Souldrop
Souldrop maps (2 available)
Map of Bedfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Bedfordshire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Souldrop photos (none available)
We have no photos of Souldrop,although these nearby locations do:Souldrop books (5 available)
Souldrop memories
Read and share memories of Souldrop and Bedfordshire inspired by Frith photos
Happy Days
I was just Two when I moved to Souldrop with my parents in 1949,we lived at 18 High Street,just opposit the green and the large tree what in those days was a mere twig! we lived there for 5 years before moving on to Colworth estate. I was Barbara Smith then,Mr Prigmore still lives next door although sadley he could not remember me, those were such happy earthy days filled with the spirit of every one working together after war time and although hard it is my pleasure to have been part of it. Best Wishes to Souldrop and all who live there>
Contributed by Barbara Blyth
Bedfordshire memories
Buildings.
The buildings featured from left to right - (I do not know the history of the white house), then there are the pillars which are the entrance to the churchyard and mortuary chapel. The church, built in 1865, was used until 1980 for funerals only. It was then declared redundant and turned into a Heritage Centre. In the churchyard which is still used are the graves of several Second World War Canadian, Polish and English soldiers. Woburn Primary School is just around the curve in this photo. The entrance door is set in a wall and can be missed unless you know it is the school. Woburn School has a very long history having been ...read more here
A memory of Woburn contributed by Mrs Sylvia Hudson
Working memories.
I was the main weekday driver of the launch photographed during the student holiday periods of 1955-1958. When I drove it, the name was 'Silver Stream'. It was the largest of a set of three electric launches which carried paying passengers for trips of about 40 minutes duration from the steps on the downstream, north side of the town bridge. Typically this launch would carry about 40 passengers maximum. Silver Stream was a magnificent launch to drive, giving a silent drive, almost no water disturbance up to the 6 knots maximum for the river, and had a tubular rudder form which surrounded the propeller. This permitted a very tight turning such that most of us could turn round in places where ...read more here
A memory of Bedford contributed by Mr PC Hedgecock
Family connections.
The gentleman in the foreground of the Quadrant in the dark suit is my father Albert (Bert) Brandon a local business man. He opened a fruit and flower shop at 12 Albion Street which was previously his mother's shop and sold haberdashery and household linens. Then, before his retirement, he started The Princes School of Motoring. He is waiting for my mother to come out of the bakers and she is possibly the lady carrying her purchase coming out of the shop. Strangely he is standing where he had a garden, a very large area where we played as children, before the Quadrant was built.
A memory of Dunstable contributed by Mrs BP Tompkins
Extracts From Souldrop & Bedfordshire books
Military vehicles from the local Vauxhall
Bedford factory were tested at Wardown
Park during wartime. Public swimming was
banned in 1950 in an increasingly safety-
conscious age that valued its people more
after so much wartime carnage. At least
boating is still legal! (see left).
It is fitting to end on one of the most
profound reasons for Luton to celebrate
recently: the local football club, Luton Town
FC, came top of League One and were
promoted to the Championship League.
(The club still honours one of its former
(Robert Cook)
(Robert Cook)
Martyn Coote conducts a live radio show at Bute Street Hat Museum. The arrival of BBC Three Counties Radio
in Luton meant that a daily paper was no longer feasible; covering Bedfordshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire, it
makes Luton a reference point for a wide area.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".
Military vehicles from the local Vauxhall
Bedford factory were tested at Wardown
Park during wartime. Public swimming was
banned in 1950 in an increasingly safety-
conscious age that valued its people more
after so much wartime carnage. At least
boating is still legal! (see left).
It is fitting to end on one of the most
profound reasons for Luton to celebrate
recently: the local football club, Luton Town
FC, came top of League One and were
promoted to the Championship League.
(The club still honours one of its former
(Robert Cook)
(Robert Cook)
Martyn Coote conducts a live radio show at Bute Street Hat Museum. The arrival of BBC Three Counties Radio
in Luton meant that a daily paper was no longer feasible; covering Bedfordshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire, it
makes Luton a reference point for a wide area.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".
Looking towards Chapel Street from Cheapside, we see a variety of building styles. There are just enough people out
to catch one’s interest, and make us wonder who they were and what they were doing all those years ago.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".
Geoff Cox said: ‘I think the negative image
goes back to Lorraine Chase and the Luton
Airport advertisement (for Campari); it led
to the naff town idea. To a lot of people it’s
just a place people see when they’re going up
and down the M1. Football is very important,
but not necessarily the supporting of the
local team. A lot of people in Luton haven’t
got roots; they have moved here for cheaper
housing. We have a lot of commuters, and
we want to get them interested in the town.
We do four pages of Luton news each week.
Even those who don’t support Luton town
will be interested that there are plans for
a new stadium. It may be used for other
purposes like rock concerts, but there will
be those who worry about the effect near
their homes.’
The Milton Keynes and South Midland
Spatial Strategy gave the green light for
massive new development in the Luton
and Milton Keynes area, but with no firm
commitment to infrastructure. Geoff Cox
observed: ‘The rush hour is an absolute
(Robert Cook)
Looking across at Chapel Street today, from under the canopy of the large shopping centre. Needless to say, much
has changed; however, the old Boots building remains, nowadays an estate agent’s, helping to handle the thriving
property market.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".
LOOKING TO the future, a lot depends on
the fortune of the nation and its place in the
world. A bitter election campaign in 2005
saw the Tory leader Michael Howard criticise
south-east expansion plans when there is no
firm commitment to infrastructure. Luton,
like all busy towns and cities, has its problems,
and every hospital could use more cash in the
right areas. High house prices do not make it
easy to recruit nurses.
South-east expansion will certainly put
pressure on the M1, and on local roads like
the A505 and the rat run through Houghton
Regis. Public transport is still the poor relation,
although coach links to Luton Airport are
good and help reduce motor traffic. Plans
to establish a tramway on the old Luton to
Dunstable line have so far failed to bear fruit.
There can be no doubt that without serious
funding toward better transport the quality
of life, not just in Luton but the whole south-
east, will diminish.
Over the wider region, there is outrage and
protest against plans for a new flight path at
lower altitudes over Aylesbury Vale. This is the
price of cut-price air travel. It is like mobile
phones: everybody wants the benefit, but not
the inconvenience of the environmental price
being paid in their own communities.
(Robert Cook)
Modern jets are parked up on the Luton tarmac; it is hard to imagine that this was once Eaton Farm.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".