Family

Bromham Library May 2018 Half-Term activities

Bromham Library are doing some half term activities for children in the week beginning Saturday 26th May to Saturday 1st June 2018.  It is free to participate in and of course parking is free.

Elmer Mask Craft

It`s Elmer Week at Bromham Library! Start by dressing in your brightest colours and come along to complete your outfit by making an Elmer mask.
On 26/05/18 from 10:30 to 12:30

Elmer Headband and Ears Craft

Come along and join the fun as Elmer Week continues!
On 29/05/18 from 14:30 to 16:30

Stand-Up Elmer Craft

Drop in to make and decorate your own stand-up Elmer elephant.
On 30/05/18 from 10:00 to 11:30

Elmer Bunting Craft

Help us make the longest Elmer bunting! Colour it today and take it home next week.
On 31/05/18 from 14:30 to 16:30

Elephant Bookmark Craft

Join us to make your own elephant bookmark to take home.
On 01/06/18 from 10:00 to 11:30

Elmer Crafts and More

To finish off Elmer Week come and join us for Elmer crafts, colouring, games and pin the trunk on Elmer.
On 02/06/18 from 10:30 to 12:30

May 25, 2018 in Community, Family Comments (0)

Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership – Your Local Railway

Discover the Marston Vale Line – Your Community Railway This Spring! 

The Marston Vale Line (Bedford – Bletchley) has a packed programme for the spring! We are delighted to be participating in the first Greensand Country Festival over May half-term – please visit   www.greensandcountry.com for the full programme.

History through Word & Song Trains – Sat 26 May, Wed 30 May, Fri 1 & Sat 2 June
A first for the Marston Vale Line! A guided train journey between Bedford Midland and Woburn Sands. The guides will provide an insight into the history of the Line with local musician Geraldine Pearson Green performing her own Bedfordshire folk songs at intervals during the journey. Normal train fares apply. No booking required. Meet at Bedford Midland Station at 11:45am and 1:45pm
Guided walk from Woburn Sands to Ridgmont – Sat 26 May, Wed 30 May & Fri 1 June – 1:15pm
Depart 1:15pm On arrival at Woburn Sands passengers can join a guided walk to Ridgmont and then catch the return train to Bedford. Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre is open until 4pm. Advance booking recommended for the Heritage Centre Tea Room – call 01525 287120/ 07512 619162.
Folk Singer Geraldine – Sat 26 May, Wed 30 May, Fri 1 & Sat 2 June 12:30pm – 1:10pm & 2:30pm – 3:10pm
Alternatively on arrival at Woburn Sands, Folk Singer Geraldine will perform further songs on the platform prior to the departure of the return train to Bedford. Refreshments available at the Station Tavern adjacent to the station. Free Event. No booking required. Meet on the platform.
Guided Walk from Bow Brickhill to to Woburn Sands – Wed 30 May, 2:30pm – 4:15pm
Free Event – No booking required. The Bedford to Bletchley Rail Users’ Association (BBRUA) is hosting a guided walk from Bow Brickhill Station to Woburn Sands. Trains depart Bedford at 1:55 and Bletchley at 2:01. The walk will cross the road from Bow Brickhill Rail Station and proceed over a stile onto footpaths, up a gradual and fairly steep gradient, across a field with a view of Milton Keynes. Finishing by walking through woodland to Woburn Sands. Meeting Point is Bow Brickhill Rail Station.Please e-mailandy@bowbrickhill.com or call 07778 562259 for further information.
Bedfordshire Brickworks Exhibition – Saturday 2nd June (10:00am– 4:00pm) – Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre – Free Entry!
Andrew Mortlock, London Brick Archivist, will be bringing an extensive collection of archives, photographs and ephemera connected with the brickworks that used to dominate the landscape along the section of the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Ridgmont and other areas of Bedfordshire. Andrew will also be bringing his collection of company magazines, the Phorpres News, containing records and photographs of London Brick Company workers.
Andrew and his family are steeped in London Brick with over 200 years’ service dating back to both his grandfathers. Those who came last year were fascinated by Andrew’s exhibition, and in fact a lot of new information came to light from visitors who had connections with the brickmaking industry, either personally or through family. The Heritage Centre and Tea Room will be open as usual.

Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre is the restored jewel of the Marston Vale Line featuring the original Victorian Booking Office (with historical displays & temporary exhibitions), vintage Tea Room (in the former Ladies Waiting Room) and Gift Shop. Free entry! 10% discount in the Tea Room for rail passengers! Please visit http://bedsrcc.org.uk/ridgmont-station-heritage-centre for full details of the building. A Family Quiz and Puzzle Booklet is available for just £1. The latest temporary exhibition ‘The Journey from Bunyan to the Brickworks’ features part of the Pride Inspiration Hope Exhibition created by John Bunyan Museum & Library in partnership with Bedford Chronicles as part of the project The Journey from Bunyan to the Brickworks. This exhibition combines items from that exhibition together with previously unseen items from the Heritage Centre collection. There are a variety of circular & linear walks from the Heritage Centre to suit all abilities. Opening hours for 2018 are as follows:

  • Tea Room – daily all year except Mondays & Bank Holidays 9:00 – 4:00 (last orders 3:30). Sundays open 11:00 – 3:00 (bookings only) Booking recommended at other times– call 01525 287120/07512 619162
  • Gift Shop, Original Victorian Booking Office & Tourist Information Point – Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 – 4:00 until 15th December(11:-00 – 3:00 from 1st November) Call 01525 287121 or visit http://bedsrcc.org.uk/ridgmont-station-heritage-centre/

Group & school visits welcome all year round by prior arrangement.

Museum Explorer Passport Scheme
The Heritage Centre is participating in the Museum Expolorer Passport Scheme again this summer along with other museums and heritage centres across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire & Essex. Collect your free passport from any partipating attraction, get it stamped at each museum you visit and take part in the missions!

See www.facebook.com/museumexplorer and www.museumexplorerpassport.com for full details.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or would like further information on any aspect of the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership or the Marston Vale Line.

Happy travelling!

Kind regards,

Stephen Sleight

Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership Officer

Tel. 01234 832645 (direct line)

E-mail stephens@bedsrcc.org.uk

Visit our website www.marstonvalecommunityrail.org.uk

Find us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/marstonvalecrp

Follow us on Twitter!@marstonvalecrp

May 24, 2018 in Community, Family Comments (0)

Bedford Junior Parkrun

Hopefully with the summer coming, now is a good opportunity for families with children to participate in the Junior Parkrun  it is located at Jubilee Park. in Bedford

It take place every Sunday morning at 9am.  It is a series of 2k runs for children aged between 4 and 14. Parents can run with their children but they will not be timed through the finishing gateway. After the completion of 11, 21 and 50 separate runs, children are entitled to free wrist bands.

The Parkrun is free, safe and easy to take part in. If you are not a junior and wish to participate as an adult then please come along to the Great Denham or Bedford instead.

Registered park-runners do not need to register separately for the junior events. However, if you are not already registered with parkrun you can do so here.

We look forward to seeing you at the next junior parkrun!

April 30, 2018 in Community, Family Comments (0)

Inaugural Parkrun run at Great Denham

There has been a lot of excitement about the first Great Denham parkrun over the last 6 months and it has been eagerly anticipated by people in Great Denham and indeed Bedford. In the local community a lot of people have been training and talking about this event for ages. Great Denham is a new village to the West of Bedford and is fortunate in having a very large country park built with the new housing development on one side and the meadows of the River Great Ouse on the other, making it a unique outlook for the parkrunner.

On this first day 17th February 2018, the weather was typically British with grey clouds at the start but finished with the sun blazing out despite the 3 degree temperature and hard frosty areas covering the park.

The local area which probably is quite sleepy on a Saturday morning woke up to many runners streaming to the start line. People gathered around the play park before Toby Chinn, the race director began his briefing. He talked about making history in small ways, and that all the runners present would be able to share their times and positions with future grandchildren etc etc! He described the course as a circular double lap route.  Emma Murphy and Sylvia Jones (a prominent member of the running community) were busy taking lots of official photos. Many other well-known local runners were present from the local clubs.

The race started with 240 runners just after 9am and surprisingly for a change it didn’t feel like a cattle grid at the start as runners showed a lot of consideration and gave each other space. The runners started to thin out at the first sharp-left corner. The first half of the course was on compacted sand which was hard and frosty. The second half of the course was on pavement tarmac. It was a good combination for the runner.

At the finish line, there was a lot of support and cheering from the marshals and the local community which is quite refreshing. The first runner, Ian Halpin came in at 17:01 which is a fantastic time and excellent benchmark for this first event. The volunteers were friendly and did a fantastic job in organising the event. As the runners were leaving they were busily chatting, pleased and excited by the event and course and were making plans for future events.

With all inaugural parkrun events, it is always difficult to envisage how the morning would unfold and whether there would be any teething problems but with this event I have no hesitation in stating that it was a complete success and a credit to the core team of volunteers.

The event will now take place every Saturday morning at 9am. All welcome to come but please register at Parkrun Registration and print a copy of your unique bar code so that it can be scanned at the event to show your run times.

Please find below some pictures of the event:-

February 18, 2018 in Community, Family, Social, Sport Comments (2)

Parkrun coming to Great Denham

The Parkrun organisation is coming to Great Denham on the 17th February 2018. For those of you that don’t know anything about it a brief description follows:-

Parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. These events take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and we encourage people of every ability to take part; from those taking their first steps in running to Olympians; from juniors to  those with more experience; we welcome you all.

Click here for further details about Great Denham Parkrun, The event will take place at Queen Eleanor Driver, Great Denham, Bedford, MK40 4SQ and then on a weekly basis.  See Course page for location details.

This event will be in addition to the event at Bedford Park which currently gets congested. For younger children they might like to try Jubilee park in Bedford which a 2km event.

The great news to Biddenham residents is that they can walk or cycle to it

January 30, 2018 in Family, Sport Comments (0)

Messy Church is Coming to Biddenham!

messy-church-logoOn 25 January at 4.30pm, St James’s Church will be holding its first Messy Church session at St James’ School. If you haven’t come across Messy Church before you might be wondering what it is.

Messy Church has been around for some time now and groups take place across the world. It involves bible stories, singing songs, being creative and, most importantly of all, lots of fun. A fundamental part of Messy Church is also that everyone sits together and enjoys a meal.

Messy Church is for people of all ages, of any faith or none (children must be accompanied by an adult).

Messy Church is free. There is no need to book – just turn up on the day. If you would like to give Messy Church a try but can’t come on 25 January, we are also holding another session at All Saints Church Hall, Church End, Kempston on Sunday 28 January at 4.00pm.

We hope to hold Messy Church once a month at each venue so watch this space for further sessions.

January 11, 2018 in Community, Family Comments (0)

Christmas Activities at Bromham Library

Bromham Library have organised a number of Christmas activities throughout December. See details below:-

Christmas Colouring

Drop in for some festive colouring fun!  On 20/12/17 from 10:00 to 11:30

Christmas Cards

Create and design Christmas cards to send to your friends. On 21/12/17 from 14:30 to 16:30

Christmas Colouring

Drop in for some festive colouring fun! On 22/12/17 from 10:00 to 11:30

Christmas Decorations

Drop in to make Christmas decorations to add to your tree at home. On 23/12/17 from 10:00 to 12:30

Christmas Colouring

Drop in for some festive colouring fun! On 27/12/17 from 10:00 to 11:30

Make a Bookmark

Make a bookmark for your new Christmas gift books. On 28/12/17 from 14:30 to 16:30

Christmas Colouring

Drop in for some festive colouring fun! On 29/12/17 from 10:30 to 11:30

Calendar Making

Make a 2018 calendar to take home – will you keep it or give it to someone you love? On 30/12/17 from 10:00 to 12:30

December 14, 2017 in Family Comments (0)