Watford

Watford is a town and district (styled as 'borough' due to the historical charter granted by Henry VIII) just to the north-west of London. Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly-elected mayor, currently Dorothy Thornhill of the Liberal Democrats. She is the only directly-elected Liberal Democrat mayor.

Trivia

The phrase 'North of Watford' is widely used to describe areas of the United Kingdom that are north of London. This is possibly because Watford was the first place that horses were changed on the route to the north-west from London, though the phrase actually refers to the Northamptonshire village of the same name, about 50 miles further north, which traditionally was an important waypoint on the old east-west and north-south coaching routes and the point where the main north-south road, rail and canal routes came together at a gap in the hills known as "Watford Gap". Watford in Hertfordshire is much better known and so frequently mistaken, in the context of this phrase, for the same place.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - London - Northamptonshire - Same name

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An alternative theory is that many of the original signs at the southern end of the M1 motorway bore the legends "Watford" and "The North", Watford being the first major town on that route.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~