North Bedfordshire

Last week my job share partner and myself spent a day walking through the North Bedfordshire countryside in the name of research - we are trying to put together a guided walk themed around some of the criminal cases we have catalogued. The walk gave us a chance to explore a new-to-us and rather lovely area, which often reminded us of the Cotswolds. It was also rather longer than we anticipated as we wandered through various villages trying to identify particular sites. We estimated we walked about 12 or 13 miles in total.

Here are a few highlights, mostly from later in the day when the weather brightened up ...

Thatched country cottages

Church on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. In the middle ages this village was the centre of a small barony.


We fortified ourselves for the second (and longest) stage of our walk with a pub lunch here


View from a country park


Village green


Village lock-up. This was a highlight for us as we have various records concerning the lock-up and its prisoners. It wasn't a prison as such, just a holding cell for the local police before offenders were taken to the gaol in Bedford, and also a place where they could put drunks to sober up!


An old court house (now just a house!)


Another village church


In the 19th century this bridge was often the subject of complaints that it wasn't being kept in good repair.


Unusual brickwork on the side of Tudor house


This cottage was once a pub. I loved the little statuettes near the door.