The Milton Keynes Songbook 2

Living Archive Milton Keynes (LAMK) is a child of the new city, born in the 1970s. It was an antidote to the notion that ‘new towns’ have no history. In 1967 there were 40,000 people living in the three towns and 13 villages of the designated New City area of Milton Keynes. Over half a century later, there are nearly 300,000 citizens living in the six towns and 44 villages of the Metropolitan Borough of Milton Keynes. Every one of them has a story to tell. This has been one of the two Living Archive mottoes: Everybody has a story to tell – and the thousands of hours of interviews collected from local people are evidence of human experiences in the area that go beyond historical dates. Their stories cover the Great War, the Depression, the Second World War, the expansion of homes after it; they describe their lives on farms, in factories, at home, in love, at school, in old age… These personal accounts have been celebrated by LAMK in books, digital stories and film, sculptures, photographic exhibitions, dance, radio ballads and documentaries, but most significantly community documentary musical plays, as originally initiated by Living Archive co-founder, Roy Nevitt. Living Archive’s other motto is Dig Where You Stand – not just for the stories to inspire you but for the talents to transform those stories creatively. We have been particularly blessed with musical talent over the years. Over 100 songs have been written by local musicians for Living Archive projects, based directly on people’s words and events. The Milton Keynes Song Book originally had scores for just 36 of them; now a further 40 songs are included. With this second volume going to every school in the Milton Keynes Borough like the first, and with all 76 songs being featured on the Milton Keynes Song Book website, our new generation of citizens may discover the remarkable local history that the songs celebrate and perhaps even be inspired to create their own. We are proud that the British Library requested – and has stored in its Sound Archive – five LAMK albums: the Living Archive Band’s All That’s Changed Vols 1 and 2; the LAMK radio ballads The Horse and the Tractor and The Works; and the music of Calverton, the Songs… so there is access to Milton Keynes’ history in song from anywhere in the world!