I have enormous admiration for people who with a rare mixture of tenacity, scholarship and flair are able to open up the past so that it enriches the present. Chris Pickford is one such person.

He has been researching the churches of Bedfordshire for very many years but has done so with a lightness of touch which belies the underlying hard work. We now have the result of this in front of us.

Yet again he has shown us the eccentricities, the skills, the dedication that each generation has put into the care of their church buildings and has reminded us that these buildings are treasure-houses of the spirit as well as places of prayer and service.

The rootlessness and restlessness of contemporary society is counterpointed by the stillness and centredness of many of our churches - and that is a significant part of their importance for us; but to be able to enter those churches accompanied by Chris Pickford's researches is to be even more fully enriched.

It is a great privilege to have been invited to write this Foreword and I do so in the belief that the churches of Bedfordshire will continue to be uniquely important resources for the well-being of mind and spirit for the life of our communities in the years ahead