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Discover Bedford, Bedfordshire

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. Located adjacent to the town of Kempston, it has a population of 80,000 people (2012 estimate).

Bedford, EnglandBedford, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_From_The_Park_Inn_Hotel_-_geograph.org.uk_-_629934.jpg
Author: Richard Dorrell
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The history of Bedford goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. It was named after Beda, a chief of the Saxon tribe, with "ford" referring to a crossing on the River Great Ouse. It developed into a market town by the early Middle Ages.

In the old days, Bedford was a center for the wool trade. This led to it becoming a major lacing-making town by the mid 16th century. The Great Ouse River is navigable as far as Bedford, so this allowed the products to be shipped out.

By the 18th century, brewing has replaced wool as the mainstay of Bedford's economy. Industrialization in the 19th century made Bedford an engineering hub.

St Peter's Church, BedfordSt Peter's Church, Bedford: Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:StPetersChurchBedford.JPG
Author: Simon Speed
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Visiting Bedford

If coming by car from London, take the M1 motorway until Exit 13 then continue north on the A421 road to reach Bedford.

Places of Interest in Bedford


  1. Bedford Castle Mound: Remnants of Bedford's medieval castle. It is in the heart of town, a short distance from Bedford Bridge.

  2. River Great Ouse: The river that runs through Bedford. It is lined with gardens called The Embankment.

  3. St Paul's Church: Anglican church in the town center of Bedford.

  4. St Peter's Church: Anglican church on St Peter's Street. Within its compound are two ancient monoliths, regarded as some of the oldest architectural remains in Bedford.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

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