Benslow
Benslow is a district of Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It is located very close to the Railway Station. Houses in the area range from those built in the late 19th century to a more modern housing estate at the top of Benslow Lane built in the 1990s. The original properties were built as a response to the arrival of the railway in Hitchin and the housing needs this created, and consist mainly of terraced housing, with some larger properties. Situated in the area is Pinehill private hospital, St Andrews' CofE primary school, and a nursing home Benslow House which was originally  the first Higher Education College for women, founded by Emily Davies, which later moved to Girton, Cambridge. Linking Benslow Lane with Chiltern Road is a large green open space, often referred to as Benslow or Pinehill field. This field is officially a detached playing field for Hitchin Girls' School, but they no longer use it, as they have other sporting facilities closer by. The field is therefore used by residents, and is renowned for sledging in the winter due to the slope in the middle of the field. There are frequent talks about the area of land being sold in  order that new houses may be built on it. The district of Benslow also gives its name to the Benslow Music Trust, an independent charity which hosts residential and day courses for adult amateur musicians of all standards all year round. It occupies the 1859 house originally known as ‘Fairfield’ and later known as ‘Little Benslow Hills’ which was built by Quaker William Ransom and bequeathed to the Rural Music Schools Association by Miss Esther Seebohm on her death in 1951. It was the first of the Rural Music Schools, and their Association was founded in Hitchin in 1929 by  Miss (Ellen) Mary Ibberson (1892-1979) who held the role of Director until 1947. The Trust's facilities include two recital halls, practice rooms and a music library. Most instruments are catered for, and there are also courses for singers and in music appreciation and theory. The Trust also promotes its own concert series, given by artists - predominantly string quartets. A subsidiary charity, the Benslow Instrument Loan Scheme, lends high quality musical instruments to promising students from school age upwards. The instruments are either owned by the Loan Scheme itself or lent to the scheme by individuals who own instruments  that would otherwise be left unplayed.