Milton Keynes People Collection

In January 2017, Milton Keynes celebrated its 50th Birthday. The new town was born with an Act of Parliament in 1967 which approved the creation of a Development Corporation to build a new community of 250,000 people covering 21,869 acres of Buckinghamshire farmland and villages. Living Archive MK used this anniversary as a focus to capture the stories and memories of Milton Keynes people, from original residents to early pioneers and the newly arrived. The MK People section of the project was initiated by Lee Shostak, former Planning Director of Milton Keynes Development who was researching a book telling the story of the Development Corporation’s work, and Roger Kitchen, Chair of LAMK, and himself formerly employed as a community worker by the Development Corporation.

Milton Keynes People comprises interviews with employees of Milton Keynes Development Corporation and other Milton Keynes people who were involved in the development of the new city. Each interview is preceded by a short biography of the interviewee and some interviews are accompanied by documents or images they have provided, related to their work in Milton Keynes; some interviewees have also provided transcripts of talks they have given.