Places of interest in Bedfordshire

Woburn Safari Park

Woburn Safari Park is a national award winning park of 3,000 acres. The Woburn Park Estate comprises other major tourist attractions including Woburn Abbey which has been the home of the Dukes of Bedford for 350 years and has a supurb collection of antiques and works of art. There is a fantastic Deer Park and the beautiful village of Woburn itself which has some lovely individual shops and antique shops as well as cafes, pubs and restaurants.

Whipsnade Zoo

Whipsnade Zoo is an open-air zoo on Dunstable Downs where 2000 animals roam a 500 acre park. Rarities include a herd of white rhinoceroses and breeding roup of Przewalski's wild horse. Sea lions and other water mammals are also on display.

Whipsnade has a fantastic marker for the zoo which can be seen for miles around - a white chalk lion.

Wrest Park - in the village of Silsoe

Wrest Park was the home of the De Grey family from the 13th Century until 1917. The old manor house was demolished and the one that now stands of the site was designed by Thomas, Earl de Grey, in 1834 in the French chateaux style; it is the third house to be built on the site.

The gardens amount to 90 acres and were inspired by the gardens of Versailles in France and are formal in style with wooded walks and canals centred around the pavilion designed by Thomas Archer in 1710.

Later additions to the gardens include the Bath House and the Chinese Pavilion. The Orangery, Italian garden and Parterre were added in the 19th century.

The house was used in the early 19th century as a residence for the US Ambassador, but it is now used by the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering and is run by English Heritage.

Nearby at Flitton is the Grey Mausoleum, the family's burial place.

Regular events such as historical re-enactments take place in the grounds.

Wrest Park	Wrest Park Folly	Historical Re-enactment

Bedford

The historic county town of Bedford with its attractive riverside frontage, is centrally located to London, Oxford and Cambridge. North Bedfordshire has many places of interest and is ideally located for history, leisure, the arts, culture and quiet unspoilt countryside.

Bedford town is where the author John Bunyan lived and was imprisoned for his religious beleifs in the 1660s and 1670s. A Meeting House built in 1849 now stands on the site of the barn where he preached. The adjoining Bunyan Museum has personal relics.

Luton and Dunstable

Luton has many attractions to offer, from its football team, Luton Town FC, to its University and the popular London Luton Airport, the home of EasyJet Airlines.

The Dunstable Downs

The Dunstable Downs has incredible views over the Vale of Aylesbury from these rolling stretches of grassland. Lanes lead south-east to Whipsnade Heath where in the 1930s a local landowner planted trees that matured into 'Tree Cathedral' with nave, cloisters and chapels. Fiary flax and chalk milkwort are amongst the rare plants to be found on the downs. Wild birds include whinchats and warbles.

World War II and Aircraft

You can follow the WWII 'Airfield Trail' around the north of the county, once alive with the Big Band sound of Glenn Miller (who was stationed here during the war). It was from the airfield at Twinwood that he took his final flight.

For a real 'vintage' experience, visit the Shuttleworth Collection, the home of the 'Edwardian Flying machines'. Here aircraft are kept in full flying order and can often be seen 'looping the loop' in the skies above Old Warden. This is a unique flying collection showcasing the first one hundred years of flight.

The Narrow Gauge Locomotive Collection in Leighton Buzzard

A good place to visit if you are a train enthusiast or for a family day out.

Mead Open Farm in Billington

A visit to Mead Open Farm is a must for a family day out. There are lots of farm animals to see and children can handle some of the animals. There is an indoor play area and also a large play area outside with a large sandpit to play in during the summer months.

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