Marking and celebrating locations of heritage

Trees are the fingerprints of nature, no two are exactly alike. Hold on to that thought for a moment.

Through these blog postings and the support of Facebook groups I am so pleased with the level of support my writing project IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON is receiving. I am drafting text then in the New Year I will start to refine things aiming to publish the book in April. I want to do a bit more drafting before sharing the project with the present day Leon Family.

Within the project I want to have a plaque placed at the site of LEON DINOSAUR recognising it being Headmaster Bruce Abbott’s idea and the work of community artist Bill Billing working with Leon School Students in 1991.

For many years I have felt that the wording placed by Sir Herbert Leon on Denbigh Hall Bridge needs to be reproduced in a part of the bridge where people can today safely read it.

PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1838 THE SOUTHERN

PART OF THIS RAILWAY TERMINATED AT THIS BRIDGE WHENCE PASSENGERS WERE CONVEYED BY COACH TO RUGBY WHERE THEY REJOINED THE RAILWAY TO BIRMINGHAM. THIS COMMEMORATION BY SIR HERBERT LEON BART OF BLETCHLEY PARK AND BY KIND PERMISSION OF LRNW RAILWAY AUGUST 1920.

I recently shared the story of the Co-op on Whaddon Way and explained how it is linked to the world’s first telecommunications satellite. It stands on former Leon lands and I believe a plaque should be placed upon it to celebrate its heritage.

Trees are the fingerprints of nature, no two are exactly alike.

I have walked around Leon Recreation Ground and looked at the trees trying to figure out if any of those we see today were there when Sammy Leon gave the land to our community.

A minute for Fenny Stratford Urban District Council for Tuesday 22^nd February 1898 reads:

A letter was read from Mr P Cobb, Solicitor to Herbert Samuel Leon, of Bletchley Park, enclosing deed of gift of a piece of land forming until recently part of the Glebe of the Rectory and Parish Church of Bletchley, situate in the Parish of Fenny Stratford, containing by admeasurement nine acres, two roods and twenty-three perches or thereabouts, together with a pathway leading there to and from the Bletchley Road for the purpose of a recreation ground.

The chairman proposed and Mr Thomas Kirby seconded that best thanks of the council be given to Herbert Samuel Leon Esquire for his magnificent gift. Carried unanimously.

I am thinking that our community could perhaps in 2022, one hundred and twenty-four years after Sammy’s gift, plant a tree and call it Leon Tree. Leon Oak ? Leon Beach ?  Leon Whatever ? What do you think.

I am planning to share this project and the support which has started to orbit around it with Bletchley & Fenny Stratford Council next week. I would like to include any thoughts friends may have. What are your thoughts ? I live in West Bletchley but know of and pre-pandemic suppirted Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council which I regard as an important part of our community. (If you want a smile check the picture at the end of this post !)

Drop me an e-mail at dashdford566@gmail.com  or friend me on facebook then message me.

Thanks

David

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

Christmas Lights Switch On 2018

THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT

THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT by Sir Frank Markham

Over more than three decades I have said that no person should be allowed to serve as a councillor in Milton Keynes unless they have read Sir Frank Markham’s book THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT. With my tongue in my cheek I wonder how many minor can actually read but that is not part of our pathway IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON.

When I was writing my book NOT THE CONCRETE COWS kaleidoscoping through the then adolescent new city of Milton Keynes Lady Markham gave me permission to use her late husband’s writing within my book. As I write this new work I will be referring to Sir Frank Markham’s work and wish to pay tribute to him. Have you read THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT by Sir Frank Markham ?  Never mind our council members perhaps I should extend my applause of the book and recommend it to every Milton Keynes resident to read.

When Sir Frank wrote his book there was no Milton Keynes save for an idea on a sheet of paper within the offices of Milton Keynes Development Corporation. The timing of his book, therefore, is of special importance as it became something of a foundation stone for the Milton Keynes we know today.

Sydney Frank Markham was born on Tuesday 19^th October 1897 in Stony Stratford. He left us

on Monday 13^th October 1975. He was a politician but not perhaps a politician as we comprehend such in the third decade of  this century. Believe it or not he served as a member of parliament for three different constituencies and representing three different political parties ! 

At the 1950 general election he stood as the Conservative candidate in the North Buckinghamshire constituency but failed to unseat the sitting Labour member Aiden Crawley. However, when it came to the 1951 general election he beat Crawley by a majority of only fifty-four votes. He then held the seat with narrow majorities at the 1955 and 1959 elections before standing sown at the 1964 general election.

Frank Markham was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II on 30^th June 1953 in the 1953 Coronation Honours.  

Frank Markham was a Milton Keynes man even though it was not until he was seventy years old when Harold Wilson’s government designated an area of land within North Buckinghamshire, Markham’s former constituency, for the building of a new city. Sir Herbert Leon lived in Bletchley Park from 1883 until his death in 1926 and lady Fanny Leon from 1883 until her death in 1937, he may not have known them but Sir Frank certainly knew of the Leon Family and their home of Bletchley Park.

It was in Bletchley Park, attending teacher training college, that I met Sir Frank Markham listening to him speak in two lectures talking about his books. That would have been in 1972 or perhaps 1973.

In my final year I was the student representative on the college board of governors where I came to know Lady Markham, I can clearly remember all these years later our sitting together and some of the things she said at one particular meeting. When I was writing Not The Concrete Cows in 1993 I made contact with Lady Markham seeking permission to use her husbands work in reference as I wrote. I did this through a lady who I believe, if my memory is serving me correctly, who was headmistress of Castles First School in West Bletchley and daughter of Sir Frank and Lady Frances. Permission was given in a letter which has long since been lost. This chapter within THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON seeks to thank her for that permission and to recognise the work of Sir Frank.

Sir Frank and Lady Markham are buried in Calverton Road Cemetery Stony Stratford. A school within the new city was named after Sir Frank Markham but sadly the folly of reconstruction changed its name divorcing that area of education from the memory of a great man.

Almost one hundred years now since Sir Herbert Sammy Leon left us and close to fifty years

since Sir Frank Markham passed on. How many are there in today’s Milton Keynes who in fifty to one hundred years time will be remembered within our then community’s heritage. I can not think of anyone.

So do find yourself a copy of Sir Frank’s two volume work THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT, read it and understand just how special his passion for our new city was. Perhaps we should re-name his book to The HERITAGE o f Milton Keynes and District.

REMEMBER to contact me drop me a line at dashford566@gmail.com or friend me on facebook and message me. My writer's profile can be found at www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

Saussages, Tea Bags, Maggie Thatcher and a bit more

FORGET THE CODEBREAKERS – BLETCHLEY THE HOME OF THE SAUSSAGE, THE TEA BAG, THE HANDBAG AND MORE

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON is not going to be a book about history – history is bunk after all. This will be a book about heritage and within heritage is legend. LEGEND it may have happened, it could have happened, a grain of truth is needed but not a lot more than a grain to create a legend.

 

The northern boundary of the Leon Estate was where the Watling Street went under the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Denbigh

Bridge, later to be known as Leon Bridge. South of this boundary Lady Leon sold off some land to build factories, not because she was short of a few bob but because she wanted to provide a source of employment for local people. Just how far South she allowed this sale of land to extend I am not off hand certain and I suspect some of the legends I am about to share are beyond her ladyship’s generosity but this is legend and just as legend does not need history so it takes no account of geography !

 

FORGET BLETCHLY THE HOME OF THE CODEBREAKERS LET’S TALK ABOUT BLETCHLEY THE HOME OF THE SAUSSAGE: Scot

of Bletchley – Makers of the world’s finest cooked meats. That  was not an empty boast. In the days before I became a vegetarian I can personally confirm that nobody ever made a sausage the way Scot did.

 

In the early days of Milton Keynes New City Scot with its factory on the former Leon Land was a major employer, indeed it needed more workers than our  infant new city could provide so ever day ran its own coach service bringing staff up the M1 from London.

 

The Leons were of the Jewish faith son probably would not have indulged themselves with sausage and mash courtesy of Scot but I am certain they would have been proud the factory stood on their land.

 

Sadly, Scot of Bletchley was taken over by some food giant or other and stopped making the

world’s finest  cooked meats.

 

CODEBREAKERS ? NO BLETCHLEY THE HOME OF THE TEABAG: In the same area as Scot was Tetley Tea. Legend says the teabag was developed in different places at different times but as we take Sammy on his 2022 tour there is only one legend we are interested Bletchley The Home Of The Tea Bag. LEGEND it may have happened, it could have happened, a grain of truth is needed but not a lot more than a grain to create a legend.

 

MAGGIE’S HANDBAG: On Tuesday 29^th September 1979 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly opened the Centre MK but if truth be known she was really there to buy a couple of handbags in the John Lewis sale ! That is not a legend, that is a bit of fun. Neither is it a legend, it is a fact that Margaret Thatcher purchased clothes from Aquascutum/Rodex Coats with its factory guess where ? On that former area of land Lady Leon sold for factory development.

 

There is another legend, actually a fact about Maggie’s fashion choice. When Leon School was briefly twinned with Sutter Junior High School in Sacramento California Milton Keynes Development Corporation Milton Keynes Development Corporation gave me £50 to put in the student exchange fund. In return I had to hand out a leaflet advertising Maggie Thatcher buying her clothes in Bletchley !

 

STACK IT HIGH SELL IT CHEAP: I wonder where the Leon Family did its shopping, or where the staff from Bletchley Park did their shopping. No supermarkets between 1883 and 1937 !

 

Elmo and Fine Fare to the best of my memory, and the Co-op of course but I will come to that enter prise in a moment, had small shops which they called supermarkets in Bletchley. When Sainsbury’s opened on the site of the former Bletchley Cattle Market this was exciting for 

residents. However, we all wanted Tesco. How many branches of Tesco are there in Milton Keynes today ?  Too many to count. How many branches of Tesco stand on former Leon land ? A couple including the big supermarket either on the edge or at  least adjacent to the land Lady Leon put up for sale.

In the 1980’s before Tesco found its way into Bletchley my wife and I would drive to Flitwick to partake of its Stack It High Sell It Cheap philosophy.

 

ROYAL MAIL TELECOMS: The first permanent telephones were introduced into England in 1877, that was before the Leons moved into Bletchley Park. By the 1930’s all affluent homes had their own personal telephones. Bletchley Park was an affluent home but looking at a photograph of Lady Leon working at her writing desk I can not see a telephone. No doubt she had a servant to make and receive calls on her behalf.

The mansion in Bletchley Park post World War Two was a training centre for Royal Mail telephone engineers. Forget BT it  had not been invented back then. When we come to talk about the resident ghost of Bletchley Park Mansion it was the head of the training centre who told me of that legend.

 

In the infant days of Milton Keynes New City the longest road in Bletchley was Whaddon Way. Still a major road today back in the Leon’s days it was a country lane crossing their estate.

 

On Tuesday 10^th July 1962 at 10.35am UK time America launched the world’s first telecom satellite – TELSTAR. Twenty-five years after the passing of Lady Leon. Celebrating the launch of Telstar the English pop group The Tornados had a hit record with their version of Teslstar. Standing on Whaddon Way, former Leon Land, was a pub THE SATELITE named after this first ever telecommunication satellite.

 

The once popular watering hole closed not all that long ago. It became a branch of Morrissons Local, my son was actually its manager, and then it became The Co-op. A great little local store it is part of Bletchley’s heritage and is indeed a legend. It has tenuous connections with the Leon Family but it stands on former Leon land. I wrote twice the branch suggesting a plaque be put on the building celebrating its heritage but neither of my letters received an answer. Perhaps as we now wander around in the footsteps of Sammy Leon it is time to approach the Co-op again.

 

LEGEND it may have happened, it could have happened, a grain of truth is needed but not a lot more than a grain to create a legend. Whatever, I hope you have found this chapter a bit of fun.

I am aiming to publish this book in April 2022.

THANK YOU all for showing such interest in these little blog posts. REMEMBER to contact me either use e-mail: dashford566@gmailcom or friend me on facebook and message me.

David

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

LEON BRIDGE: Not only a Bletchley landmark but also one of national importance

LEON BRIDGE

Not only a Milton Keynes icon but a national landmark. An icon which is in the process of being long forgotten.

When I was a student teacher in Bletchley Park I attended two lectures given by Sir Frank Markham at the time he published his book THE HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES AND DISTRICT. In those early days of our new city there was little beyond the plan on a sheet of paper. In my final year I served at the student representative on the college board of governors, also a governor was Lady Markham.

In the 1990’s I had a page on our local newspaper, many of those articles were gathered together and published as NOT THE CONCRETE COWS which was a kaleidoscope through the then adolescent Milton Keynes. Lady Markham gave me permission to use her husband’s work within my writing.

A chapter within NOT THE CONCRETE COWS speaks of Leon Bridge:

Everyday thousands upon thousands of rail passengers thunder over it and hundreds of cars vans and lorries passed beneath it, even the odd pedestrian still walks along its footpath yet few realised its significance . Officially it is the Denby Hall Railway Bridge but to those who know its story it will always be Leon Bridge.

In 1882, at the age of thirty-two Herbert Samuel Leon brought his new wife Fanny to Bletchley and went about setting himself up as the local squire. He purchased Bletchley Park together with the adjoining properties of Home Farm and Denby Hall Farm. His land extended over much of present day Bletchley, from Shenley Road to Watling

Street and from Church Green Road to the railway.

He was determined to make and leave his mark upon the area both of which he succeeded in. At the extreme South of Milton Keynes one of our schools still bears his name, an area of ground in Fenny Stratford given to the local children to play upon  and is still known as Leon Rec. And then there are Leon Cottages and Leon Avenue. But he did not confine his activities to what is now South Milton Keynes he was a director of the Wolverton Tram Company, justice of the peace and liberal member of parliament for North Buckinghamshire from 1891 to 1895. Wherever Leon could make his mark locally he seized the opportunity as he laid down the foundations for a dynasty to rule Bletchley as a personal Kingdom. (In fact the dynasty lasted only for his generation as his son George sold the family’s Milton Keynes properties in 1933 but that is another story.)  One place where he literally carved his name was on the Denby Hall Railway Bridge.

Approach the bridge from the south and upon the right hand upright, obscured by the undergrowth. British Rail get your shares out, you will read engraved.

Prior to September 1838 the southern part of this railway terminated at this bridge when passengers were conveyed by coach to rugby where they re-joined the railway to Birmingham. This commemoration by Sir Herbert Leon Bart of Bletchley Park by kind permission of the LR MW railway August 1920

Kind permission Is a little interesting for Leon and the railway were not exactly the best of friends. Some years earlier he had taken the company to court in a civil action for depositing soot from their steam engines on his land. The court found in his favour but awarded damages of just one shilling - 5 pence.

But thanks to Leon the important part of railway history and the role of Milton Keynes within its infancy are preserved.

A railway journey from London to Birmingham in 1838 was more than a little different from today. No Intercity 125’s in those days, gliding along at speeds of up to 125 miles an hour. The line from London Euston to Denby Hall and from Rugby to Birmingham were opened on April the 9th 1838. Two obstacles prevented a continuous railway journey.  The first was a viaduct to cross the River Ouzel at Wolverton and the second the construction of the tunnel Kilsby Both were monumental projects even by the side of the rest of the line and forced a five month delay to completion during which time coaches connected passengers on the four hour journey between the two stations.

Denby Hall was chosen as the terminus because it was there that the railway crossed the Watling Street but no prospect proper facilities were installed for the passengers. There was no sanitation, no proper accommodation, tents often being the only overnight shelter and mud was everywhere. Railway construction workers were billeted at Denby Hall and drunken brawls were commonplace. One passenger described Bletchley as a small miserable village where those disappointed at getting from Denby Hall must not expect to find accommodation, even for their dog !

The only place to take any refreshment was at the Denby Hall Inn which had the most terrible reputation for previously harbouring highwaymen and criminals and for generally being a bawdy house. At least three murders took place in the locality which two centuries earlier had been the site for the local gallows.

All these unpleasantries must have spurred the railway company to complete the line as quickly as possible.

But all this took place twenty years before Herbert Leon was born and fifty years before he brought his family to Bletchley. Had he been around at the time perhaps the passengers would have enjoyed a slightly better time, not only from Leon’s philanthropy nature but also by way of his careful eye to the profit that could be made out of entertaining the travellers.

Preparing to write a sequel MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS I spent time in the summer of 2019 at Leon Bridge. Those words of Sammy Leon:

Prior to September 1838 the southern part of this railway terminated at this bridge when passengers were conveyed by coach to rugby where they re-joined the railway to Birmingham. This commemoration by Sir Herbert Leon Bart of Bletchley Park by kind permission of the LR MW railway August 1920

Are now obscured by shrubbery. Even if this was cleared it  would be unsafe for any one to stand by the side of the traffic in order to read the words.

Within our project IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON I would like to campaign for the words to be reproduced in an area where t hey can safely be read. I suggest this could be at  the end of Melrose Avenue where a path runs under the bridge. Not quite as easy as that, anything will need a lot  of thought and some careful planning.

I would suggest that raising public awareness and campaigning to lift Leon Bridge out of obscurity would be better in the New Year and not now as we run up to Christmas.

Leon Bridge is not just a Bletchley icon of heritage, nor of Milton Keynes, this is of national importance within our rail network.

The words of Sammy Leon again:

Prior to September 1838 the southern part of this railway terminated at this bridge when passengers were conveyed by coach to rugby where they re-joined the railway to Birmingham. This commemoration by Sir Herbert Leon Bart of Bletchley Park by kind permission of the LR MW railway August 1920

These little blog postings I have been sharing have generated huge interest. Within the past week several thousands of people have read what I have scribbled. I am deeply grateful for this support and that of the lovely facebook groups who have allowed me to share my project.

I  am aiming to publish the finished work in April 2022 and to make it a gift to the Leon Family in recognition of all Sir Herbert and Lady Fanny gave to our community, a heritage upon which a hundred or so years later we all stand.

David – writing under the pen-name of Max Robinson

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com

To contact me please either e-mail me at dashford566@gmail.com or friend me on facebook and message me there.

Leon Dinosaur is on his death bed and I for one am very angry about the neglect he is suffering

I visited our dinosaur this morning and found him ill, TERMINALLY ILL and suffering from NEGLECT !

CLICK HERE for my blog post from 13^th November. The number of friends who have been reading my blogs over the past week as I prepare for the writing project IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON runs into thousands. THANK YOU and THANK YOU to the facebook groups who have allowed me to share this project within their forums.

Leonasaurus is on his death bed.

First of all as I approached the iconic sculpture it looked to me as if he had been on a day trip to Bristol the world’s capital of scruffy graffiti !  Who ever thought this was an appropriate costume for Leonasaurus to wear !

I last saw our dinosaur in the summer of 2019 when all was well. Now preparing to write IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON celebrating the heritage of Greater Bletchley I revisited as part of placing our dinosaur firmly in a footstep of heritage.

If you visit the Peartree Bridge Dinosaur you will find a simply notice of heritage explaining this is the work of our late community artist Bill Billings. My thinking was to have something similar for Leonasaurus.

The dinosaur was Leon School Headmaster Bruce Abbott’s idea. He delegated it  to me to project manage. It was Bill Billings and the Leon Students of 1991/1992 who made it happen. I DO NOT want my name on any plaque but IDO WANT Bruce Abbott and Bill Billings to be acknowledged.

Leonasaurus is thirty years old but  unless something is done as a matter of urgency he will vanish from sight.

Not only is our dinosaur covered in this hideous graffiti which presumably somebody considers to be art but that “art” can not cover up the crumbling exterior. Just look at the pictures with chunks of concrete falling away !  Look at the beer cans thrown into the fenced area !

As I began this project I hoped that I would find Leonasaurus was in the care of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council who I am sure would support the heritage plaque idea I wish to put forward. Sadly I now understand this terminal lack of care for our beloved icon is within Milton Keynes Council !   Milton Keynes Council and its three ring political circus of jugglers, acrobats and clowns. I will be advising the council members covering the area in which our dinosaur is located but I will most certainly not be holding my breath !

Yes I am angry and I hope my anger is coming out in this blog !  I am angry that the work of Bruce Abbott, Bill Billings and Leonite Students is being treated with such disrespect. I  am angry that this yet again a failure on the part of Milton Keynes Council. Passionate as I am about our heritage, something I have been writing about for more than thirty years, I am angry that this icon of heritage is about to vanish from our community !

I will leave my anger there !

Leon Dinosaur, Leon Bridge and a Radio Podcast od heritage

Were you a Leonite who was part of the team working with Bill Billings building Leon Dinosaur ?

To check the original blog about Leon Dinosaur CLICK HERE.

When I shared the story behind this project which was the idea of Headmaster Bruce Abbott then given to me to make happen I was so pleased by the response to that blog posting.

Today I am going to visit the dinosaur at Warren Adventure Playground and say Hello to an old friend. The Peartree Bridge Dinosaur has a small plaque saying it was built by Bill Billings, I want to make as part of IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON a campaign for a similar acknowledgement for our dinosaur.

If you were part of the team building this icon of heritage and would care to share any memories please either drop me an e-mail at dashford566@gmail.com or friend me and message me on facebook. I want to put this idea to the council on Monday next week 29^th November.

On another matter: Does anyone know how to set up and manage an on-line petition ? Again a part of IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON I want to campaign for Leon Bridge to be lifted out of obscurity and proudly honoured as a part of our heritage. If you can help please either e-mail at dashford566@gmail.com or friend me and message me on facebook.

PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1838 THE SOUTHERN PART OF THIS RAILWAY TERMINATED AT THIS BRIDGE WHENCE PASSENGERS WERE CONVEYED BY COACH TO RUGBY WHERE THEY REJOINED THE RAILWAY TO BIRMINGHAM. THIS COMMEMORATION BY SIR HERBERT LEON BART OF BLETCHLEY PARK AND BY KIND PERMISSION OF LRNW RAILWAY AUGUST 1920.

To check out my author's profile visit - www.maxrobinsonwriter.com 

LEGENDS OF MILTON KEYNES CLICK HERE

HERITAGE

Milton Keynes has more heritage per square mile than any other town or city in the country. At

least that is what I believe. For thirty years I have been writing about this valuable assett. I talk about this heritage in my book MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS.

I took my love of Milton Keynes and my writing about its unique heritage and in July this year made a personal presentation to Buckingham Palace supporting Milton Keynes being given a city charter within Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee celebration. I received a reply with our Queen acknowledging my thinking.

Blogging out my preparing to write IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAMMY LEON I have been overwhelmed by the support I have been getting each day. More than 1,500 people have read my blog over the past week.

I would here share with you lovely people my DRAFT for the introduction to the book.

INTRODUCTION:

History is bunk ! Words from Henry Ford and no more accurate words have ever been spoken in regard to society. History belongs in a museum, it is heritage upon which society lives its everyday life.

The Leon Family came to Bletchley Park in 1883, Sammy Leon passed away in 1926 and his

wife Lady Fanny Leon died eleven years later. Now nearly one hundred and forty years since Bletchley Park became synonymous with the Leon Family the heritage given to our community can be seen everywhere, every day.

 

Milton Keynes has more heritage per square mile than any other town or city in England. When Harold Wilson’s government in 1967

designated an area of land in North Buckinghamshire upon which a new city was to be built early thinking was this could become The New City of Bletchley. However, the planners decided a name more central within the designated area would be better and so we were given The New City of Milton Keynes. Had Sammy Leon been alive I would suggest he would not have allowed such a change of name. Milton Keynes the city that never was !  Designed and built as a city we have never been given a charter for such and we live in The Borough of Milton Keynes. Had Sammy Leon been around I would suggest the awarding of a city charter would have been automatic !

 

This book is not, most certainly not, a historical account. History ended when Lady Fanny Leon passed away in 1937, this is a review of the heritage the family gave to us. Within heritage there is legend and historical accuracy is not important. Consign that to a museum and come with me now on a walk of heritage in the footsteps of Sir Herbert SAMMY Leon.

___________________________________

I am intending to publish this work with Amazon in April next year. Wouldn't it be wonderful if by then Milton Keynes has been awarded a city charter ? If such happens the Leon Family will have done so much within the heritage it gave to our community to make it happen.

Visited schools and found everything absolutely bloody marvellous ! Fanny Leon

Can you believe it ? 

Yesterday SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN PEOPLE read what I drafted for the chapter LEON THE NAME BEHIND A SCHOOL. Can I share now the DRAFT ending for the chapter.

The Leon Family lived in Bletchley Park throughout The Great War which is fully explained in the previous chapter. Both Sir Herbert and Lady Fanny had passed on when the Second World War broke out.  Born on 11^th February 1850 Sammy left us on 23^rd July 1926. Lady Fanny Leon followed her husband on 19^th January 1937.  Both were spared the horrors of World War Two but their home, Bletchley Park, took on a role which has gone down in history beyond anything either could have imagined.

World War Two grew directly out of The Great War – the war to end all wars !  The Cold War then grew out of World War Two where Leon School played a part and secretly was part of a larger government strategy which has now been forgotten.

School dinners have never been an appetising feature in any school but the kitchen and dining

room at Leon were designated as a refuge area in the event of a nuclear attack. The nuclear attack warning siren for Bletchley was located on the roof of the Lower School Tower Block. How fortunate neither were needed but as the Cold War came to its end Leon School did its bit.

The Berlin Wall came down on 22^nd December 1989. Those of us old enough to remember shed a tear as we watched the news reports on TV. Then as Eastern Europe began to open up the eyes of the West fell upon some sad stories. Leon teacher  Peter Cutler presented an idea which Headmaster Bruce Abbot gave his approval. Peter and I then presented it  to the Leon Students who enthusiastically took it into their hearts.

Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered that families in his country were to have many children so increasing the population. He and his wife, Elena, were executed on Christmas Day 1989. When it became known just how many Romanian children were living in spartan orphanages as their parents simply could not look after them all kinds of people and organisations in Britain sent aid trucks to Romania. Leon School made up one of those trucks which Peter Cutler, his son and I drove to Romania. We drove the truck but on board we had the support of every member of the school. Not only in the hundreds of bags of clothing, food and gifts but the love every Leonite pupil had wrapped around them

It must have been around Eater 1990 I guess that this adventure happened. No satellite navigation in those day, maps of Eastern Europe were not particularly accurate. No internet. No Google. No mobile phones, smart or otherwise. The drive from Milton Keynes England to Budapest Romania, 1,649 miles, was not without incident. As I recall things there were only a few miles without an incident.

Peter Cutler was in charge but I had the job of planning the route via France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary and into Romania. What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men ?

There were the three of us driving the truck. Two hours behind the wheel, two hours navigation and two hours resting.

Leaving Bletchley’s Lakes Estate we headed for Junction 13 on the M1. It was closed due to an accident. An alternative route via the A5, Saint Albans and London Colney to the M25.

A P&O ferry to Calais. NO ! The French were doing some form of protest, as the French do, at the port on their side of the English Channel so we had to take an alternative boat to Ostend in Belgium, where the natives would not know a protest if it smacked them in the face. No problem, a nap in a cabin onboard the ferry and we were set to start driving in friendly Belgium.

Germany ! In 1990 there were two German countries: West Germany and The German

Democratic Republic of East Germany. Our paperwork was forensically analysed, our passports were photocopied and faxed to the exit border control with Austria. We were charged an extortionate fee for the inconvenience and hold up. The border guards wore guns so hold up is not a metaphor.

I do not know if it is still the case but driving in Germany in 1990 was different to the roads in England. On the autobahn, the German motorway system, there was no speed limit.

Goods vehicles on German roads were, in places, forced to drive only on the inside lane. The right hand lane as Germany drives on the wrong side of the road. This rule applied when crossing a bridge or driving up a steep hill. I am sure the Germans built extra bridges and navigated their roads up as many hills as possible just to frustrate our journey. We were not in a heavy goods vehicle, we were driving a seven and a half tonner so not subject to the rule but better to be safe than sorry, we never knew where the German police would be lurking.

All trucks were banned from driving on European roads on Sundays but this ban had been lifted for all aid trucks en route to Romania. There were so many aid trucks heading for Romania, dozens of them. It was obvious which trucks were on this mission, we would flash our headlights and wave to one another.

Planning for the journey, I had taken empty five gallon containers to ‘bus and coach companies, to haulage business and to filling stations where I put operators under pressure to donate fuel, a minimum of five gallons, in these containers. So in the back of the truck we had enough diesel to take us all the way to Romania and a hundred or so miles along the return journey.

Into Austria leaving Germany behind, phew !  We spent the night in a local hotel, very nice, before heading in the morning to Hungary. Not so nice.

I remember as a small child saying to my father that Hungary was an odd name for a country. I am guessing  that would have been at the time of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. My father responded saying it was called Hungary because the people there were hungry.

As our aid truck crossed into Hungary we were not aware that Hungarian truck drivers were in dispute with their government over fuel prices. Trucks were blockading the border with Romania. It looked as if our journey was over and we would have to turn round to head for home. Sod that !  How were the other aid trucks getting through ?

I approached a Hungarian trucker and bribed him with $50 US to let us through. Form him that was almost two weeks wages so obviously he did not turn us away. We were taken down a track and into a field. Then another field, and another field and another field until we were in Romania never having seen a border post.

Reaching our destination we unloaded at the orphanage then turned to head back home. Maps came out, we could not go through Hungary so a circular route round the country was needed. That was going to have to be through Yugoslavia, that country does not exist today, Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium and finally France.

On the way to the Yugoslavian border our truck was stopped at gun point by a lone Romanian soldier. Obviously a conscript he looked all of sixteen years old. With the collapse of communism did Romania have an army anymore ?  This lad was freelancing.

In a friendly and polite way but still with his rifle ready the soldier took me to the back of the truck and had me open the shutter. “Oh you are empty !” He said in English – well I can’t speak Romanian can I ! “What can I have ? Orphans get everything, I need something.”

Back at the cab we gave him a few bits and pieces.  Seeing a torch under the driver’s seat he picked it up and said, “For me ?”

No way !  We may need that.  I took it out of his hands. He did not shoot me, we shook hands and our truck was on its way home.

In Belgrade we were lost. We saw a young man and tried to ask for directions.

“Go down the road, up the hill then take the first right. Go round the roundabout then follow the signs.”

Wow ! Perfect English and perfect geographical knowledge.

Next problem. About ten years earlier while on holiday in Italy I had been on a day visit to the then communist Yugoslavia. I remembered there were tolls on its motorway system. We had no local currency and did not even know what it was. Fortunately the US dollar, of which we had a good supply, is universal so was accepted both at the toll booth and at the filling station.

Many miles later, and I do mean many miles later, in Calais the French had given up whatever silly nonsense the French delight in, I think it was the fishermen protesting about the size of the holes in their nets or something like that, we were on a ferry and back to the calm of British soil and to report on our adventure to the lovely Leonite students who had made it possible.

Wars, why do we need them ?  During the Falklands War former Leon pupils were serving in the armed forces. When the Gulf War broke out Headmaster Abbott received a secret memo from The Ministry of Education which he shared with his heads of year. It spoke of how we were to cope when the body bags came back. Thank god that did not happen and the memo was consigned to the rubbish bin.

A former student was serving in the army during that Gulf War. He came and spoke with our year group. The inevitable question was asked: Did you kill anyone ? He explained that he had, it had been a case of the enemy or himself. Later his mother explained to me that being able to get that off his chest and to share what happened had been so important in helping him to move on.

Leon School, Sammy you would be so proud of what your Leonites achieved.

When a new charity was set up in Milton Keynes the school ran a twenty-four hour sponsored disco to support the new Willen Hospice.

In the early planning stages for Milton Keynes Community Trust which today does do much in our town the new chief executive officer addressed a Leon assembly explaining the new organisation’s ambitions.

Bruce Abbott had his school take part in a media photoshoot launching the very first Comic Relief Red Nose Day.

Today tinned harvest festivals for The Food Bank are common but Leon was ahead of its time holding such assemblies before anyone ever thought of a Food Bank.

My year group was twinned with Sutter Junior High School in Sacramento USA. For our first

visit to California we flew with Pan Am. The flight purser went out of her way to look after the Leon School party, she was a lovely lady. She wrote to Headmaster Bruce Abbott saying what a pleasure it had been to have Leon School on her aircraft. When terrorists blew up Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie on Wednesday 21^st  December 1988 she was the purser on that aircraft.

Leonites can be found in almost every profession you can think of: Doctors, Nurses, Police Officers, Lawyers, Writers, Photo Journalists, Radio Presenters, Skilled Craftsmen in all professions, Teachers, Community Workers, Local Councillors – Milton Keynes Mayor is a Leonite.

I refer back to an early paragraph in this chapter:

As a student teacher the last, the very last place to which we wanted to be assigned for teaching practice was Leon School on the Lakes Estate. Kindly many referred to this new development as The Lakes Mistake while I clearly remember the local newspaper in report using the words Bletchley’s infamous Lakes Estate !

What rubbish those words say. Leon School, what an incredible site within the early times of Milton Keynes. Sammy Leon you would be so proud Headmaster Bradshaw decided to use your name for his school. Lady Fanny Leon, I doubt you would have used words of excess but:

Visited schools and found everything satisfactory. Fanny  Leon

would be better written as:

Visited schools and found everything absolutely bloody marvellous !  Fanny  Leon