Bedfordshire is a ceremonial, non-metropolitan, and historic county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east and east, Hertfordshire to the south and south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. Since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009, the county has been administered by the three unitary authorities of the Borough of Bedford, Borough of Luton, and Central Bedfordshire. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton (258,018) and Bedford (106,940). Its highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.
Odell is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, north Bedfordshire, England, approximately 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Bedford town centre, near the villages of Harrold, Felmersham, Sharnbrook and Carlton.
Harrold is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Borough of Bedford within Bedfordshire, England, around nine miles north-west of Bedford. The village is on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, close to the county boundaries of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire and is the site of an ancient bridge, linking the village with Carlton with Chellington on the south bank. Immediately to the east of the village is Odell. Across the bridge is Carlton.
Odell Great Wood is an ancient woodland and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Odell in Bedfordshire. Located around the centre of the parish of Odell, the site was described by Natural England as "in many respects the best example in Bedfordshire" of wet ash-maple woodland, and in historical sources as "the noblest wood in this county". Being one of the largest of Bedfordshire's ancient woodlands, the wood hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna in its ash, oak and hazel coppice habitat.
Bedfont Lakes Country Park is a 72.5-hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Bedfont in the London Borough of Hounslow.
Maulden Church Meadow is a 4.1-hectare (10-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Maulden in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1987 under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. Most of it is also a Local Nature Reserve, owned and managed by Central Bedfordshire Council.
Mowsbury Hill is a 2.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Scheduled Monument in north Bedford. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council with the assistance of the Friends of Putnoe Wood and Mowsbury Hillfort.
Hill Rise is a 0.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) located in the Harpur area of Bedford. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council.
Park Wood is a 5.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve located in the Brickhill area of Bedford. It is owned by Bedford Borough Council and managed by the council with the assistance of the Friends of Park Wood.
Bromham Lake is a 10.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve east of Bromham in Bedfordshire. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council.
Browns Wood is a six hectare Local Nature Reserve north of Clapham in Bedfordshire. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council.
Kingsthorpe Meadow is a 14.4 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Northampton. It is owned by Northampton Borough Council and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Tailby Meadow is a 4.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Desborough in Northamptonshire. It is owned by Kettering Borough Council and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Bradlaugh Fields is a 60-hectare (150-acre) open space in Northampton. The site is a former golf course. In 1987 it was proposed to build housing on the site, but after a campaign by local residents it was acquired by Northampton Borough Council and opened as a wildlife park in 1998. It was named after Charles Bradlaugh, a leading nineteenth century radical and atheist who was MP for Northampton. Three fields with a total area of 17.5 hectares are managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire as a nature reserve also called Bradlaugh Fields. Hills and Holes is at the southern end and two adjoining meadows, Scrub Field and Quarry Field, are at the northern end. Hills and Holes is an 8.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and Scrub Field is a 5.1-hectare (13-acre) LNR.
