Cuffley is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Northaw and Cuffley, in the Welwyn Hatfield district of south-east

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

located between Cheshunt and Potters Bar. It has a population of just over 4,000 people. and is part of Broxbourne parliamentary constituency.

History

The railway had an important impact on the development of the village. Cuffley was reached by the Great Northern Railway in 1910, as part of the plan to create the Hertford Loop Line, as a strategic alternative to the main line out of King's Cross to the north, by extending the line from

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Country ...

. The early history of Cuffley is recounted by one of its residents,

Molly Hughes Mary Vivian Hughes (2 October 1866 – May 1956), usually known as Molly Hughes and published under M. V. Hughes, was a British educator and author.'Miss M. Hughes: Pioneer women teacher', ''The Times'', 5 June 1956 Life The daughter of a London ...

, in her autobiographical book ''A London Family Between the Wars.'' On 3 September 1916 the German airship

SL 11 SL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * SL (rapper), a rapper from London * ''Second Life'', a multi-user 3D virtual world * Sensei's Library, an Internet site dedicated to the game of Go * Subdominant leittonwechselklänge * Leica SL, a mirror ...

was shot down and crashed in Cuffley during an aerial bombardment intended for London.First German Airship Shot Down
BBC - WW1 At Home, Nov 2014. Retrieved: 24/04/18 This incident is commemorated by a memorial on East Ridgeway to Lieutenant W. Leefe Robinson, the pilot who shot the airship down; he was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. There is also a model of the airship in the village hall. Contrary to many reports of the incident, the SL 11 airship was not a

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

but an army Schütte-Lanz airship. Regardless, the local football team is still nicknamed 'The Zeps' after this event. In 1939, the Scout Association purchased part of the

Tolmers Park Tolmers Park is a manor house in Newgate Street Village near Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. Early history The early history of the manor is obscure, but in a register of lands belonging to the Bishop of Ely compiled in 1277, a certain Walt ...

Estate that lies within the Parish of Cuffley.

Tolmers Scout Camp Scouting in East of England is about Scouting in the official region of East of England. It is largely represented by The Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the Baden-Powell Scouts' Associati ...

was opened on Whit Saturday 1940 by

Lord Wigram Baron Wigram, of Clewer in the County of Berkshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for the soldier and court official Sir Clive Wigram, Private Secretary to King George V George V (George Frederick E ...

. Today, Tolmers hosts thousands of young people annually from all over the UK and across Europe; not only Scouts and Guides but schools and youth groups as well.

Transport

Cuffley is near to the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

and is part of the London commuter belt. Cuffley railway station provides a commuter service to Moorgate, Finsbury Park and King's Cross, services operated by

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

Facilities

Cuffley Primary School has occupied its present building since 1938 when it replaced the original Victorian school room. Preschool education for children aged 2 to 5 years old is available at the youth centre (Cuffley Community Centre Pre-School). St Andrew's Anglican Church, built in 1965 on the site of the old school, replaced the 'tin church' built in 1911 next to the old village green. The village also has a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church, which in May 2011 changed its name to the Life Church and is associated with the Life Church at Potters Bar. There is also St Martin de Porres

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Church.

Notable residents

Its most notable current resident is

Sir Terry Leahy Sir Terence Patrick "Terry" Leahy (born 28 February 1956) is a British businessman, previously the CEO of Tesco, the largest British retailer and the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. He now lives in Cuffley, Hertfordsh ...

, former CEO of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

, although this did not prevent locals from objecting vehemently to plans to build a "Express" store in the village replacing one of only two remaining village pubs.Daily Telegraph on-line 23 July 2007
/ref> Other famous residents include Premier League footballers

Ledley King Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is a former player who was a one-club man, spending his entire career at Tottenham Hotspur and playing 323 competitive matches for the club from 1999 to 2012. He is currently a club ambassador for Tot ...

, Jermain Defoe,

Niko Kranjcar Niko may refer to: People The given name is sometimes a short form of Nikola, Nikolas, Nikolaos or others. * Nikō (1253–1314), Japanese Buddhist disciple of Nichiren * Niko (musician), American musician active from 2002 * NiKo (born 1997), B ...

David Bentley David Michael Bentley (born 27 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a winger, but also played as a central midfielder or as a second striker. Bentley started his career with Arsenal in the Premie ...

Kyle Walker Kyle Andrew Walker (born 28 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Manchester City and the England national team. Walker started his career at his boyhood club Sheffield United which he had joined ...

and

Armand Traoré Armand Mouhamed Traoré (born 8 October 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a left back. Traoré is a product of the Arsenal Academy. Born in France, he represented France at under-19 and under-21 levels, but since opted ...

; and also former Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan and Myleene Klass.

References

External links

Cuffley Online — Village Website
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England Welwyn Hatfield