Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge Walk Part 1
The Greensand Ridge is a 40 mile path in Bedfordshire which I walked the length of in September 2015 to test new kit in preparation for longer national trail walks in the future.
Clophill - Eco Lodges for walkers on the Greensands ridge walk
via YouTube Capture
swcwalks swcwalk 264, Sandy to Biggleswade. 17/6/17.
Another local 12 miler for this walker on a fairly decent June day. The walk is mainly flat, and, for the most part, follows the Greensand Ridge Walk, initially. There's a mix of broad, grassy tracks along field edges and woodland trails. If you're lucky, you might even get a glimpse of the 'Airlander 10', housed in it's nearby Cardington hangar.
Another surprisingly decent walk.
Walks in England: Exploring the RSPB Headquarters in Sandy, Bedfordshire.
Today I am in Sandy in Bedfordshire at the RSPB Headquarters in search of The Lodge. I am with Simon and Sharon Brown. My guides take me for a walk along the open heath and woodland in search of an iron age hill fort, an abandoned sand quarry and the Victorian house, affectionately called The Lodge which these days house the offices of the Royal Society of the Protection for Birds.
My videos are 100% funded by people like you. If you enjoy them, please help me make more. Support the Bald Explorer here:
I am Richard Vobes, the Bald Explorer, exploring Britain. Check out my website at: and
-----------------------------------------
Support me via Patreon here:
or Donate at
------------------------------------------
I film with a Gopro and Zyiun Smooth 3 Gimbal, Rode Lavalier and Zoom H4 recorder..
Zyiun Smooth 3 Gimbal:
GoPro Hero range:
Rode Lavalier Mic:
Rode Smartphone mic:
Zoom H4n:
Tascam DR-60Mk2:
My children's books are here:
Ampthill Park & Cooper's Hill (The Firs) - A Tour Around the Streets of Ampthill
AMPTHILL PARK, more accurately Great Park, was formed when Sir John Cornwall purchased the manor of Ampthill from the St Amand family early in the 15th century.
Ampthill Castle, 'stately on a hill with four or five fair towers of stone' occupied a considerable site between the Woburn Road and the top of the hill where Lord Ossory was to put the Katherine Cross centuries later. No contemporary picture of it has yet been found, and some sketchy plans are hard to interpret. But the descriptions of those who saw it tell of an inner and outer court with high walls punctuated by 'fair towers' or turrets. There was no keep, but accommodation was built against the walls, the principal buildings such as the great drawing room and the chapel, being on the hill.
Cornwall died in 1443 and was buried at Blackfriars in London; his wife had died some years earlier. Their only son having been killed In the French wars, the estate passed - after protracted dispute with Cornwall's illegitimate sons - to Lord Edmund Grey of Wrest, who paid 6,500 marks (£4,300) for it in 1454. Lord Edmund's grandson, a gambler and wastrel, forfeited the estate to Henry VII when unable to repay a debt, and Ampthill came into royal ownership. It was Henry VIII who, by making Ampthill a favourite base, brought prosperity and prominence to the town.
The court came down at least once a year, usually in autumn as part of a progress from Windsor to Grafton in Northamptonshire, and although affairs of state received their due attention, the king's chief pastime was hunting.
KATHERINE OF ARAGON, married to Henry for almost 20 years before he began to take steps to end their relationship, was particularly fond of Ampthill, although her confinement here while Cranmer's court at Dunstable Priory decided her fate could not have been a pleasant. The court announced the invalidity of the marriage on 23rd May 1533; she refused to meet the deputation sent to inform her until 3rd July, and then, surrounded by her household and friends, and with great dignity, made her defiant stand that she was the king's true wife.
After Henry's death the castle was neglected, his immediate successors no doubt having no liking for a place with such unhappy associations, and by Queen Elizabeth's time it was becoming ruinous and quite uninhabitable. Royal visitors of that period (and later, like James I who had plans to rebuild the castle) stayed at Great Lodge, the steward's house on the site of the present Park House.
In the 1680s much building work was done at Great Lodge for Diana, Dowager Countess of Ailesbury, who had moved there from Houghton House. After her death John, Lord Ashburnham, whose father had received the park from Charles II in repayment of a loan, planned to extend the house and make it his principal home. For a time Nicholas Hawksmoor was his architect, but his plans were considered too drastic, and first John Lumley of Northampton and then William Winde, were brought in to meet the earl's exacting requirements. But he died before the work was finished and park and house passed eventually into the possession of John, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory who in the 1770s began a complete reconstruction and enlargement of the house, for which he engaged the architect Sir William Chambers. At the same time he employed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to landscape the park.
The principal front which for Great Lodge and Lord Ashburnham's house had been facing south was made to face north, the remains of Great Lodge being on that side of the building were swept away, and an imposing main entrance with an impressive flight of steps up to the door at first floor level took its place. New wings were constructed, and the whole building lengthened.
The Katherine Cross was erected by Lord Ossory in 1773 in memory of Queen Katherine of Aragon and has undergone major refurbishment during 2008/9.
A companion to the Katherine Cross was erected by the Duke of Bedford to commemorate the training camp he built (and financed) on this site in World War I. The memorial records the remarkable fact that 10,604 men were brought here, of whom 707 were killed In action. Some of the bronze plates bearing the names of the latter were stolen in 1970.
COOPER'S HILL - known locally as The Firs - is one of the few remaining examples of the heaths, which one stretched across Bedfordshire along the Greensand Ridge. A lowland heath of National importance, it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by English Nature and was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1980 by Bedfordshire County Council. Owned by Ampthill Town Council, the heath land is managed by the Wildlife Trust.
A beautiful area highly coloured when the heather is in bloom, is heath is also very delicate and should be treated with great respect.
Millbrook, Bedfordshire: Circular Walk with friends (4K)
In this episode some friends and I complete a 6.5 mile circular walk around Millbrook in Bedfordshire.
The walk starts at Millbrook and runs adjacent to Millbrook Proving Ground, which is one of the largest vehicle testing centres in Europe, however most of it is behind conifers, and I was only able to get a glimpse.
The latter part of the walk passes Centre Parcs, Woburn, built on a 365 acre forest site. As part of the development a 5 metre wide circular bridleway was created around the site, this circular walk follows part of the new bridleway route.
For more info & map see:
Maulden Woods
A trip out to Maulden Woods for a gentle walk turned into a trek. One (or two) wrong turns and we're lost.
Lidlington Fishing Lake AKA Marston Pit
Lidlington Fishing Lake AKA Marston Pit, used by Ampthill Angling Club
AWalk With LW in Bedfordshire
A 4hr Walk in Beautiful Bedfordshire
WILD CAMP ON DEACON HILL | HERTFORDSHIRE WALK
An 11.25 mile walk from Lilley to Pirton and Pegsdon and back to Lilley with my mate and subscriber Owen, from Albion Camping.
We climbed to the top of Deacon Hill and set up our tents on the edge of the hill top, overlooking the Hertfordshire/ Bedfordshire border and surrounding countryside.
Owen's channel, Albion Camping:
swcwalks swcwalk230, Harlington to Flitwick. 8/7/17
A very nice day's walking of around 15 miles in Central Bedfordshire. Leaving the hilltop village of Harlington, it's up to the Sundon Hills Country Park for some wonderful views over the surrounding plain. Continuing on towards the Neolithic hill fort of Sharpenhoe, lunch is had on a bench dedicated to Gordon Edwards, a Rambler who created this section of the walk.
Lunch had, it's on past Sharpenhoe Clappers for further great views and then a steep descent into the plain below. From here, fine views of Barton and Pegsdon Hills can be had before another ascent into the hilltop village of Pulloxhill, which offers delightful views across to the aforementioned hills.
Thereafter, it's on across more rolling grassy fields, through Westoning before a short-cut to Flitwick Wood, where a herd of cows at Wood Farm hindered this walker's progress. The wood was eventually reached, and the station not long after, but cattle are becoming increasingly aggressive in this walker's opinion.
A fine walk, in glorious weather, albeit slightly harrowing towards the end. Bedfordshire offers some fine walking, rather surprisingly, to this local resident.
Ampthill Park Nordic Walking
This video is about Nordic Walking in Ampthill Park
Derelict St Mary's Church in Clophill, Bedfordshire - Haunted or Not?
Derelict places that are supposed to be haunted
Maulden, cottage village in Central Bedfordshire, travel, bed and breakfast,
Maulden is a small village and civil parish located in the county of Bedfordshire, in the administrative area of Central Bedfordshire, in the newly created Maulden And Houghton Conquest Ward. An active Parish Council meets monthly- the clerk is Lynda Galler [4]. The village is located 1.5 miles east of Ampthill and about 8 miles (13 km) south of Bedford. It has about 1,100 homes and 2,900 residents.[2] Recently, the number of people in the village has increased with a new housing development by Croudace Homes which has brought 46 new houses to the village.[5].
Maulden is referred to in the Domesday Book as Meldone and the meanings ascribed to the various versions of the name include cross on the hill, high down and place of meeting.
Surrounding scenery[edit]
Maulden is surrounded by arable land and rolling pasture hills to the west, allotments and more arable land to the south, and hilly pasture to the east. To the northeast, Maulden Wood stretches over to the ancient road, the A6 and there is a Saxon boundary marker behind the church. Directly north lies Kings Wood and to the Northwest is Houghton House on the Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge Path.
Culture[edit]
Maulden Players are an amateur dramatics society who meet weekly at Maulden Village Hall on a Monday night and 2 – 3 times a year put on performances for public audiences. The Players were founded in 1983 under the former guise of St. Mary's Parish Players. Originally only putting on one performance a year with the pantomime in January, the Players soon added more productions to their calendar which usually include a play in May/June for the adult members of the group and a youth production around September/October.
Notable residents[edit]
Sir Benjamin Thomas Brandreth-Gibbs (1821–1885), agriculturalist and horticulturalist, was born in the village.
Publicity[edit]
Maulden was referred to in the Local, National and International Media in March 2017 following a formal complaint (under the Clergy Discipline Measure) lodged with the Bishop of St Albans regarding alleged misrepresentations made by the Rector in a Court of Law (the Consistory Court of the Diocese) and to others.
Van crash,Van,Maulden thatched cottage,cottage front door,thatched cottage,cottage,front door,crash
A white van has crashed through the front door of a listed 16th Century thatched cottage.
It is thought the vehicle came off at a bend on Ampthill Road, in Maulden, Bedfordshire, on Tuesday before it crossed a grass verge, went through a hedge and embedded itself in the house.
A 34-year-old man from Maulden was arrested on suspicion of being unable to drive through drink or
No-one is thought to have been hurt in the crash.
Val Fossey, who lives in the cottage, said there was a dreadful noise - like an earthquake when the van struck.
ed into our hall and kitchen, she said. If I had left the room I don't know what would have happened.
We are not right on the bend and we are about 20 yards from the road, she said. He must have been going fast to go over the