Cranfield

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Cranfield

Coordinates: 52.0699° N 0.6081° W
Population	5,443 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SP959425
District	Mid Bedfordshire
Shire county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Bedford
Postcode district	MK43
Dial code	01234
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Mid Bedfordshire
European Parliament	East of England
List of places: UK • England

Cranfield is a village in north-west Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Milton Keynes. It has a population of around 6,000, and is within the district of Mid Bedfordshire.

1 Amenities
2 Airport
3 University
4 Technology Park
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Amenities

Cranfield has three (formerly four) public houses, a football club, hairdressers, several take-away restaurants, two small supermarkets and three car dealers. There is also a surgery and dentists practice along with a pharmacy. Cranfield has two schools, two parks and a 'MUGA'.

The village Post Office is now contained within the Co-Op store, previously it was on separate premises. Cranfield has one of only a small number of Morgan dealerships, in addition to a Ford dealer and independent used car dealer. There are further facilities at the university campus, although the Waterstones branch (formerly Cranfield University Bookshop) has now closed.

[edit] Airport

Main article: Cranfield Airport

Cranfield's airfield was originally an RAF training base, and was used after the war by the College of Aeronautics. Today the main user is the Cabair School of Flying. The future of the airfield is uncertain - one runway was closed to allow the construction of the Nissan building and technology park, and there are controversial plans to build further housing on airfield land. Kennett Aviation, who previously operated a range of vintage aircraft from Cranfield, were forced to move to North Weald due to these plans. However, Cranfield is still home to one of the few remaining serviceable English Electric/BAC Lightning jet fighters.

[edit] University

Main article: Cranfield University

Cranfield University, the nearest such facility for Milton Keynes, is situated adjacent to the village.

[edit] Technology Park

The Cranfield Technology Park is situated to the west of the University at the entrance to the campus. It is been developed on a phased basis by Cranfield University and its development partner. The park's objective is to encourage knowledge-based companies to locate their activities on the park and to encourage the growth of such companies. A major extension to the technology park was started in January 2007 using land on Cranfield Airport.