Church of All Saints, Milton Ernest

Milton Ernest Hall is a large grade I listed country house in the village of Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire, England. It now serves as a nursing home. It was built in 1853–58 for Benjamin Helps Starey on the site of a decaying earlier house by church architect William Butterfield, whose sister Ann was married to Starey. Constructed in limestone in a Gothic Revival style, the main block is L-shaped with projecting gables and a high, steep roof containing several dormer windows. The property passed then through several hands before being sold in 1906 to Lord Ampthill. During the First World War the hall became the home of two of the sons of King George V. After the war it was restored to the Starey family. During the Second World War the hall was used as a base for Special Operations Executive, a small grass landing strip being laid in the grounds. In 1944 it became the United States Eighth Air Force's support command headquarters. A plaque at the Hall honours the members of the United States Eighth Air Force (including Major Glenn Miller) who were stationed there. The plaque reads: IN MEMORY OF ALL THE PERSONNEL WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II AT MILTON ERNEST HALL HEADQUARTERS USAAF EIGHTH AIR FORCE SERVICE COMMAND STATION 608 1943-1946, ALSO MAJOR GLENN MILLER & THE BAND OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE WHO WERE STATIONED HERE FROM JULY TO DECEMBER 1944 After the US Air Force vacated the Hall, it remained empty until 1968, when Ludwik Dobrzański (he died in 1940) purchased the property along with the surrounding grounds for £15,000. The family lived at the Hall until it was sold in 1971. In 1984 the hall was converted to a nursing home. In the fields adjoining is a grade II listed brick and tile hexagonal dove-cote.

Milton Ernest is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford itself. It had a population of 754 in 2001. This had risen to 761 according to the 2011 census. The village is situated on the east bank of the River Great Ouse, and is the site of Milton Ernest Hall, which was used as the United States Eighth Air Force's support command headquarters in the Second World War.The village is named in the Domesday Book in the hundred of Stodden. The entry reads: "Middletone / Mildentone: Miles Crispin and William Basset from Hugh de Beauchamp; Thorgils from Nigel d'Aubigny; Reginald from Walter of Flanders; Ivo, Hugh de Grandmesnil's steward from Adelaide, Hugh de Grandmesnil's wife; a beadle from the king. Mill."All Saints' Church was built between the 12th and 15th centuries.Possible variations in spelling may include "Milton Harneys", in 1396, & "Midelton Erneys", in 1430. The first half of the name means "Middle Farm". The second half of the name is derived from the name of the main manor of the village and was added in the 13th century to distinguish it from Bedfordshire's other Milton (Bryant). Milton Ernest has a small voluntary controlled village school, closely linked to the church, that has between 60 and 65 pupils drawn from this and surrounding villages. The secondary school for the area is Sharnbrook Academy, in the village of Sharnbrook, located around 3 miles (4.8 km) away. On 15 December 1944, Glenn Miller took off from RAF Twinwood Farm, in neighbouring Clapham, on his last, ill-fated flight, and was last seen in public in the Queen's Head Hotel in Milton Ernest before he disappeared. A plaque at Milton Ernest Hall honours Major Glenn Miller and members of the United States Eighth Air Force, it reads "In memory of all the personnel who served in World War II at Milton Ernest Hall headquarters USAAF Eight Air Force Service Command Station 608 1943-1946, also Major Glenn Miller & the band of the Allied Expeditionary Force who were stationed here from July to December 1944". The controversial Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre is located in the parish. Milton Ernest is also home to the UK's first indoor skydiving and indoor surfing facilities. However both have now ceased operations. A book entitled "The Importance of Milton Ernest" was published by David Newman and details the above and much more of Milton Ernest history and prominence

Browns Wood is a six hectare Local Nature Reserve north of Clapham in Bedfordshire. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council.The wood was planted by the Duke of Bedford in the middle of the eighteenth century. It is ancient semi-natural woodland of beech, larch and poplar. Ground flora include wood anemone and nettle leaved bellflower, and there are birds such as great spotted woodpeckers and song thrushes.There is access from Twinwood Road.

Bletsoe is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the A6, and about eight miles north of Bedford. The village has a small park, the former site of Bletsoe Castle and a church. Nearby places are Sharnbrook, Milton Ernest, Riseley, Thurleigh, Odell, Souldrop, and Swineshead. The nearest town to Bletsoe is Bedford. The small hamlet of Bourne End borders Bletsoe and is part of the civil parish. In 1086, Bletsoe parish was within the ancient hundred of Buckelowe. The parish was added to the Hundred of Willey when the ancient hundred was parceled out. Bletsoe Castle was the birthplace of Margaret Beaufort. She was the mother of Henry VII and grandmother of Henry VIII.

Bletsoe Castle was a late medieval fortified manor house in the village of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, England.

Oakley railway station was built by the Midland Railway in 1857 on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin. It was closed to passengers in 1958 and closed completely in 1963. The station buildings remain in a dilapidated state though the goods yard is used by a haulage company. There are also a set of railway houses the opposite side of the line from the station building which were constructed between 1883 and 1901 as accommodation for railway workers which remain extant. About a mile (2 km) north of the station is the point where the Midland installed its first troughs to allow locomotives to pick up water. The river valley here is very flat, and the line crosses it seven times in the space of about 7 miles (11 km) most prominently on the viaduct (which is two separate viaducts running parallel to each other) to the north of the village. The line is elevated because of problems with flooding. Even the local roads have raised walkways.Croxhall opened in 1840 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was previously known as Oakley but was renamed on 1 December previously.Two fatal railway accidents occurred around Oakley. One occurred on 21 January 1938 at the Junction between the Midland Main Line and the Bedford–Northampton line to the south of the village, when an Express train collided with an empty stock movement killing three and injuring eight. The other accident occurred 4 October 1949 on the viaduct that takes the Midland Main Line over the River Great Ouse to the north of the village, where a goods train collided with a stationary goods train on the viaduct, driving the goods train off of the viaduct and into a meadow, blocking the goods lines on the viaduct and killing the driver and the fireman.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre is a detention centre for foreign nationals prior to their deportation from the United Kingdom, one of 10 such centres currently in the UK. It is located near Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire, England, and is operated by Serco, which describes the place as "a fully contained residential centre housing adult women and adult family groups awaiting immigration clearance." Its population is, and has been, overwhelmingly female.

Radwell is a hamlet in the Hundred of Willey in North Bedfordshire, England, on the River Great Ouse, about 7 miles (11 km) north west of Bedford. Administratively, it is often included with the neighbouring village of Felmersham, and the civil parish is sometimes known as Felmersham with Radwell. Excavations of the gravel pits to the north of the settlement showed evidence of occupation during the Roman period, with a field and ditch system and the remains of two timber buildings, probably a farmstead.The hamlet was mentioned in Domesday as Radeuuelle, listed with a population of 18 households, under two landowners.The hamlet has no church, but is part of the parish of St. Mary's, Felmersham. A chapel dedicated to St James was first recorded in 1204, but had fallen out of use by the 17th century. A Methodist chapel in Moor End Road, built in 1807, has been converted to a residence. A public house, the Swan Inn, was first recorded as an ale house in 1728, but it has recently closed due to economic problems. To the south, there is a stone bridge across the river. Built in 1766 by Thomas Morris, it originally cost £292-10s-0d. As it was not maintained by the county, by 1775 it was "ruinous and in great decay", but was taken over by the county in 1805. The bridge was Grade II listed by English Heritage in August 1987. The road leading into Radwell from the south is Radwell Road and frequently floods after heavy rain. Between the two world wars, there was a privately run miniature railway, the Radwell Manor Railway, to the north of the settlement, which was occasionally open to the public. It was abandoned around 1940, and dismantled later, possibly in the 1960s. At the end of Moor End Road is a riding stable, and further on are Radwell lakes, a popular fishing spot with many swans.

The Radwell Manor Railway was a 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge miniature railway situated in the village of Radwell, near Felmersham, in North Bedfordshire, England. It was built by Mr. H. W. Franklin, who was closely associated with the Bassett-Lowke company of Northampton, and whose products were often tested on its 0.75 mi (1.2 km) of track. The privately run railway opened in 1920, and ceased operating with the onset of the Second World War, around 1939. However, much of the railway remained intact until at least the early 1960s because it was seen in approximately 1960-1962 by a young railway enthusiast who was exploring the area.

Royal Air Force Twinwood Farm or more simply RAF Twinwood Farm is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 4 mi (6.4 km) north of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. For the majority of World War II, the airfield was home to RAF night fighters.

Lincroft Academy is a co-educational secondary school located in Oakley in the English county of Bedfordshire.It was established as a secondary modern school in the early 1960s on land that was part of Oakley Grange. In the early 1970s it became a middle school educating pupils aged 9 to 13. In February 2011 the school converted to academy status and adopted its present name. In 2017 it became a secondary school educating pupils aged 11 to 16. Today the school forms part of the Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust which includes 25 schools.

Oakley is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, about four miles northwest of Bedford along the River Great Ouse. It has a population of 2,493 and is near the villages of Bromham, Milton Ernest, Clapham, Radwell and Felmersham.