Bedford; Saturday, 07 October, 2023

I had a bit of a lie in and a relatively late breakfast before heading out of the hotel to explore the town, it turned out that I could have had a longer lie-in as none of the museums in town were due to open until 11am, so in the end I spent more time wandering round the town centre than I’d originally planned.

I then headed down to the castle area near the river. Bedford had a castle, erected shortly after the arrival of the Normans, all the way through until a siege in 1224. Following the siege the castle was pulled down, with much of the stone going to repair the local churches and repave the town, today just a small fragment of the wall and the mound that the keep sat on are still in existence. From the top of the mound there are quite decent views over the river.

From the castle I headed back a couple of streets to visit the John Bunyan museum. His most famous work – The Pilgrim’s Progress – is the second most translated book in the world after the bible and given he was a local boy some of the inspiration come from the surrounding countryside and buildings. The museum traces the story of John from his birth in the nearby village of Elstow through his works, preaching and jailing and through to his death in London at the age of 59.

After looking round the museum I headed back into town to grab a quick lunch before hopping on the bus out to that small village of Elstow. At only 2Km from Bedford it’s long since been absorbed into the growing town, but it still keeps a pleasant small village vibe – helped by the large green surrounded by small cottages and the Abbey and Moot House which would both have already been long established when John was a small boy.

The Moot House is only open on Saturday afternoons, which meant it was particularly good timing to head out here as I was able to look round the museum. Originally built as a market hall for the abbey it became a manorial court and for a while it was owned by the Whitbread brewing family before being passed to the County Council in 1950. I had a bit of a wander around the church grounds of the former abbey and around a little bit of the village itself before catching a bus back into Bedford and changing there onto a bus out to Ampthill.

I hiked up the hill above the town to the site of Houghton House. This Manor House was originally built at the beginning of the 17th century and is believed to be the model for House Beautiful in Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress. In 1794 the building was abandoned by it’s owner who stripped it of anything of value, including the roof, before leaving it to ruination. Today the picturesque ruin has been stabilised by English Heritage and is open to look around, both the building and taking in the views down across the flatter lands of northern Bedfordshire.

From the house I headed back down into Ampthill, intending on grabbing a pint in the town centre before catching the bus back into Bedford, but that plan was quickly scuppered when a quick look at the departures board in the bus shelter showed there was one bus due in a couple of minutes, and the following bus, an hour later, cancelled – so it would have been two hours hanging around. I decided to head back into Bedford instead.

I hopped off the bus close to the hotel to freshen up and having a drink in the hotel bar before heading out for dinner (having taking the hint from the previous evening and reserving a table), and then a wander around town before heading back to the hotel to turn in for the night.