Leisure and culture
Parks and Green Spaces
***MAKE YOUR COMMENTS NOW ON THE DRAFT BOROUGH GREENSPACE STRATEGY – SEE BELOW***
Bedford is blessed with some beautiful parks and open space. Bedford Park is part of the town's Victorian legacy, and with its formal gardens, carriage circuit and lake provide the perfect environment in which to take the air.
The Embankment is renowned as one of the country's finest river settings with its gardens and water meadows. Created by the Victorians, its graceful suspension bridge and fine bandstand recall an atmosphere of elegance and style.
Don't miss the spectacular 'switching-on' of the riverside illuminations each evening at dusk.
Further down the river from The Embankment is Priory Country Park, where the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust has a base.
The park is a centre for a wide variety of educational activities for visiting schoolchildren.
The lakes are well used by local fishermen and water sports enthusiasts, and bird-spotters know the country park as a frequent stopping off point for migratory birds.
North of Bedford, between the villages of Harrold and Odell lies the Harrold-Odell Country Park, a 144-acre site of landscaped lakes and meadows, while to the south-west of Bedford, Stewartby Lake Country Park is popular for water sports.
A GREENSPACE STRATEGY FOR BEDFORD BOROUGH
A consultation draft of the new Greenspace Strategy for the borough area has been produced and all comments on the strategy will be welcome. The strategy sets out a framework for Bedford Borough Council and its partners to develop and manage the wide range of publicity accessible greenspaces found across the borough over the forthcoming years.
The three parts of the strategy are posted below alongside a set of introductory notes. Any comments on the draft Greenspace Strategy should be submitted by 14 November 2007. For further information or dicussion please contact the Greenspace Officer Simon Fisher on 01234 221951 or sfisher@bedford.gov.uk.
 | Greenspace Strategy covering notes - 280KbDOWNLOAD |
| Draft Greenspace Strategy Part 1 - 1957Kb DOWNLOAD |
| Greenspace Strategy Part 2 - 4509Kb DOWNLOAD |
| Greenspace Strategy Action Plan - 429Kb DOWNLOAD |
Bedford Borough Council uses the national GreenSTAT scheme to record your views on both individual parks and on the service provided by the Council. All data collected will be vital in helping us to look after the Borough’s parks as well as helping to give all parks a higher profile at national level. You can visit www.greenstat.org.uk at any time, follow the simple links to Bedford Borough Council and then choose sites or whole services to comment on. Your views are very important to us so please find a little time to record them through GreenSTAT.
The three downloadable leaflets provide detailed maps and information for all of Bedford and Kempston’s parks and green spaces
| Kempston and West Bedford (1875 Kb ) - DOWNLOAD |
| Central and South Bedfordshire (2176 Kb ) - DOWNLOAD |
Further details of all country parks, local walks, cycle routes and places to visit can be obtained from Bedford's Tourist Information Centre.
| Bedford Parks and Sports Leaflet.( 221 KB ) - DOWNLOAD |
SERVICES A-Z
Nature Conservation Officer
Parks and Open Spaces
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River Great Ouse
Ranger Service
Bedford in Bloom
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Parks
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