Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire
County
Flag
Bedfordshire in England
Coordinates: 52°05′N 0°25′W / 52.083°N 0.417°W / 52.083; -0.417Coordinates: 52°05′N 0°25′W / 52.083°N 0.417°W / 52.083; -0.417
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	East
Established	Ancient
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Helen Nellis
High Sheriff	Charles Whitbread
Area	1,235 km2 (477 sq mi)
• Ranked	41st of 48
Population (mid-2014 est.)	617,000
• Ranked	36th of 48
Density	499/km2 (1,290/sq mi)
Ethnicity	86.3% White 8.3% S.Asian 2.9% Black
Districts of Bedfordshire   Unitary
Districts	Bedford Central Bedfordshire Luton
Members of Parliament	List of MPs
Police	Bedfordshire Police
Time zone	GMT (UTC)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)

Bedfordshire (/ˈbɛdfədʃə/ or /ˈbɛdfədʃɪə/; abbreviated Beds.) is a county in the East of England. It is a ceremonial county and a historic county, covered by three unitary authorities: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton.

Bedfordshire is bordered by Cambridgeshire to the east/northeast, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the east/southeast. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton (236,000) and the county town, Bedford (102,000).^[1] The highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.

The traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Clangers", deriving from a local dish comprising a suet crust pastry filled with meat in one end and jam in the other.

History

The first recorded use of the name in 1011 was "Bedanfordscir," meaning the shire or county of Bedford, which itself means "Beda's ford" (river crossing).

Bedfordshire was historically divided into nine hundreds: Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redbournestoke, Stodden, Willey, Wixamtree, along with the liberty and borough of Bedford. There have been several changes to the county boundary; for example, in 1897 Kensworth and part of Caddington were transferred from Hertfordshire to Bedfordshire.

Geography

The southern end of the county is on 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 of Fletton style bricks in the Marston Vale. 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. The Greensand Ridge is an escarpment across the county from near Leighton Buzzard to near Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire.

Climate

Bedfordshire is relatively dry, being situated in the east of England. Average annual rainfall is 597.6 millimetres (23.53 in) at Bedford.^[2] October is the wettest month with 62.5 millimetres (2.46 in), February the driest with 36.7 millimetres (1.44 in). While there is little difference from month to month there are more wet days in autumn and winter but often heavier individual falls in spring and summer, of note were the 1998 Easter floods.^[3]

Average temperatures in Bedford range from a low of 0.8 °C (33.4 °F) overnight^[2] in February to a high of 22.1 °C (71.8 °F) during the day in July.^[2] In the last 20 years the highest temperature recorded was 35.9 °C (96.6 °F).^[4] The lowest temperature on record in Bedfordshire is −20.6 °C (−5.1 °F) at Woburn on 25 February 1947.^[5]

Politics

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner is Kathryn Holloway who is a member of the Conservative Party.

Local government

For local government purposes, Bedfordshire is divided into three unitary authorities: the boroughs of Bedford and Luton, and the District of Central Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire County Council was abolished on 1 April 2009, although the three districts continue to form a county for ceremonial functions such as lieutenancy and High Sheriff.^[6] Many services in the county, such as education and public libraries, continue to be provided jointly by Central Bedfordshire and Bedford as if they were a single local authority.^[7]

Emergency services

Policing, fire and rescue services continue to be provided on a county-wide basis, with Bedfordshire Police governed by the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service governed members of the three councils.^[8]

Parliamentary constituencies

For elections to the House of Commons, Bedfordshire is divided into six constituencies, each returning a single member of parliament:

Constituency	Member of Parliament
Bedford		Richard Fuller
Luton North		Kelvin Hopkins
Luton South		Gavin Shuker
Mid Bedfordshire		Nadine Dorries
North East Bedfordshire		Alistair Burt
South West Bedfordshire		Andrew Selous

The present constituencies date from 1997.^[9] The boundaries were slightly modified for the 2010 general election.^[10]

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Bedfordshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[11]	Agriculture[12]	Industry[13]	Services[14]
1995	4,109	81	1,584	2,444
2000	4,716	53	1,296	3,367
2003	5,466	52	1,311	4,102

Bedfordshire is the location of a number of notable UK and international companies who have either headquarters or major bases in the county. Autoglass, Boxclever and Charles Wells Pubs are all based in Bedford, while the Kier Group and Kingspan Timber Solutions are based in Sandy, and Jordans Cereals are based in Biggleswade. EasyJet, Impellam, Monarch Airlines, Thomson Airways and Vauxhall Motors are all based in Luton, while Whitbread (including Costa Coffee) is based in nearby Houghton Regis. UltraVision is based in Leighton Buzzard, while Moto Hospitality is based at Toddington service station.

Visitor attractions

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

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.

Roads

Two 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

To these was added in 1959 the M1 motorway, the London to Leeds motorway. This has three junctions around Luton, one serving Bedford and another serving Milton Keynes.

Former trunk roads, now local roads managed by the local highway authority include A428 running east-west through Bedford Borough, and A6 from Rushden to Luton.

Railways

Three of England's main lines pass through Bedfordshire:

• 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 London Midland trains to London Euston and Northampton.
• The East Coast Main Line has stations at Arlesey, Biggleswade and Sandy, served by Great Northern services to King's Cross and Peterborough
• The Midland Main Line serves Luton and Bedford with trains to many destinations operated by East Midlands Trains and Thameslink.

There are rural services also running between Bedford and Bletchley along the Marston Vale Line.

Taxis

Bedfordshire is served by a large number of taxi companies. Luton is reported to have the highest number of taxicabs per head of population in the United Kingdom with a number of firms competing for work in the town and from London Luton Airport.

Waterways

The River Great Ouse links Bedfordshire to the Fenland waterways. As of 2004 there are plans by the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust to construct a canal linking the Great Ouse at Bedford to the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes, 14 miles (23 km) distant.^[15]

Air

London Luton Airport has flights to many UK, European, Middle Eastern and North African destinations, operated largely but not exclusively by low-cost airlines.

Settlements in Bedfordshire

Education

The state education system for all of Bedfordshire used to be organised by Bedfordshire County Council. Unlike most of the United Kingdom, Bedfordshire County Council operated a three-tier education system arranged into lower, middle and upper schools, as recommended in the Plowden Report of 1967, although Luton continued to operate a two-tier system. The three-tier arrangement continues in the rest of the county, though in 2006 a vote was held with a view to moving to the two-tier model, but this was rejected.^[16]

After the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, Bedfordshire County Council was abolished, and its responsibilities for education were passed to Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. Though Central Bedfordshire plans to continue with the three-tier model in its area, Bedford Borough Council voted in November 2009 to change to the two-tier model in its area.^[17][18] The change was due to be introduced over a five-year period and be completed in 2015.^[19] However, with the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme in 2010, the borough has changed its proposals, and the switch is now proceeding on school by school basis where council funds allow.

Bedford and Central Bedfordshire

Until the division into two unitary authorities in April 2009, education in the area continued to be administered by Bedfordshire County Council.

All of the two councils' upper schools offer 6th form courses (such as A Levels), though Bedford College, Central Bedfordshire College and Shuttleworth College also offer a range of further education courses. Additionally, Stella Mann College is a private college (based in Bedford), which offers a range of further education courses relating to the performing arts.^[20][21]

There are a number of independent schools, many of which have links to the Harpur Trust. These are Bedford School for boys (formerly Bedford Grammar School), Bedford Modern School (co-educational), Bedford Girls' School and Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School (co-educational).

Luton

Luton also operates a three-tier education system, though its organisation of infant, junior and high schools mirrors the traditional transfer age into secondary education of 11 years. However, most of Luton's high schools do not offer sixth-form education. Instead, this is handled by Luton Sixth Form College, though Barnfield College and Cardinal Newman Catholic School also offer a range of further education courses.

Higher education

There are two universities based in the county – the University of Bedfordshire and Cranfield University. These institutions attract students from all over the UK and abroad, as well as from Bedfordshire.

Landmarks

Cardington airship sheds

The enormous Cardington airship sheds are situated to the south of Bedford, near the villages of Cardington and Shortstown. They were originally built for the construction of large airships during WW1. Since falling out of their intended use, one has been used for many purposes including housing film sets for 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Batman Begins' and as a rehearsal space for Take That, with the other having been extensively refurbished and now accommodating Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British modern airship design and manufacturing company.

St Paul's Church Bedford

St Paul's Church, Bedford is a Church of England parish church and the Civic Church of the Borough of Bedford and the County of Bedfordshire. Located on St Paul's Square, the large medieval and later church of cathedral proportions and iconic spire dominates the town and area, exercises a ministry of welcome to thousands of visitors and pilgrims from far and wide each year, and is a focus for special commemorations and celebrations in the borough, county, region and wider community, as well as being a central venue for concerts, recitals and exhibitions. Historically, St Paul’s played a key part in the life of the British nation during the Second World War as the church of the BBC.

Millbrook Proving Ground

The Millbrook Proving Ground, near Junction 13 of the M1, has 70 kilometres (43 mi) of varied vehicle test tracks.^[22]

Sports and Leisure

Bedfordshire is home to Luton Town F.C. and Bedford Blues rugby team amongst other various sporting teams.

Bedfordshire boasts a 40-mile (64 km) walk traversing the county from Leighton Buzzard at the southern end point and Sandy, Bedfordshire/Gamlingay in southern Cambridgeshire to the east. This is called the Greensand Ridge Walk. For cyclists, a parallel route following minor country roads is also available, Greensand Cycle Way.

Notable people from Bedfordshire

Bibliographical references

• Bedfordshire Magazine (quarterly)^[23]
• Elstow Moot Hall leaflets on John Bunyan and 17th century subjects^[23]
• Guide to the Bedfordshire Record Office 1957 with supplements.^[23]
• Guide to the Russell Estate Collections Published in 1966.^[23]
• Conisbe, L. R. (1962) A Bedfordshire Bibliography (supplement, 1967)^[23]
• Dony, John (1953) A Bedfordshire Flora. Luton: Corporation of Luton Museum & Art Gallery^[23]
• Dony, John (1942) A History of the Straw Hat Industry. Luton: Gibbs, Bamforth & Co.^[23]
• Freeman, Charles (1958) Pillow Lace in the East Midlands. Luton: Luton Museum and Art Gallery^[23]
• Godber, Joyce (1969) History of Bedfordshire 1066-1888^[23]
• White, H. O. Bedfordshire Historical Record Society (published annually)^[23]

See also

• Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire
• High Sheriff of Bedfordshire
• Healthcare in Bedfordshire

References

External links

• North Beds Online Local Information for North Bedfordshire
• Bedfordshire at DMOZ
• Images of Bedfordshire at the English Heritage Archive

Neighbouring counties

	Northamptonshire	Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire	Cambridgeshire
	Buckinghamshire		Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire
		Bedfordshire
	Buckinghamshire	Hertfordshire	Hertfordshire