Biggleswade Tourist Information

The name Biggleswade is derived from Biccel - an Anglo-Saxon personal name and waed, an old English word for ford. The Great North Road and the waterways gave rise to Biggleswade's early prosperity. From 1758, the River Ivel was navigable from the sea to a point just west of the town, barge traffic was very active, carrying local agricultural produce, timber and coal. It was not until the arrival of the railway in the 1850's that the Ivel Navigation Trust was terminated by statute.

Biggleswade was home to Daniel Albone, the racing cyclist who in the 1880's established the Ivel Cycle Works where he invented his own bicycles, motorcycles ladies bicycles, the tandem and the first Ivel Agricultural Tractor - the ancestor of all modern tractors.