2024 Progr. - Event No. 6 Cults and Clangers
EVENT NUMBER 6 Cults and Clangers
Bedford – Thursday 30th May 2024 – Price £53
Discover the wonderful, the wacky, and the weird, in the rather delightful town of Bedford, situated on the river Great Ouse.
We will meet our Blue Badge Guide at 10.30am at the grand and historic Swan Hotel, where we will have morning coffee/tea and something sweet (included), before starting our tour, which is a gentle walk to explore areas which are within a stone’s throw of the hotel. There may even be a chance to buy a Bedford Clanger!
Learn why Bedford became the Somewhere in England of WW2 radio broadcasts, see the cathedral-like church from where the Daily Service was broadcast, and the Coal Exchange, that hosted Big Bands, including Glenn Miller.
Our walk arrives in the Castle Quarter at The Higgins, an art gallery and museum housed in historic buildings. The core collection is Cecil Higgin’s own of ceramics, glass and objet d’art, with a Design Gallery of textiles and furniture, and the Settlement Gallery of archaeological finds, which will take us on ‘a human journey though time’. The Higgins really is quite marvellous, so you’ll be pleased to hear that this is where we break for lunch. There is a tiny café on site, or you can bring a packed lunch, or take a stroll back to The Swan Hotel or town cafes and restaurants. The tour continues after lunch.
Did you know that Bedford was the original site of the Garden of Eden and that when Jesus returns he will live in a small terraced house at 12 Albany Road, just around the corner from the The Higgins?
The Panacea Society, founded by a clergyman’s widow called Mabel in 1919, proclaimed that "War, disease, crime and banditry, distress of nations and perplexity will increase until the Bishops open Joanna Southcott's box." This might be the quirkiest visit you have ever made but it is in the tradition of English eccentricity. You’ll see the chapel, Joanna Southcott’s Box and Mabel’s own house and bedroom just as she left it seventy years ago.
There’s a little Garden Cafe where you buy a cuppa before we head for home at 4.45pm, with lots to talk about.
Deposit of £20pp (or full payment) with Event No 6 Booking Form by 12th April 2024. Balance (£33) by 2nd May 2024. Click on the link below to access the Form
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