The Watford Observer is again delighted to be teaming up with its friends at Watford Museum to take another journey back to the past to recall the key events and dates that helped shape the town’s future.

The 25th part of '50 events and dates that shaped Watford' looks back to when one of the best known companies in the town's history bought the site for its print works - Odhams.

The museum's volunteer archivist Christine Orchard said: "In the late 1840s a printing firm bearing the name 'Odhams' was founded in London but it was not until the mid-1930s that the name became associated with Watford.

Watford Observer:

The Odhams clock tower

"This was when the company purchased a 16-acre green-field site in North Watford which was bounded by the A41 and LMS railway line. It had a road link to St Albans Road and the only other large structure nearby was the newly constructed Gasometer.

Watford Observer:

"The original building was just a single storey, positioned roughly in the centre of the plot. New buildings were added around the original buildings and the building we see today was constructed in the 1950s."

Watford Observer:

This aerial view shows how the site developed

Watford Museum is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. No booking is necessary but Covid prevention measures are still in place to keep visitors safe.