Leighton Buzzard
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| Leighton Buzzard | |
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| Population | 32,417[1] |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | South Bedfordshire |
| Shire county | Bedfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEIGHTON BUZZARD |
| Postcode district | LU7 |
| Dial code | 01525 |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| List of places: UK • England | |
- "Leedon" redirects here. For the record label, see Leedon Records.
Leighton Buzzard is a town near the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, and is between Luton and Milton Keynes. It adjoins Linslade and the name Leighton Buzzard is sometimes used to refer to the combination of the two towns; parts of this article also apply to Linslade.
For local government purposes, the town is part of the South Bedfordshire district and is administered jointly with Linslade as the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade.
Contents |
[edit] History
There are a number of theories about its curious name but the most likely is that "Leighton" is an Old English language term meaning a clearing in the woods. The "Buzzard" was added by the Dean of Lincoln in whose diocese the town was in the 12th century. He had two communities called "Leighton" and in order to differentiate them he added the name of his local Prebendary or representative to that of the town. At that time it was a Theobald de Busar and so over the years the town became known as Leighton Buzzard. The other Leighton became Leighton Bromswold.
[edit] Amenities
Leighton Buzzard boasts All Saints Church, a fine Early English parish church dating from 1277. The church has a 190ft spire and has been described as the cathedral of South Bedfordshire. This church suffered a large fire in the 80s, but has since undergone a full restoration.
The town is also known for the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway, a narrow gauge heritage railway.
The town has a combined library and theatre (called the Library Theatre) where both live events and film screenings are regularly held.
Leighton Buzzard is represented in terms of sporting teams. Leighton Town F.C. play football in the Southern League Division One East, whilst Leighton Buzzard R.F.C. play Rugby Union in Midlands East Division 3.
Stockgrove Country Park is located in nearby Heath and Reach.
[edit] Leighton Middle School
Leighton Middle School is in the centre of the town and has a wonderful history. Mary Norton, who wrote the well known Borrowers books, lived there in her childhood as you look around the school you can see many things that are mentioned in the books. The school has superb grounds, which include a tree trail and an old garden temple to Diana.
[edit] Infrastructure
Leighton Buzzard is close to the M1 motorway and A5 road, and is served by the West Coast Main Line railway at Leighton Buzzard railway station (in Linslade). The Grand Union Canal runs through the town, alongside the River Ouzel.
[edit] In popular culture
The town was where the 1960s band The Barron Knights first formed and the 80's supergroup Kajagoogoo, who had an international superhit with Too Shy. The band Leyton Buzzards were not named after the town, but derived their name from Leyton in East London.
Other famous residents of, or the villages close to, Leighton Buzzard include the late Bob Monkhouse, Kriss Akabusi, Dave Lee Travis, Steve Askew (Kajagoogoo) and Darren Gough.
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild lived at Leighton Buzzard in Leighton House prior to building and moving to Waddesdon Manor.
The town is also infamous for being dumped into Room 101 by comedy duo Mel Giedroyc & Sue Perkins.
[edit] Industry
The town is, or has at one time, been the home to various industries: Lipton Tea which has now closed down--81.104.32.78 18:52, 29 March 2007 (UTC), Gossard clothing, Lancer Boss (forklifts, etc.).
The town has a sizeable sand quarrying industry.
The first and only TXE1 telephone exchange was developed by the General Post Office and went into service in 1968. To meet the growing demand it was added to by two TXE2 exchanges and a TXE6 exchange on the night of 18th August 1971. A third TXE2 was added latter but everything was all replaced by a TXE4 exchange around 1977, some of the TXE2 equipment was used to provide a new TXE2 at West Mersea Island in Essex. The large building, built on the site of the former Lake House, that housed all these TXE exchanges and the current digital exchange can be found in Lake Street.
Countrywide and Connells/Sequence, the UK's two largest estate agents' chains, both have their head offices in the town, as does the UK branch of Tupperware.
[edit] Culture
There are numerous amateur dramatic organisations in the town, including Leighton Buzzard Drama Group, Leighton Musical Theatre Company (formerly Leighton Linslade Amateur Operatic Society), Leighton Masqueraders and Leighton Buzzard Children’s Theatre.
In addition many amateur music groups and organisations exist in the town, including the Leighton Buzzard Music Centre (located at Vandyke Uper School), the Leighton Buzzard Festival Singers and the Linsdale Singers.
Perhaps the greatest centre for cultural achievement in Leighton Buzzard today is Shades nightclub situated on lake street.
[edit] Expansion
The town is expanding eastwards, and it encompasses RAF Stanbridge and the former hamlet of Leedon. The population of Leighton-Linslade is estimated to have reached 34,370 in 2004 and is forecast to rise to 39,180 by 2009.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Census, 2001: Leighton-Linslade
- ^ Bedfordshire County Council: Population Estimates and Forecasts 2005.
- Kevin Quick (2005). Leighton-Linslade Past Times. Retrieved May 17, 2005
- ^ Census, 2001: Leighton-Linslade
