Here at the Watford Observer, we were super excited when we heard about Sky Atlantic’s new bittersweet romantic comedy series Mr Sloane – not only does it star Olivia Colman and Nick Frost and come to us from Robert B Weide, of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, but, most excitingly of all, it’s to be set in Watford in 1969.

However, our own enthusiasm was somewhat curbed when we saw an article in the Radio Times which was, shall we say, less than complimentary about our fair town.

Phrases such as ‘a place where the Sixties never quite swung’ and ‘Watford was quite a drab sort of place in 1969, I would have imagined’ have left us feeling a bit deflated.

So we thought we’d put things to rights and show everyone just how swinging Watford was in the 60s. Here are just a few of the things we found:

• Café society was buzzing in Watford in the 60s, with the Chef and Mocha bars near the pond home to a whole lotta jiving .

• Late night dancers and swingers headed for The Trade Union Hall in Clarendon Road, Oddfellows pub, the Mine in Carpenders Park, the Herkomer Club in Bushey, the Hertfordshire Arms (now McDonald’s) or the Busy Bee on the A41, popular with rockers.

• Personalities such as Leslie Crowther and Tony Blackburn visited the area, as did Dame Barbara Cartland, Val Doonican, and Martin Shaw.

• Musical stars a-plenty popped in – Maria Callas recorded at the Town Hall in 1960, and Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Everly Brothers, Adam Faith, Little Richard, Bo Diddley and The Rolling Stones all performed here in 1963.

• The Who played at The Trade Hall in Woodford Road, as did Screaming Lord Sutch, emerging from a coffin with a toilet seat round his neck, while Cliff Richard played the Gaumont cinema in 1963.

• In March 1963, the stars of Z Cars enjoyed a drink and a laugh at the Happy Hour Pub in Eastbury Road .

• The Cheetah sports car, a two-seater fibreglass creation that was sold in kit form in the early 60s, was made in Woodmans Yard, next door to Stapleton’s tyres opposite the High Street station.

The Saint Roger Moore was shown around the production department of the Watford Observer in December 1969; the Bond girls visited Watford General in April 1967 to promote the spy comedy Casino Royale; Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore in Goldfinger) visited the town’s new Odeon Cinema in September 1964; and screen siren Shirley Eaton – Bond girl Jill Masterson in 1964’s Goldfinger – lived in Oxhey.

• Lady Penelope’s pink Rolls-Royce visited the town in July 1968 to promote Thunderbirds 6. The manager of Halford’s was called upon to replace a tapered pin in a sprocket drive when the canopy failed to close.

For more like this (and there are plenty more, Radio Times, thank you very much), why not pick up a copy of our very own Watford in the 20th Century Volume 3 from watfordobserver.co.uk/nostalgia

  • Mr Sloane starts on Sky Atlantic HD on Friday, May 23 at 9pm.