About Hobby Hive.

Hobby Hive is Bedford's home for tabletop gaming, wargaming, trading card games, model kits, paints, terrain, and everything in between. But it's always been about more than just the stuff on the shelves.

Hobby Hive started because hobbies are better when you share them. It's a place where you can sit down, play, socialise and learn. Whether you're a seasoned general pushing miniatures across a battlefield, a parent hunting down your first family board game, or someone who's just discovered the rabbit hole that is miniature painting, you belong here.

We're more than a shop. We're a gathering point for Bedford's gaming community, built around the people who walk through our door as much as the stock on our shelves. Drop in, stay a while, and become part of something amazing.

 

More than four walls

A place, not just a shop.

Most shops are in and out. We'd rather you stayed. Pull up a chair at one of our gaming tables, get some painting done, or just sit with a coffee and watch a game in progress. There's no clock running and no pressure to buy anything. The shelves are there when you need something, but the tables are where Hobby Hive really happens.

Rooted right here in bedford

Part of the Bedford community.

Hobby Hive isn't trying to be everywhere, it's trying to be here, properly. We started here in Bedford, and everything about how we've grown has come from the local tabletop and hobby community. We run regular events, tournaments and drop-in sessions built around the people who actually come through the door. As we grow, that's not going to change: bigger premises just means more room for the community that's already here.

no experience needed

Everyone's welcome

Every community is made up of different people, and ours is no exception. We've built Hobby Hive to be a space where that difference is normal, not something you have to explain or work around. However you communicate, whatever helps you feel comfortable, whatever pace suits you best. If you want to be here, there’s always a space at the table for you.

Our Journey

Hobby Hive didn't start as a shop. It started as an idea that hobbies are better when you share them (and a fair bit of hard work to turn that into something real).

Back in 2020, we were running gaming events at whatever local venues would have us. No shop, no home base, just a bunch of games and the people who turned up. We took that on the road too, trading from a market stall and at bigger shows around the country, slowly building a name for ourselves before we had anywhere to put it on a sign.

By 2022, things were starting to take shape. We launched the Bedford Tabletop Expo, which finally brought the wider community together properly in one place. We opened a little retail space above the local printer shop, while our bi-weekly gaming evenings found a home of their own at the Goldington Reading Rooms. That was also when we started buying and trading secondhand tabletop gear, and getting into 3D printing, both of which have stuck around and become staples of the Hive.

Then in 2024, it all came together. We moved onto St Mary's Street and finally had everything under one roof: a shop, a gaming space and a home for the local tabletop community.

And we're not done yet! The next year will see us expanding into new premises. More room, more tables, more range and more of everything that got us here in the first place.