Flitwick - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Flitwick, pronounced ˈflɪtɪk, is a small town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The nearby River Flit

River Flit

The River Flit is a short river in Bedfordshire, England. It flows through Flitwick, then past Greenfield and Flitton, then through Clophill, Chicksands, and Shefford, then past Stanford, before meeting the River Ivel at Langford....

runs through Flitwick Moor

Flitwick Moor

Flitwick Moor is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and lies between Flitwick and Greenfield in Bedfordshire....

, a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

Location

It is broadly equidistant between Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

(10 miles to the North) and Luton

Luton

Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....

(10 miles to the South). It shares many services with the neighbouring town of Ampthill

Ampthill

Ampthill is a small town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 6,000. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries.-History:...

, with which it shares a boundary.

Nearby settlements

Ampthill

, Westoning

Westoning

Westoning is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire located about a mile south of the town of Flitwick. It is about two miles north-east of junction 12 of the M1 motorway, and beside the First Capital Connect railway line to London and beyond...

, Harlington

Harlington

Harlington may refer to:In England:*Harlington, Bedfordshire*Harlington, London*Harlington, South Yorkshire-See also:*Arlington *Harlingen, Texas*Harlington-Straker Film Studio is a fictional film studio in UFO...

, Greenfield

Greenfield

-Engineering:* Greenfield land, a piece of undeveloped land * One of several related terms:* Greenfield project, a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior work...

, Flitton, Maulden

Maulden

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 . The village is located 1.5 miles east...

, Clophill

Clophill

Clophill, is a small village and civil parish located in the Flit river valley, Bedfordshire, England. At this time the village belonged to a group of two or three hamlets – Beadlow, Cainhoe and possibly Moddry.It is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Clopelle; meaning tree-stump Hill in old...

, Millbrook

Millbrook

-Geographic places:Canada* Millbrook, OntarioNew Zealand:* Millbrook Resort, a luxury resort near QueenstownUnited Kingdom:* Millbrook, Bedfordshire, a village**home to the Millbrook Proving Ground* Millbrook, Cornwall...

, Pulloxhill

Pulloxhill

Pulloxhill is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England 342ft above sea level with a population of 850 at the 2001 Census.Pulloxhill has a church, a school and two public houses. The village shop and post office have closed. The Chequers Public House runs a shop selling basic...

, Barton le Clay, Tingrith

Tingrith

Tingrith is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located adjacent to the M1 motorway near the large village of Toddington. The nearest major town is Luton, located approximately ten miles to the southeast....

, Eversholt

Shopping

Flitwick has seen a large expansion in its population in recemt years, but its retail facilities have not kept up with this growth. The local council has drawn up plans to redevelop the town centre in order to improve its retail offering http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12535915. At present, it has a large Tesco

Tesco

Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

, a Barclays bank, a Co-op

The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...

, which provides a secondary food source to the community, and many smaller shops and estate agents, many in close proximity to the railway station. There is an open-air market every Friday selling local produce, which is set up on the car park of the village hall. The market has many stalls from a fish monger to a baker, haberdashery and fruit and veg.

Leisure

There is a sports centre with a 25m swimming pool with kids pool attached. The leisure centre also has a gym, squash courts with leagues and gymnasium.

Flitwick Town Council own and operate from The Rufus Centre. The Rufus Centre is not only home to the town council but is also a busy conference and special event venue with office space to lease. The most popular sport it is used for is dancing; ballet, modern, street and many more.

Flitwick has four pubs; the Swan, the Bumble Bee, the Blackbirds and the Crown. A membership-operated social club, The Flitwick Club, is situated on the Ampthill Road, opposite the Drivestyle yard.

Road

Flitwick is 5 miles from junction 12 of the M1

M1 motorway

The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...

, from where one can traverse the nations roads.

Bus

The main bus services are as follows:

42 (Grant Palmer) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays providing a connection to: Weston, Harlington, Toddington, Ampthill, Houghton Conquest, Kempston and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.

J2 (Stagecoach) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays to Ampthill, Houghton Conquest, Kempston and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.
200 (Grant Palmer) provides a two hourly service (generally) to Ampthill, Shefford, Clifton and Biggleswade. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.

Rail

Flitwick has a station

Flitwick railway station

Flitwick railway station is in the centre of Flitwick, in Bedfordshire, England. The station is situated on the Midland Main Line. The station is managed by First Capital Connect, and is served by the Thameslink line service...

on the Thameslink line (First Capital Connect took over the franchise on 1 April 2006). Trains from Flitwick station go north to Bedford and south to Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, London, Gatwick Airport and Brighton, making it a popular place to live for commuters.

It will be soon undergoing platform extension work as part of the Thameslink Programme

Thameslink Programme

The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...

. This will involve all platforms being extended to meet the longer trains from 2011. Work will start in late October 2010.

A5120 Flitwick–Westoning Bypass

The Bedfordshire authority has identified Flitwick and Westoning as communities that they would like to bypass. In the second Bedfordshire local transport plan the unitary authority decided to evaluate bypassing one or both of the settlements to be completed by 2011.

Schools

Flitwick has three lower schools (Kingsmoor, Templefield and Flitwick Lower School), a middle school (Woodland School). The old Flitwick School has been refurbished from its earlier state of neglect, and now serves as a further community centre, youth club and toddler group.

Sport

It has three football teams: Flitwick Town, who play in the Bedfordshire County League Premier Division, Flitwick Eagles and Dinamo Flitwick.

Landmarks

Flitwick is famous for its Flitwick Manor

Flitwick Manor

Flitwick Manor is a Georgian country house in the south of Flitwick, Bedfordshire, England. It is located on Church Road off the A5120 road. It is currently run as a hotel by the hotelier firm Menzies....

House, currently used as a hotel, and is said to be haunted.

There is also physical evidence of a Norman era motte and bailey castle site

Flitwick Castle

Flitwick Castle was an 11th century castle located in the town of Flitwick, in the county of Bedfordshire, England.It was a small, timber Motte-and-bailey castle, surrounded by a moat. The castle was mentioned in the Domesday Book, in 1086, as being under the ownership of William Lovet, a Norman...

, locally known as "The Mount".

There is also a green area, located in the woods behind the industrial estate, this has the famous pond which locals use to fish from, known locally as "The PussyPond".

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.