Biggleswade

Biggleswade is a market town of 22,000 people (2019) in Bedfordshire.

Get in

By train
  • 🌍 Biggleswade station, Station Road (close to the town centre and linked to the Dells Lane area by a footbridge). On the East Coast Mainline, served by Great Northern services between London King's Cross (about 30 minutes on the peak-hour express trains, 40 on a fast train, 50 on a semi-fast) and Peterborough. Important stops include: Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Hitchin, Sandy, St Neots & Huntingdon. 
    • There is a staffed ticket office with limited opening hours. There is also a 24-hour ticket machine next to the footbridge.
    • All platforms are accessed via the footbridge with steps only - there is no level access to any platform.
    • The journey to King's Cross takes approximately
    • Standard service pattern (M-Sa) is one fast and one semi-fast train per hour.
    • There is an ATM/cashpoint outside of the ticket office
    • A small café is available to the right of the main station building (limited opening hours)
    • Paid for car parking is available outside the station main building, and also in the former goods yard (adjacent to the concrete block distribution depot). Tickets are obtained from machines. There is also a smaller free car park further along the same access road in the former goods yard.

By bus

There is a small bus station on the Market Square.

  • Regular services operated by Stagecoach :
    • 73 Biggleswade - Sandy - Moggerhanger - Bedford (half-hourly)
    • M4 Biggleswade - Ickwell - Cople - Cardington - Bedford (hourly)
  • Regular services operated by Centrebus:
    • 171 Biggleswade - Henlow - Hitchin (hourly)
  • Regular services operated by Chiltern Travel:
    • E1 Biggleswade - Potton - Gamlingay (every 2 hours)
    • E2 Biggleswade - Potton - Everton - Sandy (every 2 hours)
    • E4 Biggleswade - Eyeworth - Wrestlingworth (hourly)
    • E6 Biggleswade - Upper Caldicote - Old Warden (loop, every 2 hours)
  • Regular services operated by Grant Palmer:
    • 200 Biggleswade - Shefford - Clophill - Maulden or Ampthill (every 2 hours)

By car

By bike
  • The A1 is not a very cycle-friendly road; other, smaller roads in the area are far more so.
  • There are several bridle paths linking Biggleswade to surrounding towns, which are passable for mountain and hybrid bikes.
  • The National Cycle Network Route 51 is due to be extended from Biggleswade to Sandy and Hitchin, using some of these bridle paths and minor roads.
  • The old Sandy—Bedford railway line nearby is now a dedicated cycle route (National Cycle Network Route 51).

Get around

Biggleswade is a small town, and many places can be reached on foot. There are, however, some outlying trading estates and superstores.

By bus

Two hourly, daytime, local bus services, operated by Herberts Travel:

  • 185 Town Centre to Holme Court Avenue.
  • 187 Town Centre to Stratton Way.

By bike

A cycle route runs north–south through the town, mostly off-road, following the railway line.

The town centre has plenty of bike racks.

See
  • Biggleswade has an attractive market square in the centre of the town, which hosts a lively general market on Saturday, a monthly farmers market and occasional continental markets.
  • The River Ivel runs along the West side of the town, and has a mix of industrial, residential and rural views, some attractive, some less so. You can gain access by the Mill, and up by Sainsbury's, at the Northern A1 roundabout.
  • 🌍 St Andrew's Church, Ivel Gardens, Shortmead St, SG18 0AL, United. is an attractive building, set in a pleasant churchyard. (updated Jan 2021)
  • The Local History Society has applied 'Green Plaques' to many buildings in the Town Centre with a short description of historical interest. Of particular note is the plaque in Shortmead Street denoting where Dan Albone, the inventor of the world's first practical motorised agricultural tractor ('The Ivel'), lived and had his workshop.

Do

Buy
  • There are several shops (local and chains) in the town centre, as well as the Saturday and farmers' markets.
  • Asda, Church Street, SG18, ☏ +44 1767 605100. M-F 8AM-10PM, Sa 7:30AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM. Supermarket on the old brewery site, in the town centre. 
  • Sainsbury's, Bells Brook, SG18 0NA, ☏ +44 1767 317587. Out near the A1 Northern roundabout, with a petrol station. M-F 8AM-10PM, Sa 7:30AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM. 
  • There is a trading estate on London Road, with a number of national chain shops, including Matalan, Halfords, Homebase, Laura Ashley (Home), Bensons, Argos Extra, Brantano, and Carpets for Less.
  • 🌍 Jordans Cereals (Holme Mills), Southill Rd, Broom, SG18 9JX, ☏ +44 1767 603 940, toll-free: +44 800 587 8901. Jordans are based in Biggleswade, and have a pleasant factory shop at Holme Mills, adjacent to the River Ivel between Biggleswade and Broom (the 200 bus service passes the door). (updated Jan 2021)

Eat

Indian
  • Raj Bengal, 61 Hitchin Street, ☏ +44 1767 318555. Does a great set dinner on Sunday 
  • The Viceroy, 51 Sun Street, SG18 0BY, ☏ +44 1767 312110. Another Indian restaurant, slightly further out of town, on Sun Street. 

Cafés
  • 🌍 SurfinCafé, 3-4 Market House, SG18 8AQ, ☏ +44 870 760 5019, . M-F 7AM-7PM, Sa 8AM-5PM, Su 9AM-5PM. A very popular local meeting place, in the middle of the Market Square. Provides free WiFi with heaters and blankets outside in the winter. Great in the summer with over 100 people chilling in the sunshine. £2.40 for reg latte. (updated Jan 2021)

Takeaways
  • 🌍 Beego's Sandwich Bar, 32 High Street, SG18 0JL, ☏ +44 1767 314749. For the best sandwiches and baked potatoes in town! 

Pub-restaurants
  • 🌍 The Hare and Hounds, Old Warden, SG18 9HQ, ☏ +44 1767 627225. Just outside of Biggleswade in Old Warden, a wonderful pub-restaurant, serving home-cooked food. Named best dining pub in Bedfordshire in 2006. 

Drink

There are several pubs throughout the town, particularly around the High Street and Market Square. Biggleswade used to be a brewing town, with Greene King brewery based where the Asda supermarket now stands. This means that most of the pubs are Greene King;

with the exception of a few freehouses:

The bar at the Stratton House Hotel is nice but can get a bit busy at weekends and has an over+21 door policy. The Lounge in Church Street is more upmarket and has a large spirits, wine and champagne list. The New Inn on Market Square is frequented by those only just old enough to drink but has a great juke box and a nice landlady. Real ale aficionados head for The Rose or the Golden Pheasant. The Red Lion has live bands at the tail end of the week and is open until late.

  • Lounge, Church Street, SG18 0JS (Behind The Crown Hotel, Next door to Asda), ☏ +44 870 760 5019, +44 1767 221063 (Reservations), . 9AM-11PM. Sophisticated wine and tapas bar in a 300-year-old vaulted malting barn. Very strict door policy so you'll be in good company in the evening with a fine wine and champagne drinking crowd. Gets very busy for lunch and weekend evenings. Plays musicals every Monday evening. 

Sleep

There's only a couple of hotels in the town itself: there are, however, more motel-style places out by the A1, and some country B&Bs in the area.

Cope

Toilet
  • 🌍 Public Toilets, Market Place Biggleswade SG18 8UU (In the bus station). Free. (updated Jan 2021)

Park

The town centre can get congested, but there are large car parks at Asda (in Church Street), and in Rose Lane. Smaller car parks are located in St Andrew's Street, opposite the Library/Fire Station in Chestnut Avenue, and for Aldi customers, in Bonds Lane. There is also time-restricted parking on the Market Square (except Saturdays when the Market is in town) and in the area around Station Road and Back Street.

Go next
  • The Shuttleworth Collection, Shuttleworth (Old Warden) Aerodrome, Nr. Biggleswade, SG18 9EP, ☏ +44 1767 627927, fax: +44 1767 627949, . Summer 10AM-5PM, winter 10AM-4PM. An eccentric assortment of an airfield with antique aircraft (including some used in the film 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying machines) and vintage transport, a Swiss Garden, a bird of prey centre and a play area. Just outside Biggleswade, in the delightful village of Old Warden. £10 (£20 for all attractions). 
  • RSPB Sandy, off Potton Road, Sandy, ☏ +44 1767 680551, . 9AM to sunset or 9PM. This lodge is the HQ of the RSPB and has a wonderful reserve to visit, even if you're not especially into birds. Sandy is a few miles North of Biggleswade. You can walk, take the train or the bus. £3. 
  • Moggerhanger House and Park, Park Road, Moggerhanger, Beds, MK44 3RW. A Grade 1 listed Georgian Country House by Sir John Soane with gardens originally laid out by Humphrey Repton, now a Christian Conference Centre. Cafe and Bistro open to the public - guided tours of the house (formerly home of the Governor of the Bank of England)available 
  • Cambridge is 25 miles away.
Routes through Biggleswade
Peterborough ← St Neots ←  N  S  → merges with → London


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