She helped mate malamutes initially, rocking Herts town (5,9)

I believe the answer is:

hemel hempstead

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'town' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'she helped mate malamutes initially rocking' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'rocking' indicates anagramming the letters.
The initial letter of 'malamutes' is 'm'.
'she'+'helped'+'mate'+'m'='shehelpedmatem'
'shehelpedmatem' is an anagram of 'HEMEL HEMPSTEAD'.

'herts' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hemel hempstead that I've seen before include "new town" , "Hertfordshire town" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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