POSTCARD FROM HERTFORDSHIRE

Bob Barton makes plenty of connections to the film world as he returns to the county of his birth but still finds time for a vintage bus ride

- Bob Barton

Watford Junction may not seem the most exciting place to start a tour of my birth county. (I was born in Bushey.) I'd eased my way through an excited crowd of international tourists. They were making for a bus heading to the Harry Potter Studio Tour (wbstudiotour.co.uk) at Warner Brothers' Leavesden base. I must be the only person in England who hasn't been there yet. But more of Hertfordshire's film links later. I was aiming instead for a forgotten corner of the station where a branch line starts. A short train took me "clickety-clacking" along the single track, towards St Albans Abbey station.

I got off at the rural idyll of Bricket Wood. Its Edwardian station building has recently been restored. Last summer, a tearoom opened within; I was eager to try it. A freshly made avocado sandwich and wide choice of homemade cake was too tempting to resist. With flowers on every table and polished faux gas lamps shining brightly, it's about as far removed from an old British Railways buffet as you could imagine.

One customer told me the village was once a popular day trip destination for Londoners, with special trains bringing Sunday school parties and firms' outings to fairs held on the common for much of each summer. "Those who could afford it went to a tearoom in a thatched cottage, called the Old Fox With His Teeth Drawn. The cottage is still there, but it's now a private house," she said. At the pub, I spotted a photo of a fair, dated 1905 and showing helter-skelters, swing-boats and crinolined ladies. "The first July fair was Gooseberry Pudding Sunday," says the caption. "There were five others before the tenth of the month, a busy time for the showman." Now quiet, I found the common a lovely spot for a wander, with its heathland and ponds.