Croxley Green History

Croxley Green History Website

We hope you enjoy browsing this website and take time to look at the photographs, read the descriptions and listen to the memories of local residents.
You can view images more clearly by clicking on them to open a larger version. All photographs, written and spoken word remain the copyright of the Croxley Green History Project unless otherwise stated.

Whilst we have strived to make sure that all information is correct, we are aware that there may be some grammatical or historical mistakes and so if you would like to send feedback, general comments, or just keep a record of your browsing of the site, we have created a file that will help you HERE. All feedback comments and input can be emailed to web.cgra@gmail.com If you have photographs or documents you are willing to share, we would carefully copy and if needed enhance originals and return promptly with copies of what has been produced. Alternatively, you can contact us or send files HERE.

Whilst looking through this website, we hope you enjoy finding new facts you never knew about Croxley Green, see old photographs of places you know so well and take pleasure knowing that we all live in such a wonderful and historic village.

The Croxley Green History website would like to thank Hertfordshire County Council, Croxley Green Parish Council and Croxley Green Residents Association for their generous funding and for the time and effort given by local residents of Croxley Green without whom this website would not be possible. The Croxley Green History Project is a community based history and archive project that allows the residents of Croxley Green to identify and celebrate their heritage. Huge leaps in the use and accessibility to web based technology have enabled the Croxley Green History Project to initiate a low cost plan that is based on the setting up of this designated Croxley Green History website that initially contained 600 photos, 1,000 documents and 100 statements from local residents.
The content is filed in distinct pre-determined categories and can be accessed via the drop down index above. The quality and content of the initial material is outstanding and you and other visitors to

Croxley Green Residents Association

Working together with

Croxley Green Parish Council

Hertfordshire County Council

the website can discover numerous historical facts and facets about Croxley Green. Many people, now or previously associated with Croxley Green have retained memories and artefacts concerning their lives and experiences of those days. If revealed and collated, such an abundance of diverse and fascinating matters can be transformed into an historic journal for the information and enjoyment of all. This is what we are hoping to achieve. Depictions of the Croxley Green of yesteryear by way of recollections and photographs will hopefully capture the reader’s imagination, giving rise to an appreciation of how things were in days gone by. It is apparent that ‘incomers’ to Croxley Green developed a sense of belonging as they adapted to a new and different way of life and made the area their home. That life they cultivated and revealed in as time passed by. Through these pages we will endeavour to introduce you to those past times and we hope you enjoy the experience.

Croxley Green Remembered

The following poem was composed by the late Mr G. Revell, whom many local people would have remembered, and was
recited in conversation with Mr Frank Jackson of Yorke Road. (Reproduced from a 1973 edition of the Croxley Resident)

"The fairest sight I've ever seen is at Croxley on the Green
Lying lazily in grass leisurely the cars go past;
Buzzing bees and butterflys, Burbling larks, clear blue skies;
Hot sun, birds a-twittering, White clad lads a-cricketing;
Ditches, delves and gravel roads, Horse and cart with heavy load;
Cows that amble slowly by, Udders full and dull of eye;
Old Nabby leaning on his bike tries in vain to light his pipe;
Curses at the tiny breeze whispering softly in the trees;
Silent as a waiting mouse sleepy stands the Public House
The Coach and Horses old and quaint sadly needs a coat of paint;
Cackling hens insect bent, dogs stretched out, exhausted, spent;
From the grass the daisies peep, on the wall the cat's asleep;
Well worn paths where on to stroll, grassy banks from which to roll;
Sight of hay o'er gates and stiles, girls with warm and happy smiles;
Fairest sight of all to me Croxley Green as it used to be;
This is lovely to my mind because then, my friend, I was not blind"

© Copyright

The Croxley Green History website has been set up in such a way to establish a growing historical record of the parish that can be added too for future
generations to access enjoy and learn from. The majority of the content as at 2015 has been collected over a period of 25 years. To this has been added memorabilia, given,loaned or copied and reproduction improved providing as much history to make an interesting start. Hopefully this will encourage past and present residents to add to the website.
The purpose of the website is to make available a resource for researchers, schools and families. A starting point to learn about the place in which Croxley Green residents lived and enjoyed a life of a semi urban / rural life. Much of the recent content has been kindly made available from other sources including The Archivist at The Paper Trail Three Rivers Museum and again many local generous residents. Early photographs made available for its content may show lost views or buildings that have been overtaken by development. The originals were of poor quality. Many hours have been spent enhancing these to bring them up to a standard that was worthy of their original state.
It is not a website that is intended for its content to be copied and used for profit by individuals. However, should any of the content be of use for educational or local interest purposes then permission to use it should be sought from the association and if required and available an original copy can be obtained. The Croxley Green History Project does not necessarily hold the copyright of some of the content and therefore to avoid any compromises please use the website contact form for advice.

Copyright Notice
Croxley Green History Group take the theft of our original work very seriously and would draw to your attention it is protected under UK and more importantly EU copyright law. Please note we will always seek compensation if any part of our website, design or SEO whether text, images or recordings are found being used without prior authorisation in writing. You can read our full copyright notice HERE.
Contact: web.cgra@gmail.com

Acknowledgements

Margaret J. Pomfret
Whilst involved in producing a successful Parish map in 1993 it was clear to me that Croxley Green had a wealth of history that residents were keen to share their photographs and documents as well as personal memories.
Encouraged by an elderly neighbour Harry Packman,(since passed away) I began collecting these. I visited dozens of residents recording their childhood reminiscences (written by hand then). Many wrote and sent them to me. Photographs loaned or given were copied and a collection began.
I looked for a comprehensive history of Croxley Green and found written articles in The Resident, in booklets produced by The Rickmansworth Historical Society and others. Picture books with photographs of Croxley Green appeared in locally produced editions with brief descriptions. It seemed to me Croxley Green merited a collective history of its own as I was discovering remarkable and unusual memorabilia for a small village.
As early as 1900 Croxley Green was a community where residents became involved and strived for the very best for their village. This was encouraged by John Dickinson (paper mill) providing his workers with exceptional facilities and allowing these amenities to be shared with the whole community. Wealthy land owners and influential residents also contributed to the village way of life. School teachers endeavoured to provide their pupils with a first-class education along with extraordinary opportunities, most often with limited resources.
An increase in house building in the 1930's saw acres of Croxley Green's farmland quickly filled with estates and became part of the Metroland. This new community soon became united and coordinated to put on the most astonishing celebrations in 1935/ 1937 for King George V Jubilee celebration and King George VI Coronation celebration.
Filling in the history gaps I found so much of the village history/archive was scattered throughout the county even at the National Archives at Kew, London. Collating this into a workable and useful archive that could be used as a resource for groups, individuals and educational purposes would enable others to easily add to it. The future of a community is made up of its past and how residents can use this to preserve and conserve the best for the next generations.
For the past two years the CGRA has encourage us as a small team, working together on this 'History Website Project' for Croxley Green. A huge amount has already been uploaded and more to follow. As the project is gaining momentum, generous offers of more material is being offered.
My sincere thanks..... to Don Carless who read my 'first efforts' and encouraged the remainder, to David Pomfret who spent many hours helping to make the photographs more professionally presentable for the website. This task requires many hours of patience as I found out attempting to improve more recent contributions.
In addition the support from the Croxley Green Residents Association giving an enormous amount of committee time and enthusiasm to the project seeing this stage come to fruition.
Along with Lynn Withington and Julia Matheson, chairman, Barry Grant , vice chairman, Tony Munroe have been so supportive.
It is Ross Humphries who has taken the project material, persevered, and created the user friendly website for current residents and those further afield. For both young and old residents who may want to look back on the place in which they have fond memories.

Ross Humphries
How did I end up being involved with the history project? It all started as I see the see the former Yorke Road School on a near daily basis and when the threat of development started after the partial demolition of the building by Leukaemia Research, I sent my objection letters (as with many others) but nothing seemed to happen. With all of my avenues exhausted I went along to a Croxley Green Residents' Association meeting and found many like minded people who were trying to preserve the building. I also realised that there were other issues in Croxley Green affecting me such as the new proposed secondary school and the proposed Rail Link to name two. I believe that whilst residents of Croxley Green do not necessarily need to go to ever residents meeting (6 per year) they can keep in touch with the Residents Association via the CGRA website and like the Facebook page (bottom of the page) thus knowing what is going on locally and taking pleasure in knowing that there is a group of people who are only motivated by a love of Croxley Green who are trying to make it an even nicer place for everyone to live in. Margaret Pomfret has been involved with the Parish Council and Residents Association for many years and had amassed a wealth of local photographs and documents and this website was the natural place to put them all for future generations and those interested in local history. The history project is also a natural progression in that this is where I want to live and have, like many others raise my family here and so I have an interest in letting people know how long it has been a great place to live in. My involvement is in producing this website and whilst creating the website it had nurtured a great interest in the history of Croxley Green. Moved to Croxley Green in 1999

Dr. Julia Matheson
I first came to Croxley in 1942, and after a brief spell in Repton Way, my mother and I moved into Yorke Road, where I have lived ever since. As you can imagine, I have seen many changes over the years: the blacksmith in New Road has become a garage; shops have come and gone. I started school at Yorke Road Infants in 1943 and went to Watford Grammar School for Girls at the age of 6 and 9 months as one of the last intake of primary school children.
I have always been interested in history, and when the campaign began some years ago to save Yorke Road School from destruction, I became involved in the research that we undertook to present a case for its listing. Visits to archives in St. Albans, Kew and Lambeth Palace enabled me to establish its history – with the maddening gap of the name of its architect. I have since spoken on its history to U3A groups in Croxley and in Rickmansworth, and to the Friends of Rickmansworth Museum.
I am very proud to have played a very small part in the setting up of this website by helping with the proofreading. Croxley Green has a much richer history than one might have been aware of and I am now inspired to continue researching it. I hope that many other people will feel the same and help to build the site into something even more special. Enormous thanks to Margaret Pomfret and Ross Humphries for all the work they have done so far.

Lynn Withington
I first became involved with this project in July 2013 when Margaret Pomfret agreed to visit Rickmansworth School as part of a local history day. Her years of research and wealth of knowledge quickly became apparent and I was delighted to lend a hand with some of the initial proof reading and transcribing. The site will be invaluable as a resource for local schools and we hope that the pupils and their families will use it to discover more about the area in which they live. For Croxley Green is full of surprises and is so much more than just another stop on the tube. History comes alive for our pupils as they walk around the village uncovering the plaques on the trees on the Green and noticing the dates on the houses in New Road. The website will help them to picture life here long before mobile phones and the Internet, to connect with the residents named on the census, to look around them and understand how the area has developed and to appreciate the community spirit which has drawn people here and which makes it difficult for them to leave. It is the people themselves who have shaped the history of the village and continue to do so today. The website is already a mine of fascinating information, photos and memoirs, but I hope that it will continue to evolve as local residents of all ages not only use it but also take ownership of it and add their own experiences of life in Croxley Green.

Tony Munroe
I first became involved in the history project through my membership of the Residents’ committee. Margaret Pomfret brought to the committee’s attention the importance of documenting Croxley’s rich past and to provide the means for the public to have easy access to all the archive material she had collated over many years.
With Margaret’s extensive knowledge and enthusiasm we decide to build this history website and started a Croxley history group to oversee the project which would also provide the means for project to continue once the website went live.
We do need to pass on our gratitude to Margaret for all her hard work and dedication she has given to the project and we are lucky to have someone who can give answers to the many questions about Croxley Green’s varied and rich past.

Barry Grant
When I was elected Chairman of the Residents' Association about 6 years ago, committee member, Rose Hascomb, suggested that I contact Margaret Pomfret about the possibility of doing a coffee table book on Croxley Green's history based around the plethora of information gathered by Margaret for a book that never materialised (that's a story for another day!). But why limit things to a one off publication? One thing led to another and Ross Humphries came on-board. With his vision and technical know how Ross steered us toward the creation of a website, something that we could start and which grow and grow as a living history of Croxley Green. I am absolutely delighted with the way in which the website has turned out and amazed by the quality of its content. Margaret and Ross have, through hard graft, dogged determination and no little skill produced an inspirational piece of work and made it easy for others to present their own slices of local history to a worldwide audience. This is the end of the beginning but the start of something very special.