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Bedford, Bedfordshire
Bedford maps
Historic maps of Bedford and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Bedford maps
Historic map of Bedford
Illustrated Victorian map of Bedfordshire
Historic Map of any Bedford postcode
Bedford books
Displaying 3 of 5 books about Bedford and the local area. View all Bedford books
Bedford Photographic Memories
Paperback
rrp £13
£10.40
Bedfordshire Living Memories
Paperback
rrp £14
£11.20
Bedfordshire Photographic Memories
Paperback
rrp £14
£11.20
67 Bedford photos appear in 3 Frith book titles. You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Bedford
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Bedford
.
Add your memory of Bedford
or of a photo of Bedford.
I was a projectionist at the Picturedrome
I worked there for a few years with Stan Hunt at the Picturedrome, and the Plaza which was nearly opposite across the river was owned by a man called Mr Cheetam. I also worked at the Plaza as a relief projectionist and also another cinema in Ampthill owned by Mr Cheetam.
They were great days and I now live in Leicester... [more]
Shared on 13 July 2008
I was a summer season driver of these boats during my college holidays in the early 1960s. We operated four boats, Silver Foam, Silver Stream, Silver Crest and my own boat, Silver Dawn, which I believe came from the Norfolk Broads.
The mornings were spent at Fenlake cleaning and polishing to the high standards demanded by Mr Smith (`The Guvnor`). We... [more]
Shared on 20 May 2009
I was the main weekday driver of the launch photographed during the student holiday periods of 1955-1958. When I drove it, the name was 'Silver Stream'. It was the largest of a set of three electric launches which carried paying passengers for trips of about 40 minutes duration from the steps on the downstream, north side of the town bridge. Typically... [more]
Shared on 06 April 2006
Bedfordshire memories
Swimming in the river at Kempston
Great times were had at the river at the bend as we children called it, we would make mud slides down the banks. What fun we had. There was always a good crowd there on a Sunday afternoon, but now its all quiet, no swimmers, the bend has long since gone.
Shared on 23 July 2007
As RAF children, all three of us were christened in the picturesque church in Cardington, which is the unofficial 'favourite' church for RAF personnel! I obviously don't remember my own christening and wasn't about when my older brother was held over the font, but I do remember my sister's christening because she's nine years younger than I, so the memory is... [more]
Shared on 16 July 2009
The first time I went to Marston my boyfriend was taking me to visit his parents. I was 15 and he was 17. We caught a train from Bedford St John's and got off at Milbrook Halt. His family lived in a Brickyard home in "Jubilee Cottages". It wasn't as modern as my parents' council house as it had no hot... [more]
Shared on 16 June 2008
The war years and just afterwards
Turvey Abbey was owned in those days by Rupert Allen who owned an engineering factory in Bedford. My father was employed on the estate as gardener/general factotum (and was paid a pittance for the privilege). The Abbey had a few cows, pigs, geese and chickens. It was often my job to go out at dusk to shut up the chickens to... [more]
Shared on 31 March 2009
I remember fishing for endless hours just about the spot shown in the photograph. There were many perch there and on one occasion I caught a fair sized pike. Just upstream from this location was a sort of peninsular accessed by climbing down steps set in the wall of Turvey Bridge. This was called Sam's Island for some reason. ... [more]
Shared on 28 January 2009
Extracts From Bedford & Bedfordshire books
Displaying a selection of extracts from Frith books about Bedford, inspired by Frith photos.
In the far distance is the old Harpur School, now the Town Hall. It was supplemented by this fine Tudor-style battlemented building when the Harpur Trust built the Modern School, or the Harpur Schools, in the 1830s; the building was designed by the renowned local architect John Wing, whose son was a pupil, but was completed by John Blore. No longer a school, it was preserved as a frontage to a shopping centre. The... [more]
This is an extract from Bedford Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Now Bedford High School for Girls, this fine building originally housed both the High School and the girls' Modern School. Opened in 1882, it was designed by the leading architect Basil Champneys in a Jacobethan style, with numerous shaped gables and mullioned and transomed windows. The Modern School moved out in 1892. This east front faces the high walls surrounding Bedford Prison on the other side of Adelaide Square, which is itself a collection of fine... [more]
This is an extract from Bedford Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Our look at the fine schools of Bedford moves north beyond St Peter's Square to Bedford School. This had its origins in the free school founded by Sir William Harpur in 1566. The Harpur Trust, following the decay of its school in the 18th century, made ample amends in the 19th with the Harpur Schools in the 1830s; then after 1873 it had three further schools built. Here we see the... [more]
This is an extract from Bedford Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
