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Borehamwood
Borehamwood - All Saints Church - geograph.org.uk - 387154.jpg
All Saints church, Borehamwood
Borehamwood is located in Hertfordshire
Borehamwood
Borehamwood
Population 31,955 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference TQ195975
Civil parish
District
  • Hertsmere
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BOREHAMWOOD
Postcode district WD6
Dialling code 020
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament
  • Hertsmere
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°39′28″N 0°16′20″W / 51.6578°N 0.2723°W / 51.6578; -0.2723

Borehamwood ( historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, 12 miles (19 km) from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known as Elstree Studios.

History

One of the earliest mentions of Bosci de Boreham (Wood of Boreham), is in 1188:

"In 1188 Pope Clement granted to the kitchen of the monastery the whole land of Elstree. He also gave to the Abbey the wood of Boreham for the feeding of the swine."

In 1776, the House of Lords granted:

"An Act for dividing and closing the Common or Waste Ground, called Boreham Wood Common, in the Parish of Elstree otherwise Idletree, in the Country of Hertford."

Up until 1909, the town was part of the ancient parish of Elstree; the two still share a local council, Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council.

From the 1920s onwards, the town became known as one of the main centres of the UK film, and later television, industries due to the presence of production studios.

Following World War II, the town's population greatly increased, with large areas of council housing set up for displaced Londoners, many of which are now in private ownership. Fast train connections to central London have resulted in the town becoming a primarily residential suburb. In 1946 the Admiralty started to build highly secret high-performance electronic digital computers at Borehamwood in a redundant wartime factory, firstly for the purpose of real time gunnery control and later for surface-to-air guided weapons, missiles and specialist cryptography and code-breaking computers for GCHQ.

Borehamwood is currently undergoing a substantial housing transformation which has seen hundreds of new homes built over the last five years. There are currently two further developments being built and more are expected.

In addition to the studios, the town is also home to many retail shops, offices and light industry.

Transport

Elstree Station - geograph.org.uk - 1065966
Elstree & Borehamwood Station
London Buses route 292 Elstree station
London Buses route 292

On the west side of Borehamwood is Elstree & Borehamwood railway station (TfL Zone 6) served by trains operated by Govia Thameslink Railway on the Thameslink route.

Metroline for London buses runs its number 107 service through the town from New Barnet to Edgware and back, whilst London Sovereign for London buses operates the number 292 bus service going into north-west London. The Uno (bus company) run a bus service that stops at Borehamwood starting from Hatfield to Stanmore and back, as well as a bus service that goes to Watford. Intalink operate a bus service to other parts of Hertfordshire.

The A1 road passes just to the east of the town, and the M25 motorway passes about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of it.

Geography

Climate

Borehamwood experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the rest of the United Kingdom.

Climate data for Boreham Wood
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8
(46)
9
(48)
12
(54)
14
(57)
18
(64)
21
(70)
23
(73)
23
(73)
20
(68)
16
(61)
11
(52)
8
(46)
15
(59)
Average low °C (°F) 5
(41)
5
(41)
6
(43)
8
(46)
10
(50)
13
(55)
15
(59)
16
(61)
13
(55)
11
(52)
8
(46)
5
(41)
10
(50)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 50.7
(2.00)
39.9
(1.57)
31.7
(1.25)
46.2
(1.82)
38.9
(1.53)
46.4
(1.83)
33.1
(1.30)
43.6
(1.72)
49.7
(1.96)
70.7
(2.78)
58.1
(2.29)
56.9
(2.24)
565.9
(22.28)

Film industry

Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood". Whilst most of these studios have now closed, two still remain.

Many well-known films including The Dam Busters (1955), Moby Dick (1956), Summer Holiday (1963), Dr Zhivago (1965)', 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and, The Shining (1980) starring Jack Nicholson, the first three Indiana Jones films and the first three Star Wars films were partially filmed at the former Associated British Studios in Shenley Road. These were partly demolished in the 1980s to make way for a Tesco Extra supermarket on one side and an office block complex on the other.

The area between the supermarket and the office blocks is all that remains of the original studio, which has been much reduced in size and usefulness to production companies as a result. Elstree Studios were more recently used for the popular TV series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Big Brother, as well as several major feature films. The Inspector Morse TV series' production offices were based in the studios and, although the series was supposedly set in Oxford, several exterior locations (banks, shops etc.) were filmed in the streets of Borehamwood.

The former British National Studios off Clarendon Road referred to locally as "The Douglas Fairbanks studios" (which were bought by Lew Grade's ATV in 1962) are now the BBC Elstree Studios. The studios have, over the years, been home to Alfred Hitchcock's film Blackmail, Gerry Anderson's TV series UFO, Jim Henson's TV series The Muppet Show was also produced there, and now BBC's popular soap, EastEnders and their medical drama Holby City. An episode of Judge John Deed included scenes of the Tesco Extra, but with Borehamwood crossed out and Lewes written in its place.

Several other studios including The Gate Studio and the Danziger Studios at nearby Elstree have been demolished. The MGM-British Studios complex (demolished in the early 1970s) saw the production of many well-known films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Where Eagles Dare (1968) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), as well as many ITV television series including The Prisoner (1967–68).

The newer Millennium Studios is situated on Elstree Way, Borehamwood.

Notable people

  • Dele Alli English footballer, lives in Elstree
  • Alfie Bass Lived in Well End, Borehamwood until his death in 1987.
  • Simon Cowell (born 1959), reality television judge and producer, raised in Elstree.
  • Gino D'Acampo celebrity chef lives in Elstree.
  • Jaye Davidson, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film The Crying Game, grew up here and went to Hillside Comprehensive School (now Yavneh College).
  • Sir Ray Davies, actor, director, producer, guitarist, primary vocalist and songwriter for The Kinks, lived in Borehamwood during the late 1960s.
  • Den Dover (born 1938), Member of the European Parliament, lives in Borehamwood.
  • John Forgeham, lived in Borehamwood during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
  • Prof. Angus Charles Graham (1919–1991), Professor of Classical Chinese, London University, 1971–84, lived in Borehamwood.
  • Marilyn, early 80s New Romantic singer went to St Teresa's Catholic School
  • Shona McGarty, plays Whitney Dean in EastEnders.
  • Tim Sherwood, former footballer and manager.
  • James Hay Stevens (1913–1973) FRAeS. Aviation journalist, editor Aircraft Engineering (1945–1957), illustrator and pilot lived in Borehamwood. He developed the 1:72nd scale model used by Airfix and other toy manufacturers.
  • John Frederick Tayler (1802–1889), watercolour painter, and President of the then-called Old Society, was born on 30 April 1802 at Borehamwood.

Sport and recreation

The first third of the Watling Chase Timberland Trail stretches from Elstree & Borehamwood railway station up to Shenley. South of the town is a large area of grassland and trees called Woodcock Hill Village Green. Section 16 of the London Outer Orbital Path (London Loop) runs adjacent to the town, starting in Elstree and through Scratchwood towards the London Borough of Barnet.

Meadow Park (Borehamwood)
Meadow Park stadium

Borehamwood is home to Boreham Wood FC, Arsenal Women and Watford FC Reserves who play their home games at Meadow Park. There are several parks in the area. Aberford Park is featured with the source of the brook which has been artificially made to look like a lake. Meadow Park includes a large playing field, tennis courts and basketball courts.

Borehamwood has a large shopping area called Borehamwood Shopping Park, featuring large stores such as Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Next, Outfit – which includes Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Miss Selfridge, WH Smith, Boots, and more recently JD Sports, which took the place of JJB Sports, and newly added Poundland, Lidl, Metro Bank, and Pets at Home.

The hamlet of Well End has a notable pub, the Mops and Brooms, reputedly the site of a battle between travellers and village folk. Adjacent to the pub is a much older building: Nelson Cottage (c.1600) is now a private residence but was the original Mops and Brooms alehouse. It was renamed the Lord Nelson c.1840–50 and traded under that name until its closure in 1932 and replacement by the current pub, which eventually reverted to the older name.

The Borehamwood & Elstree Times is a privately owned, online-only local newspaper covering the local and adjacent area. The Town Crier is a quarterly, council-run community publication for Elstree & Borehamwood residents.

Nearby

Twin towns

  • Borehamwood is the town upon which one of three maps is based in the game Urban Dead. This map was released as part of the promotional campaign for the release of British writer Charlie Brooker's Dead Set (TV series)
  • "Elstree with Boreham Wood" 1855 Post Office Directory, via Historical Directories
  • "Elstree with Boreham Wood", 1894 Kelly's Directory of Essex, Herts & Middx


Education

Borehamwood has a number of primary schools, including Cowley Hill Primary School, Woodlands Primary School and Parkside School. Secondary schools include Hertswood Academy, Elstree Screen Arts Academy and Yavneh College. Independent schools include Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' and Girls' schools.

Oaklands College has a site in Borehamwood, where it offers a small range of full and part-time courses.

The TV series Grange Hill was filmed at Hillside School in Borehamwood (as well as BBC Elstree Centre) from 1985 to 1990.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Borehamwood para niños

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