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Coordinates: 51°40′55″N 0°18′50″W / 51.682°N 0.314°W / 51.682; -0.314

Radlett
Radlett  Radlett shown within Hertfordshire
Population	8,034 (2011 census)
OS grid reference	TQ165995
District	Hertsmere
Shire county	Hertfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RADLETT
Postcode district	WD7
Dialling code	01923
Police	Hertfordshire
Fire	Hertfordshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Hertsmere
List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire

Radlett is a small affluent village in the county of Hertfordshire between St Albans and Borehamwood on Watling Street with a population of approximately 8,000. It is located in the council district of Hertsmere and is covered by two wards, Aldenham East and Aldenham West. It is located inside the M25 motorway.

Locality[link]

Radlett lies 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.^{[citation needed]}

Radlett is 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^{[citation needed]} with majority of roads with an average price of over £1,000,000.^[2]

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 ^[3] 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[link]

There has been a settlement known as Radlett since at least as far back as 1453.^[4] However modern Radlett 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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1823 Radlett was the site of an infamous murder.^{[clarification needed]}

The modern ticket office at Radlett station, dating from the 1970s, contrasts with the ornate shelter above the cycle storage area.

In 1860 the Midland Railway was extended from Bedford into London and a station was built at Radlett connecting it with London.^{[citation needed]} On 8 December 1865 the Ecclesiastical 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.^{[citation needed]}

The 1948 Olympic Marathon went through Radlett. It was an out-and-back course from the Empire Stadium, Wembley.^[5]

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 8000.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} The campaign failed, and the station closed in October 2006. The campaign continues.^[6][7] There is now^[when?] a campaign^[8][9] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Transport[link]

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 London Gatwick and London Luton airports, whilst London Heathrow is a forty minute drive away.

Religion[link]

2001 Census Data[link]

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."^[10]

Places of worship[link]

There are four churches in Radlett; Christ Church, an Anglican church on Watling Street founded in 1864; St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in the Crosspath; St. John's Anglican church, a sister church of Christ Church, in Gills Hill Lane; and The United Free Church in Station Road. The United Free Church was formed by uniting the Methodist and United Reformed Churches in Radlett.

There are two Synagogues: the Radlett United Synagogue which serves the Orthodox Jewish community, and Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue.

Education[link]

There are twelve schools in Radlett, catering for children aged from 2 to 11 years old:

• First Place Nursery An independent school for 80 children aged from 2 to 5 years old.
• Rexton House Nursery An independent nursery with 3 sites in the Radlett area. One site provides day care, and 2 just morning sessions from children age 2 years.
• Bhaktivedanta Manor School. An independent primary school that promotes Vedic and Vaisnava culture for 21 children aged from 4 to 10. (Located in the nearby hamlet of Letchmore Heath.)
• Edge Grove School. An independent day and boarding school for 333 children aged from 3 to 13½.
• Fair Field Junior School. A state foundation school for 235 children aged from 7 to 11.
• Hertsmere Jewish Primary School. A well-regarded,^[10] state voluntary aided school for 316 children aged from 3 to 11.
• Newberries Primary School A state funded school for 208 children aged from 4 to 11.
• Radlett Lodge School. An independent special school for 49 children with special educational needs aged from 3 to 11. Run by the National Autistic Society. Accommodation for 14 weekly boarders.
• Radlett Nursery and Infant School. An independent school for 122 children aged from 2 to 7 (closed and replaced by a day nursery in 2005).
• Radlett Preparatory School. An independent school for 474 children aged from 4 to 11, founded in 1935. Feeds into Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School and St. Helen's School.
• St John's Church of England Infant and Nursery School. A state controlled school for 224 children aged from 3 to 7. Which is linked to Fair Field Junior School.^[11]

As there are no secondary schools in Radlett, from the age of 11 Radlett's children attend schools in towns in the surrounding area, mostly travelling by dedicated bus services.

Twinning[link]

Radlett is twinned with:

• Louveciennes, France. Louveciennes web site
• Lautertal, Germany. Lautertal web site

Radlett's Twin Town association's website is on http://www.raifa.org.uk/

Notable residents[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011)

Current:

• Lacey Turner, EastEnders actress
• Luke Quinn, the lead singer of pop-rock band Saving Aimee
• Brian Bennett and Hank Marvin of The Shadows
• The actress Pam St. Clement
• Former boss of Johnson Matthey, Ron Hewitt
• Ted Childs the television producer, screenwriter and director, whose works include The Sweeney, Kavanagh QC, Soldier Soldier, Making Waves, Inspector Morse and its spin-off Lewis
• Kolo Touré
• Arsenal footballer Alex Song^[12]
• Composer and Lyricist Alexander S. Bermange

Past:

• Richard Baker, the former BBC newsreader
• George Michael spent much of his teen years living with his parents on Oakridge Avenue
• Alan Hawkshaw music composer and record producer
• Kirsty Hawkshaw singer and songwriter
• Sir Peter Thompson - father of the Management Buy-out in the UK and former Chairman of the National Freight Corporation and the Wellcome Foundation and patron of the BAC Bursary for Business History Research
• Barry Morgan drummer with the band Blue Mink, lived in the Avenue
• Former Chelsea footballer Dennis Wise
• Former "Blue" singer Duncan James
• Former Arsenal footballer Lauren
• Former England cricket captain Douglas Jardine lived at the top of Gills Hill for a number of years in the late 1940s and early 1950s.^{[citation needed]}
• Ben Pugh, producer of film Shifty
• Michael Michael Britain's biggest criminal supergrass

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Radlett

• Radlett Cricket Club
• The Radlett Society & Green Belt Association
• Hertsmere Borough Council
• Live Departures Board, Radlett Station
• Aldenham Parish Council
• The Radlett Centre
• The Radlett Festival
• Tabard Rugby Club
• Radlett United Synagogue
• Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue
• Radlett Churches
• Radlett Tennis & Squash Club
• Radlett Circle for Women aged 18-45
• Radlett Choral Society
• 1st Radlett Scouts
• Radlett & Aldenham International Friendship Association
• Radlett Light Opera Society

References[link]