Bedford

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Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the Bedford borough. The town has a population of 82,488, with 19,440 in the adjacent town of Kempston. The wider borough, including a rural area, has a population of 147,911.

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.

Industry & Economy

A number of major engineering works opened in the nineteenth century, most notably the Rolls Royce engineering plant, but most of these have now closed, and the town lacks a strong driver for its economy. Nonetheless it is expanding more rapidly than most English towns, with a number of major residential developments in progress. This is partly due its strong rail links to London, and the associated demand for commuters' dormitory housing.

Notable Bedfordians

It was the home and prison of John Bunyan, the author of the Pilgrim's Progress.

Other prominent Bedfordians include:

Harold Abrahams, 1924 Olympic 100 metres champion and character in the film Chariots of Fire
Tim Foster, men's coxless fours Olympic gold medallist
Paula Radcliffe, the UK's top female long-distance runner
Olympic silver medalist badminton doubles, Gail Emms
the late comedian, Ronnie Barker
Al Murray, actor, also known as 'the pub landlord'
heavyweight boxer Matt Skelton
England and Everton F.C. footballer Andy Johnson
Ski-jumping legend Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards

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, Bedford Modern School a former boys's school which became co-educational in 2003, and Bedford High School, Dame Alice Harpur School for girls and, for the youngest children, Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School. Another significant private junior school is Polam School, most of the pupils go on to study at one of the four Harpur Trust schools. Alternative smaller private institutions are Rushmoor School (primarily for boys) and St. Andrews School (primarily for girls) which cater for children of nursery age up until the completion of GCSEs. They are not part of the Harpur Trust.

It is also home of a campus of De Montfort University, which is based in Leicester, although this is now to become part of the closer Luton University and is intended to be renamed the University of Bedfordshire in the near future.

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.

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 25,000 guests. 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 lorry loads of sand are deposited in the town centre) and the Bedford Kite Festival in June. The Proms In The Park in the main Bedford park in early Aug is very popular.

There is an active amdram scene, with groups such as the Swan Theatre Company producing plays and musicals in venues like The Place, and the Bowen West Theatre.

Bedford has a rugby union team called Bedford Blues, which is 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.

Transport

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 London, and is also served by Midland Mainline trains. It is also the terminus of the Marston Vale Line from Bletchley.
Bedford St Johns, is the penultimate stop on the Marston Vale line.

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. Bedford has a southern bypass, and the proposed western bypass, which has been long delayed, is expected to be built shortly.

The town's bus services are run by Stagecoach East, and bus routes run to (among others) Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Oxford.

Demographics

Bedford Bridge from Antiquities of England by (1783) by Francis Grose.jpg|thumb|A former version of Bedford Bridge in 1783.]] Bedford is home to the largest concentration of Italian immigrants in the UK According to a 2001 census, 15% of Bedford's population is of Italian descent. This is mainly as a result of labour recruitment in the early 1950's by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions of Puglia, Campania, Calabria, Molise and Sicily. Bedford's Italian, almost '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 & continental produce and by the large Italian mission Church ran by the Scalabrini Fathers order. Bedford has, since 1954, had its own Italian Vice Consulate.

In addition to Italian migrants, 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 both Britain and the European Union, especially 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, the town has twenty-five times as many languages as London in proportion to population size, the most linguistically diverse town in the world. If London had the same proportion of languages to population, every known language on the planet would be spoken there. There are also significant numbers of English-speaking immigrants from former British colonies, most notably South Africa and the West Indies.

Nearby settlements

External links

134 (Bedford) Squadron - Air Training Corps
Bedford Freecycle™ Group
Bedford Freecycle™ Café Group
2nd Bedford Boys & Girls Brigade Companies
Bodyflight Ltd (Worlds Largest Indoor Skydiving Tunnel)

Towns on the River Great Ouse | Towns in Bedfordshire | English county towns | Bedford

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