Borehamwood

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For the village in Essex, see Boreham.

Borehamwood is a town in southern Hertfordshire, just outside London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is part of the borough of Hertsmere. The town is often associated with the nearby village Elstree (being part of the ancient parish of Elstree), the two still share a local council, now called the Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council, and a railway station, Elstree & Borehamwood railway station.

The station is served by trains operated by First Capital Connect, (formerly Thameslink). The same railway line is used by Midland Mainline between St Pancras station and Nottingham, although these trains do not stop there. The A1 passes just to the east of the town, and the M25 passes about two miles north of it.

Since the 1920s, the town has been the location of several film studios - including the MGM-British Studios complex (demolished in the early 1970s) where many well-known films such as , Where Eagles Dare and Goodbye Mister Chips were made. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood". Most of these studios have now closed, although two remain.

The former Associated British Studios in Shenley Road have been partly demolished to make way for a supermarket — what remains has been redeveloped to form Elstree Studios. Moby Dick, The Dambusters, the first three Indiana Jones films and the first three Star Wars movies were physically filmed at the old studios (although visual effects for Indiana Jones/Star Wars were created in California). The TV series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Big Brother and major feature films are filmed at the new Elstree Studios.

The former British National Studios on Clarendon Road (which were later owned by Lew Grade's ATV) are now the BBC's Elstree Television Studios. One of BBC's popular soaps, EastEnders, is produced at the studios, as well as popular medical drama Holby City.

The building which housed the former Gate Studios was demolished in April 2006.

As of April 2004, the town has approximately 30,000 residents. There is one weekly newspaper, the Borehamwood and Elstree Times, commonly known as the Borehamwood Times. Until 2003, the town was the headquarters of the United Kingdom subsidiary of T-Mobile.

Sports and recreation

Borehamwood has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V

External links

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