Interview with John Brian Barnes (b.1922).
John Brian Barnes came to Stony Stratford from Rushden in 1935. His father opened Barnes Restaurant in 1937, a family business for 50 years. When early plans for Milton Keynes were discussed, he was involved with the local Chamber of Trade, who invited Mr Pooley, the county architect from Aylesbury, to address a meeting about the plans. Remembering the presentation of the ‘Pooleyville’ scheme, he says that he was disappointed that this plan was not chosen. He comments: ‘Stony Stratford was the preferred place for people to come and live in.’ He remembers local reactions to the new houses on Galley Hill and Fullers Slade.
In his opinion the coming of the new city enlarged the choice of jobs. Stony Stratford had been a ‘dormitory town’ for Wolverton Carriage and Wagon Works really. In his opinion: ‘ farmers were not affected until the compulsory purchase of land came about and then many of them were deprived of the land that they were using’. He appreciates the fact that MK does not have skyscrapers like other cities, but is not enthusiastic about it. He goes to the city centre rarely and comments that the advent of the city has reduced the facilities in Stony. He was a magistrate until he was seventy and describes the changes to magistrates courts as the city developed.
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