Bedfordshire

Next one.

Yes, another little story, but Shuttleworth, obviously based at Old Warden Airfield in Bedfordshire, they've had an amazing year this year.

They've always got a tremendous line-up of airshows, but 2026 has been brilliant for them, and they have just given some news out saying visitor numbers exceeded 40,000 people.

So 2025 was only 33,000 people.

So it'd be like from Dagenham all the way to, what's before Luton?

Bedfordshire? St Albans? But it's

slightly before Bedfordshire.

Like

Hertfordshire? It's got to be North West, right? That's St Albans.

Sadly, this alternate order came too late for the Wellington's rear gunner, then 20-year-old Sergeant J.S. Fenson, who bailed out before hearing it, and who fell to his death when his parachute was destroyed after getting caught by the plane when he pulled the ripcord prematurely.

He was later buried with full military honours at the Holy Trinity churchyard of his hometown of Biscot in Bedfordshire.

The remaining seven crew members were all to survive this emergency landing, though the bomber sank to the bottom of Loch Ness, where it remained hidden and almost forgotten for the next 46 years.

However, in 1976, the aircraft was inadvertently rediscovered by two Americans, Martin Klein and Charles Finkelstein, who were working as part of a scientific team then stationed at the Loch.

Sadly, this alternate order came too late for the Wellington's rear gunner, then 20-year-old Sergeant J.S. Fenson, who bailed out before hearing it, and who fell to his death when his parachute was destroyed after getting caught by the plane when he pulled the ripcord prematurely.

He was later buried with full military honours at the Holy Trinity churchyard of his hometown of Biscot in Bedfordshire.

The remaining seven crew members were all to survive this emergency landing, though the bomber sank to the bottom of Loch Ness, where it remained hidden and almost forgotten for the next 46 years.

However, in 1976, the aircraft was inadvertently rediscovered by two Americans, Martin Klein and Charles Finkelstein, who were working as part of a scientific team then stationed at the Loch.

It had a tradition because it had been a sort of higher education establishment as well.

what's now become part of Bedfordshire University, it was able to attract pretty good governors, chief execs of major companies.

And so I knew that that sort of corporate background wouldn't be an issue for them, particularly in a finance role.

And I think the other thing was because I'd come from a public sector background as well in the past, I think I was accepted... into the area.

We knew it would change the organisation slightly.

So when we were looking, obviously, Northamptonshire was pretty much along the same train line.

Luton and central Bedfordshire, again, pretty similar and part of the old Bedfordshire County Council geography anyway.

So we did a lot of work to make sure that what we were doing at Bedford would apply as

So I'm 47.

I grew up in Bedfordshire with a Scots father and a mother from Cheshire.

And I was at boarding school from the age of 12.

You probably want to ask about that in a moment.

But actually, the Netherlands and southern England have very similar weather patterns, precipitation and whatever else.

You know, the weather just sweeps across the Atlantic.

And when my parents were in Bedfordshire, I would call them and ask what the weather was.

And I knew I'd have the same in the Netherlands within two hours, you know.

was some research done on the National Health Service in England.

Bedfordshire, I think it was.

And the problem is trying to save money because of health costs and people were not showing up to appointments.

And it was an A-B test.