MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN THEY ARE CALLED OUR NHS.

I have been pondering an idea to write a book in the New Year honouring our NHS. On the third anniversary of my daughter’s death in 2020 I published OUR REBEKAHA LOVE STORY FROM OUR NHS. I have been a loud and outspoken supporter of our NHS since she was first diagnosed with renal failure.

I  have been pondering a follow up book and have now decided to write it MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN THEY ARE CALLED OUR NHS.

Right now I am brainstorming lots of ideas. Here is something I scribbled yesterday.

Memory Lane

My grandfather died on Wednesday 11^th April 1934. On his death certificate the cause of his passing is given as:

·       Coronary arterial thrombosis

·       Acute bronchitis

·       Chronic pulmonary tuberculosis

The doctor certifying the death was a J H Reeves.

I never knew my grandfather. He was discharged from the army on Friday 17^th December 1915 due to his contracting tuberculosis while serving in the trenches of The Great War. His death coming eighteen years and four months later. I was born on Friday 3^rd November 1950

and so I never knew my grandfather. I did, however, know Doctor J Hanson-Reeves and have a vivid memory of him, one very specific vivid memory of him.

Friday 17^th December 1915, Wednesday 11^th April 1934 there was no NHS back then. The National Health Service was born on Monday 5^th July 1948, one year and four months before I was born, fifteen years three months after my grandfather’s death when Doctor Hanson-Reeves signed William Henry Ashford’s death certificate.

Late 1954 or perhaps early 1955, I suspect the former, as a small child I contracted measles. A common but if not properly treated a potentially serious childhood disease. I can remember so very clearly Doctor Reeves coming to my home, examining me as I lay in bed then moving to draw the curtains so lowering the light. A side affect of measles can be it damaging the eyes. Thanks to the skill and the home visit of Doctor Reeves my eye sight was not damaged.

At the close of the 1990’s there were less than one thousand cases of measles in the UK per year. In 1955 there were six hundred and ninety-three thousand eight hundred and three cases with one hundred and seventy-four deaths ! What brought about such a dramatic change ? Scientific research ? It played its part but the real reason can be found within our National Health Service and wonderful people like Doctor J Hanson-Reeves.

Family tradition blames the cold, wet and mud of the trenches of 1914/1915 for my grandfather contracting tuberculosis but it is a disease passed from one person to another and not caught through the environment. My grandfather was a fit and healthy man, at school he had been awarded a medal by The Aston School Board for never missing a day’s education. As I look at a photograph of him taken on the day he joined the army and one taken around 1930 he is not the same person.

In Granddad’s day tuberculosis was all too  common. I remember in my boyhood knowing someone who had the illness. There were special hospitals for sufferers which were called sanitoriums. I am a lover of poetry and one of my favourite poets is John Keats. He contracted tuberculosis and died at the age of just twenty-five. Today cases of tuberculosis, often in my childhood abbreviated to TB and in polite society called Consumption, are the lowest ever recorded. Indeed symptoms can be so mild someone may not even realise they have the illness.

As a young teenager I generally suffered each winter from a persistent cough. I remember my father taking me several times to Doctor Reeves asking him to check if I had tuberculosis. I remember Doctor Reeves patiently explaining that TB was not a disease which ran in the family, I did NOT have tuberculosis and if I had I would not have inherited it from my father’s father. But an annual cough I did have until I grew out of it.

Does London still have the nickname The Smoke ? As polluted the capital’s air may be it is a tiny fraction of that it knew in the 1960’s. I did not grow up in London but in Sutton Coldfield on the edge of Britain’s second city Birmingham. It was the atmosphere in which I lived that caused my cough. Today in old age I do not remember the last time I suffered with a cough !

How many people today suffer from Bronchitis ? Today we are a bit posh and call it COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It is thought that something like 2% of the population live with COPD. My Nan, William Ashford’s wife, lived with Bronchitis as an annual event which as I remember it was far worse than anything people may experience today. Yes, cleaner air has a lot to do with that but there is something else which we must not forget, indeed we should applaud – Our National Health Service. Doctor J Hanson-Reeves and his medical successors.

No, my Nan did not smoke and I do not think her husband smoked. The tobacco in his 1914 Christmas gift from Princess Mary given to all soldiers serving in  the trenches was intact. Smoking in my granddad’s say was encouraged, in my youth it was socially acceptable and for teenage boys promoted as macho by the tobacco companies. Thank goodness things have changed. No, Nan did not smoke but she did suffer from bronchitis which was treated by Doctor J Hanson- Reeves and her wonderful National Health Service.

I am going to end this little journey down Memory Lane but will invite you to meander with me again in a little while. Get your walking shoes ready.

OUR NATIONAL TRUST - The champion of heritage and nature - PART TWO

FRIDAY 19^th DECEMBER 2021 – Canons Ashby

(My Plant A Tree ‘Til Seventy-Three target as of today: 9 Actual: 23)

Following my visit to Stowe  which if you did not read you can catch up by CLICKING HERE Now I invite you to check out Chapter Two.

As part of my support for the National Trust's ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030 I have my own little project PLANT A TREE 'TIL SEVENTY-THREE which began with my publishing a book on 3rd October.

From that day onwards until the end of the Trust's project - assuming I live that long - I am paying for a tree to be planted every single week.

I have now started a second piece of writiting to support The National Trust where I will write a diary entry every time I visit, a project which will operate until the end of 2022 then be published as a paperback on Amazon.

In addition to its ultimate publication I am going to blog each visit in the hope it  will encourage others to support this incredible organisation.

Canons Ashby is not the kind of place within The National Trust I would usually want to visit but within The National Trust Canons Ashby is a place I love to visit.

I am not into old houses although I thank and celebrate The National Trust for preserving our heritage, it the parkland and the heritage of nature that I love. As I make a visit to Canons Ashby today I will explain why although it is predominately a Tudor manor house why it  is so special to me.

It was driving along the Northamptonshire country lanes and looking at the trees the words I now use so often came into my mind:

TREES ARE THE FINGERPRINTS OF NATURE – NO TWO ARE ALIKE

Today these trees, now void of leaves, look even more spectacular and the drive from my home to Canons Ashby has put my heart into the mood for a special time.

So here I am sitting to the side of the old Tudor manor house looking at the giant Cedar of Lebanon Tree which dominates the entire estate. How old is that tree ? If only it could speak what stories would it tell ? What would it have to say about the storm of 1987 which tore down its branches and reduced its height by fifty percent ? Even at half its original size, as you can see, it is quite magnificent.

It is very quiet here, silent in fact. 10.25am Friday 17^th December 2021. December indeed but very mild, even warm. I  can see the wonderful National Trust volunteers digging and preparing the soil for next year, for Spring.

 I visited Canons Ashby, sitting on this same bench several times during the Summer. Looking at that giant tree I asked it to inspire me with a story I could set here but that inspiration never came. Adjacent to the Lebanese Cedar is a Mulberry Tree from which the lawn in front of the house takes its name; The Mulberry Lawn. It was that tree, here it is, which gave me the inspiration for my story.

The Mulberry Lawn forms the fourth story in my Book PLANT A TREE ‘TILSEVENTY-THREE which was published on 4^th October to launch my personal support for The National Trust’s ambition to plan twenty million trees by the year 2030.

But back to today. I have moved to sit on the other side of The Mulberry Lawn. Away to my right in the valley below the ha-ha sheep are silently and peacefully grazing.  How many are there ? One-two-the-four-five-six-seven-eight, yes eight of them. Let me take a photograph. But now looking down the valley now there are a lot more than just eight sheep, I have counted thirty. Some are eating the grass, some are sitting on the ground, dare I say sunbathing. Sunbathing in December ! We do have crazy weather patterns now, nothing like those the Tudors knew when the house was occupied by the Dryden Family.

Where is that photograph ?

 
Here it is.

Looking at the picture can you see the ridge and furrow dating back to times before The Enclosure Acts from days gone by ? 

I would like to walk down the valley but with Doggie Jake that would be unkind to the sheep. Sheep are beautiful creatures are they not. Let me introduce you to one in particular. I wonder what her name is. What stories could she tell ? Not a member of The National Trust herself but grazing on the land of National Trust Canons Ashby.

Is her eyesight as good as mine ?  Better perhaps. Can she see the nests high up in the trees.

10.50am and the cloud behind the trees in that picture are starting to break up, the sun is shining. Beautiful December sun.

Time for a walk through the kitchen garden. In the Summer this was an amazing place packed with produce which visitors could pick up and leave a donation at a table near to the entrance. Today the soil is bare, bare as the volunteer gardeners have made it ready for planting next year and for it to become another amazing place in Summer 2022.

I am feeling hungry, time to visit the café. To sit outside in the sunshine and enjoy a National Trust nibble. On an adjacent table there is a Robin nibbling at food left before someone comes from the kitchen to clear it away.

On my table there is a tiny ant looking to see if I will leave a treat for him.

 

It is beautiful creatures like these residents of Canons Ashby that draw me to the parklands of nature in The National Trust rather than the heritage of the houses. But within Canons Ashby and its house there is something which I want to find out more about, perhaps even one day I will even write a story about this.

Standing at the read door to the house and looking through an avenue of sculptured trees there is a statue of a shepherd. Did shepherds actually look like this, I rather think not but the story behind the statue pricks at my mind. The statue of a shepherd boy was made in 1713 and honours the actions of a shepherd during the English Civil War  of 22^nd  August 1642 to 3rd September 1651at Canons Ashby. It is telling me to write a story. Perhaps one day I will.

When you visit Canons Ashby, as I hope this little diary entry will inspire you so to do, go and look for yourself as the statute and see what story it wants to tell you. From the sheep to the robin, from the robin to the ant. From the Cedar of Lebanon to The Mulberry Tree and its special lawn enjoy some quality time with our very special National Trust. Support the Trust’s ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030 the fast forward your imagination to picture your tree when it is as tall as the Cedar of Lebanon or as old as The Mulberry Tree.

 

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

OUR NATIONAL TRUST - The champion of heritage and nature - PART ONE

 

As part of my support for the National Trust's ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030 I have my own little project PLANT A TREE 'TIL SEVENTY-THREE which began with my publishing a book on 3rd October.

From that day onwards until the end of the Trust's project - assuming I live that long - I am paying for a tree to be planted every single week.

I have now started a second piece of writiting to support The National Trust where I will write a diary entry every time I visit, a project which will operate until the end of 2022 then be published as a paperback on Amazon.

In addition to its ultimate publication I am going to blog each visit in the hope it  will encourage others to support this incredible organisation.

Here is my first chapter, blog, entry, call it what you like.

FRIDAY 12^th DECEMBER 2021 – Stowe

(My Plant A Tree ‘Til Seventy-Three target as of today: 8 Actual: 23)

Stowe is the jewel in the crown of The National Trust. If I had a penny for every time I have

been to Stowe near Buckingham I could buy myself a jewel and probably a crown to put it in.

The best visits to Stowe are always spur of the moment visits. For the past few days my old man’s sciatica has been giving me a lot of pain. With this and everything that is going on in the world I have been feeling very depressed which is not like me. Depressed and under pressure, self-inflicted pressure, as I write thousands of words every day in my challenge to claim the title of the world’s most prolific writer on Amazon.

Today more than ever I need to visit Stowe, yes this is a spur of the moment visit and I need to come away with a diamond.

Let’s see what happens.

So here I am sitting on a bench beside the eleven acre lake. The sun is shining very brightly but low in the sky casting its rays across the surface of the water. To my right I can see little but I can hear a lot. I can hear birds singing, different songs from different birds. To my left the trees are reflecting their images in the water. I am going to try to take a photograph. Fingers crossed I can capture the beauty of those water shadows.

 

Hey that worked great didn’t it.

Walking on now behind me is the folly of the Statue of Queen Caroline around which are many saplings newly planted in The National Trust’s ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030. That is an amazing project and a lovely target BUT it is not enough. Twenty million, better forty million, how about fifty million ?

I am now five weeks into my own tree planting project which I  am calling PLANT A TREE ‘TIL SEVENTY-THREE Here in Stowe I am thinking of ways I can inspire more people to support the National Trust’s ambition and smash that twenty million target.

How many trees are there here in Stowe ?  I wonder if anyone actually knows. How many saplings are there within my view as I walk along ? Many, many. I am going take lots and lots of photographs as well as picking up leaves which I will mount and press before laminating them on card to give out to people encouraging them to plant a tree with The National Trust.

I am now looking at the Gothic Folly. Above the haunting building there is not a cloud in the sky but away on the horizon behind the folly are a few whispers of cirrus clouds. Let me try to take a picture and share it with you.

I wrote a story for my two granddaughters set in the Gothic Folly, a story I called The Lonely Ghost. That story features within my book Plant A Tree ‘Till Seventy-Three which I published

on October 4^th to promote my own tree planting support within The National Trust’s ambition. Have you read it ?

Maureen, Doggie Jake and I are off now to walk up to the folly and then to Stowe House where Maureen wants a cup of tea.

Ah the Stowe House café is closed. Oh dear, what a shame, never mind.

Queen Victoria did not like Stowe House when she visited in 1845. Today it is Stowe School and I find myself in agreement with Her Majesty but we have not come here to look at an over the top building but to enjoy the amazing beauty of the parkland gardens in which it stands.

So where are we walking to now ?

Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! We are now sitting in the Lampart Gardens, I have just spoken with a team planting sapling trees within the trust’s ambition. How many of those twenty million have they planted ? We will soon be walking back to the car to head home, my old man’s sciatica is giving me a very bad time and Maureen is going to drive home. (Owch !) But meeting those lovely people planting the trees has given me the biggest possible diamond to take home with me from today’s visit to Stowe.

As I draw this visit to a close let me share a photograph I took of an ancient tree in the Lampart Garden, a photograph of its root system protruding from the ground.

How old is that tree ? One, hundred, two hundred, three hundred possibly four hundred years old. 2021 minus 400 = 1621. Who was on the throne in 1621 ? James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots. What tales could that tree tell us ? As a youngster it witnessed the English Civil War and the execution of King Charles I. As an adolescent it enjoyed the culture surrounding the Hanoverian times. Then as an adult it looked on as Queen Victoria visited Stowe. I wonder if the café was open for her to buy a cup of tea !

Fast forward four hundred years to 2421; what stories will those tree planted today be able to tell ? They will begin by talking of the £5 gift to the National Trust’s tree planting ambition which made life possible for each of them. They can then talk about that team planting them. Perhaps even they may talk about my witnessing the start of their life in The National Trust’s jewel in the crown that is Stowe.

PS:

For every 100 people who read this blog I will plant an additional tree with The nationmal Trust.

To buy the paperback edition of PLANT A TREE 'TIL SEVENTY-THREE it will set you back £7.99 and for the e-book edition £1.99. For either version, for every book sale I will dip into my pocket and pay for a tree to be planted by The Nat ional Trust.

Coming soon my next blog featuires my visit to Canons Ashby on Friday 17th November.

Queen Boudica

At the risk of my constantly repeating myself MILTON KEYNES HAS MORE LEGENDS AND MORE HERITAGE PER SQUARE MILE THAN ANY OTHER TOWN, CITY OR VILLAGE IN THE COUNTRY.

Allow me now to share a chapter from my book MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS and consider the giant legend that was Queen Boudica.

IN SEARCH OF A DEAD QUEEN

We all know Queen Boudica from school history lessons. That fearsome lady with knives on the wheel of wheels of her chariot, that famous warrior championing the plight of the Ancient Britons against the mighty empire of Rome. The widow who suffered under the whip and saw her daughters abused, who now is immortalised in the bronze statue adjacent to

Hyde Park Corner.

But what you may ask has Boudica got to do with Milton Keynes ? Where does her legend touch our area ?  Draw a little closer and I will tell you.

Nero was the Roman emperor (presumably sometime before he took up violin lessons) and a certain Suetonuis Pauligus (Where did they get names like that from ?) was the governor of Britain. This was in about AD 60.  Prastigus (Like I said where did they get those sort of names from ?) was the King of the Iceni Tribe of East Anglia and his wife was the famous Boudica.

A Roman writer described the Iceni Queen as a tall woman with piercing eyes and a loud voice. A great massive mop of red hair hung down to below her waist. Round her neck was a large gold torc. (A torc is a stiff metal ring.) She wore a full flowing tartan dress and over it a thick cloak fastened with a brooch.

When King Prastigus died he expediently left half of his property to Nero and willed that the reminder should be divided between his two daughters.

This appeared to have been more than generous, perhaps intended to ensure the future wellbeing under the Roman occupation of his family. However, half was not enough for the governor who took the lot !

When Boudica and her over-taxed tribesmen made protest the Icini Queen was whipped and her two daughters raped by Roman officers.  Boudica’s resulting rebellion very nearly evicted the Roman Empire from the shores of Britain.

Boudica and her followers marched on the Roman capital of Colchester which they sacked and burned.  The 9th Legion sent to put down the uprising was all but wiped out by the Britons as they marched towards London.  Governor Paulinus, who was at that time in Mona (The capital of Anglesey), ordered a strong cavalry troop to accompany him to London.  They found the city in a state of dire panic.

Marching his southern troops along Watling Street Paulinus intended to meet up with the army now moving post-haste towards Boudica. It was his intention for the larger army to engage with her stronger force. In so doing London was left to its fate and was burned along with Saint Albans, the Roman fortress in Verulamium. If the Roman historian Tacticus is correct no less than 70,000 Roman Citizens had so far perished under the anger of Boudica.

Surging through Milton Keynes Boudica met up with Paulinus and his army near to Towcester. Never before in the history of Roman Empire had such humiliation been suffered and if Governor Paulinus could not turn events it will be better he perish in the fray than have to report back to Nero.

Boadicea outnumbered Paulinus ten to one but hers were undisciplined tribal farmers and herdsmen against the might of two highly trained Roman legions.  She addressed the troops: We British are used to women commanders in war.  I am not fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body and my outraged daughters.  The gods will grant us the revenge we deserve. Think how many of you there are and why we are fighting; then you will be able to win this battle, or die. That is what I, a woman, plan to do. Let men live in slavery if they want to.

But the pride of every Roman soldier was hurt and that of Governor Paulinus above them all.  There would be no prisoners, there would be no slaves, if Roman rule was to survive the rebellion had to be crushed entirely and without mercy. The account of Tacticus records that 80,000 Britons are slain with just 400 Romans but perhaps it would be only right to credit him with just a little creative accounting.

Boudica was not among those lost in battle. After outfighting any man she escaped and made her way across country south to Newton Longville where she poisoned herself.  At least that is what the official story put out by the Romans said, perhaps to discredit their enemy by branding her a coward. Another writer Dio Cassius, telling the tale a century and a half later, explained that Boudica died from a sickness several weeks after the battle, perhaps as a result of wounds turning septic. She was then secretly buried in Newton Longville and greatly mourned.

Governor Paulinus did not stop there. He slaughtered thousands upon thousands more Britons in revenge before reporting back to Nero that this particular part of the empire was again at peace.

 

In my opinion Milton Keynes has more heritage per square mile than any other town, city or village in the country. Within Milton Keynes TATTENHOE has more legend and heritage than anywhere else in our new city.

Today Tattenhoe is a great place, it is a favourite in its parkland for my little doggie Jake for his daily walk. Back in 1994 when I published NOT THE CONCRETECOWS it was an undeveloped area, one of the last to be touched by the wand of The Milton Keynes Development Corporation. Let me now share that chapter from the book:

Howe Park And Saint Giles Tattenhoe:

For as long as I have lived in the area, nearly quarter of a century now, I have known somewhere at the back of my mind of its existence but it was only recently, and then quite by chance, that I came upon the Church of Saint Giles, Tattenhoe. Together with the adjacent Howe Park Wood it forms one of the oldest and most forgotten landmarks within the city of Milton Keynes. It is only with the recent extension of the grid road system into the south-west flank of Milton Keynes that the church and surrounding land have become at all accessible. Even today there is still no road to the church, the closest regular access is to the tiny and ancient hamlet of Tattenhoe from where it lies is through two fields along a farm track.

The existing church dates from 1540 but is built upon the site of a much earlier sanctuary. Little has changed over the centuries, no mains electricity reaches this particular part of the most modern city in Europe so church services still rely upon candlelight. How many places, even in the remotest of areas, remain so totally untouched by twentieth century technology ? Indeed evensong is only heard every other Sunday between Rogation (mid May) and harvest time. Congregations are tiny, of course, and not able to support a vicar of their own so services come under the charge of Reverend Giles Godber, minister of the adjacent church at Loughton. I am much indebted to the Reverend Godber for his help in putting together the account of this particular forgotten landmark.

But it wasn't always like this. From Roman times the wood at Howe Park was a vital resource to the surrounding inhabitants. Tattenhoe expanded at the time of the Norman Conquest as the local population increased. The Doomsday Survey of 1086 listed Howe Park as woodland of one hundred acres in the Parish of Shenley. Venison was an important food during the mediaeval period and the wood a significant source of deer. Muntjac deer still live in the area today along with rabbits, foxes, badgers, wood mice, weasels and thousands of butterflies.

Compared to the wood, Saint Charles Church is but an infant. It is possible that Howe Park is an example of a primary woodland, a surviving fragment of woodland that developed over the whole of Britain after the last Ice Age,  eleven  thousand  years ago ! Adjacent to the remains of the mediaeval ditch that once surrounded the entire wood is an oak tree which could be the oldest living thing in Milton Keynes. The Tattenhoe Oak.

Two fascinating legends are told about Tattenhoe. Firstly, that Thomas A Becket spent time at the Tattenhoe Manor House and worshipped in the original church some years before he became Archbishop of Canterbury and was subsequently murdered in his own cathedral. The second legend claims that a secret passage once existed between the church and Shenley Park. Although neither entrance nor exit are now apparent, perhaps maybe parts still remain deep underground with their mysteries and ghosts from those far off generations.

Tattenhoe declined at a similar time to the consecration of Saint Giles. The reason for the downturn in the area’s fortunes is unclear, perhaps it came as a result of the Dissolution or maybe because of the plague but when Milton Keynes Development Corporation purchased the wood and surrounding land in 1968 it was all but extinct. But while other areas of the city developed planners left this sector dormant. Only in recent months have things started to change.

The infrastructure of the roads is now in place, the redway footpaths are reaching out and the wood has been opened as part of the Milton Keynes Parks Trust. New housing is rising on the very ground upon once stood the original village and, such is progressive, Safeway's is developing a major new supermarket due to open next summer.

So things are very soon going to change. Tattenhone will again become a thriving community. Howe Park will be frequented by many whiling away their leisure hours and thereafter Saint Giles will ring out to the chorus of a hearty congregation. Plans are in hand for a new road from the grid system direct to the church, water and electricity will for the first time in history serve the sanctuary. The ancient moat, so overgrown and stagnant, will be restored. Land adjacent to Safeway Supermarket is reserved for new style church to accommodate a much larger congregation while Saint Giles will continue with its tradition.

When Milton Keynes was in its infancy Mabel Smith, wife of Reverend Hilton Smith, then Vicar of Whaddon and Tattenhoe, looked forward to this time when she wrote:

Someday perhaps this little church will serve a larger congregation. Of those who come from city great to join us with song.

The future of Tattenhoe is bright and perhaps it is fitting the planners left the area until the near completion of Milton Keynes before wrapping the arms of the new city about it. Now the oldest living thing The Tattenhoe Oak joins hands with the newest of the new city to mark the conclusion of one of the greatest and most successful planning population migrations in history.

How things have changed. How special Tattenhoe is within Milton Keynes.

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

An open letter to all members of Milton Keynes Council

An open letter to all members of Milton Keynes Council

I see from a recent news report that the council has submitted a formal application to Buckingham Palace asking for our town to be awarded a city charter.

This is a copy of a letter sent to Councillor James Lancaster on 16^th July 2021. ( 2,281 words.) I trust its length and contents show the passion I have for Milton Keynes. However, in true Milton Keynes Councillor form I was not given the courtesy of a reply by Councillor Lancaster.

Councillor James Lancaster

Milton Keynes Council

Civic Offices

Central Milton Keynes

Dear Councillor Lancaster

I read with great interest a news report speaking about your “passionate” speech in support of Milton Keynes being awarded a city charter. I too am passionate in this regard and believe I have much that could make this happen. As such I would here like to share my own perspective and my dream.

I  have said many times over the years that no person should be allowed to be a member of Milton Keynes Council until they have read Sir Frank Markham’s book. May I ask very kindly if you have read it and if you actually know who Sir Frank Markham was ?

I came to live in Milton Keynes in 1971 when it was little more than an idea on a sheet of paper, I lived in Bletchley Park for three years attending the teacher training college located there. I attended two lectures by Sir Frank as he talked about his book THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT. In my final year I came to know his wife, Lady Markham. I was the student governor on the college board and she a member. We used to sit together at meetings. Later, in the 1990’s, she gave me permission to refer to her husband’s work within my own writing.

THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT BY SIR FRANK MARKHAM – no person should be allowed to sit on Milton Keynes council who has not read this book.

Enclosed please find: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW MILTON KEYNES ? This is something I put together within my book MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS. I sent a copy to every single member of Milton Keynes Council but not a single reply did I receive !  Again extremely kindly I would ask how many questions you can answer ?

I believe with a passion that Milton Keynes should be awarded a city charter but if the process is left in the hands of Milton Keynes Council it will never happen. Indeed it could be argued it should not happen. It has to come from the people, the citizens of Milton Keynes and then it truly deserves to become a reality.

It has been my hobby since I was a child to write stories and features. Across the three years of 2020, 2021 and 2022 I am setting out to become the most prolific writer of e-books on Amazon. That is another matter but does have a relevance. I believe that I am currently the most prolific writer on the subject of Milton Keynes.

My works include:

·       In Search Of The Leons

·       Not The Concrete Cows

·       Milton Dreams The City That Never Was

·       Down And Out In Milton Dreams

·       Milton Keynes A Disco For A New City

I so much want to be able to write something else - Milton Keynes The City That Truly Is

I have been trying to get people to take note of my writing and to use it to spark a dream that we will one day become THE CITY OF MILTON KEYNES. However, trying to get people to listen is an uphill struggle and, sadly, Milton Keynes does not have an effective media to help. Perhaps you can help. We share the same passion.

The first piece of writing I ever did applauding Milton Keynes was something within the Bletchley Gazette probably in 1974 or perhaps 1975. I titled it Dirty Old Town ? Dirty New City ! Taking the words from Roger Whittaker’s DIRTY OLD TOWN I complained about life on a giant building site where it was impossible to go anywhere without coming home with trousers and shoes covered in mud. Milton Keynes is situated on the Oxford clay belt which literally flowed in the streets within the construction areas. I looked forward to the city being completed and the mud going away.

Jerry West and Bill Alder re-mortgaged their homes and set up a weekly free newspaper The Milton Keynes Citizen. What a success it became overnight with its motto: Just a friend dropping in. Sadly the newspaper we know today is a fading shadow of its former self. Most copies go direct from the letter box to the recycling bin.

For about a year I was paid by The Milton Keynes Citizen to write a series of articles about life in the adolescent new city. I also did a few bits and pieces for some national magazines. Many of my articles were collected together and published under the title; NOT THE CONCRETE COWS. Kaleidoscoping  through the adolescent new city I set out to explain there was far more to Milton Keynes than the infamous concrete cows, infamous as BBC presenter Noel Edmunds would never stop joking about them. This book was popular and sold quite well but not as widely read as Sir Frank Markham’s book.

It was out of print for many years, occasionally you could pick up a copy on e-bay, until I republished it on Amazon on 5^th September 2020. It is now available in both e-book and paperback editions.

Forget Bletchley The Home Of The Codebreakers ! Bletchley Park goes way back before World War Two to The Doomsday Book. For a short time in its history it was the home of The Leon Family. As a senior member of staff at Leon School I set up a project for my students to trace the then lost Leon Family. We were successful and reunited the family with its ancestral home. Sir John Leon met with my students to thank them for their work. In 1991 I published our project IN SEARCH OF THE LEONS with Sir John Leon 4^th Baronet of Bletchley Park writing the foreword. Through Facebook I am still in contact which is probably more than anyone else in the area.

This also was out of print for a very long time but working with some of the original students from 1991 it was republished as an e-book at the beginning of this year.

This photograph shows Sir John Leon with two of my students presenting him with the family crest. (Not included in this open letter.)

IN SEARCH OF THE LEONS is then world authority on the area, NOT the present day museum. Bletchley Park under the Leon’s was at the heart of the community, sadly not so today.

Henry Ford said History Is Bunk ! Indeed it is. It is heritage that counts. You do not fond heritage in a museum. You find it alive in society.

For a long time I wanted to write a sequel to NOT THE CONCRETE COWS but never quite had the time. However, with lockdown I had that time and on 5^th September 2020 I published MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS. That is availoable in both paperback and e-book format. As I was writing I contacted several times different members of Milton Keynes Council of which only one showed any interest. When it was published I advised every member of the council. Not a single one replied to my letter !

Within MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS I try to spark a dream that one day we will be awarded city status. I say that when this happens I will write a third book MILTON KEYNES THE CITY THAT TRULY IS.

I so much want to write this book but with its track record Milton Keynes Council is not going to be able to make it happen. The dream has to come from the real people, the citizens of Milton Keynes.

Are you aware of the TV advert colloquially known as The Red Balloon Advert ? You can find it on YouTube. It finishes with the words: WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF ALL CITIES WERE LIKE MILTON KEYNES.

Another advert, another you can find on YouTube. YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHYING LIKE IT – CENTRAL MILTON KEYNES. The song was also released as a pop single. It did not get into the charts but never mind.

Central Milton Keynes today ?  I would not be seen dead there ! Hideous climate footprint which I was able a couple of times to get into the press. It is more than ten years, nearer twenty since I was last there. CENTRAL MILTON KEYNES SHOPPING AS IT NEVER SHOULD BE.

Do you know that when Milton Keynes Development Corporation set down it very first draft plan it placed MIDSUMMER BOULEVARD across the site of the ancient Saxon settlement and aligned it so the sun would rise down its length on midsummer day ? This was one of three ley-lines around which the entire city was built. However, that ley-line was destroyed with the building of The Intu. SHOPPING AS IT NEVER SHOULD BE.

Did you know that Cliff Richard recorded the video for his single WIRED FOR SOUND in Central Milton Keynes ?  I haven often joked that this could not happen today as the production company could never afford the  parking charges but also because where Cliff skates through an underpass that became tent city.

Does the name Jimmy Owens mean anything to you ?  I hope it does. I knew him as James, he was one of my students at Leon School.  A happy teenager with a great life ahead of him. He came with me on a student exchange to California where he flew down The Grand Canyon, panned for gold at the location of the 1849 gold rush, walked The Golden Gate Bridge and so much more. If the name Jimmy Owens means anything to you, you will know how his potential failed to be realised and ended in tragedy.

DOWN AND OUT IN MILTON DREAMS published on 23^rd February 2021 tells not only Jimmy’s story but many others. George Orwell wrote Down And Out In Paris and London - this is DOWN AND OUT IN MILTON DREAMS.

Finally there is MILTON KEYNES A DISCO FOR A NEW CITY published on 31^st January 2021 exploring the music of Milton Keynes and arguing its right to stand alongside the likes of Liverpool, San Francisco and many more.

The headquarters of Milton Keynes Development Corporation was located at Wavendon Towers – Wavendon. When it closed even though there was The New Towns Commission we, unfortunately, had Milton Keynes Council.

If Milton Keynes is awarded a city charter it will be able to boast the most hideous skyline of any city in the world.

Way back in the 1990’s I wrote: I love Milton Keynes but do not like what some people are doing to it and despise what some people would like to do it. Those words are echoed in Milton Dreams The City That Never Was.

What happened to NO BUILDING SHALL BE TALLER THAN THE SURROUNDING TREES ?  It became NO BUILDING SHALL BE TALLER THAN THE EGO OF MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL.

What happened to MILTON KEYNES THE GREENEST AUTHORITY IN THE WOLRLD BY 2050 ?  It is difficult to think of a less biodiverse location anywhere than Central Milton Keynes.

The drug situation has changed over the pandemic but what would Milton Keynes Development Corporation’s Chairman say about the park named after him becoming major drug dealing centre ? How many cities can boast a major drug dealing operation adjacent to its civic officers ?  Milton Keynes can. How many cities can boast for two years running its mayor’s charity location being targeted by drug dealers ?  Milton Keynes can.

Milton Keynes – STAB CITY !  A number of years ago the labour party deputy leader of Milton Keynes Council was sounding off in the media about an initiative to reduce knife crime in the area. From a number of community projects I was involved in I felt I could make a positive contribution and so wrote to her. She ignored my letter. I wrote again and she ignored my second letter. I wrote a third and fourth time but all were ignored.

But the PLOT thickens. PLOT is the correct word.

I was contacted by a conservative member of Milton Keynes Council on the subject. I offered help but refused to accept the invitation to join the conservative party. From then on all of my communications were ignored ! I stopped trying.

Milton Keynes Council members playing politics. Milton Keynes Council thinks it is a fit and proper body to ask for our home to be granted a city charter ?

Within my writing I talk about the good the bad and the ugly in Milton Keynes. I say we should celebrate the GOOD, fix the BAD to make it good then celebrate that. Paint the UGLY and celebrate its new goodness.

I want to spark a dream that Milton Keynes will become a city. However, if that is left in the hands of Milton Keynes Council it will never happen and looking at the council’s track record it would be wrong for it to happen. It has to be the people who present our city for the award of a charter. Politics, with which Milton Keynes Council is riddled must be excluded. The presentation needs to come from the people.

I make no apology for the length of this letter, I have written it following my reading the report of your speech. I am pleased you have the same passion as I have. I would be very pleased to talk with you, to integrate our passions and do what we can to achieve MILTON KEYNES THE CITY THAT TRULY IS.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours faithfully

David J B Ashford

Given the failure of Councillor Lancaster to treat my letter with the courtesy I believe it deserved I made my own personal detailed and highly positive presentation to Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty having a better understanding of politeness DID respond to my letter. This was not simply an acknowledgement from a secretary, my presentation had been shown to our Queen who commented on my passion for Milton Keynes.

On 3^rd December 2021 I sent this e-mail to Councillor Middleton with a copy to EVERY member of Milton Keynes Council. NOT A SINGLE COUNCILLOR RESPONDED !

Dear Councillor Middleton

I would refer to a recent media report where you say you want contractors to be environmentally conscious. (pasted below) I have to say, given the activities of Milton Keynes Council, I find that somewhat hypocritical.

Central Milton Keynes has a giant carbon footprint and appalling lacking in biodiversity. Such is down to the planning policy of Milton Keynes Council.

When the Milton Keynes Development Corporation was planning our new city a fundamental foundation stone was: NO BUILDING SHALL BE TALLER THAN THE SURROUNDING TREES. Milton Keynes Council trashed that idea and trashes it with every new planning application and construction.

Across Milton Keynes there are twenty-two million trees and shrub bushes. How many are there in Central Milton Keynes ?  How many per square acre compared to the borough overall. Milton Keynes is not particularly biodiverse but biodiversity is a word outside the lexicon of Central Milton Keynes. Central Milton Keynes where the council’s planners have given the town what is probably the most hideous skyline of any town or city in England. An architectural folly Milton Keynes Council continues to peruse with a vengeance.

Part of Central Milton Keynes high carbon footprint includes a building which Milton Keynes Council allowed to destroy the fundamental ley-line about which Milton Keynes Development Corporation wrote its strategic plan.

While what you are calling for is right and proper if it stands alone it is both hypocritical alongside the folly of Milton Keynes Council as well as being ridiculously too little hideously too late !

Milton Keynes Council is on the hunt for 'green experts' to help reduce carbon emissions.

Earlier this year, MK Council agreed to look for new contactors to ensure all of its buildings are maintained to high sustainably standards to help it become carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon negative by 2050.

The Council is looking to begin the process of finding contractors to help achieve its climate action goals while delivering value for money for local people. 

A council decision to approve the process is set for 7th December, with contactors appointed from July 2022 as soon as the existing contract ends.

Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Rob Middleton said: “We regularly review our contracts to ensure we’re getting the best deal for our residents.  We want all of our contractors to be environmentally conscious with sustainability at the forefront of everything they do. 

"This helps us provide a better service to local residents, keep bills down and tackle climate change.”

While I fully understand that the majority of Milton Keynes Council Members are too busy playing politics within the council’s three ring circus to care about real people there are a small number, you can count them on one hand, who do genuinely care for residents. Sadly they too failed to engage with such a serious matter. I find that very surprising.

I love Milton Keynes and I hope with all my heart that it will indeed be granted a city charter as part of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. However, it is the good people who reside here who deserve such an accolade NOT by any stretch of the imagination  Milton Keynes Council with its Lord Lucan Fan Club together with a failure to show courtesy and respect to residents.

You will find on YouTube the MILTON KEYNES RED BALLOON ADVERT. I trust you already know this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOC8wtkzcrk&t=11s

Wouldn’t it be nice if all cities were like Milton Keynes.

When that was released I agreed with it so much. I can not today watch that video without a tear forming in my eye. A tear thinking back to the early days of our new city and a tear for what Milton Keynes Council has done to it.

A similar production today may say: Wouldn’t it be sad if all cities had a council like Milton Keynes.

Of course I hope that Milton Keynes is given a city charter but I think, looking at other applications, this may not happen. If it does I urge each and every member of Milton Keynes Council to quit the Lord Lucan Fan Club, to close down your three ring political circus  - after all politics is the vomit of society – and start engaging with the REAL people to bring back WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF ALL CITIES WERE LIKE MILTON KEYNES.

Written in sincerity and love for Milton Keynes

David Ashford – A proud resident since September 1971

9^th December 2021