A Neolithic henge was erected on the site of the current Tesco Supermarket on Riverfield Drive dating between 4000 and 2000 BC.

There was a Roman farmstead near the River Great Ouse that was excavated by archeologists in the 1970s before there was gravel extraction on the site that is now Priory Country Park.

By then the expansion of Bedford required more housing and land either side of Newnham Avenue was developed in the interwar period.

There are a number of shops and services located on Newnham Avenue, including a post office, a supermarket, a pub, petrol station and a food store.

This entertainment complex (located on Newnham Avenue and Barkers Lane) houses a cinema, a Bingo Hall, a fitness gym plus other restaurants.

[13][14] The Maldives National Olympic Committee based its competing athletes in Bedford, while Paralympic athletes from Angola, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Jamaica, Lesotho, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda were also based in the area.

With the exception of Weymouth (which hosted various sailing events) Bedford accommodated more Olympic teams in 2012 than any other town or borough in the UK.