Tim Skelton

Tim was born in Norfolk in 1954. He joined Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1979 as a Negotiation Surveyor in the Private Housing Unit. He rented a flat in Fishermead (which he later bought) and joined the Hockey Club. He was in the Corporation tent for the Homeworld exhibition to advise people about self-build plots.

He transferred to the Commerce Team and was the Commerce Surveyor for Kingston. Government agreed that some of the income from the development could be used for social facilities including sports facilities like gymnastics and table tennis. Also they pitched to England Hockey about a national stadium. Nothing happened at the time, but he became Project Advisor for the National Hockey Stadium after he left the Corporation in 1989.

He did a sports programme on CRMK for about 18 months and interviewed people like Rex Williams (snooker), Wayne Larkins (cricket) and Emlyn Hughes (soccer).

The biggest change he’d seen was the building of Midsummer Place and the severing of the Boulevard. He felt that the city was more a place for families than young people and that the city centre would be unattractive to students if a university was built.

One of his best memories was the joy of working for the Corporation. One of his proudest achievements was contributing the themes for the road names in Bancroft and Great Holm. He felt that the Council lacked the experience to take on developers that the Corporation had had.

He felt the Museum exhibition should feature the MKDC logo: a double axe-head from the Minoan civilisation –  the first town planners. It should also feature the witty, clever advertising and the role played in the building of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.