Oakley, Bedfordshire

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 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.

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

Church of St Owen is a Grade I listed church in Bromham, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964.The church is a 17th-century building and stands in a parkland setting. There is an alabaster tomb and a triple brass in the chancel.

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.

Clapham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It had a population of 3,643 as at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,560 at the 2011 Census.

Bromham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, situated around 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Bedford town centre.

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.

Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed church in Stevington, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964. It is the Anglican parish church of Stevington, and is part of the Diocese of St Albans The first church on this site, as recorded, was started in about 880 AD and the tower is the surviving part of this; the rest of the building was added later, and completed in about 1480. The church underwent significant rebuilding in 1872, sponsored by the Duke of Bedford who was Patron until 1971. The church has been without permanent clergy since the early 1980s and has relied upon Non-Stipendiary ministry ever since. It is currently in interregnum, the last Priest In Charge, Rev David Hunter, a New Zealander having resigned the post in 2006. It is believed that the body of Napoleon Bonaparte's valet from his exile on St Helena is buried in the churchyard, however, parish records are incomplete and the brick vault is too weathered for identification. The interior of the church boasts some particularly intricate Tudor carved pew ends as well as a fine rood screen now moved to the tower.

Church of All Saints is an Anglican church in the parish of Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire, England. It is part of the Benefice of Milton Ernest, Pavenham, and Thurleigh, in the Diocese of St. Albans under the Church of England.

Stevington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in northern Bedfordshire, England. It is on the River Great Ouse four to five miles northwest of Bedford. Nearby villages include Bromham, Oakley, Pavenham and Turvey. West End lies northwest of the village, and forms part of the same civil parish. The village has a fine Medieval Church as well as a number of listed buildings spanning the centuries. The first church on this site was probably a wooden building constructed during the Anglo Saxon period between 886 and 1016; this was later replaced by a stone building.

Pavenham Osier Beds is a 1.3 hectare nature reserve south of Pavenham, on the banks of the River Great Ouse, in Bedfordshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.This is a wet meadow next to the River Great Ouse, which has the uncommon flower meadow-rue. Osier is a type of willow which is continually cut, stimulating its growth and supplying material for basket weavers. The Trust is continuing the tradition by planting more osiers.An osier bed is an area where willows were formerly planted and coppiced to produce withies which were used for basket making, fish-traps, and other purposes. The willow species salix viminalis was typically grown for this purpose. Willow rods (cuttings) would be planted, which root easily in moist ground, and the growth of the willow withies would be cut every one or two years.There is access by a footpath on the left of Mill Lane. There are no footpaths in this small site.