Bedfordshire

Map of the Bedfordshire Area

Bedfordshire is a county that is situated in the East of England and borders with Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is located 30 miles from London and is often referred to as the gateway to East Anglia and the Midlands. Bedfordshire has a population of over 580,000; it has an area of 119,208 (source: Bedfordshire county council) hectares and its largest town is Luton which became the unitary local authority in 1997. Luton is specially noted for the construction of straw hats as straw plaiting used to be a large part of the manufacture in the region until foreign importation caused the industry to almost entirely disappear.

A fifth of the population of Bedfordshire live in the town of Bedford (source: link). The southern part of the county is part of the Chiltern Hills which is a chalk ridge that crosses the East of England. On the Chilterns is the highest elevation point in the county which is 243 metres (source: link) above sea level. Some of the main yearly events are the Luton Carnival, the Bedford Country Show and Easter Parade Show. Many famous people come from the county of Bedford including Carol Vordemann.

The name of the county was first used in 1011 and it means "Bed's ford" which is a "river crossing" after the river Ouse which is located at the heart of Bedfordshire. Due to the drainage provided by this river the land itself is fertile and agriculture is the chief economic activity. Over 9 tenths of the area of the county is under cultivation. The main crop is wheat for which the soil around Bedford is particularly suited although other cereals are cultivated too. Cattle raising is another activity which stems back to the 14th century when the plentiful sheep farming made Bedfordshire a favourite with the king of that time. Other industries that the county is involved in are motor-vehicles, precision instruments and electrical equipment manufacture.

The most notable part of the architecture in Bedfordshire is its parish churches that were mostly built in the 13th century. One of the most famous is the Tower of Clapham Church which has building influences from both pre-conquest Britons and the Normans.