Learn more about the course landmarks

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Bedford has been a thriving market town since 1166, when King Henry II granted Bedfordians their original Charter to hold markets. Weekly markets and annual fairs have been held ever since, which traditionally attracted visitors from all over Bedfordshire. St Paul’s Square has been a focal point of markets for the community in Bedford since the 1500s and continues to be a site for our weekly Charter Market today. 

Source: Bedford Borough Council Website 

Longholme Lake was created in 1925 as an employment project set up by Bedford Rotary Club and largely funded by Rotarian George Hayward Wells. Even before the lake was dug, the public enjoyed recreation in this area. The area between the upper and lower rivers was a flood marsh which would freeze over in the winter months, and so people would enjoy ice skating on the site of the Lake. Today the lake is used for recreational boat hire in the summer months. 

Castle Mound was the site of Bedford Castle, which was a medieval motte and bailey castle built after 1100 by Henry I.  It was built on the site of the Anglo-Saxon defences north of the river and may even have included some of them. It was a classic Norman fortification of a mound, or motte, on which were wooden, later stone, defences, surrounded by an area of dwellings, armouries, stables and so on called the bailey. There were, in fact, two baileys, an outer one and, separated from it by a wall, an inner bailey which would, no doubt, have contained the lord’s own hall, the chapel and other such buildings. The motte then lay inside the inner bailey, giving three defensive rings to the whole structure. Ditches, at some point lined in stone, lay immediately outside each length of wall. The first mention of it is in 1138 when Milo de Beauchamp held it on behalf of Matilda against Stephen during their civil war. A ruthless Norman mercenary, Faulke de Breauté, a prominent vassal of King John captured Bedford Castle in 1215. Henry III besieged the castle in 1224 following a disagreement with Faulke de Bréauté. The siege lasted eight weeks and involved an army of as many as 2,700 soldiers with equipment drawn from across England. After the surrender of the castle, the king ordered its destruction. The castle remained a ruin until the expansion of Bedford town in the 19th century. Today only the base of the motte survives and is a scheduled monument. An archaeological park was built on the site between 2007 and 2009. 

Source: Bedfordshire Archives Community Histories

  The River Great Ouse is the fifth longest river in the UK, starting in Northamptonshire and flowing through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain in the Wash and in the North Sea near Kings Lynn. The River Great Ouse has been historically important for commercial navigation and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. The name Ouse is from the Celtic or pre-Celtic *Udso-s, and probably means simply "water" or slow flowing river. 

The river has several sources close to the villages of Syresham and Wappenham in South Northamptonshire. It is navigable from the Wash to Kempston Mill near Bedford, a distance of 72 mi (116 km) which contains 17 locks. The River Great Ouse runs through (or nearby) the villages of Turvey, Harrold, Odell, Felmersham, Sharnbrook, Bletsoe, Radwell, Milton Ernest, Pavenham, Stevington, Oakley, Clapham, Bromham, Kempston, Bedford, Willington and Great Barford. 

The River Great Ouse is a very popular river for canoeing and kayaking, particularly around Bedford which is a regional centre for the sport. Viking Kayak Club organise the Bedford Kayak Marathon with canoe racing held along the Embankment on Bedford's riverside and dates back to the original Bedford to St Neots race in 1952. Bedford also benefits from the presence of weirs and sluices, creating white water opportunities. Viking organise national ranking Canoe Slalom events at the Cardington Artificial Slalom Course (CASC), which was the first artificial whitewater course in the UK. 

Since 1978, the Bedford River Festival has been held every two years, to celebrate the link between Bedford and the coast.

  Bedford Park is a Grade Two listed 26ha Victorian park north of Bedford. It was created in 1888 to the designs of Messrs Barron and Son, landscape gardeners of Elvaston Nurseries in Derbyshire. The designs were the result of a competition held in 1882 at Bedford Corn Exchange. Work began in 1883 with the original estimate being £4,000. The final cost was £7,000 once additions and alterations had been made. It was opened on 11th July 1888 by the Marquess of Tavistock.

The Bandstand was erected on 11th June 1888 on a site originally intended for a fountain. It is a dodecahedron having 12 windows facing as many different ways and stands on 12 brick piers panelled in with wood together with a massive centre pier. Bedford Park Bandstand was renovated in 1982. 

Bedford Park is the largest urban park in Bedford and contains a lake, multiple play areas and sports facilities. It lies on the north side of town at the foot of Foster's Hill, immediately below and to the south of Bedford Cemetery.The park is divided from the cemetery by metal railings and a yew hedge. The main entrances are off Park Avenue, West Lodge standing at the south-west corner of the site, and East Lodge occupying a site at the eastern tip. The West Lodge and gates were paid for by public subscription, begun with a fund launched to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. In the north-west corner of the park are a pair of later cottages (mid C20) known as North Lodge, which stand adjacent to one of several other access points into the park. A broad, serpentine perimeter walk, laid out as a carriage drive, provides access round the edge of the park, the open lawns at the heart of the site being divided by several interior walks. At the centre of the park, a little offset towards the northern side, stands the Refreshment Pavilion, designed by the then Borough Surveyor, John Lund. A straight walk, planted as an elm avenue and replanted in hornbeam, leads south from this building to the bandstand. South of the bandstand, adjacent to the southern edge of the park, are tennis courts added in the mid to late C20. 

The main feature on the western side of the park is the cricket pavilion, which overlooks an open grass area used for sport. Barron's plan also included tennis lawns, bowling green, archery grounds, and a gymnasium. A pavilion has been built (late C20) in association with the bowling green. The Robinson Pool complex (late C20) now stands in the former south-west corner of the park, occupying the site of the former nursery.

Bedford Park is frequently used for events and bands including Simply Red, Status Quo, Slade and UB40 have held concerts there. 

Bedford Corn Exchange often referred to as the Floral Hall on the Market Square was built in 1849 and opened on the 1st May 1850. Its purpose was to allow farmers to sell their produce indoors hence the buildings name. For a stall in the Corn Exchange the cost was three guineas a year while for those who had stands in the open air on the market square the cost was £2. 12s a year.

However, within twenty years the building had become too small, and the farmers needed larger premises to sell their goods. On the 21st October 1872 the foundation stone of the new Corn Exchange was laid, the building being designed by Ladds and Powell at a cost of £9,000 and the Duke of Bedford opened the building on 15thApril 1874. By the 19th century its use as a corn exchange declined and by the 20th century the building was repurposed as a venue for events and concerts. During WWII the BBC Music and Religious Departments moved to Bedford and the BBC Symphony Orchestra used the building for public concerts. In 2022 it was granted a Grade II listing by historic England. Sources: The Newspaper Cuttings Collection, Local Studies Library, Bedford Central Library and HAMSON, J. Bedford Town and Townsmen. 1896.