New Bradwell Windmill - Interview Summaries
During 2025 and early 2026 we interviewed some local people with a close connection to Bradwell Windmill. You can read summaries of their stories here.
Creator
Living Archive MK
Place
Milton Keynes and surrounding areas
Reference number
BWP/005
Records in this Group
Avril Wilde’s connection to Bradwell Windmill stretches back to her childhood in the early 1940s. Visiting her grandparents in New Bradwell during school holidays, one of her first priorities after arriving by train was racing up the hill to see the windmill. Even then, it felt special. Though already closed and somewhat dilapidated, with overgrown ...
Robert James “Bob” Adams was born on 4 May 1945 — VE Day — at home in Stony Stratford, an 11lb baby delivered before hospital births were common. His connection to Bradwell Windmill runs far deeper than local interest: it is woven directly into his family history.
Bob is Robert Adams the Fifth. His great-great-grandfather, Robert ...
Caron Higgins became involved with Bradwell Windmill in the 1970s after joining Milton Keynes Development Corporation as Assistant Buildings Conservation Officer. Having grown up near Outwood Mill in Surrey, she already had a strong interest in historic mills and conservation. Her interview for the post centred on Bradwell Windmill, and her technical knowledge — including ...
Graham Crisp, born in 1956 in New Bradwell and still living in his childhood home, describes Bradwell Windmill as a constant presence in his life. As a boy of seven or eight, he and friends would pay the recreation ground keeper sixpence for the key and explore the semi-derelict mill alone. With broken sails, pigeons ...
Richard Wilde (born 1948) became actively involved with Bradwell Windmill as a volunteer in the years following its 2014 restoration, although he had observed earlier work by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in the 1970s. He explains that the Corporation restored the mill primarily as a visitor attraction to demonstrate that Milton Keynes had history, ...
Tony Clamp (born 1960), a fourth-generation New Bradwell resident, grew up with Bradwell Windmill as a constant landmark. As a child, he and friends accessed the semi-derelict mill using a key from the recreation ground keeper — sometimes free thanks to his grandfather’s role. Despite its dangerous condition, with broken sails and unstable ladders, it ...
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