6 June 2025
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and tells us what he thinks of it all.
Crossing chaos
There’s been a lot of noise recently about the brand new zebra crossing at the junction where The Embankment meets Bedford High Street and St Mary’s Street, and how close it is to the actual corner.
According to what feels like every amateur civil engineer in the Borough (and they’re never wrong, of course), it’s only a matter of time before crossing pedestrians bring the High Street to a standstill, especially once a few buses, trucks and Deliveroo drivers get involved.
Rumour has it the council is now looking into moving the crossing, which raises the question: is this just a Bedford thing?
Because this isn’t a one-off, we’ve got zebra crossings on top of junctions all over the borough. Prebend Street, Newnham Road, Waveney Avenue, and Shakespeare Road, to name a few – there are a lot more.
It’s almost as if the road planners put their rulers down and just thought, “Yeah, that’ll do.”
So, is this just a Bedford thing? A rite of passage for local pedestrians? A traffic-based trust exercise? Because we can’t recall zebra crossings being like this anywhere else, but then my memory isn’t what it used to be.
If you’ve ever seen this sort of thing outside Bedford, do let us know by sending a picture to news@bedfordindependent.co.uk
Keyboard cruelty
With Midland Road due to fully reopen next week, there’s been a lot of excitement about the new layout, fresh paving, and how it’s all contributing to a better-looking, more accessible Bedford town centre.
Read: Midland Road to fully reopen to traffic on 11 June
And then, the story was posted on social media.
Among the usual scroll of comments were some truly disgusting and derogatory remarks about the area and the people who live and work there. I’m not going to repeat them, but I will say this:
Shame on those of you who made them.
You’re talking about the home of fellow Bedfordians. Families. Business owners. Workers. People are doing their best, just like you.
They deserve the same respect, support, and kindness that you’d expect if it were your street, your community, your corner of town.
Midland Road isn’t perfect, where is? But it’s a part of Bedford. It matters. And so do the people who call it home.
I’m not going to turn this into a rant. But if you were one of those quick to mock, judge, or sneer, maybe take a long, hard look at yourself and ask whether you’re actually helping make this town any better.
Because Bedford isn’t just a place, it’s a community. And communities deserve compassion, not contempt.
Attempted delivery
The award for the best ‘I wish I weren’t working today’ face goes to this poor Post Office staffer, who clearly drew the short straw in being the one to receive Cllr Abbott’s (Lib Dem, Clapham and Oakley) petition to save Clapham Post Office.
He’s trying to smile, we see the effort, but those eyes tell us what he’s really thinking.
Full credit to him for standing firm and posing like a pro. We’ve all had that moment where we pick up the phone and instantly regret it, “Reception says there’s someone here to see you…”
Still, let’s not forget the real issue: if the Post Office weren’t proposing to close a much-loved, much-used community branch in the first place, none of this would have been necessary.
Read: Clapham’s fight to save Post Office intensifies with petition hand delivered to Post Office HQ
And no poor staff members who just wanted to have a quiet day would be wondering how they ended up on camera holding a giant envelope with some bloke from Bedford.
Ethical edge
There was much celebration at Progress Publishing’s ‘towers’ this week as they published their 10,000th story, a major milestone and much congratulations to them. Not bad for three part-timers and a handful of passionate volunteers.
Reacting to the achievement, Jonathan Heawood, Executive Director of the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF), summed it up perfectly in an email to one of our editors.
“It’s always great to work with the team on the future of quality local news – particularly because you’re making such a huge impact in this field,” he said.
And then came the cherry on the cake: new independent research by Ipsos showed that Bedford Independent readers spend over six minutes reading the site each visit, putting them third in the UK for engagement across all local and regional news titles.
Third. In. The. UK. Ahead of big-hitters like the Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, The Scotsman and The Standard.
So maybe, just maybe, it’s not all about algorithms, clickbait, and shouting into the void.
Perhaps it’s about ethical, responsible, professional journalism that follows a standards code, respects the reader, and doesn’t shy away from asking the awkward questions.
See you soon, Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, tell us at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
