Clapham, a Civil Parish and Village in the Borough of Bedford in the English county of Bedfordshire
The village of Clapham which is also a civil parish is in the Bedford Borough in Bedfordshire County in England. There are two churches in the village, the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury or St Thomas A Becket which is the parish church and a Grade I listed building, and the Methodist Church. The St Thomas A Becket church was rebuilt in 1861 by Sir G. Gilbert Scott R.A. It is made up of a nave, chancel, aisles and an 81 ft high tower without buttresses. The tower is considered to be one of the most excellent and remarkable examples of the remaining early Saxon Works in the British Isles.
Food, Shopping and Accommodation
The modern day village has quite a collection of facilities and amenities for a small village. There are several small shops, takeaways ( fish & chips, Indian and Chinese), a post office, a hairdresser and a florist. It also has three pubs; the Star, the Fox and Hounds and the Horse and Groom. There even used to be a club, the Clapham Club, which is now a Tesco store and an Italian restaurant called Bellini’s.
Things to See and Do in Clapham
Other places of interest in town include the Clapham Park, which is a huge country house built in 1872 by James Howard, A member of Parliament for Bedford. There is also the neglected Italian Prisoner of War (POW) camp which was once the target of graffiti artists but is now owned by a farmer.
This village’s claim to fame is the Glenn Miller Museum located at the RAF Twinwood Farm, an unused airfield on the outskirt of the village. It is here where Glenn Miller, the famous American bandleader, took off before his plane disappeared and had never been heard of again. It is said that Glenn Miller had just finished performing for the American soldiers stationed in the airfield.