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.
Part 39 of '50 events and dates that shaped Watford' takes us back 30 years to when a new era of broadcasting arrived in town, but it never really took off.
The museum's volunteer archivist Christine Orchard said: "In the early 1990s Jones Cable Group, based in Greycaines Road, North Watford, began digging up pavements all around Watford and installing cables. I'm sure the phrase 'have they been round your way yet' was mentioned in many conversations! The plan was that a connected subscriber could get better terrestrial TV reception, local content and be able access one of the new satellite companies (BSB or SKY) without the need for a satellite dish.
Jones Cable Group's offices, Greycaines Road, more recently occupied by Virgin Media. Picture: Google
"Receiving TV via a cable didn't take off in big way in the same way that satellite dishes did. Perhaps, like cable radio, in the very early years of audio broadcasting, it fell by the wayside as 'wireless' transmissions improved. However, it seems we are returning to cables for our TV but this time using the old-establish telephone lines, all be it upgraded to fibre!"
Watford Museum is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
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