Clapham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The borou ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England. It had a population of 3,643 as at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,560 at the 2011 Census.

Points of interest

RAF Twinwood Farm, a disused airfield on the western outskirts of the village, is where the famous bandleader Glenn Miller took off on his last fateful flight, having performed for the American soldiers based at the airfield (51 Operational Training Unit ROYAL AIR FORCE was the main unit based at Twinwood Farm) and at

Bedford Corn Exchange Bedford Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on St Paul's Square in the Castle, Bedford, Castle area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. History of the Corn Exchange The building (constructed in 1874) was designed to be a concert ...

. The Glenn Miller Museum is now open on site with many events taking place during the summer months. Clapham Park, a large new country house, was built by James Howard,

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, in 1872. There is also a derelict Italian POW camp, which is now owned by a farmer and has been the victim of

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artists.

Sport and recreation

Clapham has a King George V Field in memorial to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. Recently, Towers Gymnasium and Health Club has been built on the road between Clapham and Bedford. It has a Swimming Pool, Sauna, Tennis court and gym equipment. Twinwoods hosts an annual Folk Music Festival, called the Twinwoods Festival, typically over the

August Bank Holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

weekend.

References

External links

Clapham community website

Places I've visited – Clapham
by Ian Meadows
Clapham Historical Society

Twinwood's Music Festival
Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub