Blunham

infobox UK place
country = England
static_

static_image_caption=
latitude= 52.147
longitude= -0.322
official_name = Blunham
population = 926 (2001 census) [ [http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/census/parish-profiles/pp-blunham.htm bedfordshire.gov statistics] ]
shire_district=
shire_county= Bedfordshire
region= East of England
constituency_westminster=
post_town= BEDFORD
postcode_district =MK44
postcode_area=MK
dial_code=01767
os_grid_reference=TL14805123

Blunham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, about eight miles east of Bedford. The village is just off the A1 road, near Great Barford and Sandy, and is near the confluence of the River Ivel with the River Great Ouse.

At the north of village is an unusual double humpback bridge across the River Ivel and the Mill Stream which must be crossed to enter the village from the A1 road or Tempsford.

Blunham had a railway station on the Oxford to Cambridge railway line. The station shut when this line was closed in the 1960s, although the station buildings still exist and have been converted into two homes. The old railway is now used as part of Route 51 of the National Cycle Network. The route heads east towards Sandy and west towards Willington and Bedford.

A large corrugated cardboard and paper mill is located near Blunham which belongs to Abbey Corrugated.

History

The first mention of a post office in the village is in 1839, when the village had a Penny Post service under St Neots. The post office national archives record the issue to Blunham in August 1886 of a type of postmark known as a rubber datestamp. [Mackay, James A. (1986) "Sub Office Rubber Datestamps of England and Wales", p. 62, p. 64, Dumfries: published by the author, ISBN 0 906440 39 4] The village post office closed in October 2008. It was one of about 2,500 compulsory compensated closures of UK post office branches announced by the Government in 2007. [ "Proposed branch closure" (2008) Leaflet issued by Post Office Ltd.In September 2008, Blunham Cricket Club successfully broke the Guinness world record for the longest continuos game of cricket. At the end over 59 hours were played continuosly, going through two consecutive nights.]

Famous people from Blunham

In September 1549 George Joye was given the Rectory of Blunham, Bedfordshire by Sir Henry Grey of Flitton.
John Donne, poet and preacher, was rector of the church from 1621 until his death in 1631. The parish church is St Edmund or St James.

References

External links

* [http://www.blunham.com/ A Blunham page]
* [http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/Blunham/BlunhamIndexOfPages.aspx Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service: Blunham pages]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hollow/5666/blunham.html Another Blunham page]
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/blunham/ Blunham Station] Disused stations site record