Author explores the history of Leighton Buzzard in new book

Paul Rabbitts’ latest book, Leighton Buzzard in 50 Buildings, celebrates local architecture, from All Saints Church to the new buildings that are modernising the town.

Paul, who previously wrote Bandstands of Britain, is hoping the residents in Leighton Buzzard will be interested in what he has discovered.

The writer from Linslade said: “The book celebrates the wonderful buildings in Leighton Buzzard.

“Similar books along the same theme have been done before and I wanted to do it because I love to write.

“I love this town and as I’m quite new to the area I wanted to learn more about the town’s history, there are some amazing buildings here.

“It was actually really good fun doing the book, I enjoyed all of it, and I took all the photos myself.

“I started last summer and it took about three months to do, the hardest thing was choosing which buildings to include in the book.

“I looked up a list of all the buildings on Central Bedfordshire Council’s website, that started my list, and then I had an idea of what buildings I thought would be good to include, there are one or two that I don’t think people will expect to be in there.

“The response to the book has been amazing, I have been promoting it on social media and most people have been really supportive.

“You get the few negative people who say there are not 50 buildings in the town, but overall there has been a lot of support for it.

“The book is a mix of the old and new buildings in the town, and the history behind them, it is a celebration of all the town’s buildings.”

Leighton Buzzard in 50 Buildings is released in March, Paul is also working on Manchester in 50 Buildings and Watford in 50 Buildings. He is also planning to write Luton in 50 Buildings.