Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a
county in
England that forms part of the
East of England region.
Its county town is
Bedford. It borders
Cambridgeshire,
Northamptonshire,
Buckinghamshire and
Hertfordshire.
The highest
elevation point is 243 metres on Dunstable Downs in the
Chilterns.
The county motto is "Constant Be".
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the
Bee Orchid as the county flower.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from
Yorkshire and a Yellowbelly from
Lincolnshire; the traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", this last deriving from the
Encyclopedia
Bedfordshire is a
county in
England that forms part of the
East of England region.
Its county town is
Bedford. It borders
Cambridgeshire,
Northamptonshire,
Buckinghamshire and
Hertfordshire.
The highest
elevation point is 243 metres on Dunstable Downs in the
Chilterns.
The county motto is "Constant Be".
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the
Bee Orchid as the county flower.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from
Yorkshire and a Yellowbelly from
Lincolnshire; the traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", this last deriving from the popular local dish comprising a suet crust dumpling filled with meat or jam or both.
History
Main article: History of Bedfordshire
The first recorded use of the name was in 1011 as "
Bedanfordscir", meaning "Beda's ford" .
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 at Fletton.
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.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Bedfordshire at current basic prices by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | | | | |
|---|
| 1995 | 4,109 | 81 | 1,584 | 2,444 |
| 2000 | 4,716 | 53 | 1,296 | 3,367 |
| 2003 | 5,466 | 52 | 1,311 | 4,102 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
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
Three of England's six main
trunk roads pass through Bedfordshire:
...
road , passes through Dunstable
To these were added in 1959 the
M1 motorway London to
Yorkshire motorway. This has three junctions around Luton, and one serving Bedford and
Milton Keynes.
Railways
Again, three of England's main lines pass through Bedfordshire:
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 noted for having the highest amount of taxi cabs 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 to construct a
canal linking the Great Ouse at Bedford to the
Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes, 23 km distant.
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
List of notable Bedfordians
References
External links
