Brian Barton

Brian was born in London in 1969 and moved to Milton Keynes when he was 11 because his father, who worked for the BBC in a technical production job for the Open University, was offered a transfer from Alexandra Palace to Walton Hall. He knew nothing about Milton Keynes before he arrived, but, from the first, was excited by the green spaces, fields, building sites and newness. He went to Meadfurlong School and then to Woughton.

The family moved to a home in Oldbrook which meant, when he was older, he was within walking distance of the central night spots. He remembered the club at The Point (where he once danced with one of his teachers), Zazoos, the Golden Flamingo, Austens (which became Frames), Oceana (where the bouncers had a ‘conveyor belt’ of ejections out of the fire exit), as well as The Cricketers which was the Oldbrook local pub. He didn’t go to The Joint, which was ‘grungy’, but did go to mainstream rock concerts at a venue at the top of the Food Centre. He had a friend in a band.

He attended most if not all film premieres at The Point from ‘Presumed Innocent’ starring Harrison Ford and often had a VIP ticket through his father. ‘Presumed Innocent’ was the first Royal Premiere held outside London and he was introduced to the Duchess of York because he had a ’gold’ VIP ticket. He donated his tickets to the Living Archive.

He started his work-life with a Saturday job at Key Consultants, was taken on after leaving school and progressed in the property business until the ‘90s recession ‘destroyed the sector’. Kevin Wilson, his political mentor helped him get a job at Woughton Community Council. He became a Parish Councillor and, in 1996, the youngest councillor on Milton Keynes Council. On the Council, he became Chair of Adult Social Services.

The biggest changes he’d seen since moving to Milton Keynes were houses in multiple-occupancy (HIMOs), the rise in knife crime and the difficulty of getting onto the housing ladder. He also remembered the arrival of the hospital, being shown round it and his grandparents moving to Bradville in anticipation of it being built. The things he liked most were the green spaces (so important for physical and mental health; and he praised the Parks Trust), redways, grid-roads and some interesting architecture. He thought the story of Milton Keynes was important for its pioneering spirit and the sense of a fresh start and that the Museum exhibition should reflect that.

For the future, he saw Milton Keynes as being entrepreneurial and in the vanguard of technological advances and, consequently, not suffering from reliance on a single industry.