Wixams railway station

Kempston Hardwick is a small village on the edge of the town of Kempston in Bedfordshire, England. Historically it was one of the hamlets or "ends" scattered across the parish of Kempston. It is served by Kempston Hardwick railway station on the Marston Vale Line, which was one of the least-used stations in the UK railway network.For many years Kempston Hardwick was technically part of Kempston town. This is a consequence of the division of the old larger Kempston parish in 1896 into Kempston town and Kempston Rural. However, modern boundary changes have meant that Kempston Hardwick is now part of the rural parish of Stewartby (where the 2011 Census population was included).

Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Elstow was one of sixteen UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Filling Factories. It was a medium-sized filling factory, (Filling Factory No. 16), which filled and packed munitions. It was located south of the town of Bedford, between the villages of Elstow and Wilstead in Bedfordshire. It was bounded on the northeast by the A6 and on the west by a railway line. Hostels were built nearby to accommodate the workers who were mostly female. It was built with the Ministry of Works acting as Agents; building work started in November 1940 and was completed by August 1941. It was managed as an "Agency Factory" by J. Lyons on behalf of the Ministry of Supply as, by then, the Ministry of Supply was overstretched as regards recruiting and managing the workers needed to staff these munitions factories. It had 250 buildings and the site does not appear on Ordnance Survey maps made during wartime or in the postwar period.

Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford itself and Kempston, and one of the largest new settlements founded in England since the British new towns movement of the first twenty five years after World War II. Part of the site is in Central Bedfordshire. At the 2011 Census the population of the new town was included in the civil parish of Wilstead.

Kempston Hardwick railway station serves the village of Kempston Hardwick in Bedfordshire, England. It should not be confused with the nearby town of Kempston. The station has two platforms next to a half-barrier level crossing. Kempston Hardwick is the least used station in Bedfordshire. However, in 2023 Universal Studios announced that it had bought a huge patch of land next to the station where it was planning to build its first UK theme park, which will transform the area if it goes ahead.

Wixams Academy is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Wixams in the English county of Bedfordshire.The school was constructed by Willmott Dixon and opened in 2017. It is sponsored by Bedford College Academies Trust and serves the new town development of Wixams as well as Wilstead and other nearby villages. Wixams Academy offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. The school was due to launch a sixth form in 2022, however in April 2019 it was announced that the school was no longer planning to offer this provision. However the school then confirmed a sixth form would open as originally planned in September 2022.

The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats (commonly abbreviated as NIRAH) was a planned freshwater public aquarium in Stewartby, Bedfordshire. Originally sited at a 100 hectare (250 acre) location, with an expected cost of £350 million, the project failed to meet its planned completion date in 2012. The site of the aquarium was sold in 2015, with an expected loss of £4 million.

Wootton Broadmead Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the settlement of Wootton Broadmead near Stewartby in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1905, it was closed temporarily during both world wars and did not reopen after 1941, officially closing in 1952.

The Forest of Marston Vale is an evolving community forest in Marston Vale, which runs south west from the towns of Bedford and Kempston in Bedfordshire, England towards the M1 motorway. It is operated by a registered charity called the Forest of Marston Vale Trust. The vale is traditionally a brickmaking area, but brickmaking industry has been running down since the 1970s. It has left a large amount of spoiled countryside containing several large empty pits some of which have now been converted into lakes. The Forest of Marston Vale is one of twelve of community forest projects in the United Kingdom. It was initiated by the Countryside Agency and the Forestry Commission, in partnership with Bedfordshire County Council, Mid Bedfordshire District Council, and Bedford Borough Council. The total area covered is 61 square miles (158 km2), but most of this land is in private ownership. There are incentives for landowners to plant trees, and the target for community forests in general is to reach 30% tree cover. The principal public open space in the Forest is Marston Vale is the Millennium Country Park which covers 2.5 km2 (1 mile2) and was opened in 2000. The park features several lakes including the large Stewartby Lake and extensive wetlands. There is a visitor centre called the Forest Centre, which has a Lakeside Cafe, shop, toilets and bike rental. According to the official website the park attracts around a quarter of a million visitors a year. There are plans to create a larger park of over 3 square miles (7.8 km2) to the east of Bedford, which will be called Bedford River Valley Park. On 26 January 2018, the UK Environmental Agency granted a permit to Covanta Energy Limited to operate what will be the UK's largest waste incinerator, next to the Forest. The effect of this development remains to be seen.

Daubeney Academy (formerly Daubeney Middle School) is an 11–16 coeducational secondary school located in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. It was established in 1972 and is part of the Chiltern Learning Trust.

Church of All Saints is a Grade I listed church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 23 January 1961. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, was built during the 14th century. There are also several monuments. Houghton Conquest's rectory was united with that of Houghton-Gildable in 1637, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln. It was under the patronage of the Master and Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge.On 4 October 2018 it was reported that the entire lead roof had been stolen.

Kempston & Elstow Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the Bedfordshire town of Kempston in England. Opened in 1905, it was closed temporarily during both world wars and did not reopen after 1941, being officially closed in 1949.

Houghton Conquest is a village and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlet of How End.