Searle persuaded newlyweds George and Sarah Odell to emigrate to New Zealand 1931: The population was 226. 1982: The village welcomed folk from Concord, Massachusetts, as part of their 350-year celebrations. Today Over recent years All Saints has become a place visited by those people round the world who seek to trace their ancestry to Odell, and to spend some time in the church or churchyard. Many of these visits are recorded in the church's visitors' book. While there is still a hill at Odell (with an attractive wood on it), there is little woad to be found; the plant is not as common in England as it once was. Commercially produced indigo has replaced woad as a dye (although seeds of woad can still be obtained). Odell Great Wood is located near the centre of the parish. During the 1970s, several gravel pits between Odell and nearby Harrold were flooded with water from the nearby Great Ouse. In the early 1980s, the area was subsequently turned into Harrold-Odell Country Park, popular with runners, dog-walkers and bird spotters. A wide variety of native waterfowl and other birds are seen on or near the lakes, including great crested grebes, moorhens, Canada geese, herons, swans, cormorants and a wide variety of ducks, as well as aquatic insects such as damselflies and dragonflies. Pronunciation Most people pronounce the village's name as "oh-DEL", like the surname. Some commentators, however, consider it should be pronounced "OH-dl", rhyming with Yodel. References The Church of All Saints, Odell: A brief history, Penelope Campbell, Stanley L. Hunt, 1983. http://www.odellbeds.net/history.htm External links Odell Village Sound of the church bells (.wav file) Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford