X-Nico

30 unusual facts about Bedfordshire


Barton Hills

Barton Hills, Bedfordshire, England in the Chilterns near Barton-le-Clay (including a National Nature Reserve)

Bishop of Northampton

The Eastern District consisted of the counties of Cambridgeshire (with the Isle of Ely), Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Rutland, and Suffolk, all from the former Midland District, and the counties of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire from the London District.

Bromham

Bromham, Bedfordshire, a village in the county of Bedfordshire, England

Burwell Family of Virginia

Their early history is not completely known but by 1607, they were living in Harlington, Bedfordshire, at Harlington House – now known as Harlington Manor.

Cardington test

The Cardington Fire Tests were a series of large-scale fire tests conducted in real steel-framed structures at the village of Cardington, Bedfordshire, England.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Salford, Bedfordshire

Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade I listed church in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.

Goodyear GZ-20

Christened Europa N2A. her structural elements were freighted from the Goodyear factory in Akron Ohio to the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Cardington, Bedfordshire, England on an Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy to be erected there but based at a new facility near Rome.

Houghton Regis

Its parish council provides certain sports and open space amenities and includes the ancient hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn, and Sewell.

John and William Rufford

They were probably father and son and were the successive owners of a foundry in Toddington, Bedfordshire.

Leopold de Rothschild

An avid sportsman, he established Southcourt Stud in Southcote, Bedfordshire.

Live at Woburn

The concert was captured from a recording made from the stage soundboard on July 6, 1968 at the Woburn Music Festival in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England.

Lord John Roxton

Lord John Roxton (A fictional title derived from the English parish of Roxton, Bedfordshire) is a supporting character in the Professor Challenger series of stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Lower Shelton

For other settlements with the name Shelton in Bedfordshire, see Shelton, Bedfordshire

Neville Chesters

In 1975, he moved to Woburn, Bedfordshire and started a successful antiques renovation company known as Yesterdays Pine, specializing in antique and reproduction pine furniture and "correctabilia".

Otter Lake, Quebec

While Clapham Township was not officially established until 1920, it was already planned in the second half of the 19th century and named after a village north of Bedford, England.

Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland

He had two brothers, John Neville, Baron Neville (c.1410-1461), who was slain at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461, and Sir Thomas Neville (died c. 1461) of Brancepeth, Durham, and one sister, Margaret, who married Sir William Lucy of Woodcroft, Bedfordshire.

Sir Danvers Osborn, 3rd Baronet

Sir Danvers Osborne, 3rd Baronet (ChicksanShefford, Sheffordds Priory, 17 November 1715 – 12 October 1753, New York City) was colonial governor of New York province briefly in 1753.

Osborne was born on 17 November 1715, at Chicksands village (Shefford, Bedfordshire, England), which was the seat of the Osborn family.

Sir Pynsent Chernock, 3rd Baronet

Chernock was born sometime before 1670, the eldest son of Sir Villiers Chernock, 2nd Baronet, of Holcot (Hulcote), Bedfordshire and his wife Anne Pynsent.

Squire sidecars

In 2002 Motor Cycle News set a Guinness World Record for a motorcycle and trailer reaching a timed speed of 139.5mph at Millbrook in Bedfordshire, UK, pulling a Squire D21 trailer behind a Kawasaki ZZ-R1100 motorcycle.

Sundon

Because of changes to its boundary, the parish no longer includes Sundon Park (which is now an area of Luton) or the "Sundon Substation" of the National Grid for electricity (which lies west of the railway, near the village of Chalton).

Swineshead

Swineshead, Bedfordshire (historically in Huntingdonshire), a civil parish

Thomas Keens

Keens was born in Luton, Bedfordshire the son of Thomas and Emma Keens (née Hailstone).

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland

In 1614, Wentworth inherited from an aunt the estate of Toddington, Bedfordshire, until then the property of the Cheyney family, and here he made his principal residence.

Three Counties railway station

These included the Three Counties Lunatic Asylum, which was finally subsequently known as the Fairfield Hospital.

Toddington Town Band

Toddington Town Band, is an English brass band with over one hundred and fifty years of history.

Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere

Combermere was born at Bedford, Bedfordshire, the son of Field Marshal Stapleton Stapleton-Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere, and Caroline, daughter of William Greville.

Wilden

Wilden, Bedfordshire, a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

William Lee Antonie

The son of Sir William Lee, Chief Justice of the King's Bench and brother of Harriet Lee, he lived at Totteridge Park, formerly in Hertfordshire and owned Colworth House near Sharnbrook in Bedfordshire.

William Warbey

He first entered the House of Commons in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, as Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton in Bedfordshire.


Arthur Macnamara

His family was wealthy; the Macnamara family owned many buildings, including a castle at Llangoed, Wales, a country house called Caddington Hall in Hertfordshire, and an estate at Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire.

Baron Ongley

Born Robert Henley, he assumed the additional surname of Ongley as heir of his great-uncle Sir Samuel Ongley, of Old Warden, Bedfordshire.

Bedford College

Bedford College, Bedford – a further education college based in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England

C.H. Latimer-Needham

He left the RAF in 1935 and formed his second company, Luton Aircraft, at Barton-in-the-Clay, Bedfordshire, where he designed the Buzzard, Minor & Major.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Shelton, North Bedfordshire

Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade I listed church in Shelton, Bedfordshire, England.

Church of St Mary, Linslade

Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed church in Linslade, Bedfordshire, England.

Cranfield School of Engineering

The Cranfield School of Engineering is one of the schools of Cranfield University, an English University located on the Cranfield campuses in Bedfordshire.

De Havilland Gipsy Six

A preserved Gipsy Six engine is on public display at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire, another is on display at the Science Museum (London).

Dunstable, Massachusetts

It is likely named after the town of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England, home of Edward Tyng, the town's first settler.

Eastern Region Ministry Course

Students tend to come from the Eastern region of England, including the counties of Norfolk, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Luton, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire (or parts thereof).

Francis Dillingham

Francis Dillingham (Dean, Bedfordshire – 1625, Wilden, Bedfordshire) was an English Protestant scholar and cleric.

George Arnald

One account places his birth in the village of Farndip (now Farndish) in Northamptonshire (now Bedfordshire), although others suggest he was born in Berkshire.

History of local government in England

In County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Shropshire, Kent, Essex, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, one or two major towns/cities were established as unitary authorities, with the rest of the county remaining two tier.

Houghton Conquest

The Church of All Saints was constructed in the village during the 14th century, and is today the largest parish church in Bedfordshire.

Hybrid Air Vehicles

The company, based in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England, partnered with Northrop Grumman in 2009 to win a $500 million contract which was delivered between 2009 and early 2013.

Joseph Foveaux

Foveaux was baptised on 6 April 1767 at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, the sixth child of Joseph Foveaux and his wife Elizabeth, née Wheeler.

Lewis Dyve

Dyve, who had an estate at Bromham in Bedfordshire, was knighted in 1620 and was one of the attendants of Prince Charles during his time at Madrid.

Marquess of Ailesbury

On 18 March 1664, Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin in the Peerage of Scotland was created Baron Bruce, of Skelton in the County of York, Viscount Bruce, of Ampthill in the County of Bedford, and Earl of Ailesbury, in the County of Buckingham, all in the Peerage of England.

Melchbourne Preceptory

On two occasions the Hospitallers of Bedfordshire came into collision with the canons of Dunstable Priory, on account of one of the customs of their order.

Osborn baronets

The third Baronet was Governor of New York and Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire.

Pamphill

It was built through the will of Roger Gillingham of the Middle Temple, who left property in Bedfordshire, Hackney and Stepney to trustees, in assurance that they would raise £400 for a close next to Pamphill Green.

Percival Provost

G-KAPW with CAA permission to fly as XF603, owned by the Shuttleworth Trust and based at Old Warden, Bedfordshire.

Raymond Swann

His elder son Alec has also represented Bedfordshire and played first-class cricket for Northamptonshire and Lancashire.

Reeves's muntjac

An unspecified species of muntjac was introduced to the grounds of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire in the nineteenth century by the then Duke of Bedford.

Ridgeway School

Ridgeway School, Kempston, a special school in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England

Roy Scoggins

Scoggins made his debut for Buckinghamshire in the 1933 Minor Counties Championship, playing just 2 matches against Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Ruth Tringham

Born on 14 October 1940 in Bedfordshire, England near Bletchley Park, she was the middle sibling with two older brothers and a younger brother and sister.

Samuel Whitbread Academy

Originally designated Shefford & District Upper School, it was as Samuel Whitbread Upper School that it opened on a purpose-built site on 4 September 1973, as part of Bedfordshire County Council's re-organisation into a 3-tier, non-selective school system.

Slip End

The name of Slip End possibly has a connection with the brickworks, Slip is an old English word for clay and End is quite common in Bedfordshire and not unknown in other counties.

Society of the Faith

Douglas moved the enterprise to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire where a local printer, Henry Rutherford, began producing the stamps.

Southill, Bedfordshire

In 1914, the village was described as follows: "Southill, parish and village with railway station (1½ miles north-west, Midland Railway), east Bedfordshire; parish 5734 acres, population 989, ecclesiastical district 954; village 3 miles south-west of Biggleswade; Post Office; Telegraph Office at station. In vicinity is Southill Park, seat".

Steven Lines

He was dismissed for a single run by Hallam Moseley in Bedfordshire's innings, while with the ball he took the wickets of Peter Roebuck, Ian Botham and Nigel Popplewell for the cost of 28 runs from 10 overs.

Theodore Wade-Gery

Born into a long-established Bedfordshire family, he was educated at Winchester College, a contemporary of Arnold J. Toynbee and R.M.Y. Gleadowe, and at New College, Oxford, which he left with a First in Classical Moderations in 1911.

Thomas Alston

Sir Thomas Alston, 5th Baronet (1724–1774), MP for Bedfordshire 1747 and Bedford 1760

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey

In 1833 he succeeded his aunt as second Earl de Grey according to a special remainder and also inherited the Wrest Park estate in Silsoe, Bedfordshire.

Toddington, Bedfordshire

Toddington is situated on a chalky plateau, Totternhoe Stone, which rises up to 100 ft above the other Mid-Bedfordshire villages (e.g. Westoning, Harlington, Flitwick).

Trevor Skeet

He is survived by his widow, Lady Skeet, who resides in Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire.

Vandyke Upper School

Vandyke Upper School and Community College is an academy school and sixth form in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England.

Wellingborough School

Wellingborough School RAF section is linked to No. 5 Air Experience Flight at RAF Wyton, where cadets are flown on Friday afternoons in the Grob Tutor training aircraft, and to 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, where cadets go on Sundays to fly in the Grob Vigilant motor glider, and where Flt Lt Walker is a C Category instructor.

Wenvoe transmitting station

Other sites that required major engineering work before Digital Switchover were Divis (Northern Ireland) and Sandy Heath, (Bedfordshire), which also required mechanical strengthening work.

William Drury Lowe

After his marriage in 1827 to Caroline Esther Curzon daughter of Lord Scarsdale they lived at Aston Lodge in Aston-on-Trent for a while before he took up the challenge of running the estate near Kimbolton in Bedfordshire.

William Steuart

One month later Steuart married Eliza, daughter of Sir Rowland Alston (1654–1697), 2nd Bart., of Odell Castle, Bedfordshire, by his wife Temperance, daughter and heiress of Thomas Crew, 2nd Baron Crew.

Willington Dovecote and Stables

Willington Dovecote & Stables is a National Trust property located in Willington, near Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.