Roads
North Watford is no different to any other area in that there has to be some form of communication with other places. Goods, livestock and people need to be transported in and out of the area as easily as possible. Most towns and cities are sited on or near a river, and water that is the medium for the earliest transport routes.
While roads essentially provide a surface upon which foot traffic, and later wheeled and motorised vehicles may travel, they also provide a skeleton from which a town may develop. This can clearly be seen with the North Watford area, where St Albans Road, a primary route leading from Watford town centre, forms the spine. A well-used road becomes attractive for commerce, as each passing traveller is a potential customer; for manufacturing industries, the road is a means of bringing in raw materials and taking finished products away for sale. As commercial centres appear, there arises a need for workers, and therefore dwellings, so an area becomes developed, leading to the construction of further roads branching from the main thoroughfare, to allow people to reach the housing and other services.
Some of the roads of North Watford have elements of history that make them of interest. In other cases, roads are listed because of the buildings or businesses associated with them.
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Leavesden Road in 1901
A study of Leavesden Road as it appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century, using data drawn from the 1901 census.
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Milton Street in 1901
A study of Milton Street as it appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century, using data drawn from the 1901 census.
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The Sandringham Road Bomb
As the second world war neared its end, the German Luftwaffe employed a new weapon to attack Britain. One of these V1 "flying bombs" struck Sandringham Road, at the junction with Parkgate Road on 29 July 1944.
