What is Bedford?
{{otheruses}} '''Bedford''' is a market[[county town| town]] of [[Bedfordshire]], [[England]]. It has a population of more than 79,000 people (100,000 if the people living in Kempston are included). It is formed of multiple districts, such as Putnoe, Goldington, Brickhill and Woodside. Many people also live in the smaller [[village]]s surrounding Bedford, such as Sandy, Willington, Cople and Cardington. It has many outstanding schools, both State and Public. It is one of only two places nationally that has a three-tier school system, although it is currently undergoing the transition to two-tier. There are academies, Bedford Free School, community and an SEN schools. It is also a place with a large diversity of nationalities, such as Italians and Polish, stemming from the Brick works that used to stand in ... == History == The town of Bedford is about 1000 years old. There was a [[castle]] there, but it was destroyed in [[1224]]. A small hill with a tower now stands in the place of the castle. It overlooks the river [[Great Ouse]] which flows through the town. Every four years a River Festival is held there, with stalls, a fair and dragon boat races. Bedford was a market town from the early [[Middle Ages]]. It was given its borough charter in [[1166]] by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]]. == Education == During the last century many people moved to Bedford because there were good schools there. There are four public schools which are governed by the [[Harpur Trust]]: Bedford Boys School, Bedford Girls School,<ref>Dame Alice Harpur School merged with Bedford Girls' Modern School in 2012 to make this newly titled school.</ref> Bedford Modern and Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School. There are also some smaller private schools. Bedford also has various local authority schools. Bedford Borough operates a three-tier education system in some of the area, arranged into lower, middle and upper schools, as recommended in the Plowden Report of 1967. Many students study at the [[University of Bedfordshire]], which is based in