Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (pronounced /ˈbɛdfərdʃər/ or /ˈbɛdfərdʃɪər/; abbreviated Beds.) is a county in England that forms part of the East of England region.
Its county town is Bedford. It borders Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire (and the Borough of Milton Keynes) and Hertfordshire.
The highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.
The county motto is "Constant Be", which is taken from the hymn To Be A Pilgrim by John Bunyan.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Bee Orchid as the county flower.[1]
The traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", this last deriving from a local dish comprising a suet crust dumpling filled with meat or jam or both.7:55 AM | | 0 Comments
History
The first recorded use of the name was in 1011 as "Bedanfordscir", meaning the shire or county of Bedford, which itself means "Beda's ford" (river crossing).
Bedfordshire was historically divided into the nine hundreds: Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redbournestoke, Stodden, Willey, Wixamtree, along with the liberty and borough of Bedford. There have been several minor changes to the county boundary; for example, in 1897 Kensworth and part of Caddington were transferred from Hertfordshire to Bedfordshire.
Luton was a county borough from 1964 until 1974, and it has been a unitary authority since 1997. However, it remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, with a single Lord Lieutenant representing the sovereign throughout this entire area. Except where otherwise indicated, this article relates to the whole Ceremonial County of Bedfordshire, including Luton.
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