Watford Watford Welwyn Category="Local government in Hertfordshire"Category="Towns in Hertfordshire"
For other uses, see Watford (disambiguation).

Borough of Watford
[image][image]
Shown within Hertfordshire
Geography
Status:Non-metropolitan district and Borough
Region:East of England
Admin. County:Hertfordshire
Area:
- Total		Ranked 347th
21.43 km²
Admin. HQ:Watford
ONS code:26UK
Demographics
Population:
- Total (2003 est.)
- Density		Ranked 291st
79,467
3,708 / km²
Ethnicity:86.0% White
8.2% S.Asian
2.7% Afro-Carib.
Politics
[image]
Watford Borough Council
http://www.watford.gov.uk/
Leadership:Mayor & Cabinet
Mayor:Dorothy Thornhill
(Liberal Democrats)
MP:Claire Ward

Watford is a town and district (styled as 'borough' due to the historical charter granted by Henry VIII) just to the north-west of London. Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly-elected mayor, currently Dorothy Thornhill of the Liberal Democrats. She is the only directly-elected Liberal Democrat mayor.

Watford has 80,000 inhabitants and a professional football club, Watford F.C., who are currently in the Championship. Saracens Rugby Club moved to Watford and shares the same ground, which is in Vicarage Road.

Watford has six twin towns. These are:

Claire Ward has represented Watford in Parliament since the 1997 general election in the Labour Party) interest. Her constituency includes the whole of Watford Borough and in addition five wards from Three Rivers district.

Transport

Watford is within the M25 motorway with Watford Metropolitan Line station at the outer edge of the London Underground system. There are faster trains to central and north London from Watford Junction and Bushey stations. The Metropolitan Line station is due to be replaced by an extension of the line to the Junction station via Croxley Green. Watford also has its own airport, listed as Watford Regional Airport, but known locally and offically as Elstree Aerodrome. Many private charters, and well as occasional holiday charters take off from here, with the request customs service contributing to the popularity of this hub. Many celebrities are known to travel through Watford, due to its location close to the world famous Elstree Film & Television Studios.

Trivia

The phrase 'North of Watford' is widely used to describe areas of the United Kingdom that are north of London. This is possibly because Watford was the first place that horses were changed on the route to the north-west from London, though the phrase actually refers to the Northamptonshire village of the same name, about 50 miles further north, which traditionally was an important waypoint on the old east-west and north-south coaching routes and the point where the main north-south road, rail and canal routes came together at a gap in the hills known as "Watford Gap". Watford in Hertfordshire is much better known and so frequently mistaken, in the context of this phrase, for the same place.

An alternative theory is that many of the original signs at the southern end of the M1 motorway bore the legends "Watford" and "The North", Watford being the first major town on that route.

Nightlife

The High Street running through the town centre is the main place for any activity at night. The part of town is sometimes referred to as the café quarter, and has a high concentration of the town's bars, clubs and restaurants.

It was confirmed in the Watford Observer on 30th October 2004 - to the surpise of few residents - that Watford is the 'Binge drinking capital' of Hertfordshire.

People

Watford was the birthplace of:

Other Watfords

Sport

External links

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