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Written by Richard Tearle - 05 Mar 2007
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Location notes
Lidlington is located on the Bedford-Bletchley line, between the stations of Ridgmont and Millbrook, in the middle of the village it serves.
Railway type and traffic
The Bedford Bletchley line is operated by London Midland trains that run a mostly hourly service between the two stations, with all trains stopping at all of the stations on route, Monday to Saturday. Trains stop by request at Kempston Hardwick. There are no scheduled passenger trains on Sunday. These are operated by a small fleet of sprinter 150/1 units.
There are a number of freight workings, the most numerous being DB Schenker departmental workings to and from Forders Virtual Quarry (just to the east of Stewartby station). These workings serve locations on both the WCML and MML. There is also a Saturday morning Bletchley to Peak Forest stone empties, which leaves Bletchley between 10:20 and 10:40 - although earlier and later timings have been noted.
Environment
The foot crossings are little used; the path to the four crossing to the west of the station is well used by dog walkers but they rarely use the actual crossing, with the first crossing to the west from the station the most used. I’ve never seen anyone use the crossing to the east of the station.
Road directions
From the M1, Junction 13:
Exit and follow the A421 towards Bedford. Just after the village of Bogborough is an exit on the right hand side of the road sign posted Lidlington. Follow this road until you come to the level crossing at the station, the best parking is just past this on Bye Road. If you miss this turning the next turning on the right also leads to Lidlington.

From the A507:
The exit from this road is on your left, if you are coming from Milton Keynes, and is well sign posted Lidlington. Once you descended into the village itself the station isn’t well sign posted, so look out for Station Road also on your left.

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Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east map co-ordinates
Parking
There is plenty of space to park along Bye Road which runs parallel with the railway to the west.
Public transport
By far the easiest way to this location is to use the rail service from either Bletchley or Bedford. There are two bus services to Lidlington, the number 159 from Bedford and the 160 from Leighton Buzzard. Bye Road is the road behind the station.

If you have parked on Bye Road or travelled via train this footpath is to the west of the station. Walk down Bye Road and continue along the footpath that continues straight on. The foot crossing is just off the footpath on the right.

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Amenities
There are a few local shops and pubs on the High Street/Marsdon Road which is five minutes walk from the station and crossings
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east

Googly map
Streetmap links
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east general view map
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east close up map

Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east



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Photographic notes
See the individual photo notes.


General views - All photographs © Richard Tearle unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking west


Fig 1 - Looking west

Shadows in the summer can be a problem at this location, so a longer lens might be a better option, as in this shot. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bletchley with an 85mm lens on a sunny July morning.
Western Foot Crossing #3 can just be seen towards the rear of the train.

Fig 2 - Looking west


Fig 2 - Looking west

Shadows and the tight nature of this shot don’t really recommend a shot at this location. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 50mm lens on a sunny July morning.

Fig 3 - Looking east


Fig 3 - Looking east

By standing back, and using steps (not used for this shot), a better afternoon west bound shot can be had. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 65mm lens on a bright August evening.

Fig 4 - Looking east


Fig 4 - Looking east

This shows the very tight curvature of the line on the north side, and there’s nothing really to recommend it. This was taken from the north side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 65mm lens on a bright August evening.

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