Queens Park, Bedford
Encyclopedia
Queens Park is an electoral ward and area in Bedford
, England
. The areas borders are approximately Bromham
Road and Beverley Crescent to the north, the Midland Main Line
railway line to the east, and the River Great Ouse
to the south.
Queens Park is a very diverse and multicultural area. This is reflected in the many specialist shops and businesses located in the community, including many international supermarkets and delis
. There are also a varied number of places of worship, including an Anglican church, two mosques and the largest Sikh temple in the UK outside London.
The land in Queens Park was farmed as early as the 11th Century, and occupied by tenant farmers. The only evidence of primitive settlements is the discovery of flint at Honey Hills. Early settlements and dwellings included; Provendor Farm, Prebend Farm, and the Farm House & cottages at Bedford Ford End (until the 1950s) now Fernleigh Close. Gallows
existed up to 1802 at the sharp bend on the Bromham Road.
In 1890 W.H.Allen from London brought twenty acres of land west of Bedford town centre to establish his 'Queens Engineering Works', and housing for his employees. The works (opened in 1894) and the new community were named in honour of the queen of the day, Queen Victoria
.
Queens Park has hosted many communities migrating to the Bedford area over the 20th Century, firstly Irish
and Italian families, followed by Asians
, Africans
, and most recently, people from Eastern Europe
.
The engineering works survived in Queens Park for over 100 years, but over that time a great number of other businesses and shops have established themselves in the area. Today, Queens Park is one of the most established and centrally located areas in Bedford.
Bedford Town Football Club
played in the area between 1913 - 1981, and again briefly upon re-formation in the early 1990's.
councillors and one independent councillor on the community council. Queens Park elects two councillors to Bedford Borough Council
, both councillors are currently from the Labour Party
.
store. There are more shops and businesses located on Iddesleigh Road, including convenience stores and Queens Park's post office
.
One of the largest businesses in the area is Wells and Young's Brewery
. The brewery is now the largest employer in Queens Park after the closure of the Allen's Engineering Works in 2000. All that remains of the Queen's Works is the Allen Social Club building on Hurst Grove, which itself closed in January 2010.
which educates Queens Park's 9-13 year olds. For older children the area is in the catchment for Biddenham Upper School
which is located just to the north of Queens Park.
Enterprise House (located on Old Ford End Road) is a small adult education centre operated by Bedford College
. The centre offers a range of part-time courses for the Queens Park community, covering a range of subjects from child care and computing to English language skills and maths.
Barnfield College also offers education and training at its campus on Westbourne Road in Queens Park. The campus is for students from all over Bedford as well as Queens Park, and offers a range of further education
courses.
. There is also a provision of allotments
located on the western edge of the area. Queens Park Community Centre
is situated on Marlborough Road.
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The areas borders are approximately Bromham
Bromham
Bromham may refer to:* Bromham, Bedfordshire, a village in the county of Bedfordshire, England* Bromham, Wiltshire, a village in the county of Wiltshire, England...
Road and Beverley Crescent to the north, the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
railway line to the east, and the River Great Ouse
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
to the south.
Queens Park is a very diverse and multicultural area. This is reflected in the many specialist shops and businesses located in the community, including many international supermarkets and delis
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
. There are also a varied number of places of worship, including an Anglican church, two mosques and the largest Sikh temple in the UK outside London.
History
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
existed up to 1802 at the sharp bend on the Bromham Road.
In 1890 W.H.Allen from London brought twenty acres of land west of Bedford town centre to establish his 'Queens Engineering Works', and housing for his employees. The works (opened in 1894) and the new community were named in honour of the queen of the day, Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
.
Queens Park has hosted many communities migrating to the Bedford area over the 20th Century, firstly Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and Italian families, followed by Asians
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
, Africans
African people
African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
, and most recently, people from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
The engineering works survived in Queens Park for over 100 years, but over that time a great number of other businesses and shops have established themselves in the area. Today, Queens Park is one of the most established and centrally located areas in Bedford.
Bedford Town Football Club
Bedford Town F.C.
Bedford Town F.C. is an English football club based in the Borough of Bedford. The club are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division and play at The New Eyrie in Cardington, a parish on the outskirts of Bedford....
played in the area between 1913 - 1981, and again briefly upon re-formation in the early 1990's.
Governance
Queens Park Urban Community Council is the local council for Queens Park with twelve seats elected every four years. There are currently eleven ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
councillors and one independent councillor on the community council. Queens Park elects two councillors to Bedford Borough Council
Bedford (borough)
Bedford is a unitary authority with the status of a borough in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based at Bedford, which is also the county town of Bedfordshire. The borough contains a single urban area, the 69th largest in the United Kingdom that comprises Bedford and...
, both councillors are currently from the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Economy
There are a great many shops serving the Queens Park population, which are a mix of mostly independent retailers, with a few chain stores. Ford End Road acts as the "high street" for the area, and includes independent supermarkets, deli's, takeaway restaurants, and a Tesco ExpressTesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
store. There are more shops and businesses located on Iddesleigh Road, including convenience stores and Queens Park's post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
.
One of the largest businesses in the area is Wells and Young's Brewery
Young's Brewery
Young's is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs.The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth...
. The brewery is now the largest employer in Queens Park after the closure of the Allen's Engineering Works in 2000. All that remains of the Queen's Works is the Allen Social Club building on Hurst Grove, which itself closed in January 2010.
Education
There are two lower schools in Queens Park - Queens Park Academy which is situated over two sites on Chestnut Avenue and Marlborough Road, and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Lower School located on Chester Road. Also on Chester Road is Westfield Middle SchoolWestfield Middle School
Westfield Middle School is a school in Queens Park, Bedford, UK.The School is situated on Chester Road, and is the Queens Park area's only Middle School. The school usually takes pupils from Queens Park Lower school and Priory Lower School...
which educates Queens Park's 9-13 year olds. For older children the area is in the catchment for Biddenham Upper School
Biddenham Upper School
Biddenham Upper School is a 13-19 coeducational state comprehensive school serving the Brickhill, Harpur and Queens Park areas of Bedford plus the village of Biddenham, England. The school holds Specialist Sports College status...
which is located just to the north of Queens Park.
Enterprise House (located on Old Ford End Road) is a small adult education centre operated by Bedford College
Bedford College (Bedford)
Bedford College is a further education college in the Cauldwell area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. It is the only public further education college in the Borough of Bedford, and it is a member of the 157 Group of high performing schools....
. The centre offers a range of part-time courses for the Queens Park community, covering a range of subjects from child care and computing to English language skills and maths.
Barnfield College also offers education and training at its campus on Westbourne Road in Queens Park. The campus is for students from all over Bedford as well as Queens Park, and offers a range of further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
courses.
Religious sites
- All Saints Church (Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
), located on Iddesleigh Road - Bedford Moravian Church, located on Howard Avenue
- Serbian Orthodox Church services are also held at Bedford Moravian Church
- The Jamia Masjid Gulshani Baghdad MosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, located on Westbourne Road - The Jamia Masjid Hanfia Ghousia Mosque located on Ford End Road
- The Guru Nanak GurdwaraGurdwaraA Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
(SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
Temple), also on Ford End Road
Community facilities
The area is on a main bus route into Bedford town centre. The main open space in Queens Park is located along the riverside as well as the Allen Park Recreation GroundPark
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
. There is also a provision of allotments
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
located on the western edge of the area. Queens Park Community Centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
is situated on Marlborough Road.