During a discussion at Hemel Hempstead Rural District Council on water supply problems arising from the drought, the following was heard: “When I came through Redbourn this morning I noticed the water at the bottom of the Common was absolutely dry and you could walk through it without getting wet.”

He added he was told this was the first time it had been like this for 90 years.

[From the Watford Observer of January 20, 1934]

For more stories from the Watford Observer's archive, go to our Nostalgia pages by clicking HERE