‘Riversmeet Villages, perfect for walkers and history buffs alike...’Bedfordshire is a county that people pass through rather than stay to visit - yet they miss so much! In North East Bedfordshire Riversmeet consists of six villages along the valleys of the rivers Ouse and Ivel. It is where the great skyscapes of East Anglia begin - a watery place where the sounds of wildfowl are never far away. The villages are linked by two long distance river bank footpaths - the Ouse Valley and the Kingfisher Ways. Wildlife abounds and the walker stands a good chance of seeing the halcyon flash of a kingfisher and maybe even the elusive otter or barn owl. The villages themselves are steeped in history, with a wonderful group of churches to visit as well as great hospitality, with good country pubs supplying home cooked meals, many using local ingredients. There are also well appointed Bed and Breakfast facilities, two on local farms. There's much to fascinate and intrigue the visitor, all within one hour’s drive of London and the major centres in East Anglia and the South Midlands.
The Riversmeet VillagesGreat Barford possesses a fine medieval bridge, beside what was a busy inland port until recent times. The bridge still bears the scars of a Civil War skirmish. Tempsford marked the boundary of Dane Law and saw the defeat of the Danes in the 10th century in fields near Gannock Castle. In more recent times the SOE were based at RAF Tempsford during the Second World War - artefacts and memorials in St.Peter’s Church bear witness to their courage and heroism. Little Barford’s medieval church - now in the care of the Church’s Conservation Trust - stands proud and alone in the midst of the remains of a deserted village. Across the Ouse from Tempsford lies the extended parish of Roxton with a fine medieval church and screen. A hidden gem is the thatched Congregational Church, built in the 19th Century to serve the village. To the south is the village of Blunham with many 17th century thatched cottages in its centre and the parish church of St.Edmund or St.James, whose Rector from 1621-1631 was the famous poet John Donne. The furthest south of the group is Moggerhanger and the superb Moggerhanger Park - a Georgian Country House recently lovingly restored, created for the Thornton family by John Soane, the architect. In 2005 it won the coveted Heritage Award. More InformationVisit East of England Website »
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