Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre

Evening Rush Hour at Linslade, WCML | 21/08/18

This video is property of Richard Chalklin

2160p 4K HD!

30 Minutes of trainspotting at Linslade on the WCML in the peak time hours of a Wednesday evening. We had time to kill before we headed to watch MK Dons in action again.

Linslade info:

Linslade is an English town, located on the Bedfordshire side of the Bedfordshire-Buckinghamshire border (and roughly a third-way between London and Birmingham). It abuts onto the town of Leighton Buzzard with which it forms the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade (where the 2011 Census population was included). Linslade was transferred from Buckinghamshire in 1965, and was previously a separate urban district in its own right. It remained part of the Diocese of Oxford until 2008 when it joined Leighton Buzzard in the Diocese of St Albans. The original Anglo-Saxon settlement of Linslade, which was prominent during the 13th century, was not located at the modern site, but is to be found further north, and survives today as the hamlet of Old Linslade. The present location superseded the original during the 1840s, after massive growth associated with the construction of the Grand Union Canal and—particularly—the London and Birmingham Railway (now known as the West Coast Main Line). Linslade underwent a second major period of expansion, again associated with the railways, during the 1970s.

Etymology:

The name Linslade is Anglo Saxon in origin, and may mean river crossing near a spring. (Though other plausible meanings exist.) The original form, recorded—for example—in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 966, was Hlincgelad; then linchlade, pronounced lince-lade but by the time of the Domesday Book, in 1086, it had become Lincelada. The name continued to evolve, e.g. Lynchelade, in 1396, first appearing in its modern form in the 16th or 17th century, but with variations continuing into the 19th century.

History:

The earliest records of Linslade are of an Anglo-Saxon Manor, at the site of present-day Old Linslade, in 975 belonging to Azelina, Ralph Tailbois' wife.

After the Norman Conquest, in 1066, the manor was taken over by the de Beauchamp family. In 1251 a royal charter was granted to William de Beauchamp to hold a weekly market in Linslade, as well as a yearly 8-day fair. This grant was made on account of a Holy Well or Spring, located to the north of the village, which was a site of major pilgrimage. The holy well, which was a fabricated miracle to bring souls to the shrinking congregation of Old Linslade, was where the canal is sited today not far from the church.

In 1299, however, Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln, warned pilgrims off by threatening those who did not desist with excommunication. His reason for this is either that the well was unconsecrate or that the miracles being attested to happen at the well were in fact fraudulent. The vicar of Linslade, who did not dissuade the pilgrimages from visiting the spring because of the offerings they made, was forced to appear at the bishop's court.

Without the pilgrims, the importance of Linslade declined. But in the 15th century, the original 12th-century church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was rebuilt.

Infamous events:

In 1963 the Great Train Robbery took place at a site near Bridego Bridge, between the villages of Cheddington and Linslade. Every time a Great Train Robber was caught law dictated that they had to be brought back to the small court house at Linslade to be charged.

In 1984 Malcolm Fairley, aka The Fox, conducted a series of assaults and rapes in Leighton Buzzard and the surrounding villages, several of which took place in Linslade.

Amenities:

The expansion of Linslade during the 1970s added few additional amenities, besides houses, and so to this day Linslade relies on pre-existing facilities, many of which are Victorian in origin and—where those are insufficient—on Leighton Buzzard. Facilities are, however, managed jointly for the two towns.

The principal Leighton-Linslade facilities within Linslade are Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre, which includes a swimming pool and indoor sports courts; Leighton Buzzard Golf Club and Leighton Buzzard railway station.

Notable inhabitants:

The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, as the Knights of the Round Table.

Home to Nick Beggs of Kajagoogoo. Formed in Leighton Buzzard in 1978, the band were originally known as Art Nouveau, a four-piece avant-garde group, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar.

Famous residents include Hollyoaks actress Ciara Janson.

Tom Wise, the former Member of the European Parliament for the East of England jailed for expenses fraud lives in Linslade, as does Russell Stannard, author of several children's book and books on science and religion, and emeritus professor of physics at the Open University.

Louise Dearman, actress who has played the role of both Elphaba and Glinda, the first person in the world to do so, in the West End musical Wicked.