Rickmansworth's ancient parish boundaries stretched from Chroleywood in the north to Batchworth Heath in the south; and from West Hyde in the west to Cassiobridge in the east. The town of Rickmansworth was at the centre and the authors have encompassed the entire original parish in this well-balanced new account of its past.

Rickmansworth has always been influenced by its proximity to London. In earlier times it was no more than a day's journey by horse for the many royal and noble owners of the Manor of the Moor and Moor Park; today it is only half-an-hour away by Metropolitan Railway, an attractive home for commuters, first inveigled here in the 1920s by the slogan 'Live in Metroland'.

This entertaining and lively narrative is illuminated by an unrivalled selection of carefully-captioned pictures. This is the book that Rickmansworth has been waiting for!

Uniquely, this book is published under the auspices of the Rickmansworth Historical Society, which since its formation in 1954 has been assiduously adding to its local history archive - which includes the remarkably comprehensive Godfrey Cornwall Collection of slides and prints, upon which the authors have been able to draw for many of their illustrations - not previously published.

The authors are both members of the Society. They have lived and worked in Rickmansworth for the past 25 years. Adrienne is assistant librarian at Rickmansworth Library and Christopher is administrator to the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust. They are both well known for their local history talks.

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