Dunstable is a town in the county of Bedfordshire.
The town lies on crossroads of Watling Street, now the A5 trunk Road and Icknield Way.
The two theories about the towns name are, the Anglo Saxon, Dunstaple meaning ‘Hill Market’ and the other is about a robber named Dunn. The King wished to capture Dunn so hung a ring on a post hoping he would attempt to steal it, when he did he was caught thereby giving his name to the town.
The town prospered because of the number of inns in town. As it was a day or two ride from London, travellers needed somewhere to rest for the night. The Sugar Loaf and the Saracens Head both have coaching gates to show they were traveller’s inns. The Saracens Head can be seen to be considerably lower at the back than the front this is because the road has been re-laid many times during the pubs lifetime.
Dunstable Town railway station was closed when the passenger services to Dunstable were stopped in 1965 and the track between Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard was removed. Dunstable is now one of the larges towns in the south east of England with no railway connection.
Dunstable used to be a flourishing market town but this grew smaller as Luton grew larger.
During the 20th century printing and the motor industries were the main source of economy in the town but the main factories closed and the decline became prevalent.
There are plenty of shops in Dunstable and some of those to be found are Adams, Occasions, Talas, Gladrags Boutique, Nightingales, Bigstuff and Lock Stock and Cobbler, with larger stores such as Wilkinson and Woolworth.
Property to rent is always available at average costs of £560pcm for a l bed flat, £635pcm for a 2 bed flat, £675pcm for a 2 bed house and £750pcm for a 3 bed house.
Whipsnade Zoo is quite close to Dunstable; this is a large zoo where animals roam in terrain similar to that in their natural surroundings.
Dunstable Downs are to the west of town and are popular for kite flying, paragliding, hang gliding and at the bottom of the Downs the London Gliding Club that provides conventional gliding.
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