United Kingdom » Introduction of Watford

A demanding area to the northwest of London but within the M25, originating from Saxon times on the banks of the River Colne is the large town of Watford with its variety of attractions. The most obvious characteristic on entering the town on its ring-road is the Harlequin shopping centre. It has a great car parking and over 130 shops from small specialized outlets to Next, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer’s. A large mainline railway station associates superb road access. There are many cafes, pubs, take-away and entertainment venues, e.g. a multi screen cinema, nightclubs, 10-pin bowling and bars.

Accommodation ranges from Hilton hotel to little guesthouses. There are two museums in the town, one having recently celebrated its silver jubilee and charting the history of Watford past and present, housed in the former Benskins Brewery Mansion.

Its displays of local history and industry include Watford Football Club memorabilia and the Cassiobury Collection of fine art. The other museum is a Fire Museum based in the ex-workshops building at Watford Fire Station and open on Wednesday mornings.

The football club is founded by a championship team in 1881. Famously owned by Sir Elton John, the club’s perhaps most well known player is John Barnes, who played there for 6 years. They are based at the Vicarage Road ground, which they’ve shared since 1997 with the Saracens Rugby Club. Culturally, Watford has both a theatre and a Philharmonic Society. The theatre is Edwardian but a Lottery Grant enabled refurbishment in 2002 and increased facilities for audiences of over 100,000 per year in the only producing theatre in the area. The Philharmonic Society was established in 1935, now performing 5 concerts a year at The Colosseum and being one of the UK’s largest amateur societies combining orchestra and choir Attractions.