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Oral history audio recordings with Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) staff.

CMK/001

A collection of oral history audio recordings of interviews with Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) staff (architects, engineers, surveyors and managers) about the development of Central Milton Keynes (CMK). It also includes one interview with a local farmer whose land was compulsorily purchased by the Development Corporation. The interviews were carried out by Roger Kitchen ...
Interview with David Lock

CMK/001/001

David talks of the importance, in developing CMK, to represent Milton Keynes(MK) overall as a place for private investment in new Thatcherite context, but to hold on to original design principles of MK being a social investment. He discusses the initial design principles drawn up by the original architects such as Chris Woodward. He talks ...
Interview with Frank Henshaw

CMK/001/002

From his arrival in MK in 1971 Frank was closely involved with early decisions on the overall plan for CMK, considering the most financially viable amount of land to be used, and how to service a 1 million square foot shopping building. This was ‘the peak of the experience to be gained in Milton Keynes ...
Interview with Stuart Mosscrop

CMK/001/003

Stuart Mosscrop says: ‘the Milton Keynes Masterplan interested me enormously’ so when invited to head the City Centre team, he didn’t hesitate. Derek Walker had assembled ‘a fantastic team of talent’. Stuart talks about the initial design of the City Centre structure on Bradwell Common: ‘a bean field, literally’, with nothing ...
Interview with Derek Walker (part 1)

CMK/001/004

Derek Walker describes how he was ‘semi-headhunted’ in 1970 for the post of Chief Architect for Milton Keynes, his interview with Jock Campbell and his reasons for accepting: ‘the project, to me, seemed so fantastic and the opportunity so good that you could never get it in private practice’. He comments on the ‘sea ...
Interview with Derek Walker (part 2)

CMK/001/005

In part 2, Derek expresses concern about how much of the design philosophy of MK will endure under the management of the local council, and with changing ways of life in the future. In his opinion: ‘the Shopping Building … has always worked because…the idea of a street idea with landscaping worked very well ...
Interview with Ken Baker

CMK/001/006

On arrival in the CMK architects team, in 1970, Ken was asked to look at potential road layouts. As an architect rather than an engineer, he was determined to: ‘make the best road layouts that we can … that is why there is a degree of architectural intent in the infrastructure’. He ...
Interview with Keith Barrell

CMK/001/007

Keith joined the CMK team as architectural technician on Lloyds Court. He comments on the enthusiasm in the team ‘… within a few days you knew it was gonna be good’. He describes the role of an architectural technician in planning the detailed design of a building; elements such as staircases, sprinkler systems ...
Interview with Tony Southard

CMK/001/008

Tony saw the job of Landscape Architect for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation as an exciting project. He recalls a first visit with Stuart Mosscrop to the CMK site: ‘it was a very high plateau, very windy and very open to the sky …very little vegetation really’. They were able to preserve a ...
Interview with Keith Mason (part 1)

CMK/001/009

Keith talks of his appointment as CMK Divisional Engineer in 1977, and his first impressions, noting the will to spend money to achieve quality. He talks specifically about the choice of granite and paving blocks; also issues relating to supply. He comments: ‘A lot of stuff that was pioneered, I suppose, in Milton ...
Interview with Keith Mason (part 2)

CMK/001/010

In part 2, Keith recalls the formation of Conran Roche and departure of MKDC architects from 1980; later the privatisation of the Architects Department to form PDD in 1987/8. Keith was working in Oman at the time. He comments that his experience as Divisional Engineer for CMK increased his credibility and recalls that ...
Interview with Bill Clewett

CMK/001/011

Bill Clewett was a Milton Keynes resident; he looked out for the first jobs in the new town. He was recruited in 1970 by Kenneth Wren, the first finance director and came to do financial appraisals, to turn the Masterplan ‘into financial speak’: the cost of building Milton Keynes between 1970 and 2000 to a ...
Interview with Allen Duff (part 1)

CMK/001/012

Allen describes his education and career before appointment as a commercial surveyor in the MKDC Estates department in 1970; his background was commercial development, but for the first six months he and other surveyors were engaged in buying land. He then worked on developing the Brunel Centre, Bletchley and was allocated to the CMK team ...
Interview with Allen Duff (part 2)

CMK/001/013

In part 2, there is further discussion about food retailers and the Food Centre. Allen considers the latter to have been a mistake; by taking all the specialist food retailers out of the main building, he recalls that demand reduced and many of them failed. He believed that specialist retailers could survive in ...
Interview with Chris Woodward (part 1)

CMK/001/014

Chris Woodward describes his education, his early interest in architecture, and decision to study at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. They discuss the AA’s philosophy, and Chris describes its teaching by practitioners; many MK architects were associated with AA. Chris talks of his enthusiasms and inspirations, and comments on views of the early (smaller) ...
Interview with Chris Woodward (part 2)

CMK/001/015

Chris refers to the first period of CMK planning as ‘the boring diagram’ phase, producing diagrams looking at how to realise the Masterplan standards. He recalls: ‘…Derek got absolutely exasperated … he is an image person, he wanted models, imagery’. But Chris explains that the diagrammatic plans set a strategy for offering ...
Interview with David Hartley

CMK/001/016

David talks about his early life and inspiration to study architecture at Manchester University, where he met Derek Walker while researching. In 1972, Derek invited him to join the Milton Keynes team, initially to design Woughton Marina, ‘which didn’t happen’. He then joined the CMK team, initially working with Ken Baker on road ...
Interview with Jan Blackhall

CMK/001/017

Jan describes his reasons for choosing civil engineering as a career. He was excited by an advertisement for a position on the Central Milton Keynes team: ‘That sounded absolutely what I wanted to do… designing a new city from scratch’. His first tasks were ‘checking the implications of implementing the grid’ in three ...
Interview with Ivan Pickles (part 1)

CMK/001/018

Working in a small local architecture practice after leaving school, Ivan studied part-time in Bradford College of Art, where he met Stuart Mosscrop. During his next job with Bradford City Architects he applied to study full-time and was accepted by the Architectural Association (AA) into the third year of a five-year course. He describes this ...
Interview with Ivan Pickles (part 2)

CMK/001/019

At the time when Ivan had started working on the first underpass next to the Civic Offices site, he was asked to design the plinth for the Black Horse statue outside Lloyds Court, and liaise with Liz Frink, the sculptor. He recalls visiting the artist’s studio, seeing the plaster form of the horse, and ...
Interview with Douglas Burcham (part 1)

CMK/001/020

Douglas Burcham first describes his education, training and work as an accountant; in particular, work on redevelopment of Lincoln city centre. He joined MKDC in 1972 as a financial appraiser: ‘it was a very good place to work …you were given a chance to do your own thing and you could make ...
Interview with Douglas Burcham (part 2)

CMK/001/021

Douglas talks of the general design principles of Milton Keynes. In his opinion, the great advantage of CMK is that it is based on ‘the idea of the individual development block … you could demolish and redevelop a block, but the infrastructure … should be sacrosanct…’. Douglas explains why he left ...
Interview with John Morris, local farmer

CMK/001/022

John Morris describes his family background and his childhood in Bow Brickhill, in a farming family. He also became a tenant farmer, and in 1941 took up a tenancy at Home Farm, Old Bradwell. He recalls the ‘dreadful state’ of the farms in Old Bradwell at that time and describes the extent and location ...
Interview with Sarah Whittaker

CMK/001/023

Sarah moved to Milton Keynes initially because of the opportunities for exciting architectural work with MKDC; she then worked for a local architect, before joining Commission for the New Towns (CNT), which became English Partnerships (EP). Next she spent two years with Milton Keynes Council as their only urban designer, helping to set up a ...