My home town is Bedford, once had several large engineering works in the town as well of course the brickworks.
W.H.Allen- did my apprenticeship here, employed around 2000 people when I started but gone now and of course flats now on the site as next to the railway station with quick links for London commuters.
George Fischer castings- another large employer in the town opposite side of the river to W.H.Allen, now gone and replaced with more flats and housing.
Simplex- another large employer in engineering, now gone and replaced with more flats and housing.
Igranic (cutler hammer) another large employer in engineering, now gone and yet again replaced with flats and housing.
C.a.e.c. Howard’s, - engineering, construction and transport, now all gone and replaced with a retail park,
Robertson (part of the T.I. Group) - engineering, now gone but the buildings remain as a self storage centre.
London Brick- probably the largest employer, all gone now with the sites being cleared for development. Like W.H.Allen, you always knew someone or were related to someone that worked there, all the above were good employers so a real shame and has devastated the town which is now not worth visiting for shopping purposes.
Suchards (toblerone) - chocolate factory, now gone barring the sports and recreation park, replaced with flats and housing.
There’s numerous smaller companies that have gone, the upside is that quite a few major distribution companies have had large D.C’s built but Bedford is a commuter town with a large proportion of people heading to London every day for work. As previously stated though the town is a shadow of its former self and very sad to see the decline.