Interview with William Maddison (b.1916).
William Maddison was born in Coventry into a large family. On leaving the army his eldest brother had achieved his ambition of running a pub, the ‘Shoulder of Mutton’ in Calverton and William joined him in 1948 to help out, working in the gasworks in Old Wolverton until he married and was offered a better job by his wife’s employer. He later worked at Hanslope Park, in the stores, for over twenty years until 1976, then took to travelling.
He witnessed first-hand the growth of Milton Keynes; he recalls fitting gas stoves in pre-fabs in Bradville that were later replaced by new MK houses. Overall, in his opinion the development has been a good thing, although he can understand why some villagers had a tendency to ‘moan about it’. He does not recall residents being involved in planning decisions; but remembers seeing models and photographs. Talking of changes in MK, he discusses topics such as transport, road safety and roundabouts. He misses having a local cinema, and the loss of some local shops, but in his opinion community spirit still exists. Commenting on the a big improvement in parks, lakes, walks and associated leisure activities, he says that MK is: ‘one of the greenest cities in the UK’. He would like to see it become a city, and the domed church, Christ the Cornerstone a cathedral.
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This is my Uncle Bill. My mother’s brother. He was very kind and funny when I was a child. He would by things from joke shops to amuse my sister and I. When he travelled he would bring me something back. 60 years on I still have a handkerchief from the then called Tanganyika. There was an elephant hair bracelet too and a pink handkerchief from Niagra Falls. I know he visited Antartica too. In fact, everywhere.
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