Ian Cartwright's away guide to Bedford

OK, we'll get the difficult bit out of the way at the outset. Although known as Bedford Town, the name of Charlton's next friendly opponents is a bit of a contradiction because the ground is nowhere near this potentially eponymous moniker.

Charlton travel to Bedford Town on Wednesday

The ground is situated in the suburb of Cardington, and although predominantly picturesque, there is a rather large bypass in the background. There is a bit of woodland as well around the ground so, given the current hot weather, if you are susceptible to insect bites it may be worth taking the appropriate precautions.

Prices for the match are more than reasonable, with standing tickets priced £7 adults, £4 concessions, £1 10 to 12 year olds and free for U10s. There are seats available in the small main stand adjacent to the halfway line and all four sides boast some form of cover.

The views are fine right the way around the stadium, ironically located in Meadow Lane (which guarantees that we will visit two of these this season), and it can be wholly circumnavigated, so a vantage point to suit all is available.

Bedford have been through a fair few trials and tribulations within their history, to the extent that they were non-existent for a period of time until the mid-1990s and have effectively risen from the ashes to get back to their current position. Town can boast a functional and friendly non-League ground, which retains its character while moving with the times to ensure that more than adequate facilities are available.

The club house is welcoming and has recently been modernised so it's now known as the Wallace Suite, but my spies tell me that it is just as good as when I made my visit to the Eyrie to watch our reserves chalk up a convincing 4-0 win.

What was also very endearing on that occasion was the fact that the tea hut offered homemade cakes, although the carnivorous will be pleased to know that a mean burger is on offer as well - the club house also does a nice bite to eat.

No doubt there will be a few people who will make the journey to Bedfordshire after work by train, and First Capital Connect and East Midland Trains run regular services from London that take under an hour, the former connecting with London Bridge, thus making the homeward leg potentially easier for those based south of the Thames.

Bear in mind that they are prone to delays during the rush hour, as I discovered on Monday evening. I actually cheated when I visited The New Eyrie and caught a cab from the station, but buses are also available - the bus terminal is a short walk from the station and bus M3 runs to Cardington.

Drivers have a choice of the A1 or the M1. If taking the A1 route, come off at Sandy roundabout and take the A603 through Moggerhanger and Willington. The ground is situated just before the Bedford bypass on the right-hand side, signposted Meadow Lane.

From the M1, it's basically an approach from the opposite direction. Come off the M1 at Junction 13 onto the A421, continue on the A421 Bedford bypass, take the third slip road for the A603 Sandy, the ground is 200 yards on the left. Signposted Meadow Lane!