Did you know?
Before it was the home of Harry Potter, Warner Bros
Studios Leavesden, just up the road in WD25, was an aircraft factory. Leavesden Aerodrome opened in 1940 to build planes for the war, including Halifax bombers and the Mosquito. Rolls-Royce bought the site in 1967 and built aircraft and helicopter engines there until the factory closed in 1992. Two years later the James Bond team, unable to shoot GoldenEye at Pinewood, found the empty hangars, and GoldenEye became the first film made there. All eight Harry Potter films followed, and in 2010 Warner Bros. bought the site, becoming the first Hollywood major to set up its own studio outside the US. The studio tells the full story.
From Sat 14 Nov, those old hangars are covered in filmmaking snow.
From the 12 November issue
Did you know?
The three bronze figures outside Watford Town Hall, "To the Fallen", "To the Wounded" and "Victory", were made by Mary Pownall Bromet, a local sculptor who had studied under Rodin. She modelled them during the First World War, and a public appeal paid for them to be cast in bronze. The Earl of Clarendon unveiled the memorial on 18 July 1928, outside the Peace Memorial Hospital, and it moved to its spot by the Town Hall in 1971 when Rickmansworth Road was widened. It's Grade II* listed, partly because so few monumental war memorials were made by women. Historic England has the full story.
On Sun 8 Nov at 3pm, it's the heart of the town's Remembrance service.
From the 5 November issue
Did you know?
Watford Palace Theatre opened for the very first time on 14 December 1908, as a music hall. It stayed open right through the Blitz, and in 1956 Jimmy Perry, who went on to write Dad's Army, became joint Artistic Director with Gilda Perry. The Palace tells its own history here.
Local legend says the old place has a ghost or two as well (the Watford Observer has the stories), which makes Friday's Ghostbusters screening feel very fitting.
From the 29 October issue
Did you know?
Watford was once Europe's biggest printing town
According to the Museum of Watford, printing and brewing were the town's two main industries, and in its heyday Watford was the largest centre for printing in Europe, home to firms like Sun and Odhams. On the brewing side, Benskins became the biggest brewery in the area. Joseph Benskin bought the brewery and its mansion in 1867, and that mansion went on to become Watford Museum. A fitting one for a newsletter called the Brew.
Watford at work, from the Museum of Watford ↗
From the 22 October issue
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The Cassiobury Park bandstand was commissioned for the new park in 1912 and designed by Hill and Smith. After the Second World War it fell out of use, was dismantled and found a new home next to Watford Central Library and the Town Hall. It was restored as part of the Cassiobury Heritage Lottery project and now stands back in its rightful place in the park, Grade II listed. A homecoming of its own, and the one you meet near for parkrun.
From the 15 October issue
Did you know?
Watford and Mainz became twin towns in 1956, which makes 2026 the 70th anniversary. It was the first official international twinning for both places, and the link was partly about printing: Gutenberg in Mainz, Caxton in England.
From the 8 October issue
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Watford’s Fire Museum keeps 1850s pumps and an 1896 Shand-Mason steamer in the collection. A small local history rabbit hole when the weekend plans are sorted.
From the 1 October issue
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Tina Lakes Cafe at the Pump House is named for Tina Lake, the drag persona of Bryan Timberlake, who at 92 is described by the venue as the UK's longest-serving drag performer. The cafe sits in a building that spent a previous life as a pumping station before becoming a theatre and arts centre. Quiet local double life, if you like that sort of thing.
More info ↗
From the 24 September issue
Did you know?
Cassiobury House was demolished in 1927
Its grand staircase ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The park itself was pieced together by the council from 1909 as a people’s park — which is why Sunday’s Bandstand still feels like it belongs to everyone.
More info ↗
From the 22 September issue
