The phrase "North of Watford" is used in a light-hearted, yet derogatory sense -typically by those living in the southeastern England- to describe any part of the United Kingdom situated more than a relatively short distance north of London and the Home Counties. It is a euphemism for 'provincial' and by extension 'unsophisticated'. It is commonly understood that the term is in fact highly arbitrary and flexible, applying to an approximate latitude rather than the town of Watford itself, but its use has contributed to a mildly negative association with the place name. However, in modern usage the term generally denotes the English Midlands and Northern England.
There are a few possible explanations:
The phrase may refer to the Northamptonshire village of Watford, about 50 miles (80 km) further north, which was traditionally an important waypoint on the old east-west and north-south coaching routes. This was the point where the main north-south road, rail and canal routes came together at a gap in the hills known as Watford Gap. The main north-south motorway, the M1, runs through Watford Gap and was the first stopping point for motorway services when the motorway was constructed. For many 'Southerners' and Londoners, 'the North' starts here, though it is technically in the southern East Midlands. Watford in Hertfordshire is much better known and so frequently mistaken, in the context of this phrase, for the same place.
Watford was one of the first places that horses were changed on the route to the north-west from London.
The explanation with the most evidence arises from Lady Capel's Wharf
51°40′48″N
0°25′47″W
/
51.68°N 0.42972°W
/
51.68; -0.42972
, just north of Watford on the Grand Junction Canal. From the opening of the canal to commercial traffic in 1800 until 1845 duties payable to the Corporation of London on coal brought to London by canal were levied at Lady Capel's Wharf.
Watford is the first major town encountered when traveling north from London and therefore forms a well-known and obvious landmark to define a provincial town.
North Watford is a residential settlement north of the town centre.
Suburbs
Including areas outside Watford Borough:
Abbots Langley
Aldenham
Bedmond
Bricket Wood
Bushey
Carpenders Park
Cassiobury
Chipperfield
Croxley Green
Garston
Hunton Bridge
Kings Langley
Langleybury
Leavesden
Letchmore Heath
Maple Cross
Oxhey
Rickmansworth
Sarratt
South Oxhey
Twin towns
Watford has five twin towns:
Mainz, Germany (since 1956)
Nanterre, France (since 1960)
Novgorod, Russia (since 1984)
Wilmington, Delaware, United States (since 1985)
Pesaro, Italy (since 1988)
Notable people
Watford was the birthplace of:
Barbara Amiel, Lady Black of Crossharbour, journalist
Stephen Andrew, Canadian television reporter, anchor and talk show host
Grant Benson, Broadcaster
Michael Bentine (1922–1996), comedian and ex-Goon
LTJ Bukem, pioneering drum & bass DJ/Producer
Sue Cleaver, actress, best known for her role as Eileen Grimshaw in Coronation Street.
Michaela Breeze, female weightlifter
Jack Collison, West Ham United and Wales footballer
Ray Cooper, percussionist (performed in both Elton John's and Eric Clapton's bands)
Anthony Berkeley Cox (1893–1971), crime fiction author
Chris Date, database guru, author of the definitive textbook on the subject
Paul Field 1994 Gladiators champion, police officer and two-time Winter Olympian from South Oxhey
Cyril Fletcher (1913–2005), comedian
Declan Ganley, Anglo/Irish businessman and political activist
Robert Glenister, actor
Geri Halliwell, singer and Spice Girl
Kenny Jackett, current Millwall manager
Vinnie Jones, a British football player turned actor
Matt King, comedy actor, Peep Show
Nick Knight, cricketer
Nick Leeson, rogue securities trader responsible for the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995
Tim Lovejoy, television and radio presenter
Gerald Moore (1899–1987), pianist
Mo Mowlam (1949–2005), Labour politician
J.D. Nicholas, singer with Heatwave and The Commodores
Mark Oaten, Liberal Democrat politician
Stuart Parkin, physicist
Arthur Peacocke (1924–2006), biochemist and Anglican theologian
Paul Robinson, Bolton Wanderers football player
Terry Scott (1927–1994), TV and
Carry On
actor and comedian, blue plaque at 32 Tucker St
51°39′01″N
0°23′39″W
/
51.650354°N 0.394242°W
/
51.650354; -0.394242
Grant Shapps, Conservative MP for nearby Welwyn Hatfield
Kelly Smith, England and Arsenal footballer
Simon Treves, actor and writer
Ian Walker, former Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper
Bradley Walsh,
Coronation Street
actor and comedian
Melanie Walsh, actress and model
Arthur Woodward, footballer who spent his entire career at Watford
Gallows, hardcore punk band formed in 2005
Watford is the burial place of:
Thomas Webster Rammell, engineer Crystal Palace
See also
Benskins
Watford (UK Parliament constituency)
References
^
Virgil.
Aeneid
. pp. VI, 95. "
Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.
trans.: Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely."
^
Area: Watford (Local Authority), Resident Population Estimates by Ethnic Group, All Persons, 2006, People and Society: Population and Migration, Office for National Statistics.
^
Mid Year Population Estimates Hertfordshire 2006, Office for National Statistics, August 2007, revised October 2007.
^
2001 Census, Key Statistics for Local Authorities, Office for National Statistics, 2003.
^
Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas, Office for National Statistics.
^
a
b
c
Samuel Lewis (ed.) (1848). "Watford (St. Mary)".
A Topographical Dictionary of England
(7th ed.). pp. 486
. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51382#s1
. Retrieved 2008-03-22
.
^
a
b
W.R. Saunders (1931).
History of Watford
. Watford: Peacock.
^
a
b
William Page (ed.) (1908). "Watford: Manors".
A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2
. Victoria County History. pp. 451–464
. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43308
. Retrieved 2008-05-19
.