Interview with Marjorie Clark (b.1916) about moving to Bletchley, local life, the Labour Party and Bletchley's development.

Marjorie Clark and her husband bought a house on Bletchley’s Castle Estate in Shenley Road in 1954, moving from Wembley when her husband, a railwayman, was promoted. She joined the Mothers club to make friends, and volunteered at the Welfare Clinic. She remembers mixed feelings among locals about the influx of Londoners, but overall she thought that the integration of incomers worked well. She talks of local shopping in the 1950s, and activities for her two children including youth clubs and cycling. She remembers local building companies Ebbs and Tranfield, and the land and housing they developed.

Her husband Clifford, a regular correspondent to the local press, became a Labour Councillor. However he had disagreements with Robert Maxwell and was later expelled from the Labour Party, as were others such as Frank Atter. As a Councillor, her husband’s key interests were the Queen’s Pool and other amenities. He felt sadness about the closure of the Pool and also the demise of the Bletchley Gazette. The Clarks both felt that the Bletchley Leisure Centre pool was ‘not a proper pool.’

Labour Party voluntary work took up much of their time so their social life was limited, but she recalls dances at Wilton Hall. She also recalls the Queen’s visit to Castles Estate to open a new-style house. She remembers the Oxford-Cambridge railway line and the Stowe School boys changing trains at Bletchley for London. In her opinion Bletchley is a bit dull now and lacks a centre; she dislikes the new Tesco, which forced closure of the Co-op. However she and her husband were in favour of the development of the Milton Keynes City Centre.