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Cannon Road, WATFORD, WD18 0BB

The street name is likely to be related to the Cannon Brewery of Benskin's that was formerly nearby. I suspect that the whole settlement of Watford Fields was built for the workforce.

Located outside the former Church of St James each panel of the War Memorial records the names of about twenty men who gave their lives in the First World War. This is an extraordinary number when you consider the comparatively small size of the neighbourhood of terraced houses that would have existed at that time.

Viewed from Lammas Road, I think this was formerly a Chapel of Ease in the Parish of St Mary.

The railway from Watford to Rickmansworth (Church Street) through Watford High Street station was originally opened in 1862 and subsequently taken over in 1881 by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR). However it was not until some fifty years later, and just before the start of the First World War, that the LNWR built the connecting lines between Bushey and Watford High Street stations and between Bushey and Rickmansworth (Church Street) stations, creating a triangular junction in the process. This bridge carries the last surviving section of these railways and the junction, between Bushey and Watford High Street stations, over Lammas Road. The No Waiting road signs define the parking restrictions in place whenever the Watford Stadium at Vicarage Road is in use for match days.

The DC electric loop through Watford High Street crosses.

I have to confess to being less than 100% certain about the identification of this building in Elfrida Street. Watford Borough Council's Listed Building file shows "The former St James Church, Lammas Road, built 1890s, tall nave with aisles, overburnt brickwork with yellow brick details, consecrated 1913, later additions (eg chancel in 1928)". Lammas Road is at the end of Elfrida Street here, but the Ordnance Survey 6" to 1 mile mapping editions of both 1899 and 1920 show this as a vacant plot of land. Only in the 1938 edition is the building shown. The cross on the cupola is evidence of its ecclesiastical origin, and I also think it is now in use as the church annexe of the adjacent Field Junior School. I can find no other possible references to a St James Church currently on the internet.

Among its other attractions (not immediately obvious, it is probably fair to say), Watford boasts a plethora of shopping experiences, among them a number of retail parks for the indefatigable consumer.

A northbound London Overground service rounds the Watford Fields curve on the approach to Watford High Street station. Watford High Street is the 17th and penultimate stop for these trains from Euston before they reach their final destination of Watford Junction. This railway has had a curious and complex history. In 1862 the railway from Watford Junction to Rickmansworth was built with an intermediate stop at Watford High Street. The train in the photo is about to join the route of that line. In about 1910 the London and North Western Railway decided to build a branch line off the Rickmansworth line to Croxley Green, and also to enable a direct route from both Croxley Green and Rickmansworth to Euston. To that end they built a line across Wiggenhall Road over Image to Bushey. The track in the photo was then built to form a triangular junction. In the event the passenger service to Rickmansworth was closed in 1952 and the railway progressively reduced so that the trackwork seen here is the only operational part of the original LNWR infrastructure. At the point at which the train is about to join the original Rickmansworth branch route the disused track is still in situ despite the Croxley Green branch having being closed in 1996. For a long time passenger services on this track were operated by the Bakerloo Line of London Underground, hence the presence of the electrified centre rail visible next to the train on the other track in the photo. For thems that need to know such things the train is Unit No. 313106. The houses on the right are in Neal Street.