Leighton Buzzard
The name Leighton Buzzard derives from the Saxon ‘Leahton’, meaning woodland, and the addition around the 12th century of the family name Bossart to differentiate it from other places called Leighton.
The town's ancient street market is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the market square and high street, and the highly popular farmers market is held on the third Saturday and first Tuesday of each month. A network of streets and quaint shopping mews funnel into the market square, which has a 19th-century town hall and a fine 15th-century pentagonal market cross adorned with statues. The high street is a fine broad street with many 17th and 18th-century buildings, leading to Church Square and the 13th-century All Saints Church. The Cedars, which looks along the high street from Church Square, is the former home of authoress Mary Norton who used the house as the setting for her books about 'The Borrowers'.
The present Linslade grew up around the Grand Union Canal and the London, Midland and Scottish railway, opened in 1838, brought the hunting fraternity, including peers, cabinet ministers and royalty to Linslade where they stayed at the Hunt Hotel in Church Road.
Facilities like Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre and the Library Theatre have been provided to cater for the leisure needs of the population. The narrow gauge railway, which once carried sand between quarries and railway sidings, is now a popular passenger carrying attraction.
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