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BEDFORD
, some thirty miles east of Buckingham, has struggled to retain a modicum of character in the face of redevelopment, but the end result is pleasant enough, the town's neat and tidy centre hugging the north bank of the River Ouse. Bedford also makes the most of its connections with
John Bunyan
(1628-88), a blaspheming tinker turned Nonconformist preacher, who lived most of his life in and around the town. Bunyan fought for Parliament in the Civil War and became a well-known public speaker during Cromwell's Protectorate, but the Restoration proved disastrous for him. In 1660, he was arrested for breaking Charles II's new religious legislation, which restricted the activities of Nonconformist preachers, and he spent most of the next seventeen years in Bedford prison. During his incarceration, he wrote
The Pilgrim's Progress
, a seminal text whose simple language and powerful allegories were to have a profound influence on generations of Nonconformists.
Built in 1850 on the spot where Bunyan founded his first Independent Congregation, the
Bunyan Meeting Free Church
(Tues-Sat 10am-4pm), just east of the High Street on Mill Street, is still a Nonconformist church. It bears several memorials to Bunyan, beginning with the splendid bronze doors, decorated with ten finely worked panels depicting scenes from
The Pilgrim's Progress
. Inside, the stained glass windows develop the theme, again depicting scenes from the book, plus one showing Bunyan scribbling away in prison. Next door, the homely
Bunyan Museum
(March-Oct Tues-Sat 11am-4pm; free) features extracts from his book and tracks through the author's life and times.
Bedford's other noteworthy attraction is the
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery
, just to the south of Mill Street on Castle Lane (Tues-Sat 11am-5pm & Sun 2-5pm; E2.10, free on Fri). The gallery holds strong collections of ceramics, glass and local lace as well as a competent range of watercolours and prints, though these are not always on display due to their sensitivity to light. There are also several period rooms, done out in high Victorian style, and it's here you'll find the eccentric Burges Room, a colourful fantasy of ersatz classical and medieval decoration created by William Burges (1827-81), one of the leading figures in the Gothic Revival movement. The gallery's admission charge covers the adjacent
Bedford Museum
(same hours), an extremely dull trawl through the city's history.
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