Editing Elstree (section)

== Recreation ==

=== Sport ===
Elstree Cricket Club was formed in 1878,<ref>"[http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-community/comvol/sport2y/spcric4y/668835 Elstree Cricket Club]" at hertsdirect.org website. Retrieved 22 September 2011</ref> but no longer play in the Herts Saracens League.<ref>"[http://elstree.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp Elstree CC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402185552/http://elstree.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp |date=2 April 2012 }}" at Play Cricket website. Retrieved 22 September 2011.</ref><ref>Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League, [http://www.hertsleague.co.uk/ClubDetails.aspx?ClubId=26 Elstree CC Club information], website. Retrieved 23 September 2011.</ref> 18-hole Radlett Park Golf Club was founded in 1984,<ref>"[http://www.theinternetgolfclub.com/golfclubs/elstree-golf-club.asp Welcome To Elstree Golf Club]" at The Internet Golf Club. Retrieved 23 September 2011</ref> having recently being renamed from Elstree Golf & Country Club.<ref>[http://www.radlettparkgolfclub.com/ Radlett Park Golf Club], website. Retrieved 23 September 2011</ref> It is closer to Elstree than Radlett.

Hatch End Cricket Club also play in Elstree. They participate in the Herts Saracens League.

=== Leisure ===
Section 15 of the [[London Outer Orbital Path]] (London Loop) goes through Elstree,<ref name="loop15">"[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/walkfinder/walkdetails.asp?id=88 London Loop: Section 15 Hatch End to Elstree" route details, at Transport for London Website. Retrieved 22 September 2011]</ref> before continuing as Section 16, a 10-mile (16&nbsp;km) walk from Elstree to Cockfosters.<ref>"[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/walkfinder/walkdetails.asp?id=89 London Loop: Section 16 Elstree to Cockfosters]" route details, at Transport for London Website. Retrieved 22 September 2011</ref><ref>London LOOP [http://www.walklondon.org.uk/leaflets.asp?Route=5#content Description and Maps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012045909/http://walklondon.org.uk/leaflets.asp?Route=5#content |date=12 October 2011 }}, at the Walk London Website. Retrieved 2 September 2011</ref>

=== Synagogues ===
Elstree was home to Ohr Yisrael Synagogue, an Orthodox synagogue with affiliation to the [[Federation of Synagogues]]. However, the synagogue's present location is just within Borehamwood. The village currently sports two synagogues: The Shtiebel, an ultra-orthodox synagogue, and The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, just south of St. Nicholas' Church. According to census data, Elstree's population, including the Deacon's Hill area, was 36.0% Jewish, making it the only settlement with a Jewish plurality in the UK (the Christian population comprised 32.4% of the population). There are also two [[United Synagogue]] shuls in the area. One is on Croxdale Road and the other is at Yavneh College, Borehamwood.<ref>{{cite web | title = Elstree Demographics (Hertsmere, England) | url = http://elstree.localstats.co.uk/census-demographics/england/east-of-england/hertsmere/elstree }}</ref>

=== Parks ===
[[File:Tykes Water bridge - geograph.org.uk - 432495.jpg|thumb|Tykes Water bridge]]

[[Aldenham Country Park]] is both a recreational facility and a breeding centre for rare livestock. Section 15 of the [[London Loop]] walk passes by.<ref name="loop15" /> In 1873 nearby Tykes Water stream was dammed to create Tykes Water lake.<ref>Hugh Prince, ''Parks in Hertfordshire since 1500'', Publ. Univ of Hertfordshire Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-9542189-9-X}}, 9780954218997, 334 pages ([https://books.google.com/books?id=mOYyyPCRbuYC&dq=%22Tykes+Water%22&pg=PA191 page 191])</ref> Tykes Water Bridge features in the open credits to the [[Peter Cushing]] and [[Christopher Lee]] film, ''[[Dracula A.D. 1972]]'',<ref>Derek Pykett, Freddie Francis, Simon Flynn, ''British Horror Film Locations'', Publisher: McFarland, 2008, {{ISBN|0-7864-3329-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3329-2}}, 206 pages ([https://books.google.com/books?id=atktMkuOvPwC&q=elstree&pg=PA43 page 43])</ref> and used in several episodes of the [[Diana Rigg]] and [[Linda Thorson]] seasons of [[The Avengers (TV series)|''The Avengers'']], including the final Thorson opening titles.<ref>Avengers fan site by John Dineley. "[http://www.johndineley.com/the%20avengers/location4.htm On Location 4: Tyke's Water Lakes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402210237/http://www.johndineley.com/the%20avengers/location4.htm |date=2 April 2012 }}". Retrieved 23 September 2011.</ref>
It also features in the film ''[[Mosquito Squadron]]''.

=== Elstree Reservoir ===
The dam was built in 1795 by French prisoners of war.<ref>London LOOP, Section 15, Hatch End to Elstree ([http://www.walklondon.org.uk/uploads/File/leaflets/loop15directions_31052010160251.pdf page 3] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129120001/http://walklondon.org.uk/uploads/File/leaflets/loop15directions_31052010160251.pdf |date=29 November 2011 }})</ref> English watercolour landscape painter [[John Hassell]] writes:
:"At the top of Stanmore Hill we enter on Bushy Heath, and at some distance on the right in the valley catch a view of the celebrated reservoir, the property of the Grand Junction Company, on Aidenham Common, at the foot of the village of Elstree. This noble sheet of water occupies a space of considerable extent on the verge of Aidenham Common, which thirty years ago was a barren waste; here the improvements in agriculture are indeed conspicuous, for at this place a poor, sandy, meagre, wretched soil has now by good husbandry been converted into rich pasturage.
:"The reservoir has all the appearance of a lake; and when the timber that surrounds it shall have arrived at maturity, it will be a most delightful spot. From this immense sheet of water, in event of drought or a deficiency of upland waters, the lower parts of the Grand Junction and the Paddington Canals can have an immediate supply. The feeder from this reservoir enters the main stream near Rickmansworth, above Batchworth Mills, and supplies the millers' below with 300 locks of water, to whose interest the Duke of Northumberland is a perpetual trustee."<ref>John Hassell, "Tour of the Grand Junction", Printed for J. Hassell, 1819. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=UxIpAAAAYAAJ&dq=elstree&pg=PA11 page 11])</ref>
In 1886, the [[Photographic Society of Great Britain]] featured an exhibition of photos of Elstree Reservoir by Edgar Clifton.<ref>"[http://erps.dmu.ac.uk/exhibit_details.php?serial=10070 1886 &#91;Thirty-first&#93; Photographic Society of Great Britain Exhibition]", Catalogue records from the annual exhibitions, Exhibitions of the Royal Photographic Society 1870–1915, Exhibition, at De Montfort University website. Retrieved 20 September 2011</ref> During [[World War I]], then Major [[Keith Caldwell]] with No. 74 Squadron RAF, used Elstree Reservoir for target practice.<ref>Ira Jones, ''King of Air Fighters: The Biography of Major "Mick" Mannock, VC, DSO, MC'', Casemate Publishers, 2009, {{ISBN|1-932033-99-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-932033-99-1}}, 340 pages. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=-ELRA_xVJssC&q=elstree&pg=PA198 page 198])</ref> In 1918, one of the pilots accidentally killed a local resident when his machine gun misfired.<ref>''Flight'' magazine, Stanley Spooner, editor. No. 471. (No. 1, Vol. X.) 3 January 1918. ([http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201014.html page 1014])</ref>