Bishop's Stortford market town in east Hertfordshire

Bishop's Stortford is a market town in east Hertfordshire, England, on the county boundary with Essex. It is situated just west of the M11and  is the closest town to London, Stansted Airport, and is part of the London commuter belt. Bishop's Stortford is 29 miles north east from Charing Cross in Central London and it is within the London Fringe. In the 2006 edition of the Channel 4 'Best and Worst Places to live in the UK', East Hertfordshire was the seventh best district to live in. The town has a population of about 35,000 (United Kingdom Census 2001) and is administered by the East Hertfordshire district council.

Currently, the town centre is undergoing many changes, with the demolition of the old multi-storey car park and surrounding area to make way for a new town centre area and the building of new city type apartments and penthouses on the riverside and around the town centre. Jackson Square (a modern shopping complex) was rebuilt and an extension added with many cafes, bars and shops. The developments are happening quickly and are almost finished. Also the Havers (an outer part of Bishop's Stortford) is being redeveloped with new houses and flats being built. There are many plans for further expansion and development of the town due to its continued growth and the expected enlargement of Stansted Airport. If this goes ahead then the town will see many more changes than planned to be able to cope with the more people living there.

Bishop's Stortford is useful for a large number of Herts and Essex villages in its area, as most of the nearby towns (excluding Harlow) are small and Bishop's Stortford serves as a common ground for meeting, shopping, and entertainment.

Bishop's Stortford station is on the London Liverpool Street to Cambridge mainline operated by National Express East Anglia. The Stansted Express services take around 20 minutes to reach Tottenham Hale and 40 minutes to reach London Liverpool Street and allow Bishop's Stortford to be part of the London Commuter Belt. Epping tube station is about 12 miles away from Bishop's Stortford which means some residents use the London Underground station rather than the main line station at Bishop's Stortford.

Bishop's Stortford is close to junction 8 of the M11 motorway, which runs from London and the M25 north to Cambridge, and the town is a frequent stop-off point for travellers using the nearby Stansted airport. To the north of the town is the A120, which meets the A10 at Buntingford to the west and the A12 at Colchester to the east.

Stansted Airport is on the town's doorstep, with easy transport via rail between there and the town. This airport mainly flies to Europe and is the third largest airport serving London.

The town has many bus routes, including the 308 main bus route for travel within Bishop's Stortford and to Stansted Airport. Other, longer routes like the 510 (Stansted Airport - Harlow) and 333 (Stansted - Epping) link Bishop's Stortford with other nearby towns, and several services exist to connect the plethora of nearby villages to the town.

The Towns famous people

• Cecil Rhodes, the son of the vicar of St. Michael's Church in the town. Rhodes was born in 1853 and was the effective founder of the state of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), De Beers diamond company and the Rhodes Scholarship.
• Martin Caton - MP for Gower was also born in Bishop's Stortford.
• John Mann - comedian. Lives in Bishop's Stortford and has a fortnightly column in the local paper, The Bishop's Stortford Observer.
• Jon Thorne - Musician
• Frederick Scott Archer - inventor of the collodion process, the first photographic emulsion used to create glass negatives.
• Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London, owned land in Bishop's Stortford, though there is no record of his having visited the town. The town's Richard Whittington Primary School and the road Whittington Way are both named after him.
• Dean Bowditch - Footballer of Ipswich Town F.C. used to attend school in Bishop's Stortford.
• Matt Holland - Footballer who plays for Charlton Athletic
• Dean Ashton - Footballer currently of West Ham Unite
• Roy Essandoh - Footballer lives nearby. Formerly of Wycombe Wanderers and Bishop's Stortford