History

Take a step back in time with all things historical from the local area

15th Jun 2017

MK50 – The People’s Story: We want to hear your stories...

Have you lived, studied or worked in or around Milton Keynes at any point over the last 50 years? Are you interested in being a part of a major heritage project celebrating Milton Keynes’ 50th birthday? Living Archive MK is seeking 50 people to be an integral part of MK50 – The People’s Story! We want to hear about your memories to help us gather, share and celebrate a wide range of stories from people who have lived or worked in or around Milton Keynes over the last 50 years. We are looking to select 50 people to interview on camera and create a short, 2-3 minute film of each of the 50 selected memories. The collection of digital stories will form part of a major, multi-media exhibition in 2018 uncovering the hidden histories and mapping the peoples’ story of Milton Keynes. We are looking for people of all ages..

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30th May 2017

Mayor in flag-raising salute to our Armed Forces

The Mayor of Milton Keynes Cllr David Hopkins will start Armed Forces Week with a flag-raising ceremony on Monday 19 June outside the Civic Offices of Milton Keynes Council. Our commemoration will begin at 09:30 with a march past and a small display of military vehicles, including a military field kitchen from which tea, coffee, squash and snacks will be available for a small cost to the Royal British Legion. Local celebrations to show appreciation of the work of the Armed Forces will take place across the country on Monday 19 June when all local authorities are invited to raise the Armed Forces Day flag on buildings and famous landmarks. The Mayor said: “Armed Forces Day is an opportunity for everyone to honour the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community; from currently serving troops to Service families, veterans and cadets.” “Please join us outside the Civic..

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05th Mar 2017

‘Bloomer’ and Artefacts find a new home at the MK Museum

The full size replica Victorian steam locomotive, officially Number 1009 Wolverton, but universally known as the ‘Bloomer,’ has found a permanent home at Milton Keynes Museum in Wolverton. Bill Griffiths, curator of Milton Keynes Museum, officially received the ‘Bloomer’ on Friday 3 March following its slow but sure move by road from the Knorr-Bremse RailServices Wolverton rail facility. For twenty one years the full-sized replica, commissioned by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation and built by Manpower Forum apprentices, stood outside Central Milton Keynes Station but was moved when the station was redeveloped. However, there has always been a local desire to see the ‘Bloomer’ return to display in Wolverton where the original was built. The last few years has seen the superb replica loco carefully stored in the Wolverton rail facility operated by Knorr-Bremse RailServices. The company funded all the costs and organised the transportation and the preparation of the..

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23rd Feb 2017

Mini scooter is among the stars of Milton Keynes Museum’s transport collection

A motorbike enthusiast has donated a fully working miniature of a Vespa scooter to Milton Keynes Museum’s transport collection. Made by the Chinese, it is believed to be the only one in the UK. Howard Bradley says he has never forgotten what a fantastic opportunity the museum gave him when he was 17 years old and doing work experience, and wanted to give something back. At the end of last year he donated a working replica of the 1910 Boardtrack racer – forerunner of the first racing motorbikes – to MK Museum. This latest donation, the miniature Vespa, is in immaculate condition, having never been used. It runs on two stroke mix and is capable of speeds up to 50mph. Said Howard: “Having been a resident of Milton Keynes for over 40 years we have both grown up together – although Milton Keynes is wearing better than I am! “I..

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09th Jan 2017

The fascinating story behind Colossus by Martin Gillow

If I said “Bletchley Park”, “Enigma” and “Alan Turing”, I would think many of you would know a little about them, thanks to the work of both Bletchley Park and recent films such as The Imitation Game. Now, what about if I said “Colossus”, “Tommy Flowers” and “Bill Tutte”? I suspect that very few people, even in the local area around Bletchley Park and Milton Keynes, would be familiar with these names. Colossus is, arguably, the world’s first electronic computer ever built and its story is even more amazing than Enigma, but it has received significantly less public recognition. Many people who have heard of Colossus believe that it is something to do with Enigma, but this is not the case! In fact, it was built to crack a harder and more secretive device built by the Lorenz company in Germany. Adolf Hitler, realising the requirement for fast and secure..

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06th Jan 2017

Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you enjoy meeting people and sharing your passion for...

We are looking for new volunteers to join our team as Visitor Experience Assistants, Meet and Greeters, Tour Guides and Buggy Drivers. If you love meeting new people and sharing your passion for historic places this could be the role for you. You will be on hand to assist our visitors throughout their visit and help to support the Visitor Experience team in the day-to-day running of Stowe House. Brilliant customer service is at the heart of what we do and our volunteers leave our visitors feeling refreshed and inspired.  'The Stowe House volunteers are a great group to work with and have an infectious enthusiasm for the property. New volunteers are made welcome and all are happy to share the wealth of knowledge they have'.  (Volunteer Visitor Experience Assistant) No prior experience is required to join our team as you will be given a full induction and training to help..

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29th Dec 2016

Milton Keynes through the decades

In celebration of Milton Keynes’ 50th Birthday later this month, let’s take a look at some of the town’s five decades worth of history. 1967 - 1977 On the 23rd January 1967, a Designation Order decreed that the new town of Milton Keynes be built on over 20,000 acres of land in North Buckinghamshire in the South East of England. The new town was to incorporate the existing towns of Bletchley, Stony Stratford and Wolverton, as well as other smaller existing villages. Its name was to be taken from an ancient village being encompassed within its boundaries – Milton Keynes Village. In September 1969, the world’s first Open University arrived at Walton Hall and in 1971 accepted its first ever students. Milton Keynes Museum opened in Wolverton in 1973. The museum is run mainly by volunteers. In February 1975 the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra (now called Milton Keynes City Orchestra)..

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