Goffs Oak
Coordinates: 51°42′39″N 0°04′57″W / 51.7109°N 0.0825°W
Goffs Oak is a large village in the borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It is situated between Cuffley and Cheshunt, just north of the M25 motorway in a slightly more rural section of the London commuter belt.
History
The village is named after the Goff family, which owned the area, and symbolised by the original Old Oak, said to be several hundred years old before it fell in the 1950s. Its replacement fell itself in 1987 after severe damage during the hurricane of 1987. Moreover it was marked as Goff Oak on the 2nd Series Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map. It has nearby links to London's Kings Cross Station by Cuffley railway station and to Liverpool Street by Cheshunt railway station.
The village centre is marked by a War Memorial which was unveiled on 20 December 1920.[1] It is inscribed with the names of 32 men from the village who were killed in the First World War. A further 3 names were added following the Second World War. The houses north-east of the memorial were originally the police station. Next to the police station was a civil defence siren which was regularly tested through the 1960s, as part of the national defence at the height of the Cold War. The siren could be heard across the whole village area. Immediately adjacent to the police station and War Memorial was a Doctor Who-style police box which was removed around the time that the police station was converted to residential housing.
Goffs Oak has been used as a film location. In the 1970s, Timeslip,[2] a popular children's science fiction series, was filmed at Burnt Farm Army Camp in Silver Street. Gerry Anderson's, The Protectors, filmed in the 1970s and starring Robert Vaughn also used the former army camp as a location.[3]
Tottenham Hotspur players used to run up and through as part of their stamina training when their training ground was based in Brookfield Lane, Cheshunt.
The village held a fayre celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005.
Education
Goffs Oak has a number of schools including Goffs Oak and Woodside.
There are a number of Pre-Schools including Goffs Oak Pre-School located in Goffs Oak Village Hall.
Religion
The original Goffs Oak Methodist Church was built in 1868, but was replaced by a modern building in the 1970s. is situated in Newgatestreet Road, close to the War Memorial. http://www.goffsoakmethodistchurch.org.uk.
Notable people
A number of celebrities, including Victoria Beckham and Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie, have lived in or around the village. The tennis player, Richard Lewis, lived in Jones Road, Goffs Oak, and attended Goffs School during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He went on to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup, and is now Chair of SportEngland.[4] In April 2012, Richard Lewis was appointed Chief Executive Officer at the All England Tennis Club, Wimbledon.[5] The former Glamorgan wicketkeeper, Colin Metson, now Community and Cricket Development Manager of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, was born in the village in 1963.
References
- ↑ "Lowewood Museam".
- ↑ "Timeslip".
- ↑ "Found Locations".
- ↑ "Sport England".
- ↑ "RFL chairman Richard Lewis appointed Wimbledon chief exec". BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
External links
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