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.