Blog

Our Ten Year Celebration

Would you believe we have been open in 96 Shenley Road for 10 years this weekend?  So of course we needed to get out the balloons and the banners and congratulate ourselves on this achievement. Choosing a quiet time when the library is closed we laid out the cakes and the coffee, and had to take a photo or two. Our group shot shows many of the current volunteers, while the other shot shows Ruth, who controls us on behalf of Hertsmere, with Peter our computer wizz who didn't make the group shot. And our doorway explains all.

Parkside School Visit

We had a visit from 27 second-years from Parkside School last week. Our Museum Manager Dave explained all the changes to this area from the coming of the railways in the 1860s.  Two volunteers, Helen & Audrey, dressed in their Victorian finery to show groups of the children the changes to the maps, and to the local shops including Hanson's, of course. The latter display is from our current Exhibition, Your Museum @ 10, and many of the children dressed up as well. A bit of fun along with the facts!

Half-Term Blues

Half-term may be over, but here's a photo for #MemoriesMonday of the start of a brand new term at a brand new school. The opening ceremony at Borehamwood Grammar School on 31st October 1956, nearly 70 years ago. Is that you in your new blazer or tunic? Can you remember the names of the teachers in the photo?

The Friends Visit The Bow Street Museum

After our last Friends talk by Vicki Pipe from The Bow Street Museum in March, she kindly invited us to visit the Museum in Covent Garden. Here are a few shots of us during the visit and there will be more and a write-up in the next Friends Newsletter which will be with you shortly.

Make sure you visit the Museum next time you are in the area! Visit their website here.

Friendship Centre Visits Us

We were visited yesterday by a large group from The London Friendship Centre who spent a long time studying our latest Exhibition, Murder, Mayhem & Mystery and examining our local history displays. It was excellent to meet them all and their great interest in all things local be it history, shops and restaurants.  Hope they'll return for our next Exhibition. Thanks for coming in!

Check out their website for more information about the Centre here

2023 Flower Festival

This is our contribution to the Civic Festival with the display of flowers in All Saints Church. Celebrating 10 years at 96 Shenley Road, the beautiful arrangement was created by volunteer Maureen Corman. Open daily 11am to 1pm until Monday 19th. We do hope you can visit the Festival.

'Going Down The Village'

Our regular Reminiscence Meeting is on tomorrow at 10.30 am in 96 Shenley Road in Meeting Room 1.  This time we are exploring the Post War development of Borehamwood. We'll have photos of the area from the time during our presentation and hopefully your memories will come flooding out - and, of course, free coffee and biscuits! Everyone is welcome.

Friends Visit From Bow Street

Vicki Pipe from the Bow Street Police Museum paid a visit to the Friends of the Museum for a fascinating talk this week. Taking us through the founding of the Bow Street Magistrates Court, the growth of the Bow Street Runners, and their eventual merger with the Met, we received a complete history of policing in London in the 18th Century and up to the closure of the court in 1992.

Although our current Exhibition, Murder, Mayhem & Mystery, concerns local stories, the Bow Street Court and the Runners were involved in at least two of our cases - the murders of Martha Ray in 1779 and William Weare in 1823.

Here's some feedback from a couple of happy Friends :
"An excellent talk and a really enjoyable evening."
"The talk on the Bow Street Runners was excellent : informative, well presented and enlightening."

You must visit the Bow Street Police Museum - full details here

Shoham Visitors To The Museum

We had some important visitors yesterday when the Shoham Twinning team came into the Museum.  With them were Sandra Parnell and Jeremy Newmark from the Town Council and Clive and Elaine Butchins, Museum Trustees.  Pictured here in front of our Police Box.

The 'Most Missed' Buildings in Elstree & Borehamwood, Part 2

We are continuing our list of some of the 'Most Missed' buildings in our area, in no particular order, and we are adding them one by one, week by week, and would love to have your feedback on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. What are your memories? Which is your 'Most Missed'?  What iconic building have we forgotten? Let us know on

Museum blog email: info@elstree-museum.org.uk

Facebook : www.facebook.com/EBWmuseum

Twitter : @EBWMuseumHerts

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/ebwm2007/

We had some great comments about the Village Hall last week, and expect even more with this week's :

THE MGM CLOCK TOWER

In 1935 Amalgamated Studios started building a large studio complex on the north side of Elstree Way, including the much loved art deco tower which became a symbol of Borehamwood and its studios. Amalgamated was unable to find work to fill its new studios and in 1939 they sold out to J Arthur Rank who leased it to the Ministry of Works during the Second World War for storage. In 1944 the UK subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM-London, who had been using Denham Studios pre-war, purchased the site and renamed itself as MGM British Studios Ltd.

After the War MGM increased the site to 7 sound stages and went into full production and many 'classic' films and TV series were made in Borehamwood.  Films included Ivanhoe (1952), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). The castle built as a set for Ivanhoe could be seen when driving into Borehamwood and was often mistaken for a genuine historical monument.  The mound where the castle was built, is now part of the Film and Heritage Trail which runs through the Studio Way estate. The TV series The Prisoner was made here in the Sixties, and still attracts a loyal following. One of the final films to be made was 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968) which may well have led to the closure of the studios, but has had a lasting effect in popular culture.

So in 1970, the Studios closed and in the early hours of May 1973, a fire swept through the site, damaging a number of buildings being demolished in preparation for use as a cold store by Christian Salvesen. During 1973, a film crew for the production Holiday On The Buses filmed some of the demolition work as part of the climax of the film.

In 1987, despite local campaigns and protests, the iconic Clock Tower was demolished when Christian Salvesen finished operations at the former studio. Unfortunately none of the buildings were listed and the site was cleared for industrial purposes.  The former library and leisure centre were built on an adjacent site and the backlot became the Studio Way estate.  According to former Museum Curator, Alan Lawrence, only a few bricks remain from the original wall alongside the road, marking where the Studios once stood.

The first photo is an unusual shot of the Tower and the offices in its early days before MGM bought the studios, but surrounded by executive cars of the day. We have no date for this shot, so if you can help us and identify the cars, then please let us know.  
The second is a snowy day in the 1960s, the third is a frontal shot, and the fourth an aerial photo showing the Tower's location in the MGM complex itself. As an added bonus, here's a still from Ivanhoe as the 'castle' is besieged.

A book about the history of MGM has been written by local historian Paul Welsh and can be purchased from the Museum and this website.