Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | East of England |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Area | [convert: needs a number] |
| • Rank | of 48 |
| • Rank | of 48 |
| Density | [convert: needs a number] |
| Ethnicity | 86.3% White 8.3% S.Asian 2.9% Black. |
Bedfordshire (abbreviated Beds.) is a county in England that 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 Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.
The county motto is "Constant Be", which is taken from the hymn To Be A Pilgrim by John Bunyan.
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]
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.
Luton was a county borough from 1964 until 1974, and it has been a unitary authority since 1997. 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.
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 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 country from near Leighton Buzzard to near Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire.
Administration
Bedfordshire is a shire county, mostly under the control of Bedfordshire County Council. This is divided into three local government districts, Bedford Borough, Mid Bedfordshire District and South Bedfordshire District.
Additionally, Luton Borough is a unitary authority that forms part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff, but does not come under county council control.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is currently reorganising Bedfordshire's administrative structure. The four proposals considered were:
- Proposal 1, To abolish the three districts within the county to create a Bedfordshire unitary authority. (Luton would remain a separate unitary authority.)
- Proposal 2, To create two unitary authorities: one based on the existing Bedford Borough, and the other, to be known as Central Bedfordshire, a combination of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire Districts. (Luton would remain a separate unitary authority.)
- Proposal 3, To create two unitary authorities: one a combination of Bedford Borough and Mid Bedfordshire District, and one a combination of Luton Borough and South Bedfordshire District.
- Proposal 4, To form an "enhanced two-tier" authority, with the four local councils under the control of the county council, but with different responsibilities. [2][3]
On the 6th March 2008 the DCLG finally decided to implement Proposal 2. This means that from 1 April 2009 there will be two unitary authorities for Bedfordshire - one for Bedford and a second for the rest of the County area. Bedfordshire County Council is challenging this decision in the High Court. [4] [5]
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.
Education
The state education system for all of Bedfordshire used to be organised by Bedfordshire County Council. When Luton became a unitary authority in 1997, education in Luton came under direct control of Luton Borough Council. This split has seen two distinct education systems evolve in the county over the years.
Bedfordshire
Unlike most of the United Kingdom, Bedfordshire operates a three-tier education system which is arranged into lower, middle and upper schools, as recommended in the Plowden Report of 1967. The arrangement was put to the vote in 2006 with a view to moving to the two-tier model, but was rejected.[10] All of Bedfordshire's upper schools offer 6th form courses (such as A Levels), though Bedford College also offers a range of further education courses.
There are a number of independent schools in the county, many of which have links to the Harpur Trust.
Luton
Luton also operates a three-tier education system though Luton's organisation of Enfant, 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.
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.
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 Yorkshire 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
Again, 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 Midland Mainline and First Capital Connect.
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[11] 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 to construct a canal linking the Great Ouse at Bedford to the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes, 23 km distant.[12]
Air
London Luton Airport has flights to many UK, European and North African destinations, operated by low-cost airlines.
Towns and villages
- Main article: List of places in Bedfordshire
Places of interest
| 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 |
| Forestry Commission | |
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Heritage railway |
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Historic House |
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Places of Worship |
 .svg){kind=icon} |
Museum (free/not free) |
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National Trust |
 |
Theatre |
 |
Zoo |
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List of notable Bedfordians
Bibliographic References
- History of Bedfordshire 1066-1888 by Joyce Godber [13]
- A Bedfordshire Bibliography by L R Conisbe published in 1962 with a supplement in 1967 [13]
- Bedfordshire Historical Record Society by H O White (published annually). [13]
- Guide to the Bedfordshire Record Office 1957 with supplements. [13]
- Guide to the Russell Estate Collections Published in 1966. [13]
- Elstow Moot Hall leaflets On John Bunyan and 17th Century Subjects [13]
- A Bedfordshire Flora by John Dony [13]
- Luton and the Hat Industry by John Dony [13]
- Pillow Lace in the East Midlands by Charles Freeman [13]
- Bedfordshire Magazine (Published Quarterley) [13]
References
- ^ County flowers in Britain www.plantlife.org.uk
- ^ Bedfordshire County Council - The proposal
- ^ Communities and Local Government - Proposals for future unitary structures: Stakeholder consultation
- ^ http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/714230
- ^ http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/bed-news/County-council-to-be-abolished.3850489.jp
- ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- ^ includes hunting and forestry
- ^ includes energy and construction
- ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
- ^ "Two-tier school proposal rejected". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
- ^ "Luton South", UK Polling Report
- ^ Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust
- ^ 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
External links
- Bedfordshire's involuntary euthanasia scandal
- Local Theatre in Bedfordshire
- Bedfordshire DMOZ directory