I returned to my home town of Bedford in order to establish The Eagle Bookshop in 1991. What began as a small room and a dream has expanded into six rooms and two buildings full of bookish treasures together with a community art gallery. Surrounded by books and people who love books, life is pretty…
It’s hard to imagine Bedford without its much-loved Arcadia Sweet Shop. Nothing quite compares to the sweet, tantalising scent that hits you the moment you set foot in the door, or the abundance of jarred sweets stacked higher than you could ever reach. All of your old favourites: Sherbet Lemons, Rhubarb and Custards, Army and…
As we’ve been reporting for the last few months, it’s been all change in the old Arcade. New shops have sprung up, other tenants have moved out and existing businesses have expanded. One of the most spectacular shops has to be Seventh Heaven Bespoke Cake Company. Its jaw-dropping window display of lovingly hand-made and beautifully…
Former PR consultant, Isabel Kelly, launched the Wardrobe Edit in Bedford earlier this year. The concept is simple: Isabel offers style advice to busy clients, keen to streamline their existing clothes, while adding some carefully curated wardrobe essentials. “I’ve unofficially been a stylist for the last 15 – 20 years, helping friends with fashion advice…
Since 2013, Bedford has been without a dedicated record shop. The gap has been filled by the quarterly BedPop Record Shops and weekly Vinyl Barn stall on Bedford Market, but record buyers have had to travel further afield to get the latest releases. But they need travel no longer! Long-time music lover, vinyl addict and…
As her Mill Street shop celebrates its 2nd birthday, we caught up with epanoui’s owner, Hannah Paine to find out her best bits of Bedford. Hannah trained as a jeweller at the prestigious Central St Martins College and shortly after launched her own collection. The bricks and mortar shop in the Cultural Quarter shortly followed. The name…
To celebrate the start of Wimbledon later this month, we thought we’d interrogate Bedford’s resident racquet wielder, Neil Frankel. Neil is Director of Coaching at Riverside Tennis Club on Goldington Road and is a born and bred Bedfordian. He’s worked at Riverside for 20 years, ever since leaving Leeds University with a Human Biology degree….
This month’s Best of Bedford comes from Cat Lane. Cat is an award-winning wedding photographer with an amazing eye for detail and a passion for what she does. We are lucky enough to count Cat among the many generous contributors to the Clanger, sharing her love for Bedford with our readers. Over the years, Cat…
Companions Real Bread was set up a year ago this month and began trading in June of last year. The concept is simple. The micro bakery was set up to provide employment and work experience for prison leavers to help with reform and recovery. The brainchild of Maggie Rich, Companions aims to build a community…
Clanger contributor, Priya Gill chatted to Playwright and Actress Ambreen Razia, about her one woman show Diary of a Hounslow Girl, which comes to The Place Theatre next Tuesday. How did you get your start in acting? I went to the University of West London which isn’t. When I came out of University, I was expecting…