Lidlington railway station

Lidlington is a small village and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England surrounded by farmland, in the Marston Vale. The hamlets of Boughton End and Thrupp End are also part of the parish. The village has an unusual Gothic-style church built by the Duke of Bedford in 1845 and a thatched pub on its High Street. Lidlington is set on the Southern part of the vale's 'basin'. The village has a lower school for 5–9 year olds named after Thomas Johnson, a Dick Whittington-type character who was Lord Mayor of London in 1840–41. Brogborough Lake (also known as Lidlington Lake) at the edge of the village is popular for birdwatching and fishing. The lake is also used for windsurfing and stand up paddle surfing. The nearby landfill site (which was known as Brogborough Landfill site) was the largest landfill in Europe before closing to new deposits in 2009. With a population of about 1300 voters and over 500 homes, Lidlington is defined as a small village. It has a village hall, a pub, a hairdresser and a general store, plus a "farm store" on the A421. Lidlington has retained a daily doorstop milk and newspaper delivery service, but has lost its village post office. The village also has a single congregation Anglican/Baptist/Methodist church, members of which worship regularly in the chapel. The village lies between the main A421 Bedford to Milton Keynes road and the A507 Ampthill to Woburn road. Lidlington railway station is on the Marston Vale Line which gives good access for walkers along the Greensand Ridge long-distance footpath which passes nearby the village. Local speculation is that the ridge was the model for the "Delectable Mountains" in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Lidlington Hill may also be Bunyan's "Hill of Difficulty". Lidlington is adjacent to the site of the Millbrook Proving Ground (formerly the Vauxhall test track), which is distinguishable from the air by its large circular track. To the north of the Parish of Lidlington is Cranfield Airport, used by small aircraft and for training flights. To the west of the village at the former brick works is a business park which is home to Amazon.com UK. The former brickworks to the east of the village are known as Lidlington Pit and forms part of the regeneration of the Forest of Marston Vale area. Like many other villages in the area it was formerly part of the Duke of Bedford's estate. Hence some London place names e.g. Bedford Square, Russell Square, Eversholt Street, Woburn Place and in Camden, NW1, Lidlington Place can be found near Mornington Crescent underground station.Lidlington United currently play in the Bedfordshire Football League Premier Division after being promoted in three successive seasons. The village also has a cricket team, and all-weather tennis courts at the recreation ground. Lidlington is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The entry reads Litinclitone: Abbess of Barking. In April 2008 the area was listed as a site for the Government's 'ECO-town' competition. In July 2008 the brownfield locations for the 'ECO-town' were dropped in favour of using the prime farmland surrounding Lidlington. Early in 2009 the developers' plans for an 'ECO-town' were dropped.

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.

Moreteyne Manor (previously known as Moat Farmhouse) is a 15th-century manor house in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, England. For many years it was used as a farmhouse but is now a country house restaurant. It is a Grade II* listed building.The house, originally built in the early 15th century but extended, modified and restored by 1800, is sited within a rectangular moat. It consists of a timber frame with brick infill and a clay tile roof. The crosswings at each end of the central hall are jettied at the first floor level.

Marston Moreteyne (or Marston Moretaine) is a large English village and civil parish located on the A421 between Bedford and Milton Keynes in the county of Bedfordshire. The population was 4,560 at the 2001 census, and 4,556 at the 2011 census. The village is served by Millbrook railway station, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) away on the Marston Vale Line. The place-name 'Marston Moretaine' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 969, where it appears as Mercstuninga. It appears as Merestone in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name derives from the Old English mersc-tūn meaning 'town or settlement by a marsh'. It was held by the family of Moretaine, from Mortain in Normandy in France. Local roadsigns use either the "Moreteyne" and "Moretaine" spellings inconsistently. The official name of the civil parish was changed in 2018 from Marston Moretaine to Marston Moreteyne following a consultation by Central Bedfordshire Council.Sir Thomas Snagge lived in the village in the 16th century. He owned the manor of Marston Moreteyne.

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.

Rugemont Castle was a castle in the village of Ridgmont, in the county of Bedfordshire, England (grid reference SP97033846).

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.

All Saints Church, Segenhoe is a ruined medieval church located near the village of Ridgmont, Bedfordshire. It contains architectural details that range from the 11th century when it was first built to the 19th century. The church was abandoned in 1855 when a larger church was built in Ridgmont. The cemetery continues to be used for burials. The church is managed by Central Bedfordshire Council. All Saints Church is designated a scheduled Ancient Monument.

Ridgmont is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located beside junction 13 of the M1 motorway, and close to Milton Keynes and Woburn Abbey. The 2001 census states the total population to be 418, reducing to 411 at the 2011 Census.The parish is first mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086, by its original name of Segenhoe, which was approximately 500 yards (metres) south east from where the village now lies. In 1227 the name Rugemund was first recorded, taken from the French 'rouge mont' which means red hill.The modern village lies on top of a greensand ridge at approximately 350 feet (110 m) above sea level. The surrounding valley has underlying 'Upper Jurassic Oxford Clay' which is suitable for making bricks. In 1935 the Ridgmont Brickworks were built by the Ridgmont Fletton Brick Company. By 1979, as part of the London Brick Company, the works had 25 chimneys and was said to be the second-largest brickworks in the world.The large Amazon.co.uk warehouse now occupies the site of the former brickworks, which is situated beside the Ridgmont railway station. November 2006 saw work start on the Ridgmont Bypass, and the £15.5 million project was finished in June 2008. The A507 Ridgmont relief road is designed to carry 80 per cent of heavy traffic away from the neighbouring villages.

Marston Thrift is a 37.4-hectare (92-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Marston Moretaine and Cranfield in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1984 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, which extends to a larger area of 55.8 hectares.The site is ash and maple woodland on heavy clay, a habitat which has become scarce in lowland England. It also has areas of damp grassland, and a grassland valley. It is an important site for butterflies, including the rare black hairstreak.There is access from a car park at Wood End, and by footpaths from Cranfield and Marston Moretaine.

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.

Millbrook Priory was a priory in Bedfordshire, England. It was established in 1097 and disestablished in 1143. The little Priory of Beaulieu at Moddry, owned land at Millbrook, where originally a small cell had been founded by Nigel de Wast, as a cell of St. Albans, but when Beaulieu was founded, as a cell of St. Albans, the two cells, Beaulieu and Millbrook, were amalgamated.