Hertfordshire is a county just North of London and border Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and North London. Hertfordshire information, such as events, lodging, places to eat, news, photos, and maps can be found at www.hertfordshire.com. Hertfordshire is an inland county in England and is bordered on the south by Greater London and Bedfordshire, on the west by Buckinghamshire, on the north east by Cambridgeshire, and on the east by Essex.
Hertfordshire information about its history is very rich and goes back a long, long way. The first evidence of people living in Hertfordshire goes back to the mid Stone Age. It appears that this land was farmed during the Neolithic period and was permanently inhabited somewhere towards the beginning of the Bronze Age. With the growth of London, Hertfordshire was found to be very close to this capital city of England and so much of the land was owned by aristocrats and nobility. Hertfordshire’s economy received a great boost shortly after the industrial revolution in 1903 with a dramatic increase in population. From the 1920’s through to the late 1980’s Borehamwood (a town in Hertfordshire) became home to MGM-British Studios where three Star Wars films were made (episodes IV, V, & VI). These film studios were locally called Elstree and were not only where these movies were filmed, but nearby was the home of another American director, Stanley Kubrick, who lived there until his death. Elstree also saw Big Brother-UK and Who Wants to be a Millionaire also being filmed on this site. Leavesden Film Studios is also located in Hertfordshire. This is where the James Bond film Golden Eye was filmed. In 2012 the canoe and kayak events of the 2012 Olympic Games will be held in Waltham Cross, inside the borough of Broxbourne.
Much of this county is devoted to agriculture. Some quarrying of sand and gravel still takes place around the area of St. Albans. The area of Bovingdon still supplies clay to local brick makers. Nash Mills is home to a bourgeoning paper industry. The Royston Crow is the name of a newspaper published in Royston and shares its name with one of the more common birds in the area.
Much Hertfordshire information about the economy will be recognized as significant. The town of Hatfield within the county used to be known for aircraft manufacturing as the home of de Havilland, producer of the world’s first commercial jetliner, the Comet. Now it is the site of a business park and a new campus for the University of Hertfordshire. This site is also the home to well known T-Mobile, Computacenter and others as well. Some companies have left this area to take advantage of land values that can be found elsewhere. The freed up land has been used for housing and for use in the service industry.
Hertfordshire information can probably be found best by visiting several significant sites within the county. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks can lay claim to being the oldest pub in Britain. Shaw’s Corner located at Ayot St. Lawrence was once the home of George Bernard Shaw. The Bridgewater Monument was built in 1832 to memorialize the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton. Also visit the Berkhamsted Castle and take a walk back through history.
