Where Watford had Chicago Rock Café and Calendars was a well-liked destination in Garston, many people in the Rickmansworth area will have fond memories of a meal or a night out at Long Island Exchange. A waiter serving customers in the Rickmansworth restaurant in 1993 (Image: Watford Observer)Formerly the Victoria Hotel, the Victoria Close restaurant and hotel complex was a landmark in the town for more than a century and was thought to pre-date Rickmansworth Station which stood opposite. The entrance to the Long Island hotel (Image: Watford Observer)Plans to convert it into a housing developing proved highly controversial, but numerous attempts to save it were unsuccessful and it was bulldozed in 2015 and the site redeveloped. The themed restaurant was part of a hotel complex in Victoria Close (Image: Watford Observer)Do you enjoy finding out more about the past in the Watford area? The Watford Observer has its own nostalgia and local history Facebook group and more than 31,000 people have now joined We grew up in Watford since it was launched.