Bedford Local History Magazine
#114, Spring 2025
Featured Articles
This issue commemorates Victory in Europe, when Bedford celebrated the cessation of hostilities in Europe. Followed by Paul Barnes in the second of his series of articles on the town’s old pubs. The editor on the history of Goldington Hall and Life at the Manse – extracts from the autobiography of Florence Ada Keynes. The second article by Stuart Antrobus describing life in Bedford during the First World War. The Autumn issue will include the history of Goldington Bury, the Planation House, the Italians in Bedford, ‘Bedford Rocks’ – live music in Bedford and the third part of Stuart’s series on WWI..
BEDFORD LOCAL HISTORY MAGAZINE WINS ‘BEST JOURNAL’:
Bob Ricketts accepting the award from judge and Archivist Pamela Birch
The Spring 2023 special issue of our magazine – A History of Some Faith Groups in Bedford, won the award for ‘Best Journal’ in the inaugural Bedfordshire Local History Association Local History Awards, against stiff competition. Congratulations to all those who contributed articles and to Stuart Antrobus whose idea it was and who sub-edited it.
New BAALHS book by Bob Ricketts
New book by Bob Ricketts.
How Bedford was transformed after WWII.
Number 116 Spring 2026
Edited by Bob Ricketts CBE
Published by Bedford Architectural, Archaeological
& Local History Society
This issue includes a wide range of articles – 1790s Bedford in the Torrington Diaries; Charles Dickens visits Bedford (Station) in 1867; ‘Little Italy’ – the Italians in Bedford; a pictorial history of Bedford Park and Russell Park; Stuart Antrobus’s regular six-monthly look at the First World War Home Front experience – ‘Life in Bedford 110 Years Ago’ from April to August 1916; Derek Turner: ‘Arthur Tisdall VC, a modest hero’; Bob Ricketts on Bedford’s retail history – D’Arcy & Rosamunde of Bedford 1951-1982, celebrated fashion designers and retailers; The Arcade. Also, three reviews of recently published books.
The Autumn 2026 Magazine will be a special edition devoted to Bedford’s factories and workers during the Second World War. Research during the Spring and Summer will build on the ground-breaking unpublished 1997 M.A. dissertation by Stephen Cox on “How was Bedford’s industrial output increased to help meet the demands of Britain’s war effort during the Second World War”. It will focus on the role of local factories, large and small, and their workers, featuring a wide range of contemporary oral histories. The Spring 2007 issue will include an extended article by Stuart Antrobus on Life in Bedford 110 years ago during the First World War and the history of the department store Longhurst & Skinner and its predecessor, Denton’s Pantechnicon.