Tykes Water is a minor tributary of the River Colne in

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 ...

in England. Its head waters are a network of drainage ditches west of the A41 near Bushey that feed into

Aldenham reservoir Aldenham Reservoir is situated in the parish of Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England, about one mile (1.6 km) to the west of the village of Elstree. It is the source of the stream, Tykes Water, that runs north through Radle ...

. The outlet of the reservoir then flows north into the lake in Haberdashers' Aske's School grounds known as Tykes Water Lake. It then proceeds north to make a confluence with a secondary stream, also called Tykes Water, near Kendal Hall Farm. The combined Tykes Waters flow through the centre of

Radlett Radlett is a village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 8,042. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and is covered by two wards; Aldenham East and ...

parallel to the railway and then flow north to join the River Colne near

Colney Street Colney Street is a hamlet in the English county of Hertfordshire. It lies on the A5183 road, this was formerly the A5 road and, before that, Roman Britain's Watling Street. In addition its northern boundary is delineated by the M25 motorway. T ...

. The lower part is also called ''The Brook''. The secondary Tykes Water also known as Borehamwood Brook on some maps rises to the south of

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

near Yavneh College and runs north through the town where it has been dammed to produce ornamental lakes in Aberford Park. It then runs north through open country . A minor tributary collects water from farm land north of Borehamwood and also joins near Kendal Hall Farm. Kitwells Brook joins the main stream just north of Radlett and drains land to the east in the direction of

Shenley Shenley is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, between Barnet and St Albans. The village is located 14 miles from Central London. History The history of Shenley stretches back a thousand years or more – it is mentioned in ...

In popular culture

Tykes Water Bridge in

Aldenham Country Park Aldenham Country Park is a parkland and woodland, including Aldenham Reservoir. It is now part of the Watling Chase Community Forest, near Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. Aldenham Reservoir was excavated by French prisoners of war in 1795 to ...

features in the open credits to the

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

film, ''

Dracula A.D. 1972 ''Dracula A.D. 1972'' is a 1972 British horror film, directed by Alan Gibson and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It was written by Don Houghton and stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Stephanie Beacham. Unlike earlier films in Hammer ...

'', and is used in several episodes of the Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson seasons of ''The Avengers'' .

References

Rivers of Hertfordshire Colne catchment {{England-river-stub