Borehamwood memories
Here are memories of Borehamwood and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Borehamwood or a Borehamwood photo.
A Year in Borehamwood 1977/78
I spent a year in Borehamwood in 1977/78. I was a french student and I worked in Hillside School & Campions Middle School as a french assistant. I loved Borehamwood; made lots of friends: Steve Tann/Steve Anderson/Brian Catchpole/ Debbie Tolmia/ Les Wheeler and lots of others. Every Thursday was The Associates night where we used to listen to music , have parties etc... was all brilliant! Unfortunately I lost touch with everyone. I lived above the veg shop for a while. We used to go to the Red Lion pub. Great memories...
I Remember The 1960s
I lived in Borehamwood since the 1950s, I remember the Lynx very well before the dance hall was added, I have some pictures taken inside. Some great groups performed there. Morris took over from Pythe as the youth leader. I remember painting flowers on some of the girls cheeks in the hippy era. Before the large hall was built we had great nights in the small one with a juke box and the coffee bar. When I saw the Status Quo, Small Faces and the Kinks, I remember we all looked like them and the girls' fashion was fantastic. My first mohair suit cost £14, tailor-made full-length leather £15 and Levi's £1.52p {35 shillings) and my GS 160 Vespa £84. I have some footage of me riding it as my dad had a cine camera ...great times. I have many pictures of old and recent Borehamwood as I like taking photos, so much easier in the digital age. I was in the fire sevice based at Borehamwood for nearly 30... Read more
Youth
I was born in Cardinal Avenue before my village changed completely, I went to the nursery which was 2 big buildings opposite Cardinal Avenue in a piece of scrub land, behind that was the park and library and behind that was the Rock film studio which now presents 'East Enders'. There were 2 other film studios, one was the MGM where 'Cleopatra' (with Liz Taylor & Burton) was made plus many other good films of the day, it stood where the cold storage is now in the Elstree Way, the other one was where Tesco's is, it was first called the ABPC (Associated British Picture Corporation), this was where the legendery 'Moby Dick' with Gregory Peck as lead star and later the 'Saint' series for T.V.with Roger Moore was made, again many great pictures were made there. The picture house, known by us as 'the flicks', showed an A film and a B film Monday to Wednesday then 2 others Thursday to Saturday and a different one on Sunday, it also... Read more
The Lynx Youth Club
Is there anybody out there who remembers The Lynx in Maxwell Road? I remember seeing Rod Stewart, The Yardbirds, Georgie Fame and The Who there in 1964/1965. The youth leader was Maurice Barnett, we used to give him a terrible time but it was a good time.
My Street 1959 to 1977
I lived in Theobald Street (no 194) from the age of 7 in 1959 until 1977, and my parents lived there further until 1984. I often used to walk from the Village (as we called the town centre) home at the top on the right was a pub called the Crown and next door to that another pub called the Wellington. On the opposite side of the road was a barbers shop called H Battle and next to that a coal yard which was called Ranges this was later taken over by Charringtons. Further down about 100 yards was a dairy and then after that was just houses on both sides for about a mile. After that they thinned out for about another mile and a half and then you were in Radlett.
Lyndhurst School Gateshead Road
Further to my other page (this one seems have been lost) in 1963 to 1968 the
head master was Mr Allen and his deputy was Mr Thursting. English was taught bt
Mr Conway, Mr Farmer, Miss Wadlow and Miss Fallowell. Maths was taught by Mr Gillon,
Mrs Page and Mrs Burr. Geography by Mr Taylor and Miss Frith, History by Mr Pam
and Mr Goodman
Lyndhurst School, Gateshead Road
Science Mr Charles, Mr McGrath. Rural Science Mr Wilson, Mr Baker, Mr Anglesey. Art Miss Nunn. Woodwork Mr Hucker, Metalwork Mr Ladds, Technical Drawing Mr Thomas. Religious Knowledge Mr Clayton, Miss Edwards. PE Mr Smith, Mr Wooster. Music Mr James, Miss Finch. Pottery Mr Higgins, Mr Meaton. Typewriting/Shorthand/Commerce Mr Grierson-Hill, Mirs Hamilton, Miss Wilkins. Needlework Mrs Lowe (Bellion) Miss Hughes. Drama Mr Holt, Mrs Vane. There was also a Miss Jackman and Miss Macdonald that taught other subjects.
Leeming Road/Aycliffe Road
After the Co op supermarket in Leeming Road was a chemist also owned by the Co op, if you then turned right you came into Aycliffe Road where there were more shops, first was a bakers called Emerys, then a greengrocers called E Baggs. Next was a mini supermarket called Centra (run by Redge & Molly Blanchard and their son Steven) next to them was Gaskells butchers and finally a fish and chip shop, then it was Torworth Road that gave a rear access to all these shops for deliveries etc.
Leeming Road Shops Page 2
Further to my list of shops which cut off after Kershaw & Creaseys Off Licence, the next shops on that side of the road were George Wilkie's, bookmakers, followed by a butchers first called Atwells and then in the late 1960s George's which was a family run business. Next to that was a greengrocers that changed owners quite often and next to them was a sweet shop called Mayfair. Crossing the road to the Green Dragon side, first was a dentist called Fasht & Rabin, next to them was a chemist run by a Mr Ghan, next to that was a hardware shop called Holts, then came a barbers/ladies hairdressers called My Fair Lady, next to them was a bakers and next to them a sweet shop called Josephines, next to them was a ladies clothes shop called Macys, then came a mini supermarket called Pearks and next to them was a double fronted shop another supermarket owned by the Co op and next to them was a Co op... Read more
I moved to Boreham Wood when I was six weeks old in 1952 and lived there until 1977, spending my whole childhood there and my teens and early 20s. My parents moved from there in 1984 along with other family members so I have not been back there since. My memories of Leeming Road shops are quite clear as we lived in Theobald Street near Aycliffe Road and my mum used to send me often to the shops which actually spilled out into Aycliffe Road. Firstly there was a Post Office in Aycliffe Road on the corner of Baldock Way, next to that a clothes shop, then Eros the jellewellers (owned by Mr Rosenberg) the Bidmeads the pet shop. Round the corner in Leeming Road was Lamberts the shoe shop, then Gands hardware shop, then a dry cleaners, then Mansbridge's toy shop (Mr Mansbridge walked with a limp as I recall), then was a ladies hairdressers, next to that Kershaw & Creaseys off licence, then the Redifusion Television hire... Read more
Borehamwood, The Village
I was born at 4 Glenhaven Avenue in November of 1945 to Matthew Murray and Elizabeth (Beth) Murray, My sister Jill having been born in Radlet in 1944. I remember that the walls were brown in the house so I gave it the name of the 'dirty house'. After the war, council houses were being built to take care of displaced Londoners. My folks got one of the council houses, 23 Caishowe Road. We must have moved to this house about 1947. My sister Lindsey was born in this new home in 1950. We all went to Cowley Hill Primary school which was on Winstre Road. We took a short cut on a foot path from Caishowe Road to the back side of the school. Borehamwood was a wonderful quiet place to grow up. We didn't realize that we lived so close to London. Borehamwood was part of the green belt, so we felt like we lived in the middle of farm country. Even the movie studios had sheep on their... Read more
Borehamwood Shops
This picture is of the shops in Leeming Road and not the main shopping centre in Borehamwood, fondly known as the village. Leeming Road shops are in fact about a mile away from the main town. I would love to see any photos of the "village" if anyone has any.
Lyndhurst School
Well, about 1959 ish! The headmaster was Mr Fennel, teachers Mr Anderson, Mr Philips and Mr Ladds, air force moustache and all! who was my class teacher. Classmates Bernard Dunden Dave Catt. PE teacher taught nothing but basket ball, I hated it and him!! Lived at 128, Brook Road, Boreham Wood with Mum and sister Margaret. Got an apprenticeship as an instrument maker at Thomas Mercer in St Albans. Cycled there every day!
Growing up
I was actually born in Borehamwood in the family house in Kimbolton Green. As I grew up I went to Monksmead, Summerhill then Hillside School. I remember playing up the oak trees, which are now flats, near the Bull and Tiger and also scratch woods. It was a lovely place to grow up in and felt like the country. It's changed so much but then again I am 53!!
The Village
I moved to Borehamwood from Acton, North West London, when I was three years old. I spent my childhood there, scrumping in neighbours gardens, getting the greenline bus into London for trips to Selfridges at Christmas, to London Zoo and the Natural History Museum. Summer holidays - which seemed to last for months and were always sunny - were spent building camps at Scratch Woods and playing rounders in Melrose Avenue. We would only have to move once or twice a day for passing cars. Its probably impossible to play any kind of street games nowadays at risk of getting run over by a four by four. When we moved to Borehamwood from London my mum thought the shops were miles away - I remember her saying she turned back on her first trip down Furzehill Road as she couldn't believe there weren't shops within a few paces. The shops were called 'The Village'. There was an old fashioned Sainsburys with a tiled floor... Read more
Memories of Hertfordshire
Suburban Elstree
I lived in Lodge Avenue from 1957 to 1976. It runs off Allum Lane, which was a major road that connected Watling Street to the Railway Station, which opened in 1868. Lord Aldenham, Governor of the Bank of England, lived in Aldenham House (now Haberdashers School) whose South Carriage Drive (double-lined with horse chestnut trees), connected it to Allum Lane and then to the Railway Station. Lord Aldenham’s colleague, the Chief Cashier, Frank May, built a mansion called ‘The Grange’ which was situated on the corner of Deacons Hill Road and Allum Lane, and occupied the land upon which a developer called Davies Estates built a hundred or so houses in the fifties. These are the streets now known as Grange Road, Bishops Avenue and Lodge Avenue. After World War I, a devoutly Catholic Armenian family called the Caramans (who immigrated to Britain after a brutal civil war in their own country), settled in Hampstead and then moved into The Grange, where they established a Chapel for fifty worshippers which flourished... Read more
Celebrating The Royal Wedding Day at The Pubs!
The day of Prince Charles' wedding to Lady Diana Spencer was declared an extra Bank Holiday so the dancers and musicians of Whitethorn Morris marked the occasion by dancing at pubs!
We went to Elstree and had a lovely time at The Hollybush and The Plough, with the women looking splended in their scarlet and blue kit and shiny black clogs. I took my piano accordian to provide dance music and we even got the pub goers to join in!
Whitethorn Morris at Letchmore Heath
The Three Horseshoes is an attractive pub facing the village green and the war memorial at Letchmore Heath, a beautiful place between Elstree and Aldenham just outside Watford. This pub regularly attracts morris dancers and one of the local morris sides is Whitethorn Morris who often perform both there and in the village hall.
The dancers, plus the Whitethorn Band, form up in the narrow road between the pub and the green and as soon as the music strikes up a crowd of villagers and pub goers forms around us to watch the display. The landlord is delighted to have a crowd, the residents are delighted with entertainment and the musicians and dancers enjoy a glorious outing to an attractive village.
Sometimes we choose this venue for our traditional Boxing Day dancing and we have been known to borrow the landlord's broom to clear enough snow to make a space safe for dancing! More usually we dance there on a warm summer's evening and enjoy... Read more
Remembering Shenley
I was born in Newcombe Road, no 52, in 1962. I remember the village shop opposite the White Horse pub, the garden centre and the village pond near the King Will pub. I used to stay a lot at my uncle and auntie's flat in Borehamwood in Leaming Road, their names were Ray and Maureen Atkins. My mum and dad were Betty and John Atkins. I also used to visit Hansens little cafe in the town. I now live in St Neots, Cambs. I always enjoy meeting people from Shenley, met a couple who live in St Neots, always chat about the place.
Old Times While Working at Tesco Borehamwood
I worked at Tesco, Borehamwood approx 1982 to to approx 1987, which was situated where the old bowling alley once was. I have fond memories of working there, although it was hard work, the staff all got along whatever the age. Tesco only had 18 checkouts I can remember, there was no Sunday or bank holidays opening, there was a delicatesen at the back of the store and staff had to weigh your fruit on the fruit and veg isle then put a price on it and you then you paid this at the checkout. There was only approx 6 isles which only stocked a limited amount of stock. I used to work on the checkouts and we used to have races who could put customers shopping through the quickest. Customers back then at Christmas used to buy between 2 and 3 trolley loads of food as the shops used to be closed for approx 4 days - which is unheard of today. The... Read more
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