Bedford

 

town (1991 pop. 75,632), county seat of Bedfordshire, central England, on the Ouse River. It is an important industrial center; diesel engines, pumps, turbines, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, and transistors are the chief manufactures. Bedford is also a fluid dynamics research center. A battlefield for Britons and Saxons in the 6th cent., Bedford was the scene of an important Saxon defeat in 571. St. Peter's Church contains examples of Saxon stone carvings. John Bunyan is commemorated by a chapel on the site of a building where he preached in the 17th cent. Bedford School, in existence since the 12th cent., is one of the largest public schools in England.

Bedford
Bedford shown within the United Kingdom
Population	79,190
OS grid reference	TL055495
- London	57.4m
District	Bedford
Shire county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BEDFORD
Postcode district	MK40, MK41, MK42
Dialling code	01234
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Bedford
European Parliament	East of England
List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire

Coordinates: 52°′″N 0°′″W / 52.1337, -0.4577

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the Bedford borough. According to Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town of Kempston. The wider borough, including a rural area, had a population of 153,000.

Bedford was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle Ages. It traces its borough charter in 1166 by Henry II and elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons. It had a castle, razed in 1224.

Education

Bedford is home to five public schools run by the Harpur Trust charity, endowed by Bedfordian Sir William Harpur in the sixteenth century. These are:

• Bedford School for boys aged 7-18
• Bedford Modern School, a former boys' school which became co-educational in 2003 for pupils aged 7-18
• Bedford High School for girls aged 7-18
• Dame Alice Harpur School for girls aged 7-18
• Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School.

Smaller private institutions include Rushmoor School (boys aged 3-16, girls 3-11) St. Andrews School (girls aged 3-16, boys 3-9), and Polam School, none of which are part of the Harpur Trust.

Bedford hosts a campus of the University of Bedfordshire, which prior to 2006 was a campus of De Montfort University which is now just based in Leicester.

The state school system is lower, middle and upper, an arrangement which was put to the vote in 2006. State upper schools include Sharnbrook Upper School, Mark Rutherford Upper School, John Bunyan Upper School, St Thomas More School (Roman Catholic) and Biddenham Upper School, a local Sports Specialist College.

Features and events

The River Great Ouse passes through the town centre (see also ford (crossing)), and is lined with attractive gardens known as The Embankment. Bedford's principal church is St Paul's, in the square of the same name at the historic centre of the town. It has a tall spire which is one of the main features of the town. There was a church on the site by 1066 and work on the present structure began in the early 13th century in the early English style, but little remains from that period other than the south porch. Additions were made in the 15th century and the John Bunyan and John Wesley both preached in the church. In 1865-1868 the tower and spire were completely rebuilt and the two transepts added and lesser alterations have been made since. From 1941 to the end of the Second World War the BBC's daily service was broadcast from St. Paul's.

The Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, housed in the recreated Victorian home of the Higgins family of Victorian brewers and in a modern extension, has notable collections of watercolours, prints and drawings, ceramics, glass and lace. Adjacent to the Cecil Higgins Gallery is Bedford Museum, which has local history collections.

Bedford Hospital is a district general hospital that operates from two sites in the town, providing a wide range of services, although patients requiring highly advanced treatment are referred to specialist units, elsewhere, principally in Cambridge and London. Its catchment area is based on the Borough of Bedford and Mid Bedfordshire. In 2006 there was controversy in the local media about alleged plans to downgrade Bedford Hospital's provision of acute care, as the government's current policy is that full service hospitals require a catchment area population of 300,000. Bedford Hospital's catchment population was less than that at that time, but it is expected to exceed it in the medium term as the area is experiencing above average population growth. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt visited the town and made assurances about the future of the hospital, but failed to fully satisfy local concerns as to the government's intentions.

Every two years, an event called "The River Festival" is held near the river in Bedford during early July. The event lasts for two days and regularly attracts about 250,000 visitors. The event includes sports, funfairs and live music. It is the second largest regular outdoor event in the UK beaten in numbers only by the Notting Hill Carnival. The Bedford Regatta each May is Britain's largest one-day river rowing regatta.

Other annual events include Bedford By The Sea (when large quantities of sand are deposited in the town centre) and the Bedford Kite Festival in June. 'Proms In The Park', held in early August, is a popular musical event.

There is an active amdram (community theatre) scene, with groups such as the Swan Theatre Company, Bedford Dramatic Club (BDC), Bedford Marianettes and ShowCo Bedford producing plays and musicals in venues like The Place, the Civic Theatre, the Corn Exchange and the Bowen West Theatre. The Bedford Pantomime Company produces a traditional pantomime at the Civic Theatre each Christmas. July 2007 saw the first Bedfringe festival, a pre-Edinburgh Fringe festival, centred on the Civic Theatre. There are a number of local bands including Alabama Circus

Bedford has two rugby union teams called Bedford Blues and Bedford Athletic. Bedford Blues are currently in the second tier of English rugby, but has previously been in the top division. Taking into account the size of its overall urban area, it is one of the largest towns in England without a fully professional football team. Bedford Town F.C. currently plays at the seventh level of the English football league system and Bedford Valerio United F.C. play at the 11th level.

Film and TV links

• The popular BBC TV series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was filmed in and around Bedford during the 1970s. Also One Foot in the Grave was also filmed around Bedford during the 1990s - 2000s.
• In the 2006 Comedy Central and DVD versions of Russell Peters' Outsourced, a good natured Bedfordian bears the brunt of Russell's comedic segment "I'm From England".

Transport

Trains

Bedford has two railway stations:

• Bedford (Midland) is located on the Midland Main Line. It is the northern-most stop on the First Capital Connect rail service to Brighton. Midland Mainline intercity trains also serve the station, Providing trains to St Pancras, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds. It is also the terminus of the Marston Vale Line from Bletchley.
• Bedford St Johns is the penultimate stop on the Marston Vale line.

Roads

Bedford lies on the A6 trunk road, and two of the most important north-south routes in Great Britain, the A1 and the M1 motorway pass a few miles to the east and west respectively. Two road improvement schemes are currently in process to link the town to the M1^[1] and A1^[2] via dual carriageway. This will significantly improve access to the town, which currently requires the use of frequently congested single carriageway roads. Bedford has a southern bypass, and the proposed western bypass, which has been long delayed, has yet to be started although approval has been given.

Buses

The town's bus services are run by Stagecoach East, and major bus routes run to Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Oxford and other towns in the region. Most of these services depart from the main bus station in the town.

Demographics

Bedford is home to the largest concentration of Italian immigrants in the UK. According to a 2001 census, 2 in 7 of Bedford's population are of at least partial Italian descent. This is mainly as a result of labour recruitment in the early 1950s by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions of Puglia, Campania, Calabria, Molise, Abruzzo and Sicily. Bedford's Little Italy feel is enhanced by a wide variety of Italian bars, restaurants and social clubs throughout the town. as well as a large number of delis and grocery shops selling Italian and continental produce - and by the large Italian mission church run by the Scalabrini Fathers order. Bedford has, since 1954, had its own Italian vice-consulate - the only non-capital city in the world to have one.

In addition to Italian immigrants, Bedford has also been the recipient of significant immigration from South Asia, Eastern Europe (particularly in the last few years), Greece, Cyprus, the Middle East and Africa, making it one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse towns in Britain and the world, particularly in proportion to its size. Bedford is home to over one hundred immigrant languages, including Italian, Punjabi, Turkish, Polish, Portuguese and both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. With one language per thousand residents, in proportion to population size the town has twenty-five times as many languages as London (the most linguistically diverse place in the world) and fifty times as many as New York City. If London had the same proportion of languages to population, every known language on the planet would be used there. There are also significant numbers of English-speaking immigrants from former British colonies, most notably South Africa and the West Indies but also the USA and Canada.

Bedford also has a high number of Christian churches including four from the Newfrontiers network, several Polish and Italian Roman Catholic churches, and various independent churches that cater to the different ethnic and language groups. There are also Sikh, Muslim, Wiccan and Jehovah's Witness communities.

Twinned towns

Bedford is twinned with:

• Bamberg, Germany
• Arezzo, Italy
• Rovigo, Italy
• Wloclawek, Poland

Relationship with nearby towns and villages

The town of Kempston is adjacent to Bedford. The villages in the Borough of Bedford with populations of more than 2,000 as of 2005 were Biddenham, Bromham, Clapham, Elstow, Oakley, Sharnbrook, Shortstown, Wilstead, and Wootton. There are also many smaller villages in the borough. The villages in the borough are popular with commuters to Bedford, and also with people who commute to Milton Keynes, which is a more important employment centre than Bedford, and to London.

Nearby small towns include Ampthill, Biggleswade, Flitwick, and Sandy, all of which are in Mid Bedfordshire. The nearest towns and cities with larger populations than Bedford are Northampton to the north west, Cambridge to the east, Milton Keynes to the south west, and Luton to the south, all of which have urban area populations of 130,000 or more. Milton Keynes and Cambridge in particular are used by Bedfordians for services that are not available in Bedford, especially the shopping and leisure facilities in Milton Keynes, and advanced health services at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, a teaching hospital which has a partnership with Bedford Hospital.

Notable Bedfordians

It was the home and prison of John Bunyan, the author of the Pilgrim's Progress. Prison Reformer John Howard, although born in London, was high Sheriff of Bedfordshire.

Other prominent Bedfordians include:

• Harold Abrahams, 1924 Olympic 100 metres champion and character in the film Chariots of Fire
• Ronnie Barker, the late comedian
• Matt Berry, comedian, star of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh, as well as the voice of George the talking volcano in the recent Volvic (mineral water) adverts
• Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, traveller
• Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer
• Gail Emms badminton doubles 2004 Olympic silver medallist
• William Fitzhugh, also known as William the Immigrant, founder of an American dynasty that married into the lines of George Washington and General Lee
• Tim Foster, men's coxless fours Olympic gold medallist
• Sir William Harpur, who became Lord Mayor of London.
• Bishop Trevor Huddleston, anti-Apartheid activist
• Andy Johnson, England and Everton F.C. footballer
• John Le Mesurier, actor and comedian
• Toby Litt, writer, went to Bedford Modern School and lived in nearby Ampthill.
• Alfred Mitchell-Innes, diplomat, who also served on Bedford Town Council for 23 years and resided there from 1920 until his death in 1950.
• John Oliver, Comedian and actor, now based in the United States. Correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
• Dame Bertha Phillpotts, Scandinavian scholar and pioneer of university education for women
• Matt Skelton, heavyweight boxer, commonwealth champion
• Charles Wells, founder of Charles Wells Brewery, a company still located in the town.
• William Hale White, a minor Victorian novelist who wrote under the pseudonym, Mark Rutherford.

And not born there but associated with Bedford:

• Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, ski-jumping legend
• Paula Radcliffe, the UK's top female long-distance runner and current world record holder for the women's marathon

Schooled in Bedford:

• Paddy Ashdown (now Lord Ashdown), former leader of the Liberal Democrats attended Bedford School
• Alastair Cook, England cricketer attended Bedford School
• Christopher Fry, playwright, attended Bedford Modern School
• Al Murray, actor, also known as The Pub Landlord attended Bedford School
• Monty Panesar, England cricketer, attended Bedford Modern School

References

1. ^ A421 Bedford to M1 Junction 13. Highways Agency. Retrieved on 18 August, 2006.
2. ^ A421 Great Barford Bypass. Highways Agency. Retrieved on 18 August, 2006.

External links

• Welcome to Bedford!
• Bedford online guide and business directory!
• The Official Town Centre and BedfordBID Website
• 134 (Bedford) Squadron - Air Training Corps

• 60 (RBH) Signal Squadron - Territorial Army
• Bedford Freecycle® Group
• 2nd Bedford Boys & Girls Brigade Companies
• Bedford in Old Postcards
• Bedford guide to public houses
• Bedford Bandits Roller Derby League
• Wild life in Bedfordshire

Towns and villages in Bedfordshire

Ampthill · Arlesey · Aspley Guise · Astwick · Barton-le-Clay · Battlesden · Beadlow · Bedford · Beeston · Biddenham · Biggleswade · Billington · Bletsoe · Blunham · Bolnhurst · Brogborough · Bromham · Broom · Caddington · Campton · Cardington · Carlton · Chalgrave · Chellington · Chicksands · Clapham · Clifton · Clipstone · Clophill · Cockayne Hatley · Colmworth · Colworth · Cople · Cranfield · Dean · Dunstable · Dunton · Eastcotts · Eaton Bray · Edworth · Eggington · Elstow · Eversholt · Everton · Eyeworth · Farndish · Felmersham · Flitton · Flitwick · Goldington · Great Barford · Great Billington · Harlington · Harrold · Haynes · Heath and Reach · Henlow · Higham Gobion · Hinwick · Hockliffe · Hockwell Ring · Holwell · Houghton Conquest · Houghton Regis · Hulcote · Husbourne Crawley · Hyde · Ickwell · Ickwell Green · Kempston · Kempston Hardwick · Keysoe · Knotting · Langford · Leagrave · Leighton Buzzard · Lidlington · Limbury-Cum-Biscot · Linslade · Little Barford · Little Staughton · Lower Gravenhurst · Lower Stondon · Luton · Marston Moretaine · Maulden · Melchbourne · Meppershall · Millbrook · Milton Bryan · Milton Ernest · Moggerhanger · Northill · Oakley · Odell · Old Warden · Pavenham · Pertenhall · Podington · Potsgrove · Potton · Pulloxhill · Putnoe · Radwell · Ravensden · Renhold · Ridgmont · Riseley · Roxton · Salford · Sandy · Sharnbrook · Shefford · Shefford Hardwick · Shelton · Shillington · Silsoe · Souldrop · Southcote · Southill · Stagsden · Stanbridge · Stanford · Steppingley · Stevington · Stewartby · Stotfold · Streatley · Studham · Sundon · Sutton · Tempsford · Thurleigh · Tilsworth · Tingrith · Toddington · Totternhoe · Turvey · Upper Caldecote · Upper Gravenhurst · Upper Stondon · Westoning · Whipsnade · Wilden · Willington · Wilstead · Wilshamstead · Woburn · Woodside · Wootton · Wrestlingworth · Wyboston · Wymington · Yielden ·

River Great Ouse, UK
Administrative areas: Northamptonshire · Buckinghamshire · Bedfordshire · Cambridgeshire · Norfolk Flows into: The Wash Towns (upstream to downstream): Brackley · Buckingham · Old Stratford Milton Keynes (Stony Stratford, Wolverton, New Bradwell, Stantonbury, Great Linford) · Newport Pagnell · Olney · Kempston · Bedford · St Neots · Godmanchester · Huntingdon · St Ives · Ely · Littleport · Downham Market · King's Lynn Major tributaries (upstream to downstream by confluence): River Ouzel (or Lovat) · River Ivel River Kym · Old Bedford River · New Bedford River · River Cam · River Lark · River Little Ouse · River Wissey Major bridges (upstream to downstream): Harrold bridge · A428 Turvey bridge · A428 Bromham bypass A6 Bedford Town Bridge · A421 Bedford bypass · Great Barford Bridge A428 Bridge St Neots · St Neots Town Bridge · Godmanchester Chinese Bridge A14 bridge, River Great Ouse · Huntingdon Old Bridge · St Ives Bridge
Longest UK rivers: 1. Severn 2. Thames 3. Trent 4. Great Ouse 5. Wye 6. Tay 7. Spey 8. Nene 9. Clyde 10. Tweed 11. Eden 12. Dee

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