I am a Bletchley Man and proud to be a Bletchley Man but since I came to live here there have been two very brief periods of a few months when I took a residential holiday in Newport Pagnell and Tinkers Bridge. I did not like living on Tinkers Bridge, in the early days of its construction it was known as Stinkers Bridge and I soon moved to Windmill Hill back in Bletchley.
When I lived there Tinkers Bridge had only just completed construction so was suffering from issues I explained in the last chapter. Sapling trees were planted along the roads but the bird population of our new city firmly said: No thank you. I remember so clearly dubbing Tinkers Bridge the estate where no birds sing.
Living in Bletchley Park, in the halls of residence at Milton Keynes College Of Education, I was in the midst of a bird population. Ducks swam on the lake and birds of all kinds nested in the trees. There were pigeons, lots of them, who thought it was their duty to be the alarm clocks for we students. Tinkers Bridge, however, was somewhere no birds sang. There must have been birds when it was farmland and I assume there is a thriving bird population living there today but when I lived there it was an avian wilderness.
Living on Windmill Hill my garden backed on to the golf course. Today that golf course is an abundance of of wildlife. The red kites we see soaring above our heads in Bletchley nest in the trees on Windmill Hill Golf Course. Do you know the song El Condor Passa ? It comes from Peru and translated it means When the Condor Bird passes overhead everyone stops to watch. I took the tune, put a slideshow of pictures from the golf course with the music and posted it on YouTube: When the red kit flies overhead all the golfers stop playing and watch.
I believe that the number of birds you see in any given place is a measure of the quality of the area they inhabit. Tinkers Bridge where no birds sing. Windmill Hill where birds celebrate the beauty of the land. Sadly Milton Keynes Council would like to destroy Windmill Hill Golf Course and its wild life. It wants to turn it into a commercial leisure complex, cut down many of the trees and build houses. Windmill Hill where no birds sing ? It does not bear thinking about.
The number of birds you see in any given place is a measure of the quality of the area they inhabit. How many birds can you see in Central Milton Keynes ? How many birds have made The Hub their home ? The number of birds you see in any given place is a measure of the quality of the area they inhabit. How far away from Central Milton Keynes do you need to move before you can find the abundance of birds singing equal to the area where I live ?
Milton Dreams The City That Never Was ! If ever it does achieve city status it will be able to boast the ugliest skyline of any city centre in Britain, a city centre where no birds sing.
EARLIER CHAPTERS:
COMING SOON:
Jurassic Park
City Of Trees
Maggie Came To Milton Keynes But The Queen Came To Bletchley
Transport Planning
Ley Lines
Icons Of Music
and more.......
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