Captain Tom villagers rue the ‘tarnished legacy’ of national hero as family’s spa to be razed

With its attractive medieval church and picture-postcard manor house, Marston Moretaine could be one of any number of charming villages spread out across the Bedfordshire countryside.

But a visit this week showed that, a stone’s throw from families picking up their children at the local primary school and drinkers enjoying the hospitality of a packed nearby pub, resentment is building among the locals.

The biggest story the village has ever seen began heroically when frustrated pensioner Captain Tom Moore found himself confined to his home at the village’s Old Rectory during the Covid pandemic and decided to mark his 100th birthday by raising money for the beleaguered NHS.

The Second World War veteran, who had served in the India and Burma campaigns, started a mission to walk 100 lengths of his garden in a bid to raise £1,000, walking 10 lengths a day.

It’d be hard to find