Interview with (Monica) June Shrewsbury (b.1930).
June Shrewsbury moved to Milton Keynes with her husband and family in 1976 after seeing an MK TV advert; they thought MK, with brand new schools, might be ‘just the place’ for their daughter’s education. Her husband, a milkman, got a job in MK, and they were offered a new house on Fishermead. She was involved with setting up many local community groups, particularly the Youth Club; organising events for the kids was ‘a big part of our lives’ when her husband lost his job. She also ‘helped form the North Bucks Dyslexia Association’. She vividly remembers the mud on estates: ‘Every house that had a porch over it had wellingtons, plimsolls … All the children were trained. Nobody went in anybody’s house with their shoes on.’ She talks of shopping, Dial-A Bus and the lack of a hospital. She describes taking part in Stantonbury Drama Group, playing Bingo, and gives her opinion of the city centre.
She made many friends, including Bill Billings: ‘He was what you call the ‘Poet Lorryate … he drove a lorry full of mud all over the city and he liked poems.’ She was invited by Bill to join the Spencer Street commune in New Bradwell. Milton Keynes is her home: ‘I’m glad I came … I feel that I’ve been able to become me. ‘
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