Penny Miller

Penny Miller was born in Northampton in 1959. In 1970 her father became Head of English at Ousedale School in Newport Pagnell; in l972 her Mother became the Headmistress at Stoke Goldington School and they moved into the school house there; they later moved to Newport Pagnell when Penny was 16. She spent most of her time in Stoke Goldington or Newport Pagnell until Stantonbury Campus was built, after which she became very involved in music, first at Stantonbury, and later throughout Milton Keynes. She remembers the pioneering spirit of Stantonbury from her days in the sixth form; she was heavily involved in extra-curricular music activities and productions. She joined MK Chorale at the age of 14, at the time of its foundation. She remembers the opportunities to attend concerts and meet artists and talks about the spirit of Stantonbury Campus as a unique school and community hub, and the influence of people like Geoff Cooksey, Roy Nevitt, Hilary Davan Wetton and the idea behind unstructured time for independent study, Day Ten. She remembers learning to drive at the point when roads didn’t necessarily go anywhere, and all the changes to the city as different areas were gradually filled in.

After studying at university in Norwich, Penny returned to MK, settling in Great Linford, where she still lives, and enjoys walking, around the church, the manor house and the canal. She feels the city was more oriented around community in the early days, and had more rural connections; she went to school with many children who grew up on farms, and remembers the school bus stopping for the cows to come in for milking. She is still very involved in the musical life of the city.