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to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
From actors to musicians to notable people in history, Bedfordshire has some very famous exports. If you’re thinking of coming to the county for a conference or a day trip, perhaps you could spend some time following in these famous footsteps.
Perhaps Bedfordshire’s most famous son is John Bunyan, an English preacher and writer of the Pilgrim’s Progress, there are museums and exhibitions around the county dedicated to him and Bedfordshire’s county day is celebrated annually on what is believed to be his birthday.
Image: Elstow Moot Hall, where you can find a John Bunyan experience.
Someone else who deserves a museum or at least a monument is Sir Alex Jeffreys, who grew up and went to school in Luton, he is the reason that we use DNA evidence in criminal cases and paternity lawsuits.
Sadly, there also isn’t a museum dedicated to everyone’s favourite comedy actor, Ronnie Barker, famous for his work on Open All Hours, the Two Ronnies, Porridge and a whole host of other classic comedy shows, but maybe someone will be inspired by this list and build one!
Image: Ronnie Barker, photo from the BBC.
Other actors that hail from Bedfordshire include: John Le Mesurier, best known for his role in Dad’s Army and Emily Atack who you probably know from I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here or perhaps the Inbetweeners. Bond fans will recognise Colin Salmon who featured in five of the films, he originated in Luton.
The majority of Bedfordshire’s celebrities seemed to have gone into presenting, Carol Voderman is perhaps the best known thanks to her years on Countdown, though journalist Stacey Dooley is catching up after her stint on Strictly Come Dancing. Bake Off winner and cookery show host Nadiya Hussain is another recognisable face having been born in Bedfordshire as is Kevin McCloud, who you’ll know from Grand Designs.
Though he isn’t a television presenter, he does chase people on a tv quiz, so we can totally list Paul Sinha here too.
In terms of music there are a fair few dulcet tones that can be claimed by Bedfordshire. Nineties pop star Fay Tozer who rose to fame in Steps is one, while Badly Drawn Boy’s Damon Gough is another. Paul Young is also from Bedfordshire and topping the charts today, Tom Grennan and the band Don Broco are both from Bedford.
Image: Tom Grennan, photo from twitter.com/tom_grennan
It isn’t just the arts that are represented by Bedfordshire, sport is too. Professional footballer turned football manager Kevin Blackwell is one name you might know. Leon Barnett has played for a whole host of football clubs including his own hometown one, Luton FC, while Lewis Baker was given the Golden Boot at the Toulon Tournament, he played for Chelsea and England’s U21 international team and Kerry Dixon from the county holds Chelsea’s third highest goalscorer of all time. Boxer Billy Schwer once held the titles of British Commonwealth and European Lightweight and IBO World Light Welter-weight. The England Cricket team is also represented, Luton’s Monty Panesar played for them.
Of course we’re missing a fair few names here, but there are far too many to mention!
