1 August 2025
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and tells us what he thinks of it all…
Pedal power
Sanity has prevailed at Borough Hall this week, as the council announced it is overturning its controversial blanket ban on cycling through the town centre that has been in place since 2016.
Read: New Public Space Protection Order tackles antisocial behaviour but ‘safe’ cycling permitted
Over the last 10 years, thousands of safe and sensible cyclists, including this fella, have been targeted with on-the-spot fines.
Josh Quigley is a world-record-breaking ultra-cyclist who, in 2019, embarked on a round-the-world bike ride to combat his depression and raise awareness of mental health issues.
He’d encountered no obstacles since leaving his home in Scotland and cycling the length of the UK, but was slapped with a £75 fine for responsibly cycling through Bedford town centre.
I know several law-abiding citizens who also fell foul of this policy, totally unaware of the ban due to poor signage and the belief that they were doing a good thing by leaving their car at home.
Meanwhile, balaclava-clad lads wheelie-ing across Harpur Square and causing danger to life and limb got away scott free – because they were a bit more challenging to catch.
This feels like a victory for common sense – and all those who have tirelessly campaigned for the ban to be lifted. More power to your pedals.
Graffiti manifestation
Back in the mists of time (2021), this optimistic graffiti appeared on the railway bridge parallel to Prebend Street ahead of the Italy v England men’s Euros final.
(Spoiler alert: Italy won on penalties)
Sadly, despite reaching the Euros and World Cup finals, neither in 2021 nor in 2024 did the men’s team bring football home.
But this prescient graffiti is now having its day, thanks to the mighty Lionesses becoming the first English senior football team to win back-to-back tournaments and proudly bringing ‘it’ home for England since 2022.
Perhaps we need to see more optimistic and positive graffiti to manifest the change we want to see. I propose “Chewing gum free streets” and “Humanity for all”.
And to whoever did this in the first place, could you pop back and add an apostrophe, please?
Bedford: “not really known for being any one particular thing”
The highly anticipated (at least in our house) new series of Here We Go has just arrived on iPlayer.
Written by and featuring Tom Basden (Afterlife, The Ballad of Wallace Island) and starring a host of comedy legends, including Alison Steadman, the show is set in Bedford, with references to Kempston, Box End water park and the town’s Superdrug.
None of it is filmed in Bedford.
The BBC’s Beds, Herts and Bucks news website featured an interview with Tom this week, and asked him why he chose Bedford.
“I thought Bedford was a really good location for a show that speaks to the whole country,” he told Danny Fullbrook and Roberto Perrone.
“I wanted to set the show somewhere that just felt very traditionally English but not really known for being any one particular thing.”
None taken, mate.
See you soon, Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, tell us at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
