BedfordBedford is a market town and unparished area in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst the Borough of Bedford had a population of 157,479. Bedford is also the historic county town of Bedfordshire. Bedford was founded at a ford on the River Great Ouse and is thought to have been the burial place of King Offa of Mercia, who is remembered for building Offa's Dyke on the Welsh border.
StevenageStevenage (ˈstiːvənᵻdʒ ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act. "Stevenage" may derive from Old English stiþen āc / stiðen āc / stithen ac (various Old English dialects cited here) meaning "(place at) the stiff oak".
BasildonBasildon (ˈbæzᵻldən ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 107,123. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and west of the city of Southend-on-Sea. Nearby towns include Billericay to the north-west, Wickford to the north-east and South Benfleet to the south-east.
