Claire Billing

Claire is the daughter of the artist Bill Billings. The family first moved to MK in the early 70s and lived in social housing in new estates such as Fishermead, Stantonbury, the Lakes Estate and Furzton. She recalls many positive memories of life on the Lakes Estate in the 1990s when she was a young mother. As a teenager she enjoyed going to Rollers and Bletchley Leisure Centre and later on went to the Golden Flamingo and the Sanctuary and she feels that MK would benefit from more youth centres and activities for teenagers today. She tells the story of how her father built the Lakes Estate dinosaur and how it was moved from Leon school to The Warren, and talks about painting the canalside mural with her Dad. She discusses her father’s creative work, the admiration he was held in by the community and his work with prisoners including Charles Bronson. She remembers his trip to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE, his friendship with Johnny Kincaid and how he was motivated by his care for the community. She enjoys seeing his work still in place around MK (the Peartree Bridge dinosaur, the Beanhill Toadstools, the Tin Man and others) and talks about how he slept in the dinosaur during its construction to protect it from vandals. She mentions the Butterfly Project mural in the bridge by the New Inn and the Upside Down Man in Furzton.