Oral history audio recordings of residents who moved into Milton Keynes to work for Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
The ‘Peoples History of Milton Keynes’ project includes approximately 324 oral history interviews recorded by and on behalf of the Living Archive. This selection of 29 interviews were recorded between July 2000 and December 2001, with residents who moved to the designated area of Milton Keynes, or to nearby towns and villages, specifically to work for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. The interviews in most part cover the interviewee’s reminiscences about their work on the development of the new town, and their thoughts about its success.
Some interviewees have requested that the transcript should only be accessed for educational purposes.
Extent
34 audio tape cassettes
Reference number
PMK/007
Records in this Group
Tony Hird moved to Milton Keynes in 1972 to work for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC). He discusses his work in housing and social policy in some detail, and explains how MKDC needed to work with the employers and the public sector in order to persuade people to move to Milton Keynes. ...
Lesley Davis arrived in Milton Keynes in 1968, one of the first civil engineers to be appointed in the Development Corporation. He worked in MK for ten years, his last job there being as deputy chief engineer responsible for all main drainage/river works, sewerage & surface water balancing lakes. He enjoyed working on the project ...
Peter Bowtell moved to Milton Keynes with his family from London in the 1970s to work as an architect with the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. He talks of his work and also discusses more recent developments in Milton Keynes, such as Xscape and MK Theatre. .
Malcolm Anderson moved to Great Brickhill in 1977, after working in Nigeria, when appointed Chief Land Surveyor for Milton Keynes Development Corporation. He remembers how he got his job, which was based at Kiln Farm. He recalls that initially the office was less computerised than he had been used to in Nigeria, and the introduction ...
Jeff Fawcett was employed as a Community Worker by Milton Keynes Development Corporation. In this role he helped new arrivals in Milton Keynes to settle in to the community. He recalls the different places he has worked in MK. He also talks about the tugboat and toy library.
Ernest Pye was the first Chief Officer to be appointed to the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, as Chief Engineer in 1967. He was A Deputy Planning Officer in local government at the time. He describes the early stages of work on MK’s development, remembering the point at which the Pooleyville plan for monorail was dropped ...
David Stabler was appointed to the Milton Keynes Development Corporation as an architect in 1970. He talks about his experiences on many building projects in the 1970s such as Galley Hill, Tinkers Bridge and Stantonbury, and the hectic pace of work at that time. He then transferred to Commerce and was instrumental in bringing many ...
Brian Salter was appointed Forestry and Conservation officer for Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1971, moving from the development corporation in Runcorn. He talks about his work in Milton Keynes in the early days, in particular coping with Dutch Elm disease. He talks of the ‘City of Trees’ idea and tree vouchers. He recalls ...
Ruth Salter was employed as a secretary by Milton Keynes Development Corporation from 1978; she moved to Milton Keynes in 1980 and later worked in the planning department. She talks about her job, MKDC and Milton Keynes throughout the last twenty years.
Roger Else moved to Milton Keynes to work as a Community Development Officer for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation; he was initially responsible for working with existing residents in the northern part of the designated area, helping them to come to terms with the arrival of the new town and organising public meetings to discuss ...
Norma Jamieson moved to Milton Keynes in 1973 because of her husband’s appointment as a civil engineer for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. She talks about her job as an Arrivals Worker with MKDC, life in Milton Keynes in the early days, and how the city has changed through time.
Alan Duff moved to Milton Keynes in 1970 to work for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation as a commercial surveyor. He describes various aspects of his work there from 1970 to 1983. Initially he worked on acquisition of farmland, particularly land for the sewage works. He recalls the enthusiasm, and ‘frontier spirit’ of MKDC ...
John Napleton moved to Milton Keynes in 1974 to take up a post as chief engineer for highways and traffic for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. In this role he was responsible for the design of ‘grid roads, traffic measures, designs at junctions, traffic lights… anything to do with the citywide infrastructure.’ He set ...
Roger Harrison was employed as a civil engineer with Milton Keynes Development Corporation, and in the early 1970s worked on housing infrastructure for estates such as Tinkers Bridge and Netherfield. He talks of his work, family life for pioneer settlers and life at MKDC. In 1981 he was seconded to the Council of Voluntary Organisations ...
George Whitaker came to Milton Keynes in late 1967 to take up an administrative role in the very early days of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation offices. He talks about various aspects of his work, and mentions Jock Campbell, Fred Lloyd Roche and Derek Walker among many others at MKDC. He worked there for twenty ...
Pam Patterson (born in Beverley, Yorkshire), came to Stony Stratford in 1970, when she got a job at the Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC). She recalls being excited about Milton Keynes; it has lived up to her expectations. She describes her first job working with Derek Walker, Chief Architect. She enjoyed working for ...
Phil Ashbourne came to Milton Keynes in 1976 to work at Milton Keynes Development Corporation as a quantity surveyor in the housing teams. He describes the excitement of his work, and his reasons for being drawn to it. ‘Very few designers can say that they had a hand in such a major development.’ ...
Lee Shostak, a New Yorker, came to the UK first as an exchange student in 1970. he ddescribes why he came to Milton Keynes commenting that the particular emphasis of MK on social development made it an ‘exceptional, almost unique opportunity’. He describes his interview with Jock Campbell in 1972; initially he worked for ...
Roger Kitchen came to Milton Keynes as a Community Worker for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1971. He settled in Wolverton, initially working on Galley Hill estate with Margaret Leaver; they ‘set the blueprint for the role’, helping to set up local organisations and a newspaper, The Noose. In his opinion Galley ...
Bernard Nicholls trained as an apprentice in road and bridge building in Yorkshire. In 1968, while working in Bedford, he was involved in checking the levels of the area of the New City of Milton Keynes; he was then offered the job of Chief Clerk of Works with Milton Keynes Development Corporation, starting work there ...
After graduation in 1969 as an architect, and unsuccessful job-seeking, John Dryden’s learnt about opportunities to work at Milton Keynes Development Corporation. He describes his interview with Derek Walker, Chief Architect; he arrived in MK in 1971, working initially in the Bletchley area team. He talks of some of the projects they worked on, commenting: ...
Jock Campbell recalls how, having decided to retire early from his post as Chairman of Booker McConnell, he was chosen to be Chairman of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation Board, appointed in April 1967; he says it was: ‘… a marvellous job to be offered. …simply a great challenge.’ He recalls his preparation for the ...
Jock Campbell talks about the difficulty of attracting industrialists to Milton Keynes at first. Very good terms were offered, but ‘the striking rate was about one in a hundred approaches before you got them. He comments: ‘MK was a marvellous site offering room for expansion and houses for workers. However there was nothing to show, ...
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