Bedfordshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
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| Geography | |
| Status | Ceremonial county |
| Origin | Historic |
| Region | East of England |
| Area - Total |
Ranked 41st 1,235 km² (477 sq mi) |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-BDF |
| ONS code | 09 |
| NUTS 3 | UKH22 |
| Demography | |
| Population - Total (2007 est.) - Density |
Ranked 36th 595,800 482/km² (1,248/sq mi) |
| Ethnicity | 86.3% White 8.3% S.Asian 2.9% Black. |
| Politics | |
| No county council | |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Districts | |
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Bedfordshire (pronounced /ˈbɛdfərdʃər/ or /ˈbɛdfərdʃɪər/; abbreviated Beds.) is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.
It borders Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire (and the Borough of Milton Keynes) and Hertfordshire.
The highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Bee Orchid as the county flower.[1]
The traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", this last deriving from a local dish comprising a suet crust dumpling filled with meat or jam or both.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
The first recorded use of the name was in 1011 as "Bedanfordscir", meaning the shire or county of Bedford, which itself means "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. There have been several minor changes to the county boundary; for example, in 1897 Kensworth and part of Caddington were transferred from Hertfordshire to Bedfordshire.
[edit] Geology, landscape and ecology
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 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.
[edit] Climate
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This section requires expansion. |
[edit] Politics
[edit] 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.[2]
[edit] Emergency services
Policing, fire and rescue services continue to be provided on a county-wide basis, with the Bedfordshire Police Authority and Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority consisting of members of the three councils.[3]
[edit] Parliamentary constituencies
For elections to the House of Commons, Bedfordshire is divided into six constituencies, each returning a single member of parliament:
The present constituencies date from 1997. [4] The boundaries will be slightly modified for the next United Kingdom general election. [5]
[edit] 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[6] | Agriculture[7] | Industry[8] | Services[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 4,109 | 81 | 1,584 | 2,444 |
| 2000 | 4,716 | 53 | 1,296 | 3,367 |
| 2003 | 5,466 | 52 | 1,311 | 4,102 |
Moto Hospitality is based at Toddington service station. The Kier Group is based in Sandy. Whitbread is based in Dunstable.
[edit] Visitor attractions
| Key | |
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Abbey/Priory/Cathedral |
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Accessible open space |
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Amusement/Theme Park |
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Castle |
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Country Park |
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English Heritage |
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Forestry Commission |
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Heritage railway |
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Historic House |
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Museum (free/not free) |
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National Trust |
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Zoo |
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 Euston and Northampton.
- The East Coast Main Line has stations at Arlesey, Biggleswade and Sandy, served by First Capital Connect 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 First Capital Connect.
There are rural services also running between Bedford and Bletchley along the Marston Vale Line.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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, 23 km distant.[10]
[edit] Air
London Luton Airport has flights to many UK, Europe, North America and North African destinations, operated by low-cost airlines.
[edit] Settlements in Bedfordshire
- Main article: List of places in Bedfordshire
[edit] Very large towns (population Over 50,000)
[edit] Large settlements (population between 5,000 and 49,999)
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[edit] Mid-size settlements (population between 1,000 and 4,999)
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[edit] Small settlements (population under 1,000)
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[edit] 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 continued in the rest of the county: in 2006 with a vote was held with a view to moving to the two-tier model, but this was rejected.[11]
[edit] 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, Dunstable 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.[12][13]
There are a number of independent schools, many of which have links to the Harpur Trust.
[edit] Luton
Luton also operates a three-tier education system though Luton's 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 6th form education. Instead this is handled by Luton Sixth Form College, though Barnfield College also offers a range of further education courses.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Religious sites
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This section requires expansion. |
[edit] Sports
Bedfordshire is home to Luton Town Football Club and various other teams.
[edit] Notable people from Bedfordshire
[edit] Bibliographic references
- History of Bedfordshire 1066-1888 by Joyce Godber [14]
- A Bedfordshire Bibliography by L R Conisbe published in 1962 with a supplement in 1967 [14]
- Bedfordshire Historical Record Society by H O White (published annually). [14]
- Guide to the Bedfordshire Record Office 1957 with supplements. [14]
- Guide to the Russell Estate Collections Published in 1966. [14]
- Elstow Moot Hall leaflets On John Bunyan and 17th Century Subjects [14]
- A Bedfordshire Flora by John Dony [14]
- Luton and the Hat Industry by John Dony [14]
- Pillow Lace in the East Midlands by Charles Freeman [14]
- Bedfordshire Magazine (Published Quarterley) [14]
[edit] References
- ^ County flowers in Britain www.plantlife.org.uk
- ^ "The Bedfordshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 (S.I 2008 No. 907)". Office of Public Sector Information. 27 March 2008. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080907_en_1. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ "The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Areas and Membership of Public Bodies in Bedfordshire and Cheshire) Order 2009 (S.I 2009 No. 119)". Office of Public Sector Information. 28 January 2009. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20090119_en_1. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". Office of Oublic Sector Information. 1995. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19951626_en_2.htm#end. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". oofice of Public Sector Information. 2007. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20071681_en_2. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- ^ includes hunting and forestry
- ^ includes energy and construction
- ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
- ^ Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust
- ^ "Two-tier school proposal rejected". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/5173424.stm. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ "Education in Bedford". Bedford Borough Council. 2004. http://www.bedford.gov.uk/Default.aspx/Web/EducationinBedford. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ "Education and Schools Information". Creating Central Bedfordshire. Central Bedfordshire Council. http://www.centralbeds.gov.uk/Images/Education%20and%20Schools%20Facts%20and%20Figures_tcm5-27833.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Detail from a copy of History of Bedfordshire published by Bedfordshire County Council in 1969 with no ISBN
[edit] External links
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