Just outside of Bedford is the village of Elstow where the preacher and writer John Bunyan was born in 1628.  Bunyan was in the Parliamentary army during the early part of the English Civil War and after 3 years returned to Elstow where he became a tinker.  He married and joined a non conformist group in Bedford and became a preacher.  After the restoration of the Monarchy, non conformists were no longer tolerated and Bunyan was arrested and imprisoned for 12 years.  In prison he wrote an autobiography and began work on his most well known and widely published book, The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Today, on the green at Elstow, sits a 15th Century building called The Moot Hall which is one of the only known examples of a market house, built by a nunnery which combined a courtroom and shops.  There are two similar late mediavel market houses with a long chamber on the upper floor, one in Buckinghamshire and one in West Wycombe.  These days The Moot Hall in Elstow houses a museum that is open by arrangement or on Saturdays during summer months.

Across from the green is the Abbey Church of St Mary and St Helena of Elstow, founded in 1078 by Judith  the niece of William the Conqueror. It was in this historic building that John Bunyan was baptised.  A little bit of history almost on our doorstep. We drove back in a round about way, driving close to Yarlswood Immigration Detention Centre and turning off to the pretty village of Thurleigh with its plethora of thatched cottages.  Plenty more places to visit on quiet Sunday afternoons.