Interview with Eileen Bowen (b.1945).

Eileen Bowen was born in Barbados; she came to the UK with her husband to train as a nurse, and has lived in Milton Keynes since the mid-1970s. They chose Milton Keynes because of the availability of housing at cheaper prices than London, and the environment for bringing up children. She recalls the ease of making friends and the community spirit in their cul de sac. Her membership of the Methodist Church was a good way of meeting people. She now runs the local Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia support group.

She discusses availability of jobs when she first arrived, healthcare, transport and leisure facilities, and mentions some racial prejudice that she has encountered. In her opinion MK has plenty of leisure facilities for the young but she would like more opportunities for older people. Her most memorable experiences were the tour of the city for new arrivals, and the opening of the shopping centre. She considers MK is her home, but ‘you can never prefer it to Barbados’. Overall she says: ‘moving and settling into Milton Keynes was the best thing I ever did in England.’