Places to see in ( Ampthill - UK )
Places to see in ( Ampthill - UK )
Ampthill is a small town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 7,000. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries. The name 'Ampthill' is of Anglo-Saxon origin. The first settlement was called 'Aemethyll', which literally means either 'ant-heap' or 'ant infested hill'. In the Domesday Book, Ampthill is referred to as 'Ammetelle', with the landholder in 1086 being Nigel de la Vast. The actual entry reads: Ammetelle: Nigel de la Vast from Nigel d'Aubigny. A further variation may be 'Hampthull', in 1381.
Ampthill is a commercial centre for surrounding villages; it has several pubs, restaurants, a Waitrose supermarket and a selection of small independent specialist shops. A number of small businesses such as solicitors, estate agents, financial services, hairdressers, music schools and a bookshop are also located in town, with larger businesses found on the commercial and industrial developments on the outskirts, along the town's bypass.
Ampthill is one of the most expensive places to buy a house in Bedfordshire, even in comparison with other mid-Bedfordshire towns such as neighbouring Flitwick, and Cranfield. In a survey, it was found that the majority of Ampthill's workers are employed locally, with around 20% working in Ampthill itself, and most of the remainder travelling to nearby centres of employment such as Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes. Around 13% of workers commute from Ampthill to London daily.
Ampthill has a non-League football team, Ampthill Town F.C. who play at Ampthill Park. Ampthill Super7s is the local 7-a-side football league. It takes place every Monday and Thursday at Redborne Upper School. The town's rugby union club Ampthill RUFC was established in 1881 and plays in National League 1 the third from top tier league in the English rugby union system
Ampthill is host to an annual Ampthill Festival weekend which includes a live rock music event AmpRocks; acts such as Razorlight and Toploader have performed there. It also includes Ampthill Park Proms, with orchestra and guest singers, highlighted by fireworks. This event is held in Ampthill Great Park, where a temporary soundstage is erected to entertain local residents.
Ampthill has a high concentration of public amenities, including schools, doctors surgeries, a fire and ambulance station. The Bedfordshire Railway & Transport Association is campaigning for the reopening of Ampthill railway station which closed in 1959.
The church of St Andrew ranges in date from Early English to Perpendicular. Houghton House was built in 1621 by Mary, Countess of Pembroke and sister of the poet Sir Philip Sidney. In 1675, the house may have provided the inspiration for 'House Beautiful' in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
( Ampthill - UK ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Ampthill . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Ampthill - UK
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Ampthill Great Park - Ampthill, Bedfordshire - Place to Walk
Ampthill Great Park or just Ampthill Park is a 160 acre park in Ampthill, Bedfordshire.
The park has a few designated walking trails, taking-in hills and woodland, as well as cricket and football pitches, and children's play areas.
You can read more about this park and learn about the best places to park when you visit from our website at:
Our website also details other places to visit and walk in Bedfordshire, England, and nearby counties.
Best places to visit
Best places to visit - Arlesey (United Kingdom) Best places to visit - Slideshows from all over the world - City trips, nature pictures, etc.
Bedfordshire Tourist Attractions: 15 Top Places to Visit
Planning to visit Bedfordshire? Check out our Bedfordshire Travel Guide video and see top most Tourist Attractions in Bedfordshire.
Top Places to visit in Bedfordshire:
Edible Ornamentals, The Shuttleworth Collection, Birds of Prey Centre, Dunstable Downs, Wardown Park Museum, Bedford Park, Stockwood Discovery Centre, Woburn Abbey and Gardens, Grove Theatre, Priory Country Park, Swiss Garden, Ascott House, Panacea Museum, Harrold-Odell Country Park, The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum
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Places to see in ( Biggleswade - UK )
Places to see in ( Biggleswade - UK )
Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is growing in population mainly because of good transport links along the A1 road between London and the North, and via Biggleswade railway station on the East Coast Main Line). New housing developments continue.
Biggleswade is located about 40 miles (60 km) north of Central London and 20 miles (30 km) to the west-south-west of Cambridge. Situated with a station on the East Coast Main Line, Biggleswade is around half-an-hour from the capital city by train. In 2011 the population of the town was about 16,550. The Biggleswade civil parish also includes the nearby hamlet of Holme, Bedfordshire.
The town lies just off the A1, Britain's Great North Road between London and Edinburgh - and the B1040, which leads to Potton in the north, runs through the town. Biggleswade is also situated on the A6001, which leads to Langford and Henlow to the south. At the north end of Biggleswade past Shortmead House lies a solar power farm, whilst a wind farm of ten turbines sits beyond the south end of the town, towards Langford.
The area around Biggleswade is thought to have been inhabited from around 10,000 BC, with arrowheads dating from this period believed to have been found in the region. In Roman times, a loop road known as the White Way passed through Biggleswade (possibly along the course of the present-day Drove Road), linking up with the Ermine Way at Godmanchester.
Biggleswade Swimming Club celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. It now uses the new indoor Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre, which underwent expansion in 2015 to add a new sports hall to the back of the complex. There is also a small skatepark located behind the complex, next to the local park.
The town has two football clubs – Biggleswade Town, of the Southern League Premier Division, and Biggleswade United, of the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division. Biggleswade United has recently been given a boost in awareness by Sky Sports pundit Guillem Balague's appointment as Director of Football.
( Biggleswade - UK ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Biggleswade . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Biggleswade - UK
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The Town Of Bedford, UK (2014)
Bedford, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. 04.04.2014
Music: 1. Utah Jazz - Take No More
2. Moseqar Feat. Emily Underhill - Moments
Places to see in ( Builth Wells - UK )
Places to see in ( Builth Wells - UK )
Builth Wells is a town and electoral ward in the county of Powys, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, mid Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Wye and the River Irfon, in the Welsh section of the Wye Valley.
The only remains of the castle are huge earthworks. Builth Castle was built under King Edward I, the construction taking nearly five years in the 1270s. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, often remembered as Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf came south from Gwynedd to the vicinity of Builth Castle in December 1282.
In the centre of Builth Wells there is a 1000 feet square mural (approx 35 feet high by 30 feet wide) depicting the final days of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales. The mural shows Llywelyn and his men, a scene depicting the fighting and a representation of Builth Castle, where Llywelyn was turned away when trying to flee from the English.
The White Bull of Builth may be a reference to a herd of White Park Cattle that lived in the area from Post-Roman times. Two herds survived in Wales to modern times. The town is served by Builth Road railway station on the Heart of Wales Line, which is located just over a mile to the north, having lost its more central (Builth Wells) railway station on the Mid-Wales Railway in the 1960s under the Beeching Axe. A dedicated cycle route linking the town with Swansea (NCR 43) has been proposed and a 13-mile section of the route from Swansea has already been developed.
The 18th-century bridge at Builth Wells carries heavy vehicles on the A470. It has six fine masonry spans, with relatively small round cutwaters, which are fitted on the upstream side with stout steel fenders to provide protection from debris. The centre of the bridge has a pedestrian refuge on each side. The arches have been reinforced by a layer of concrete in the soffit.
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Bedford | Bedfordshire | England | United Kingdom
Bedford | Bedfordshire | England | United Kingdom | 25.03.2019
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.
From Bournemouth to Beds
A smooth and very sunny mid-afternoon journey back from the sea at Bournemouth on the south coast to Bedfordshire with no stops and no jams. As it is very unusual to have such a smooth journey I have shared it with you in super fast time turning 3hrs into 19 minutes.
Roads travelled on cross country route: B3066, A338, A31, M27, M3, A34, M40, A43, A421, A422, A5, A4012, A507
Towns and villages passed by:
Bournemouth, Ringwood, Southampton, Eastleigh, Winchester, Newbury, Didcot, Abingdon, Oxford, Bicester, Buckingham, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes, Little Brickhill, Woburn, Ampthill, Maulden, Clophill, Shefford
Distance: 160 miles
Time: 3 hours - 12.45pm to 3.45pm
Date: 5th June 2016
Music Tracks:
1) Oliver Lieb - Non Binary
2) N'to - Trauma Worakls [Remix]