"Tom" wrote ...
Bedford tower was closed so I was on the CTAF frequency as I
approached the field.
... (another plane mentions) an aircraft in the area that was at 5,000
and on an IFR flight plan but not talking to ATC, possibly inbound for
landing as well.

This sounds like misinformation.


I didn't feel that great about the incident: did I do something wrong?
Why didn't I see him on final before I turned final (I specifically
remember looking in that direction before turning final)? What if the
timings had been slightly different?

It sounds like it went very well (both you and the other pilot). You
announced 1 mile final, he said he'd slow down but then realized the
futility of that and did a different maneuver to get better spacing behind
you.

As far as looking down final, ...the base leg is a busy period where you're
rolling level, maintaining your decent, watching your airspeed, maybe adding
flaps, looking for your landing point, and clearing the final approach for
any other inbound. Lots of times, if you are not aware of an actual inbound,
that "look" is just cursory and short of a 747 with lights on, you'll miss
that traffic. Also, pilots do not always report the distances accurately.
Sounds like he may have initiated a standard rate 360 and called you on roll
out, which would be about 2 minutes later. But you state a 1 mile final, and
approx two minutes later you were 50agl, that's a long time for a no wind 1
mile final.

But again, the events you describe sound pretty routine for after hour ops
at any airport under a B or C shelf. When I first learned to fly I actually
avoided non-towered fields because planes seemed to pop out of the strangest
places.
Places I know I just looked and were empty. ;-o