Arlesey
| Arlesey | |
| Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
 St Peter, Arlesey | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL190357 |
| Location: | 52°0’25"N, 0°15’55"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 5,690 (2007 est.) |
| Post town: | Arlesey |
| Postcode: | SG15 |
| Dialling code: | 01462 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Central Bedfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Bedfordshire |
Arlesey is a small industrial town in Bedfordshire, running in a thin line along a lane beside the River Hiz, south of the A507, west of Stotfold.
Arlesley stands near the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles northwest of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway station in Church End provides train services to London, Peterborough and Stevenage.
The Domesday Book describes Arlesey as having a market.
Parish church
The parish church is St Peter's, in the Church End, the northern bulge of the town. The church was built in the 12th century by the monks of Waltham Abbey.
About the town
Arlesey was the site of Etonbury Castle, of which little trace remains.
Arlesey Old Moat and Glebe Meadows nature reserves are just north of the town.
Major employers in Arlesey used to be the Fairfield Hospital (now re-developed as Fairfield Park) and the former brickworks (producers of the Arlesey Whites bricks seen in many local buildings).
Some of the clay pits used by the brickworks are now lakes and there are also two disused Portland Cement Company chalk pits, one of which is the Blue Lagoon, which hosts fishing and sailing clubs. Although the lake is private, large numbers of people go there to swim. There have been a number of drownings that have been reported in the national news. In 2001 three children died when the car they were in was accidentally driven into the lake.[1] Most recently a teenager drowned while swimming in April 2007.[2]
The Arlesey Bomb fishing weight was developed by angler, Dick Walker to catch specimen perch from the local chalk pits.
Arlesey at war 1939-1945
On 19 December 1943[3][4] a Handley Page Halifax belonging to 138 Squadron was in a collision with a chimney at Arlesey Brickworks. The aircraft BB364 (NF-R) had left its base at RAF Tempsford on a training mission. The crew of nine perished in the crash.
On 28 March 1944[4][5] a Lockheed Hudson belonging to 161 Squadron RAF crashed on the Arlesey to Stotfold road killing the crew.
The aircraft FK767 had left its base at RAF Tempsford on a training flight.
Sport
- Football: Arlesey Town FC, whose ground to the south of the town.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Arlesey) |
- Arlesey Town Council - Local resources
- War Memorial: Roll of Honour
References
- ↑ "Lagoon plunge driver is charged". Bedford Today. http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/bed-news/Lagoon-plunge-driver-is-charged.283705.jp. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ↑ "Drowned teenager named by police". BBC News. 18 April 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/6569123.stm. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ↑ Bedfordshire Aicrew - RAF Tempsford, Roll of Honour (website accessed 15.07.10)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 National Archives (website accessed 15.07.10
- ↑ RAF Tempsford aircrew - Roll of Honour