Info About Bedfordshire County, UK

A county Bedfordshire in Britain is part of the region of East Britain and Bedford is the county capital. It shares its borders with Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and the Borough of Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes.

The highest point of elevation is 797 feet (243 meters) at Dunstable Downs which is in the Chilterns.

A Motto of this county is "Constant Be", and it is taken from the famous hymn 'To Be A Pilgrim' by John Bunyan.

The Plant Conservation Charity Plantlife chose the Bee Orchid as its County Flower during a 2002 marketing campaign.

"Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", is the primitive nickname of people who are from Bedfordshire. Clangers is derived from a local dish that includes a crust dumpling filled with jam or meat or with both.

The first registered use of the name Bedfordshire, was done in 1011, as "Bedanfordscir", which means the shire or county of Bedford, which means "Beda's ford" meaning a river crossing.

Bedfordshire was traditionally separated into the nine hundreds: Manshead, Clifton, Flitt, Stodden, Redbournestoke, Barford, Biggleswade, Wixamtree, Willey, along with the borough and liberty of Bedford. However there were some minor changes in its borders; e.g. a part of Caddington and the whole of Kensworth were transferred from Hertfordshire to Bedfordshire in 1897.

From 1964 to 1974, Luton was a county borough and it is a unitary authority since 1997. Yet it remains a part of the celebrated county of Bedfordshire, which has a single Lord Lieutenant who represents the sovereignty in the whole of area.

Chiltern Hills are a part of the southern end of the county at the chalk ridge. Whatever remains is a part of the wide drainage basin of the River Great Ouse and its branches.

Most of the rocks of Bedfordshire's are sandstones and clays from the Jurassic and Cretaceous era, with a little limestone. For making Fletton style bricks in Marston Vale, local clay is used.

Chalk's glacial ablation has left the hard flint lumps are left behind as gravel which was commercially extracted traditionally at pits which later formed lakes, at Felmersham, Priory Country Park and Wyboston.

A steep slope of the Greensand Ridge is across the country near Leighton Buzzard and very near to Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire.

From 2008, Bedfordshire's unitary authorities, which is part of a shire county, is largely under the administrative control of Bedfordshire County Council. It is separated into three local government districts South Bedfordshire District. Mid Bedfordshire District and Bedford Borough.

Luton Borough is a unitary dominating authority which forms this part of the county for various reasons like High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant, but it does not come under the control of county council.

Many tourists that have been to Bedfordshire, tend to fly into London Luton Airport which of course is Beds. Here you will find a wide range of hotels to suit every budget from bed and breakfast to 4 star deluxe. So do you feel this might be the right holiday destination for you and your family.