for Hatfield Forest, Mountfitchet Castle and the Olympic white water course.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford planning: 3.4 years of housing land
East Herts can show only 3.4 to 3.7 years of housing land against a five-year duty. Plus Old River Lane, still undecided 137 days past its determination deadline.