BedfordNow UK - http://bedfordnow.co.uk/index.php 2010-09-09T06:02:43Z Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management 2009-04-02T15:35:21Z 2009-04-02T15:35:21Z http://bedfordnow.co.uk/component/content/article/46-front-page.html Administrator paulwe@tiscali.co.uk

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calligraph421 BT; font-size: medium;">THE HISTORY OF BEDFORD</span></strong></div> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The name of Bedford was derived around 700AD, after a local chieften gave his name to a part of the River Great Ouse that was suitable for crossing; Beda's Ford. &nbsp; In 919 King Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great visited the settlement of Beda's Ford and ordered the construction of the King's Ditch defences, part of which survives today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the Norman conquest, a castle was built at Bedford for the Beauchamp family. A six week siege mounted by Hubert de Burgh 1224 resulted in the destruction of the castle and only the mound upon which it stood remains today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An endowment from Sir William Harpur, who later become Lord Mayor of London, enabled the building of a grammar school.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Another well know Bedford figure was John Bunyon, a tinker by trade. He joined the Bedford Independent Church during the 1650's, and was imprisoned in the county prison between 1660 and 1672 for illegal preaching. It was during this period that he started work of The Pilgrim's Progress, published in 1678.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">John Howard, a high Sheriff of Bedfordshire, visited the prison in 1773. He found the prison to be in a terrible state and spent the rest of his life trying to improve the conditions of British prisons. He gave his name to the Howard League for Penal Reform.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today, Bedford has a population of around 140,000 made up of 57 ethnic groups with 60 languages spoken.</span></p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bedfordnow.co.uk/bedford-election-results.html"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Click Here for Election Results</span></a><br /></span></p>

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calligraph421 BT; font-size: medium;">THE HISTORY OF BEDFORD</span></strong></div> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The name of Bedford was derived around 700AD, after a local chieften gave his name to a part of the River Great Ouse that was suitable for crossing; Beda's Ford. &nbsp; In 919 King Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great visited the settlement of Beda's Ford and ordered the construction of the King's Ditch defences, part of which survives today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the Norman conquest, a castle was built at Bedford for the Beauchamp family. A six week siege mounted by Hubert de Burgh 1224 resulted in the destruction of the castle and only the mound upon which it stood remains today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An endowment from Sir William Harpur, who later become Lord Mayor of London, enabled the building of a grammar school.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Another well know Bedford figure was John Bunyon, a tinker by trade. He joined the Bedford Independent Church during the 1650's, and was imprisoned in the county prison between 1660 and 1672 for illegal preaching. It was during this period that he started work of The Pilgrim's Progress, published in 1678.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">John Howard, a high Sheriff of Bedfordshire, visited the prison in 1773. He found the prison to be in a terrible state and spent the rest of his life trying to improve the conditions of British prisons. He gave his name to the Howard League for Penal Reform.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today, Bedford has a population of around 140,000 made up of 57 ethnic groups with 60 languages spoken.</span></p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bedfordnow.co.uk/bedford-election-results.html"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Click Here for Election Results</span></a><br /></span></p>