Sponsored by
Sketches of Bedfordshire
Book featuring numerous drawings and commentaries offers historical insight into county life
The Easter bank holiday weekend is here, and with it the chance to get out and retrace the footsteps of an eminent architect who sketched his way around Bedfordshire.
A collection of striking drawings and commentaries by the late Bernard West feature in a book which takes you on a historical journey across the county.
The architect contributed his 'Sketch-book' of drawings and comment to the former quarterly Bedfordshire Magazine for half a century.
He was passionate about his native county and shared his detailed knowledge of architecture and the history of Bedfordshire in his writings.
West was also interested in archaeology, natural history and the
conservation of both the natural, and the best of the man-made, environments.
His commentaries were often scathing, as he continued his unrelenting campaign for good design and sympathetic preservation.
And just before Christmas The Book Castle, in Dunstable, published a
fascinating selection of his work from 1947-1998.
Bernard West's Bedfordshire is edited by Gordon Vowles, who writes in his foreword: "In his Sketch-book commentaries, he was a persistent and caustic critic of those who, in his own words, were 'guilty of inducing in others an anaesthetic acceptance of ugliness'."
West died in January last year, and the book sets out to mark his unique
contribution to the record of 20th century Bedfordshire life.
The beauty of reading a book about where you live is that sights which you have undoubtedly grown immune to are suddenly seen through fresh eyes, and you start realising Bedford has a number of treats you have long since taken for granted.
In the winter of 1950,West wrote this about Bedford's Town Bridge, at the end of the High Street: "Bedford is fortunate indeed, for the bridge over the Ouse is an architectural gem judged by any standards."
And he is right. Walk towards town, along The Embankment of an evening, and the bridge looks stunning.
But history has not always proven West correct.
In the next sentence, he also writes of the bridge: "And since its sympathetic widening it also adequately fulfils the needs of modern traffic."
Try driving me home through town one rush-hour, Bernard, and we'll see if you still think that is the case.
And this extract, written in summer 1959, shows just how St Cuthbert's Street has changed: "Most towns of an antiquity have their quiet backwaters, away from the roar of through traffic ... St Cuthbert's is Bedford's only real example."
I am guessing the multi-storey car park in Lurke Street wasn't around in 1959.
But some of his insights are as true today as the day he put pen to paper.
His views on Kempston, written during the summer of 1967 are a prime example.
"Only the King William and a few nearby buildings remind one that the main part of Kempston was once a village. The price for urban expansion seems likely to be absorption into the Borough of Bedford although this will obviously continue to be resisted."
It still is, Mr West. It still is.
Bernard West's Bedfordshire is published in paperback by The Book Castle of Dunstable and is available from County Town Books, High Street, Bedford, and also at Waterstone's, priced at 12.99.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
