 | Bedfordshire: Encyclopedia - Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Alistair Burt, Nadine Dorries, Patrick Hall, Kelvin Hopkins, Margaret Moran, Andrew Selous
- Bedford
- Mid Bedfordshire
- South Bedfordshire
- Luton (Unitary)
Bedfordshire is a county in England and forms part of the East of England region.
Its county town is Bedford. It borders Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire (with the Borough of Milton Keynes) and Hertfordshire.
The highest elevation point is 243 metres/797 feet, on the Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns. The county motto is "Constant Be."
Bedfordshire - History
See also main Bedfordshire history article
The first recorded use of the name was in 1011 as "Bedanfordscir," meaning "Beda's ford" (river crossing).
Bedfordshire was historically divided into the nine hundreds: Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redbournestoke, Stodden, Willey, Wixamtree, along with the liberty and borough of Bedford.
Luton was part of Bedfordshire until 1997, when it was made a unitary authority. However, it remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, with a single Lord Lieutenant representing the sovereign throughout this entire area. Except where otherwise indicated, this article relates to the whole Ceremonial County of Bedfordshire, including Luton.
Bedfordshire - Geography and geology
The southern end of the county is part of the chalk ridge known as the Chiltern Hills. The remainder is part of the broad drainage basin of the River Great Ouse and its tributaries.
Most of Bedfordshire's rocks are clays and sandstones from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, with some limestone. Local clay has been used for brick-making at Fletton. Glacial erosion of chalk has left the hard flint nodules deposited as gravel - this has been commercially extracted in the past at pits which are now lakes, at Priory Country Park, Wyboston and Felmersham.
Bedfordshire - Transport
Although not a major transport destination, Bedfordshire lies on many of the main transport routes which link London to the Midlands and Northern England.
Bedfordshire - Roads
Three of England's six main trunk roads pass through Bedfordshire:
- The A1 London to Edinburgh road (The Great North Road) runs close by Biggleswade and Sandy
- The A5 London to Holyhead road (Watling Street), passes through Dunstable
- The A6 St Albans to Carlisle, through Luton and Bedford
To these were added in 1959 the M1 motorway London to Yorkshire motorway. This has three junctions around Luton, and one serving Bedford and Milton Keynes.
Bedfordshire - Railways
Again, three of England's main lines pass through Befordshire:
- The West Coast Main Line has but a short section in the far west of the county. The one station at Leighton Buzzard is served by Silverlink trains to Euston and Northampton.
- The East Coast Main Line has stations at Arlesey, Biggleswade and Sandy, served by WAGN services to King's Cross and Peterborough
- The Midland Main Line serves Luton and Bedford with trains to many destinations operated by Midland Mainline and Thameslink.
Bedfordshire - Waterways
The River Great Ouse links Bedfordshire to the Fenland waterways. As of 2004 there are plans to construct a canal linking the Great Ouse at Bedford to the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes, 23 km distant [1].
Bedfordshire - Air
London Luton Airport has flights to many UK, European and North African destinations, operated by low-cost airlines.
Bedfordshire - Towns and villages
Main article: List of places in Bedfordshire
- Ampthill
- Barton-Le-Clay, Bedford, Biggleswade, Beeston
- Clophill, Cranfield
- Dunstable
- Eversholt
- Flitwick
- Hockliffe
- Kempston
- Leighton Buzzard
- Luton
- Marston Moretaine, Millbrook
- Old Warden
- Sandy, Shefford, Stotfold, Studham
- Toddington
- Whipsnade, Woburn
Bedfordshire - Places of interest
- Cardington (R101 hanger)
- Chicksands
- De Grey Mausoleum
- Dunstable Downs
- Elstow Moot Hall
- Harrold Odell Country Park
- Hoo Hill Maze
- Houghton House
- Leighton Buzzard Railway
- Luton Hoo
- Marston Vale Community Forest
- Priory Country Park
- RAF Henlow
- RSPB The Lodge, Sandy
- The Shuttleworth Collection
- Stevington Windmill
- Stockwood Craft Museum
- Stewartby Lake
- Whipsnade Wildlife Park
- Whipsnade Tree Cathedral
- Willington Dovecote & Stables
- Woburn Abbey
- Woburn Wildlife Park
- Wrest Park Gardens
Other related archives1011, 1959, 1997, 2004, A1, A5, A6, African, Alistair Burt, Ampthill, Andrew Selous, Barton-Le-Clay, Bedford, Beeston, Biggleswade, Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardington, Carlisle, Chicksands, Chiltern Hills, Chilterns, Cranfield, Cretaceous, Dunstable, Dunstable Downs, East Coast Main Line, East of England, Edinburgh, England, European, Euston, Eversholt, Felmersham, Fenland, Fletton, Flitwick, Glacial, Grand Union Canal, Hertfordshire, Holyhead, Houghton House, Jurassic, Kelvin Hopkins, Kempston, King's Cross, Leighton Buzzard, Leighton Buzzard Railway, List of places in Bedfordshire, London, London Luton Airport, Lord Lieutenant, Luton, Luton Hoo, M1 motorway, Margaret Moran, Marston Moretaine, Marston Vale Community Forest, Mid Bedfordshire, Midland Main Line, Midland Mainline, Midlands, Millbrook, Milton Keynes, Nadine Dorries, Northampton, Northamptonshire, Northern England, Old Warden, Patrick Hall, Peterborough, R101, RAF Henlow, River Great Ouse, Sandy, Shefford, Silverlink, South Bedfordshire, St Albans, Stotfold, Studham, Thameslink, The Shuttleworth Collection, Toddington, UK, WAGN, Watling Street, West Coast Main Line, Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, Whipsnade Wildlife Park, Willington Dovecote & Stables, Woburn, Woburn Abbey, Wrest Park Gardens, Yorkshire, airlines, borough, brick, canal, ceremonial county, chalk, clays, county, county town, elevation, flint, hundreds, limestone, main Bedfordshire history article, motorway, region, sandstones, sovereign, trunk roads, unitary authority
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bedfordshire", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
