Great British Road Journeys - Bedfordshire - Biggleswade to Ampthill Ep. 9

[@anonymousinternetuser7519]

Anybody else love these videos but are just secretly waiting for their neck of the woods? (Bonus points for your home town and other places you've lived etc) Edit: Like this post if you too have strong opinions about Jon's hat choices.

[@Original50]

Yeap. I'm just north of Frankfurt am Main, though. 🍺🥨🏢

[@infidelcastro5129]

Jon visited a place about 200m from my house (Fire College, Moreton-in-Marsh) but he didn’t tell me beforehand so I didn’t get the opportunity to go and worry him like a creepy 55 year old stalker 😢

[@TheFrowningLizard]

Waiting for a ‘Second Disagreement Infrastructures’ video, got loads of pillboxes around where I live in Hampshire 😂

[@johnburn8031]

Me 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@dazamanday]

I was so close on the M54 video but I live in the next town over where it ends (Shrewsbury) 😭

[@mr51406]

I live in Montreal 🇨🇦, one of those places with tyred metro systems. Yes Michelin makes the tyres for us. Yes it’s smooth. Yes it means the metro can never go outside because of our cold snowy climate. Yes it was probably a useless expense. Yes we’re stuck with it. Yes I admit I love our metro anyway. Love your sarcastic tour!🌟

[@gordonmcmillan4709]

" By writing a coffee into the script that makes it a business expense and thus tax deductible " 8-)

[@Jimmy_Jones]

Damn. I was too slow

[@m1geo]

I'm sure he's actually said that in the past.

[@craigpix8422]

The more I watch your content John, the more I know that 'Railway Shenanigans' will be a thing in the near future! Keep up the good work Sir. God Speed

[@SashaGrace94]

But it would feature a lot of road infrastructure 😂

[@stephenyates962]

And Michael Portillo 😂

[@The_BenboBaggins]

Watching these really brings home the monumental growth of population and infrastructure over the last 100 years!

[@stephentookey5519]

Never mind last 100 years most of the expansion of Biggleswade Sandy and Bedford has taken place in the last20 to 30 years and likewise all the surounding villages that you now get road rage trying to drive through due to over development and no extra facilities.

[@sue.Hoo123]

@@stephentookey5519 and flooding, cos they’ve built on the land, mostly clay, without thinking about soak aways. There’s going to be a lot of subsidence claims!

[@The_BenboBaggins]

Absolutely! All of this, plus it will be the tax payer footing the bill because these people are way beyond accountability! 🤬🤬🤬

[@sidwainhouse]

The Stewartby brickworks site has been bought by Universal Studios and will become the UKs first Universal Studios theme park.

[@AcornElectron]

It MAY become that. I’m not holding my breath for its opening.

[@womble321]

I hope so but remember the national aquarium that seems to have been a huge con trick.

[@PhillipParr]

Correction - it's the Kempston Hardwick Brickworks that Universal Studios own - not the Stewartby ones.

[@madgardener5820]

My self centredness has encouraged me to write that: In the early nineties I lived in Marston Moretaine and also knew a chap who worked for Renault trucks. With his help I blagged my way into Millbrook Test Track and drove a couple of Renault trucks even though I didn't have an HGV licence. I told the Renault driver in the cab that I didn't have a licence and that I'd driven nothing bigger than a transit van but he said that I'd be alright only just don't tell anyone. During my lap of the banked circuit I was passed three times by a dark blue Lotus Esprit V8. The food was pretty good too.

[@sddsddean]

Wot?...no airship hangars at Cardington!!?? I pick up building sand at the quarry at Sandy. You should have flown the drone over it...its a very big, deep hole!!(right beside the transmitter mast). I remember driving up the M1 in the 70's and if the wind was in the right direction, you could smell the brick works at Stewartby.

[@Bwlvych1]

Was expecting to see the airship sheds at former RAF Cardington mentioned in this one :/

[@xr6lad]

I know. When he said nothing came out of Bedfordshire. Well apart from pretty much the entire British airship industry and the R101. Or the motor industry.

[@IainLambert]

If not for themselves, because they’re Rebel Base on Yavin’s moon.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Getting infrastructure prepared for nothing sums up so much of UK road planning. That “nothing” eventually becomes “something” that those previous preparations can’t cope with and need to be redone, again. 🥴 Thank you Jon for another insightful episode. 👏👏👍😀

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

As soon as I saw Biggleswade, I thought he's bound to mention nearby Old Warden and its wonderful aeroplane collection........ I was wrong.

[@saintuk70]

As for Sandy, was always funny when watching Blue Peter back in the day (70's/80's) and one of the addresses always used was Sandy, Beds.

[@robertturner4955]

I think that was the RSPB.

[@DavidJCane]

@@robertturner4955it was.

[@bws833]

It still is. @@DavidJCane

[@SirReginaldBlomfield1234]

Miss Betty Lykes The Cockwell Inn Tillet Herts. Is close by too, according to Blue Peter.

[@stevecarter8810]

"because of some geological land stuff" was a surprisingly satisfactory explanation. That's not the great river ouse, but the river great ouse, isn't it?

[@puppet-head]

The varsity line has just been rebuilt, well as far as Bedford. The last section to Cambridge has endless NIMBYs trying to kill it.

[@jonh6585]

The preferred route from Bedford to Cambridge is now to the north of the old varsity line. Some think it should follow old route that is part of the nimby battle

[@wiredwomble7958]

That might be difficult as parts of it are already redeveloped into roads, housing and some great big lakes.

[@K777John]

The stupid part of the line from Bedford to Cambridge is that the route goes south of St Neots-the largest and fastest growing town in Cambridgeshire-and will have a station in Tempsford-a very small village. So to use the train to Cambridge from St Neots you will have to drive to Tempsford which takes nearly as long as driving to Cambridge-so nobody in St Neots will use it……..

[@TheGrumpybstard]

Before you get to Stewartby you pass the new village called Wixams. Part of this was built on what used to be Elstow Storage Depot which was originally a prisoner of war camp that held Italian soldiers who worked on the local farms. After peace broke out many of the Italians stayed which resulted in the large Italian population before the bricks were being worked.

[@fenpikey]

POW camp? It used to be a Royal Ordnance Factory, filling factory 16. Construction started November 1940 and completed by August 1942. As for the Italians, they were not POWs. The brick companies had a recruitment drive with an office in Naples. Hope this clarifies things 😊

[@TheGrumpybstard]

POW camp 644 held at least 55 Italians in 1943. The exact location was classified but recorded as Houghton Conquest which was the nearest village. The actual camp was likely at Elstow Storage Depot which was an enormous site.

[@fenpikey]

Can't post the link on here, apparently there was two near to the storage depot though not on it. The Italians who worked in the brickyards were not from these camps. Hope this helps 😊

[@dereknicol5284]

The Dambusters bouncing bombs were made at Elstow Storage Depot, now Wixams.

[@rover-t]

Thanks for reminding me that Bedfordshire still exists

[@stephenyates962]

Get this man some Michelin tyres for the Great British Car Journey! He's promoting them from a 100 year old handbook. Keep up the good work, Jon. Your wit and humour is what makes your videos great to watch 👍

[@simonrayner3110]

The shadow cast by the cross in Ampthill at the end of your video was the place where a golden rabbit was placed in a time capsule the 70's. The bloke that did this then wrote a book containing paintings and poems giving clues as to the location for treasure hunters. On one day of the year the shadow of the cross marked the spot. Strangely a relative of his ex wife found the gold rabbit a few years later.

[@ilovex1981]

Indeed. Except it was a Hare. I came here fully expecting to see this comment. 'Masquerade" by Kit Williams - a well-known anagram of "I will Mask It". The tip of the shadow of the cross at noon on 21 March is where the golden hare laid. My faavourite book of that time.

[@brianartillery]

Not that strange - as nobody had even got near to finding the hare, which was absolutely beautiful, by the way, I have read that Mr Williams gave some people a steer as to where it was hidden.

[@simonrayner3110]

​@@brianartillerythat's what I meant by "strangely" the find was a bit controversial.

[@highpath4776]

@@brianartillery I thought someone turned up near where he lived at matched the picture of rugby posts to the book illustration

[@brianartillery]

@@highpath4776 - Interesting, but I can't say I've ever heard that before. Not dismissing it, but it is very strange that the 'finder' was known to the author, no matter how distantly.

[@SekritJay]

Had to pause and have a good belly laugh at 9:40 because it was an excellently delivered gag

[@dstooke]

Thanks

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks a lot mate, appreciate that!

[@geoffashden2]

Great Video. As I was born in the late 1950s in Biggleswade, I am very familiar with all these locations before most of the changes. Very nostalgic, thank you.

[@Vtarngpb]

A Rail line from Cambridge to Oxford? Sounds to me like it’d be a railway for Punts!

[@adamjolley8552]

I like this video so I’ve pressed the button specifically for that 👉🏻

[@davidsirett5560]

abandoned train station, old air field, old (type 20) pillbox, derelict brick works, old mansion, lots to like on this one.

[@chrisblay]

When driving up the A1 the sign for Biggleswade always made me laugh for some reason.🤣

[@TheThejpmshow]

I once heard it pronounced as BIG-LES-SWARD

[@mtssman]

@@TheThejpmshow In Cornwall there is a fishing village called Mevagissey. Years ago I worked in local university and an international student called it "Megapissy".

[@martinjb7437]

When I told someone I live in Biggleswade they laughed. Then said “nah come on. Is that where the Biggles live?” Which cracked me up. I’m pretty sure we were both high 😂

[@PiousMoltar]

@@mtssman Been there. To be fair it does often piss it down in Cornwall.

[@Mark93944]

Thanks for stopping by in Ampthill!

[@MercenaryPen]

Pretty sure the disused railway alignment at Sandy was once the point at which the London and Northwestern Railway route to Cambridge crossed the East Coast Mainline- the modern version of this route is due to be built going via Tempsford (to support a plan to build houses on the old RAF base) in the coming years

[@InTheBeginningTheUniverseWas]

I was born in Dunstable. Always love to see my wonderful birthplace getting a mention! Haha.... ha 🙃

[@humza890]

Hello neighbor, I grew up in..... Luton 😅

[@harryjohnson9215]

Born in luton It is grate to hear it mentioned but People always make it sound worse than it actually is

[@humza890]

@@harryjohnson9215 Your not wrong. It's an alright place tbh. Definately good as a multi cultural place. Other than that, not much else to say. It's certainly not the worst town in the whole country

[@xr6lad]

I was born in Houghton Regis! Baptised at the church. 1966. Back when Houghton Regis was actually a village and not a suburb.

[@jimcobb2116]

It never ceases to amaze me how much money the government wastes not building a decent road network. Biggleswade South Roundabout is the first roundabout out of London, and it busy enough to require a flyover, so let's fix that by doing half a job and then not actually doing the bit that will make a difference.

[@wiredwomble7958]

When they started to build the 2000 new homes to the east of Biggleswade the roundabout was upgraded then. I think there were calls for it be a flyover or burger but they did the minimum. Now we have big distribution warehouses going up and the northbound side of the roundabout is a magnet for overturned lorries. Thing is you put in a flyover there and the next two roundabouts are nowhere near suitable to upgrade, plus the Biggleswade to Sandy section is flanked by houses near Sandy plus it is a floodplain.

[@MegaTube1313]

Fantastic as I live a stone throw from Sandy Sandy 🤷‍♂️

[@AcornElectron]

Nah he’s been through my area a few times. I like to see that everyone else in the country has to put up with the mess of a road network like me.

[@Jay-Kay-Em]

9:26 Go easy on the griffin! The Lotus Carlton stomped around that bowl.

[@tomrudd4168]

I was scrolling through the comment looking for someone to mention the Lotus Carlton

[@AutoShenanigans]

Meh... not really a Vauxhall is it :D

[@highpath4776]

There is a community centre in Sandy , used by the toy train collectors society about every two years for a exhibition and also I think by the guage 2 railway society ( a big bigger than O guage or S guage )

[@daws167]

My dad's family lived in Stewartby. My grandfather worked as a manager there after the war and then my grandmother lived in the retirement section of the village until she passed. I had some great summers there swimming at the pool, walking around the lake and investigating the abandoned parts of the factory back in the 80s.

[@jakewhiterod7080]

Love this one as this is my bit of England. Honestly so much I didn't know even in the first 5 minutes!!

[@getawayhs2856]

Really enjoyed this. It would have been better though if you wore brightly coloured trousers.

[@martindooley4439]

I recall the Ampthill mob running a dragster at Santa Pod backninnthe day. Oh my grandad used to run a Taxi firm in Bedford in the 59s and 60s 😊

[@bobshop]

The railway that comes off there is the varsity line, I have walked the full length from sandy to Cambridge along the original route as much as is possible anyway! :-) it's pretty awesome and includes the location of the outro for 3 episodes ago at lordsbridge aka MRAO:-)

[@MrBreadman1966]

The Varsity Line is currently being rebuilt, with a couple of diversions n the way due to some blokes building things on the track bed. Some of the line just outside of Oxford, near Bicester was re-laid just a few weeks ago now and Network Rail are due to put in the signaling later this year. The line is expected to reopen sometime in the (erm) mid 2030`s or soo.

[@TheThejpmshow]

I like to rock the boat and play with place names, once I regretted it because I stole the D off of Dunstable and it was left unstable

[@andrewhadley2026]

Thanks!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks a lot mate, appreciate that!

[@Fuzzems]

Thanks for your very entertaining videos! Greetings from The Netherlands!!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks a lot, appreciate that! :)

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Another informative and excellent video Jon.

[@BarrtCartamn]

@Auto Shenanigans Just Let You Know You Forgotten to do A Secrets of The Motorway - A195(M) Washington Spur There is Lots Of History And Secrets Of this Spur/Motorway, so please do a video about this Motorway.

[@alantheskinhead]

My late father had is offices based in Bedford at the Igranic Works (Later Brookhirst Igrainic) that made massive bits of switchgear and other "things" for the government and power stations. As a kid we would be dumped on the riverside where we torment the swans and the locals. You missed the famous Cardington Sheds that housed airships like the R101's. My dad would take us there to so he could fly a small plane inside the sheds. (Yes they are that big). We found out that this was something to do with Radar and something called Doppling for Radars. This would have had a connection to Leicester where the Marconi Works were where a similar set up was and that was rumoured to be the biggest brick built covered building in the UK. You could fly a small plane in that one too. I also remember the Stewertby Brickworks from the train windows and from visiting the place with the school for some reason. After my dad's death seven years ago we only recently found out that he was working for the government and involved in some weird goings on in Berlin after the "2nd World Disagreement". I do have a photo of me and brother standing outside the sheds and they were utterly massive. Thank God they are listed too.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video John,epic as always,and more railway infrastructure, always a pleasure 👍👌😀

[@WhitbreadEsq]

The most interesting thing about Bedford is the former RAE Bedford site, home of significant aircraft experimental development work, plus being one of two key national wind tunnel sites in the UK (along with Farnborough). One of the RAE wind tunnels has survived as the Red Bull Racing tunnel, while the Aircraft Research Association down the road still runs their large transonic tunnel. I believe there was a plan at one point for the countries longest runway, and one of the neighbouring roads still has the cutting where the runway or taxiway would have passed overhead.

[@billy4072]

Don’t forget, glen miller took off nearby , raf twinwoods

[@paulsengupta971]

Yes, RAE Bedford deserves an episode of its own.

[@rogerbodger]

The runway at Thurleigh (RAE Bedford) was one of the longest in Europe with talk at one time of being an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle. Combined with nearby Twinwoods, this was one of 3 shortlisted sites for a new London airport before Stansted was chosen (not one of the 3). In the cutting mentioned above you can see the base of what would have been bridge supports for a runway or taxiway passing over, this separates the 2 lanes of the road.

[@mattwidermann4806]

Moved to Bedford in 2003, every time we had viewed the house the wind must have been coming from west/north/east. Day after we moved in the wind was coming from the south - I'll never forget the sulphurous stench of Stewartby brickworks.

[@David_Crayford]

Came back again to locate some -locations- places and ended up watching the whole thing again. It's surprising just how much I didn't pick up first time around. Well worth a second watch.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one mate, thanks for watching!

[@SB3136]

If you had travelled a little further up the A1 from Sandy you would have encountered the Black Cat intersection which is just under going its second major revamp in a few years after the previous one was a disaster!

[@sandwichbar8226]

Hello Jon, how the devil are you, have you had a good week?

[@Itsdectaylor]

Please tell me I’m not the only one who replies to “hope you’ve had a good week” with yea I have John cheers

[@bushcraftdadgary5381]

The 2 great mysteries of the UK 1. The existence of the Loch Ness Monster? And in 2nd place. Why the xxxx has the A1M never been completed? The Thatcher Government 79 -91 wanted, and actually started to do it. But she decided to introduce Poll Tax, and the plan fell on its arse along with her political Career. Good vid John, love it. Keep em coming.

[@cannedham8630]

Slightly deviating from the route....a walk along Sandy Hills. Lovely walk where the RSPB is and a walk along the quarry by Sandy Heath Tele Tower transmitter. Which is worth a look... There is a great place to grab a coffee in the nearby Potton😊

[@MajorT0m]

I urbexed Stewartby Brickeworks before the demolition. Fascinating site, absolutely huge. Lots of it remains (or it did two years ago when I was last there).

[@lefthandedspanner]

at its western end, Verney Junction near Buckingham, the Varsity Line once had a direct connection with London's Metropolitan Railway (now the Metropolitan line on the Underground) the Met used to be much longer at the northern end than it it is today, and was pruned back to Amersham when it was electrified in 1961

[@Dan23_7]

You missed a trick here Jon, you should’ve took a little re route to Cardington, it’s where the 2 HUUUGE airship hangars are. They’re impressive and colossal. Either way it was still a cracking episode as always 👍🏼

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

They aren’t abandoned though…

[@Dan23_7]

@@johnmoruzzi7236 They’re still impressive nonetheless.

[@dereknicol5284]

You need to get inside one to really appreciate how huge they are.

[@richardsedding8444]

I have many memories of Ampthill and the beautiful park. Bedfordshire has some lovely areas and lots of history. I remember the smell of Stewartby brickworks.

[@PenryMMJ]

You should be getting sponsorship from the tourist board as well as from Michelin. I've never thought about taking a road trip across Bedfordshire before, but now I want to.

[@hairyairey]

Tempsford might become a large town if East-West rail is built. It'll be a major interchange on the ECML as well. Because bizarrely the only line westbound south of Peterborough is just before you reach Kings Cross.

[@dmann1982]

As a Bedfordshire native... I agree with John's introduction perfectly. As a Luton native... I agree with John's pained sigh of sadness.

[@d7jjk]

I always get a laugh watching these videos but I think today has surpassed expectations. Thanks for making my tea break at work a lot more bearable 😆

[@RonPanter]

Brillant, thanks for looking some local landmarks but you should have checked on the progress at r=the Black Cat roundabout whie you were in the area. None excpt the statue hasbeen removed for safe keeping and average speed cameras have been installed!

[@garethaethwy]

Yes another railway episode with a bit of road. And I'm good with that.

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

Great to see the Ouse and Bedford Castle featured in this week's episode! I was expecting the Cardington Hangers to be shown - perhaps a feature of a future road trip episode?

[@fenpikey]

Michelin used to have two warehouses in Bedford on Elms Farm Industrial Estate with a lot of deliveries going to Vauxhall/IBC plant in Luton, Ford plant at Langley, New Holland at Basildon and Crane Freuhauf at North Walsham

[@tflwulf69]

I've got a tenner lets see what we get I am dying

[@ckpemac5268]

I was raised in Biggs, now live by the coast

[@chriswall4795]

We moved to Biggleswade in c. 1973 and South roundabout was already there ... widening of roundabout happened after 1986 when my parents moved north to near Huntingdon. When we arrived in Biggleswade in 1973 the Sandy roundabout was then a significant traffic light controlled crossroad. Bedford to Cambridge railway crossed East Coast mainline at Sandy - as per your comments on Willington.

[@DantheBatt16]

Can’t wait for Dunstable 🙏

[@jonh6585]

Good old A5 but not the good part up through north Wales

[@karlmdennis]

John can come and see our internationally famous balaclava clad motorcyclists that roar up and down the high street whilst our ever vigilant (for a photo opportunity) PCC dives in front of any camera going.

[@MattsBrabus]

Sandy, Beds - oh for the Blue Peter RSPB days...

[@_Cads]

Welcome to Bedfordshire John! And you’ve been to some of the nicer bits. Can’t wait to see what you think of some of the less salubrious bits in the south. 😂

[@bobspeller2225]

Great stuff John, Thanks for making these interesting video etc. All the best Bob

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one, thanks for watching!

[@hotmechanic222]

I used to stay over night in Sandy alot, there was a lovely curryhouse there call The Gandhi, it was the Gandhi in Sandy lol

[@tobyjackman3212]

That certainly is LOL.

[@stephengilchrist6595]

I'm loving how these vids have developed into local guides ❤

[@deeayenn]

Some very efficient greenhouses there behind you at the beginning..

[@SCbarbershop]

Sandy roundabout area I think.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I agree with you about the A1 that needed a better junction with slip roads just like the one at Biggleswade. On the A3 as you head down from London and Hindhead Tunnel and from M27 & Portsmouth. There is a roundabout called Ham Barn a mile north from Liss where the A3 and B3006 meet and that too is also a bottleneck since the Hindhead Tunnel was built and opened in 2011.

[@stevepearce7032]

Missed a trick John theres a fantastic coffee shop in the center of Biggleswade called surfin cafe full of slabs of home made cakes. Next road trip though write into the script a full coffee AND cake break!

[@minibus9]

awesome video, looking forward to the next one.

[@timsully8958]

What I love is that you have just done a journey that in all likelihood I will never ever take, featuring towns I am less than likely to visit and villages I would never have had any reason to visit and make them relevant, intriguing and relevant. The Italians in Bedford due to a now abandoned brickworks is something I would never have conceived of (other than perhaps the fact that there is a similar story up the road at Peterborough, hence some fine Italian cuisine is available, but how many other people knew that? 🤷🏻‍♂️) but is inherently interesting 🧱 🇮🇹 🍝 And a flyover that hasn’t been built and will in all likelihood never be in my lifetime. Not that there are loads of those 🫣🙄🤣 Excellent stuff John, loved it 😎

[@jcev39]

Interesting point about Millbrook - the mountain circuit bears a striking resemblance to Monte Negro according to Casino Royale (the Daniel Craig version!).

[@lollington_bear]

So far this series has been an unmitigated success. Can't wait for you to reach Holmfirth.

[@queeg6473]

The grand staircase from Houghton Hall is in a hotel in Bedford. At one point they were owned by the same person and he needed a staircase for his new hotel....

[@acfbrown1]

We have the same problem on the Sherriffhall Roundabout on the Edinburgh City Bypass. They keep finding excuses not to do anything. I do find it remarkable that a junction so far south hasn't been grade separated though when they've grade separated all the junctions further north in Nottinghamshire etc.

[@grahamtruckel]

I can't believe you drove the A603 from Sandy to Bedford without a mention for Moggerhanger.

[@elyuw]

Lovely stuff. I live in Bedford so know all these places well :)

[@queeg6473]

Ah yes, the Biggleswade south roundabout. My car always tries to fall over when I go round it unless I go at 10 mph...The "improvements" took forever to do and just made it worse !

[@sue.Hoo123]

I know what you mean about falling over, the camber on that roundabout is something else!

[@grumpyrocker]

Ah Bedford. Years ago briefly dated a really beautiful girl there. Hope the last 20 years has been fab for you Debbie.

[@tobyjackman3212]

She's sat here with me & she's still surprisingly tasty

[@tommig1995]

I used to have a colleague who lived in Biggleswade, he would often informally refer to it as "Biggley-Wiggley"

[@mariemccann5895]

You should have swung by Vanilla Alternative, it must have been on-route...

[@peterboyall3506]

that explains why i'm always making impromptu collections of various italian foodstuffs from bedford and the surrounding area!

[@GOLFLIFECREW]

Great KZbin channel

[@rogercantwell3622]

The intro is spot on. For many years, one of the boundary signs (on the A421, I think) had been defaced to read, "Welcome to Bedfordshire - Full of Pikeys".

[@jacobtufts9520]

The Biggleswade south roundabout is notorious for trucks tipping over. Catches drivers by surprise going north with the sharp bend

[@campagnian]

I love all the detours you take in these road journeys 😊

[@MarkLiversedge]

Grew up in Bedford, you did well to find something of interest. Its a place thats in my blood I guess, but rarely in my thoughts.

[@GrahamMacdonald-w9o]

Stewartby is indeed a bit weird but there is an interesting walk you can do around the nature reserve where the quarry has now been flooded. The changes they made in 2014 to increase the size of the Biggleswade South roundabout work pretty well when you are driving south along the A1. However, travelling north up to said roundabout, the approach section of the road doesn't bend round to the left enough and a lot of traffic on the inside lane (of two) before the roundabout drifts into the middle lane because the change of direction is too great (or people are going too fast or both). Mind you, the engine of my friend Gareth's car blew up when he was coming up to the roundabout and the brakes and the steering went on a go-slow, so he was unable to keep in the correct lane. Fortunately, no-one was coming round the roundabout at the time and his car ploughed straight across the middle before ending in a hedge on the other side of the roundabout. The car was a write-off and Gareth's only souvenir was that the inflation of the airbag somewhat re-shaped his glasses.

[@TravelSignal]

Shame you missed the link between James Bond (mentioned in the airfield) and Millbrook - Daniel Craig's Aston crash in Casino Royale was filmed there.

[@malcolmhedges7346]

My wife's (Italian) Aunt was Lord Hanson (co owner of London Brick) housekeeper .... there was obviously a strong connection with Italy. The Aunt used to get Lady (?) White's hand me down clothes, they have family photo's of her various other aunties in Italy rocking some Chanel, Dior etc ... unfortunately my wife donated most of what she had to charity shops, it would be worth a small fortune now!

[@darcyphillips70]

Uniroyal & Michelin should be fighting as we speak, over who gets to support your channel… Legend 🫶👊💥

[@stevesmith7530]

I completely agree with the quality of both coffee and food at the Sandy roundabout. The Alpine track at Millbrook is where (until recently) the world record for canon rolling a car was held, the Aston Martin in Casino Royale.