Bedfordshire Clanger

To visit the counties of the British Isles. Please take lots of photos along it's journey.

I had this keyring made to represent where I was born and grew up. The name "Clanger" is a traditional nickname given to the people of Bedforshire. The flag on the tag is the county flag of Bedfordshire. On one side of the keyring is an old photo of Houghton Regis (my home town) from 1925; on the other side is an aerial photo of the Whipsnade White Lion which always reminds me of home when I see it.

Bordered by the Chiltern Hills, Houghton Regis was once a small village that had its character changed when it was earmarked for a massive "London overspill" estate in the 1950s and 60s. The only remains of the manors, rectory land and cottage demesnes around the small village centre are names such as Tithe Farm Road. An indication of the planners' attempts to make the London migrants feel at home is the naming of the local estate roads after London landmarks; Chelsea Gardens is an example.

Remnants of the town's past are still apparent with, for example, the fifteenth century Parish Church of All Saints (formerly St Michaels) with an excellent example of a Norman tower and the former Squire's residence of Houghton Hall, built in the eighteenth century.

Houghton Regis is considerably older than Dunstable (it's neighbouring town), and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was called Houstone. At the time of the Domesday Survey a great part of what is now Dunstable was included in Houghton parish. When Henry I founded Dunstable he gave in compensation to the men of Houghton a wood called Buckwood. At that time it paid in tax the large amount of three pounds by weight and twenty shillings of blanch silver (to the King) and one ounce of gold for the Sheriff.

The Whipsnade White Lion is a creation of the 20th century, built in 1933 from a design by Mr. R.B. Brooke-Greaves to indicate the position of Whipsnade wildlife park. It is the largest of all the figures and after being cut in outline only it is now a solid figure making it a very impressive site even from some distance. Being so conspicuous it is effectively used to advertise the zoo. The lion was covered for the duration of the war with netting, turf and paint. The lion is occasionally illuminated and was so for the 50th birthday of the zoo in 1981, the lights have been recently replaced. The lion is home to a colony of cavies and wallabies which can be seen occasionally on the lion.