A year after being unceremoniously dropped by the district council, St Albans Heritage Open Days are back as an independent event.

Heritage Open Days were first introduced nationally in 1994, and started in St Albans in 1997 when St Albans Civic Society opened Kingsbury Barn, then owned by Express Dairies, for guided tours.

Over the years, things went from strength to strength with more local venues opening and attracting a growing number of visitors, until unexpectedly last year the council withdrew its involvement in the event and did not produce a guide to attractions, resulting in a fall in attendance.

In order to give the Heritage Open Days the prominence they deserve, this year the Civic Society has stepped in to coordinate entries and produce its own guide. The Herts Ad, which has agreed to support the initiative, will also be publicising attractions in next week’s edition, covering the duration of the open days from Thursday September 10 to Sunday September 13.

Eric Roberts from the Civic Society said: “We believe heritage is an important asset to the city’s tourist ecomomy and hope this will help keep St Albans on the map for this national event.”