Stondon

Lower Stondon is a small village in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is located close to the border with Hertfordshire, around 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of Henlow. It is part of the larger Stondon civil parish, which at the 2001 Census had a population of approximately 2,000 increasing to approximately 2,300 at the 2011 Census. The A600 road from Hitchin to Bedford runs close to the village, while the nearest railway station is Arlesey on the East Coast Main Line.

Henlow Stadium is a greyhound track located at Stondon, in the English county of Bedfordshire, slightly to the north of Hitchin. The stadium has a restaurant, a number of bars and a bistro. Racing takes place every Monday and Thursday morning, Tuesday evening and Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Upper Stondon is a village in Bedfordshire, England, part of the wider Stondon civil parish. Upper Stondon is a very small settlement with few amenities. However, the village of Lower Stondon and nearby Henlow Camp have extensive local amenities and services.

Henlow Camp is a village in Bedfordshire, England. RAF Henlow was first established in the area during World War I. Henlow Camp as a civilian settlement has grown up around the station since this time. Though Henlow Camp is part of the Henlow civil parish, it is located nearer to the village of Stondon (where the 2011 Census population was included). Though a small settlement, Henlow Camp has a number of amenities which serve local residents and staff at the RAF base, as well as the wider area. Amenities include Derwent Lower School, a number of shops, a public house and bed and breakfast, a golf course, and a dog racing track.

Henlow Camp was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the village of Henlow in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.

The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine (RAF CAM) is a medical organisation run by the Royal Air Force and based at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It is the main organisation conducting aviation medicine research in the UK.

Royal Air Force Henlow or more simply RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment and Support, and the Signals Museum. It formerly hosted light aircraft flying and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. The Ministry of Defence announced on 6 September 2016 that the base is set to be closed following a consultation. Flying activity ceased in July 2020.

RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow is a former Royal Air Force unit covering three distinct sites in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The three sites, separately known as RAF Brampton, RAF Wyton and RAF Henlow, housed a number of flying training, intelligence, security and other RAF support organisations. On 2 April 2012 the unit was disbanded with RAF Brampton being renamed Brampton Camp RAF Wyton.

Holwell is a small village and a civil parish two miles north of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England, near the Bedfordshire border. The parish was historically part of Bedfordshire, being transferred to Hertfordshire on 30 September 1897. At the 2011 Census the population of the village was 361. The church is unusual and, although largely rebuilt, retains some Perpendicular features and an interesting brass to Richard Wodehouse. The school, almshouses, and rectory are all in a similar Tudor style erected in the 1830s, but are no longer in use and have been converted into housing. Fragments of early wall paintings and wooden mullioned windows have been discovered in the mediaeval timber-framed Church Farmhouse. It is not to be confused with Holwell Court, near Essendon, also in Hertfordshire, or "Hole-well"; the fictional well in which 'wholesome' children would fall as described in the brothers' Grimm Fairy Tales.

Meppershall is a hilltop village in Bedfordshire near Shefford, Campton, Shillington, Stondon and surrounded by farmland. The village and the manor house are mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 - with the entry reading: Malpertesselle/Maperteshale: Gilbert FitzSolomon. The Manor House belonged to the De Meppershall family for nearly 300 years following 1086. The present house is early 17th century. Until 1844 Meppershall was partially in Hertfordshire. The detached portion of Hertfordshire was transferred to Bedfordshire in 1844, following the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844. St. Mary's church dates back to the Normans. The Parish Records of St Mary, Meppershall, have been published on CD by the Parochial Church Council.Before the advent of greenhouses, Meppershall was a very poor community with large families living in two up, two down type thatched cottages built of brick with stone floors. However, so many greenhouses were built in the village that it was known as a "glass city," growing salad crops for local markets, which were shipped further afield via the railway. As well as farming, the village earned its income from coprolite digging. Coprolite is the fossilised dung of pre-historic creatures, which when ground and treated with sulphuric acid produces a superphosphate fertiliser. To extract it, a long trench was dug on one side of a field. The overlaying clay was then dug out until the nodule bed was reached. If the depth of clay to be removed was more than eight to nine feet, the trench was made in two or three steps, and as the nodules were taken out, so the trench was refilled with the earth already removed. The nodule bed was shovelled into barrows and taken to the washing mill. This consisted of a circular iron trough with a pivot in the centre to which a set of travelling rakes was attached, these being dragged round by horses, and a constant stream of water was kept running through the trough until the clay washed off. The dirty water then was drained off and the nodules carted away. The coprolite was worth about £3 a ton in 1890, yielding some 300 tons per acre. A good fossil digger could earn as much as £2 a week. This industry has also died out.

The A507 is an A-class road in England, linking the M1 motorway near Milton Keynes to the A10 at Buntingford.

Shefford Town & Campton Football Club (The Bluemen) is an English football club based in the town of Shefford, Bedfordshire. The team plays its home matches at Shefford Sports Club on Hitchin Road in Shefford and at Campton Playing Fields, Rectory Road in Campton. The club is competing at the 10th tier of the English football league system in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One. The club also has a reserve side competing in the Premier Division,an U23s team competing in Division 3 and an A Team in Division 4 all in the Bedfordshire County Football League. Originally formed in 1910 as Shefford Town, their first successful period came in the 1950s: starting in 1949–50, the team won two South Midlands League championships and three Beds Senior Cups within five seasons. Subsequently, the club finished as runners-up in the Parthenon League, and won the United Counties League title in 1960–61. Shefford would not match these achievements until the early 1980s, when the club was promoted from the South Midlands League's second tier in 1982–83 and won the league title a year later. After relegation in 1990, Shefford Town folded in 1994. The town remained without a senior football team until 2009, when the club was reformed. In 2010 Shefford Town merged with near neighbours Campton. The club has had success both on and off the pitch in recent years since its reformation, the club were crowned Bedfordshire County Premier Division Winners in 2011–12, 2017–18 and 2018–19. The Bedfordshire County League Britannia Cup was won in both 2011 & 2014 and the East Beds Charity Cup was won by the Reserve team in 2015. The Club has also finished runners up in the Biggleswade knock-out cup in 2015, 2016 & 2017. At the end of 2018–19 season Shefford announced its intentions to seek promotion into the Spartan South Midlands Football League, they duly wrapped up the Bedfordshire County League title and passed the relevant ground grading, so the club is all set to step back into the league it folded out of back in 1994. The club is affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association.