Harrold
Harrold maps (2 available)
Map of Bedfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Bedfordshire
Personalised maps
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Harrold books (5 available)
- 3 photos on Harrold appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Harrold
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Harrold and Bedfordshire
Harrold memories
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Bedfordshire below.
Bedfordshire memories
Happy Days
I was just Two when I moved to Souldrop with my parents in 1949,we lived at 18 High Street,just opposit the green and the large tree what in those days was a mere twig! we lived there for 5 years before moving on to Colworth estate. I was Barbara Smith then,Mr Prigmore still lives next door although sadley he could not remember me, those were such happy earthy days filled with the spirit of every one working together after war time and although hard it is my pleasure to have been part of it. Best Wishes to Souldrop and all who live there>
A memory of contributed by Barbara Blyth
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
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
The Square at Christmas
The Square was lit up throughout Chrismas 2006. A Christmas Tree was installed in the centre and the surrounding buildings were adorned with gentle Chritmas lights. The day of 'lighting up' was attended by a large part of the community from the youngest to the most senior, and it was two of the latter who performed the grand switch on.
A memory of Aspley Guise contributed by Chris Gater
Extracts From Harrold & Bedfordshire books
East of Sandy, the small village of Sutton is distinguished by its narrow medieval pack-horse bridge which took pedlars and carriers’ pack ponies dry-shod past the ford, which is still in use today. There are cutwaters on the other side of the bridge with refuges; the cutwaters, like the bows of ships in shape, always face upstream. The stream eventually feeds into the Ivel.
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".
Another glimpse of the Swan Hotel’s neo-classical portico can be seen through the leaves on the left. The views of the river from the principal bedrooms of the hotel were described by the diarist John Byng in the late 1790s as being highly agreeable with ‘the smoothness of the wide water, the skipping of the fish, and the sight of a party of elegant female rowers’.
An extract from from"Bedford Photographic Memories".






