Borehamwood: Guide

Borehamwood (also referred to as Boreham Wood by a growing section of the population) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, just outside London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is part of the borough of Hertsmere. The town is often associated with the nearby village Elstree (being part of the ancient parish of Elstree), the two still share a local council, now called the Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council, and a railway station, Elstree & Borehamwood railway station.

The station is served by trains operated by First Capital Connect, (formerly Thameslink). The same railway line is used by Midland Mainline between St Pancras station and Nottingham, although these trains do not stop there. The A1 road, Britain|A1 passes just to the east of the town, and the M25 motorway|M25 passes about two miles north of it.

Since the 1920s, the town has been the location of several film studios - including the MGM-British Studios complex (demolished in the early 1970s) where many well-known films such as , Where Eagles Dare and Goodbye Mister Chips were made. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood". Most of these studios have now closed, although two remain.

The former Big Brother and major feature films are filmed at the new Elstree Studios. Notably the British soaps Eastenders, Casualty (TV series)|Casualty and Holby City are also filmed here, and many shots of the town are included in final cuts of these and many British films from the last century.

Millennium Studios is situated on Elstree Way, Borehamwood.

The former British National Studios on Clarendon Road (which were later owned by Lew Grade's Associated Television Network|ATV) is now the BBC Elstree Centre. One of BBC's popular soaps, EastEnders, is produced at the studios, as well as popular medical drama Holby City.

The building which housed the former Gate Studios was demolished in April 2006.

As of April 2004, the town has approximately 30,000 residents. There is one weekly newspaper, the Borehamwood and Elstree Times, commonly known as the Borehamwood Times. Until 2003, the town was the headquarters of the United Kingdom subsidiary of T-Mobile. The town remains the UK headquarters of Pizza Hut.

Sports and recreation

Borehamwood has a List of King George V Playing Fields (Hertfordshire)|King George's Field in memorial to George V of the United Kingdom|King George V. There are also many Council lead schemes that have introduced multi-million pound developments across the town for youth related activities.
Borehamwood is home to Boreham Wood F.C. and their playing ground.
The first third of the Watling Chase Timberland Trail travels from Elstree & Borehamwood railway station up to Shenley, Hertfordshire|Shenley

Nearby