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HOW IT RATES The county town of Bedfordshire, with its attractive riverside frontage, is centrally located for London, Oxford and Cambridge. It dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when it was known as Beda’s Ford, after a chief called Beda who settled on this stretch of the river. A Royal Charter in 1166 granted it a market that is still held today. Bedford’s most famous son is John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress 1660s. Today, Bedford is a lively market town with a strong cultural diversity.

ARCHITECTURAL GEMS Elstow Moot Hall is a timber-framed Tudor market hall that is now a museum of 17th-century English life, with particular reference to Bunyan. Built in the 1900s, Stevington Windmill, just west of Bedford, is the only complete windmill in the county. A couple of miles south of Bedford are the two Cardington Hangars, built to house the development of British airships before the project was abandoned in the 1930s.

WHAT’S NEW A riverside development is under way at the quay in Castle Lane, set to become the cultural quarter in the heart of the town centre. One and two-bedroom apartments are available. For prices and further information call Compass New Homes on 01234 343450.

QUALITY OF LIFE Fair, mainly owing to the riverside setting and the wealth of parks and open spaces. Bedford Park, with its formal gardens, carriage circuit and lake, provides the perfect environment in which to take the air. The Embankment is one of the country’s finest river settings with its gardens and water meadows.

POPULATION Figures from the Office of National Statistics show 150,100 living in the Bedford area in 2003. Bedford is home to the largest concentration of Italians in the UK. According to the 2001 Census, two in seven of its population are of at least partial Italian descent. It even has its own Italian vice-consulate.

TRAVEL Bedford lies between the M1 and the A1. The mainline station has high-speed rail links to London St Pancras and trains north to Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.

SMARTEST STREETS The south side of the Goldington Road, heading towards Cambridge, has some large semis and detached Victorian houses. Streets around the park, such as Pemberley Avenue or Park Avenue, have 1900s houses for £800,000-£900,000. Farther afield, the villages around Bedford that border the River Ouse are popular, such as Pavenham and Harrold.

BEST RESTAURANTS There is a glut of Italian eateries: Vesuvio and Amici are two worth a mention. The St Helena serves modern European food and can be found on the outskirts of Bedford in a small manor house. The Plough at Bolnhurst is worth a visit, above all for the wine list.

NIGHTLIFE The Corn Exchange is host to a variety of cultural events, from the Philharmonic Orchestra to a monthly comedy club. The town has a large selection of bars and clubs catering for all tastes without the cramped and overcrowded feel that you get in London.

EDUCATION Bedford is home to five top public schools, the most famous being Bedford School for boys, whose alumni include John Fowles and Paddy Ashdown. The University of Bedfordshire has a campus here.

WORKING LIFE There is an even distribution of people working in professional, administrative and sales jobs, with each amounting to 13 per cent of the working population. However, managerial and senior officials just take top spot with 16 per cent.

UPSIDE There is plenty of regeneration taking place, including the cultural quarter near the river and development around the train and bus stations.

DOWNSIDE Probably the lack of culture. There is also a crime issue: Bedfordshire Police were identified by a government report this week as the worst-performing police force in England and Wales.

£227,603 The average house price in Bedford

Source: Halifax

10% The increase in house prices in Bedford in the past year

Source: Halifax

191% The increase in house prices in Bedford over the past ten years

Source: Halifax

1954 The year Bedford opened its Italian Vice-Consulate

Source: www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk

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