Lidlington - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lidlington is a small Central Bedfordshire

Central Bedfordshire

Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created from the merger of Bedfordshire County Council, Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire on 1 April 2009...

village and civil parish surrounded by farmland, in the Marston Vale

Marston Vale

Marston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, down towards the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc...

. The hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

s of Boughton End and Thrupp End are also part of the parish.

The village has an unusual Gothic style church built by the Duke of Bedford in 1845 and a thatched pub on its High Street. Lidlington is set on the southern part of the vale's 'basin'. The village has a lower school for 5–9 year olds named after Thomas Johnson, a Dick Whittington type character who was Lord Mayor of London in 1840-41.

Brogborough Lake (also known as Lidlington Lake) at the edge of the village is popular for birdwatching

Birdwatching

Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...

and windsurfing

Windsurfing

Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

. The village has a village hall, two pubs, a hairdresser and a general store, plus a "farm store" on the A421. Lidlington has retained a daily doorstop milk and newspaper delivery service, but has lost its village post office. The village also has a single congegation Anglican

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

/Baptist/Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

church, who worship regularly in the chapel.

The village lies between the main A421

A421 road

The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford...

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...

to Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

road and the A507

A507 road

The A507 is an A-class road in England, linking the M1 motorway near Milton Keynes to the A10 at Buntingford. Beginning at junction 13 of the M1, the road heads east past Ridgmont to Ampthill. Here it passes between Ampthill and its close neighbour Flitwick, essentially separating the two. After...

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:...

to Woburn

Woburn, Bedfordshire

Woburn is a small Saxon village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about southeast of the centre of Milton Keynes, and about south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway and is a popular tourist attraction.-History:...

road. Lidlington railway station

Lidlington railway station

Lidlington railway station serves the village of Lidlington in Bedfordshire, England. The station's two platforms once faced each other, either side of the double tracks...

is on the Marston Vale Line

Marston Vale Line

The Marston Vale Line is the railway line from Bletchley to Bedford in England. It is one of two surviving passenger-carrying sections of the "Varsity Line" between Oxford and Cambridge....

which gives good access for walkers along the Greensand Ridge

Greensand Ridge

The Greensand Ridge is an extensive, prominent, often heavily wooded, sandstone escarpment and range of hills in south-east England. It runs in a horseshoe shape around the Weald of Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It reaches its highest elevation, , at Leith Hill in Surrey—the second highest point...

long distance footpath which passes nearby the village. Local speculation is that the ridge was the model for the "Delectable Mountains" in John Bunyan

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...

's Pilgrim's Progress. Lidlington Hill may also be Bunyan's "Hill of Difficulty".

Lidlington is adjacent to the site of the Millbrook Proving Ground formerly Vauxhall

Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

test track, distinguishable from the air by its large circular track. To the north of Lidlington is Cranfield Airport

Cranfield Airport

Cranfield Airport is an airfield just outside the village of Cranfield, south-west of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It was originally a World War II aerodrome, RAF Cranfield....

used for small aircraft and training flights.

To the west of the village at the former brick works is a business park and the home to Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

UK. The former brickworks to the east of the village are known as Lidlington Pit and forms part of the regeneration of the Forest of Marston Vale

Forest of Marston Vale

The Forest of Marston Vale is an evolving community forest in Marston Vale, which runs south west from the towns of Bedford and Kempston in Bedfordshire, England towards the M1 motorway. It is operated by a registered charity called the Marston Vale Trust....

area.

Like many other villages in the area it was formerly part of the Duke of Bedford

Duke of Bedford

thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...

estate. Hence some London place names e.g. Bedford Square, Russell Square, Eversholt Street, Woburn Place and in Camden

Camden Town

-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...

, NW1, Lidlington Place can be found near Mornington Crescent underground station

Mornington Crescent tube station

Mornington Crescent is a London Underground station in Camden Town in north west London, named after the nearby street. The station is on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line, between and...

.

Lidlington United play in the Bedfordshire Football League

Bedfordshire Football League

The Bedfordshire County Football League , is an English football competition for clubs in and close to the county of Bedfordshire. It has run with five divisions since the 2009-10 season, headed by the Premier Division, which is at step 7 of the National League System...

; the village also has a cricket team, and all-weather tennis courts at the recreation ground.

The February 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake

2008 Lincolnshire earthquake

The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake struck Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, on 27 February 2008 at 00:56:47.8s GMT. According to the British Geological Survey, the quake registered a reading of 5.2 on the Richter scale with the epicentre 2.5 miles north of Market Rasen and 15 miles ...

shook homes in the village.

In April 2008 the area was listed as a site for the Government's 'ECO-town' competition.

In July 2008 the brownfield

Brownfield land

Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations. Cf. Waste...

locations for the 'ECO-town' were dropped in favour of using the prime farmland surrounding Lidlington.

Early in 2009 the developers plans for an 'ECO-town' were dropped.

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