Millbrook Priory

Millbrook is a small village and civil parish near Bedford, England. It has a population of 130, increasing to 147 at the 2011 Census. Millbrook railway station, on the Marston Vale Line, is about two miles (3 km) from the village. The parish church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, is Grade II* listed.The vale adjoining Millbrook is reputed to be the location that inspired the 'Slough of Despond' in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Millbrook is also home to the Millbrook Proving Ground and The Millbrook Golf Club, formerly Lyshott Heath Golf Club.

Ampthill tunnel is a railway tunnel at Ampthill on the Midland Main Line, being positioned between Bedford and Flitwick. It consists of two separate bores, each one accommodating double-track throughout. The first Ampthill Tunnel was built during the 1860s; growing demand on the line led to the original double-track configuration being inadequate for further growth. Thus, during the 1890s, a second Ampthill Tunnel was constructed directly alongside, facilitating the Midland Railway's expansion plans of running a quadruple-track arrangement between Kettering and London wherever practical to do so. Both bores have remained active through to the present day. During mid 2012, Ampthill Tunnel was subject to a series of high speed evaluation runs, including a record maximum speed for the route of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h); in the following year, the line speeds were increased to 125 mph along much of the Midland Main Line.

Millbrook Proving Ground is an English vehicle testing centre located at Millbrook, Bedfordshire. One of the largest vehicle testing centres in Europe, it is near to the M1 and Bedford.

Ampthill railway station was built over a mile from the historic market town of Ampthill in the English county of Bedfordshire by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras.

Ampthill Park and Ampthill Park House is a country estate in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England. The park was opened to the public after the Second World War.From the 14th century Ampthill Park was a royal lodge and hunting park. In the 15th century it was occupied by Sir John Cornwall, who had married the king's sister, Elizabeth of Lancaster, Duchess of Exeter. Sir John amassed a large fortune and constructed Ampthill Castle, a fortified house. After his death Ampthill Park passed to Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent before becoming royal property again. Henry VIII used it for hunting and to hold Katherine of Aragon during the annulment of their marriage. By 1600 the castle was ruinous and in 1661 the park was given by Charles II to John Ashburnham, a Royalist supporter.The present house was built from 1687-1689 by architect Robert Grumbold for the Ossory family who held the estate under lease. In the late 1700s the house was remodelled by Sir William Chambers and the grounds landscaped by Capability Brown. On the death of Lord Upper Ossory on 13 February 1818, Ampthill Park became the seat of Lord Holland in whose time Holland House in Kensington, London, became famous as a gathering place for intellectuals. It was home to Sir James Parke, Baron Wensleydale, until 1868, and from 1885 was the residence of Lady Ampthill. Notable 20th-century architect Sir Albert Richardson lived in Ampthill from 1919 until his death in 1964. During World War II the estate was occupied by the army. There was a farming camp near Ampthill, where volunteers recovered sugarbeet and were accommodated in tents in the grounds. After the war it was sold to Bovril Limited, becoming a Cheshire Home for the Disabled in 1955. In 1979, the mansion was rescued from dereliction and divided into four large homes. It is a grade II* listed building. The park is listed grade II.Ampthill Park was the burial place for the golden hare in the Kit Williams treasure hunt Masquerade. Ampthill Park House should not be confused with the former Ampthill House, which was demolished in 1953. The site of Ampthill House 52.031301679473806°N 0.48887789156448314°W / 52.031301679473806; -0.48887789156448314 (Ampthill House location) was developed for housing along today's Church Avenue in Ampthill town.

Millbrook railway station serves the villages of Millbrook and Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Marston Vale Line, between Stewartby and Lidlington. Millbrook is also the principal stop for the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park. It was the least used station in Bedfordshire during the 2020/21 period.

Ampthill Town Football Club is a football club based in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England. The club are currently members of Spartan South Midlands League Division One and play at Ampthill Park. They are affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association.

Cooper's Hill is an 18.1-hectare (45-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Ampthill in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1984, and the planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. A smaller area of 12.7 hectares is also a Local Nature Reserve, Part of the site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.The site is described by Natural England as the best surviving example in Bedfordshire of heathland on the thin acidic soils of the Lower Greensand Ridge. It also has areas of marsh and woodland.There is access from Alameda Road and Station Road.

Steppingley is a rural village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It stands on high ground in the centre of a small parish of about 562 ha on the Greensand Ridge and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is located close to the nearby towns of Ampthill, Flitwick and Woburn, Bedfordshire. Much of the surrounding land is part of either Beckerings Park, or the Woburn Estate. The Duke of Bedford influence can be seen in the characteristic style of the numerous workers cottages throughout the village. Steppingley is a sought after village to live in, with a strong and active sense of community and excellent schools nearby.It also has good transport links to the M1 (close to junctions 12 and 13) and the Thameslink trainline to London (45 mins to St Pancras) is accessible at nearby Flitwick station (2 miles). The Steppingley Parish website provides additional information relating to the village: [1]

Marston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, near Junction 13 of the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc. The brickmaking activity left scars across the landscape of the Marston Vale as large tracts of land were dug for clay. Most of the claypits are now exhausted, and most of the brickmaking chimneys have been demolished. The legacy of the abandoned brickworks also adds to the impression that the Marston Vale has been despoiled by decades of industrial activity and it is now searching for a new identity. In more recent years the local authorities have taken the opportunity to reuse the clay pits for landfills at Stewartby and Brogborough, both of which are recently capped and closed down.

Ampthill was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It entirely surrounded but did not include the urban district of Ampthill. The district had its origins in the Ampthill Rural Sanitary District. This had been created under the Public Health Acts of 1872 and 1875, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing Boards of Guardians of Poor Law Unions.Under the Local Government Act 1894, Rural Sanitary Districts became Rural Districts from 28 December 1894. The link with the Poor Law Union continued, with all the elected councillors of the Rural District Council being ex officio members of the Ampthill Board of Guardians. The first meeting of the new council was held on 3 January 1895 in the board room of the Ampthill Union Workhouse. The council's first chairman, Edward Crouch, had been the chairman of the previous Board of Guardians.In 1900 the district was significantly enlarged, when the neighbouring Woburn Rural District was abolished, with the majority of the former Woburn district becoming part of the Ampthill Rural District. The council was granted a coat of arms in 1957.The rural district contained the following civil parishes. All the parishes added to the district in 1900 were from the abolished Woburn Rural District:

Redborne Upper School & Community College is an academy school and sixth-form located in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England. The school serves the population of Ampthill, Flitwick and surrounding villages. Redborne is a designated Training school. As a training school the school offers a postgraduate programme as well as a Graduate Teacher Programme, and an Access to Education Scheme. Through this the school has links with the University of Bedfordshire, Oxford Brookes University and Bedford College. In July 2019, the school was awarded an Artsmark gold award from Arts Council England. The award is in recognition of the school's excellence in arts education.The school was previously a specialist Sports College, however on 1 April 2011, the school formally gained academy status. The school also has a working farm allowing a qualification in agriculture.As of 2019, the school's most recent Ofsted judgement was Good (2017).