Watford has experienced its share of floods, storms, thick fogs, high winds and snow.
I particularly recall one Easter in April in the 1960s when a storm led to snow lying for several days. My father and I walked to Oxhey Park, which was filled with snowball throwers, toboggans and local photographers capturing the unseasonal 'spring' scene.
In the 19th century, the Colne valley between Bushey Mill and Hamper Mill was regularly flooded each winter and spring. One year, after thick snow, a sudden thaw and rain caused flooding, followed by a severe frost. Ice formed beyond the Loates Lane arch and people seized the opportunity to skate. For several nights the ice was ablaze with torches that looked 'very grand' from the banks of the railway. But, all too soon, the ice began to crack.
On the night of October 13, 1881 and the morning after, a tempest of 'unprecedented violence' passed through Watford and the surrounding area. Historian Henry Williams tells us that hundreds of trees were uprooted and thousands of others damaged. On the Cassiobury estate, so many trees were destroyed that they could not be counted and at The Grove, 79 trees were blown down.
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