Blunham
Blunham maps (2 available)
Map of Bedfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Personalised maps
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Blunham books (7 available)
- 6 photos on Blunham appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Blunham
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Blunham and Bedfordshire
Blunham memories
Read and share memories of Blunham and Bedfordshire inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Bedfordshire below.
Bedfordshire memories
Henry Tingey - Ancester
My great grandfather Henry Tingey, was born November 18, 1819, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. He was the son of James Tingey and Elizabeth Boniss. James and Elizabeth, and family later moved from Bigglewade, Bedfordshire, and moved Lower Caldecut near the 46th milestone from London in the perish of Northhill. The family of father and mother and two boys and four sisters were in the business of raising wholesale vegatable and garden seeds and were very successful.
In 1849 the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (Mormons) told their gospel message to Henry and his wife Ann Young, (daughter of James and Lucy Young). Henry and Ann joined the Latter-Day-Saint church and migrated to America in 1849. They ...read more here
A memory of Biggleswade contributed by Norton Cook
Working memories.
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 this launch would carry about 40 passengers maximum. Silver Stream was a magnificent launch to drive, giving a silent drive, almost no water disturbance up to the 6 knots maximum for the river, and had a tubular rudder form which surrounded the propeller. This permitted a very tight turning such that most of us could turn round in places where ...read more here
A memory of Bedford contributed by Mr PC Hedgecock
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.
A memory of Kempston contributed by jackie fleming
39 Mill Lane
The gable end of the house on the left is 39 Mill Lane and Back St starts at the junction over the hill and not visible here. My father built the house about 1935 when he was about 21 years old. I grew up there until 1955 when it was sold and we moved from Clophill for a short time. We returned in 1957 and lived in the Old Police House in The Slade until I married in 1966 and brought my first home in Back St. I have traced my family's time in Clophill from about 1750 until 1980 in a new book which will shortly be available.
A memory of Clophill contributed by paul nichols
Extracts From Blunham & Bedfordshire books
This village’s most famous resident was the preacher and poet, Dr John Donne. He was Rector of Blunham from 1621 until his death in 1631, during which period he also held the post of Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
An extract from from"Bedfordshire Photographic Memories".
Firmly back in Bedfordshire and heading south, our route passes through Blunham,
a most attractive village, where the poet John Donne was rector from 1622 until his
death in 1632, although he was also Dean of St Paul’s. This view gives a good idea
of the village centre: the former inn, The Ragged Staff, is by the telephone pole,
and the thatched cottage opposite, The Ovens, is dated 1699. The foreground
cottage has a late 16th-century chimney, but was refronted in the 19th century.
An extract from from"Bedford Photographic Memories".
Sandy was originally a modest
Roman settlement on the Roman
road between St Albans and
Godmanchester; in the 18th
century the town became
important for its coaching inns
servicing the Great North Road.
However, it is a somewhat bitty
town, and the market square is a
distinct disappointment. Here, a
little further north up High Street,
we look west along Bedford Road.
The late 19th-century town hall is
on the left. By 1925 it was the
Astor Cinema, and is now the
Roundabout Club, for there is
now a roundabout roughly where
the photographer is standing.
An extract from from"Bedford Photographic Memories".
Going east from Market
Place along Church Street,
we reach the small square
with the brown stone
church on its north side, a
curiously villagey one for a
town. On the left is the
cliff-like Dynevor House,
with 1725 on the rainwater
hopper-heads, three
storeys of box sashes and
a corniced parapet. No 36a
on the right is late
Georgian, while the Feoffee
almshouses are late 16th-
century timber-framed
under the render.
An extract from from"Bedford Photographic Memories".
The riverside willows on
the north bank have only
recently been pollarded
in this view, in which an
eight rows past. The
opposite bank is Long
Island. The small landing
stage on the right was
built here to close off
the boat slide, which is
just behind it.
An extract from from"Bedford Photographic Memories".