The Watford Observer has teamed up with Watford Museum and its curator Sarah Priestley to take a journey back to the town’s past through items or places of historical significance.

We've reached 31 in 'a history of Watford 50 objects' and it is this 19th century pub sign that was a sign of the times.

Sarah said: "Watford Museum has a number of pub signs in our collection, as you would expect for a museum based in the former Benskins mansion. Each has its own story and charm, but my favourite has to be for The Arches which stood at the bottom of the High Street.

"In this pub sign, you can see a romanticised view of the Bushey Arches in the early days of George Stephenson’s railway which opened in Watford in 1837.

"Look closely and you can see the Watfordians in Victorian dress, the train crossing the Arches and the stagecoaches that were once a regular sight on the High Street. Watford was a stagecoaching point, and being 20 miles from London was the perfect situation to stop the night in an inn and rest horses.

"Many people remember the days of numerous pubs on the Lower High Street. Sadly The Arches pub is no more, but you can still see the Grade II listed Bushey Arches."

Watford Museum is currently closed under lockdown restrictions but you can still pay it a virtual visit at www.watfordmuseum.org.uk or find the museum on Facebook and Instagram @watfordmuseum