Radlett

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Radlett
Hertfordshire
Location
Grid reference: TQ165995
Location: 51°40’55"N, 0°18’50"W
Data
Population: 8,034  (2011)
Post town: Radlett
Postcode: WD7
Dialling code: 01923
Local Government
Council: Hertsmere
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Hertsmere

Radlett is a large affluent village in Hertfordshire, strung along Watling Street between St Albans and Borehamwood, within the ring of the M25 motorway. It has a population of approximately 8,000.

The village is in the valley of Tykes Water, a stream that runs north from Aldenham Reservoir to the River Colne. Now entirely surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt, it is seeing significant 'infill' development and pressure to relax the Green Belt restrictions.

About the village

Radlett is reckoned one of the most prosperous places in Britain.[1] The town contains many substantial detached houses with large gardens. In the older centre there are also a few streets with Victorian semi detached and terraced houses. Over the past few years, the combination of its proximity to London and good transport links have meant that Radlett has become a property hotspot with majority of roads with an average price of over £1,000,000.

Watling Street, which is the main road through Radlett, has a wide variety of local shops and restaurants, as well as some national chain stores, a post office, and the Radlett Centre [2] with a 300-seat auditorium for various performances. Attached to the Radlett Centre is the local public library.

There are only three public houses in Radlett, "The Railway" opposite the station was closed leaving only the "Cat and Fiddle", "The Railway Bar" and the "Red Lion Hotel".

History

There has been a village known as Radlett since at least as far back as 1453.[3] However Radlett as it is today has been created almost entirely since the end of the 19th century, for despite its position on Watling Street it seems to have been ignored as a place for a substantial settlement.

During the 19th century Radlett was a rural community dominated by the estates of Kendals, which owned most of the land to the west of Watling Street, and Newberries and Aldenham Lodge which owned the land to the east. The only buildings then were a pub and a few buildings at the crossroads at the bottom of Shenley Hill.

In 1823 Radlett was the site of an infamous murder.

Radlett station's 1970s ticket office contrasts with its ornate shelter

In 1860 the Midland Railway was extended from Bedford into London and a station was built at Radlett connecting it with London. The village grew. On 8 December 1865 the Parish of Radlett was created out of the eastern part of Aldenham and this marks the start of the modern history of the village. Development could only start when the landowners sold off their land for this purpose and this started in the final decade of the 19th century when land to the west of Watling Street was sold off. In 1910 the estate of Aldenham Lodge to the north of Shenley Hill was released for development and in 1935 the Newberries estate. Newberries mansion was demolished in the 1950s and Aldenham Lodge in 1964.

Handley Page Ltd opened a grass airfield just north of the town in 1929 for the production of aircraft. Radlett Aerodrome was upgraded by 1939 to have three hard runways for use in the production of Handley Page Hampden and Handley Page Halifax bombers during the Second World War. Post-war the airfield was used for production of Hasting transport aircraft and Hermes airliners. The Society of British Aircraft Constructors held air shows here in 1947 and 1948 which subsequently moved to Farnborough. The Handley Page Victor bomber prototype was built there with the main runway being extended in 1952 to allow flight testing.

Handley Page went bankrupt in 1969 and the airfield closed in 1970.

The 1948 Olympic Marathon went through Radlett. It was an out-and-back course from the Empire Stadium, Wembley.[4]

1977 Eddie Kidd the stunt rider jumped over 14 London Double Decker buses at the Handley Page airfield.

The introduction of the Metropolitan Green Belt in the 1950s set a legal framework limiting further outward growth beyond the then existing limits of the village, and since then new development has been restricted to infilling within the built-up area. Despite this, many new houses continue to be built in former large gardens, and the population now stands at over 8,000.

In 2005, and 2006, there was a large campaign in the village, and surrounding areas to save the Fire Station, which was opened 100 years ago. The campaign failed, and the station closed in October 2006. The campaign continues.[5][6] There is now a campaign[7][8] to prevent the building of a huge distribution centre at what was previously the Radlett Aerodrome Site, the former production site of the British aircraft builder Handley Page.

Transport

Radlett lies close to the M25 and M1 motorways and the A1 trunk road. There is a frequent commuter rail service that connects Radlett railway station to south and central London including St Pancras International, terminus of the Midland Main Line and the Eurostar, (the train service connecting London with Paris and Brussels). From Radlett there are also train services to Gatwick Airport and Luton Airport; Heathrow Airport is a forty-minute drive away.

Jewish community

There is a substantial Jewish community in Radlett, who have contributed a unique flavour to the social life of the village and Radlett is well supplied with community facilities for its Jewish residents.

According to the 2001 census, as a town, Radlett has the third-lowest proportion of Christians in England and Wales, (51.9 per cent), and has an official Jewish population of 24.1 per cent, the highest proportion in England and Wales. As the method used by the British census for identifying race and religion has shown itself to be problematic, it is likely that the actual number of persons of Jewish background in Radlett is somewhat higher, approaching 35%. Radlett has been called "the new Edgware."[9]

Churches

There are four churches in Radlett:

  • Church of England:
    • Christ Church, on Watling Street founded in 1864
    • St John's, in Gills Hill Lane
  • Methodist & United Reformed Church: The United Free Church in Station Road
  • Roman Catholic: St. Anthony of Padua in the Crosspath

Synagogues

There are two synagogues:

  • Radlett United Synagogue (Orthodox)
  • Radlett & Bushey (Reform)

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Radlett)

References

  1. ↑ Times On Line
  2. ↑ Radlett Centre
  3. ↑ Radlett (A Guide to Old Hertfordshire)
  4. ↑ Course history
  5. ↑ 7,000 sign petition, Borehamwood Times
  6. ↑ Number of house fires rise in Radlett following closure of fire station, Watford Observer
  7. ↑ No 2 Rail Freight
  8. ↑ STRIFE - Stop the Rail Freight Exchange
  9. ↑ Kosher in the country The Economist 01 Jun 2006 accessed 14 August 2007
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