Rain stopped play so let's talk about being an Mkeneyan

Rain stopped play !

I did not, as planned, walk yesterday in the footsteps of Sammy Leon as it was raining but instead I began working on my new book. Here is the DRAFT introduction.

Well first things first you can change your question. Mkeneyan is not an inanimate object, it is a person so we should be saying WHO IS AN MKENEYAN ? My using the word an and not a will give you a hint as to the way Mkeneyan is pronounced.

This book is the third volume within a trilogy. Within the opening of volume one Not The Concrete Cows published in 1993 I penned these words.

I want to say, right at the outset of this little book that I am a strong supporter of Milton Keynes. My wife was actually born in the area but I proudly boast being one of the first immigrants to the new city, coming to live here in 1971.  All of my children have been brought up in the city and I consider it to be a fine place to live. Fortunately, however, it is not Utopia - thank goodness for that but never let it be said in my hearing the best thing to come out of Milton Keynes is the M1 !

I doubt there is such a thing as a Milton Keynes Fan Cub but if they were then you could certainly put me down for a lifetime subscription.

For many years I said I wanted to write a sequel to Not The Concrete Cows but my involvement in a wide range of community projects simply did not allow me the time to sit and rattle the keys of my laptop. (Note, I penned the words for Not The Concrete Cows but laptopped their descendants. Technology !) So in 2020 the year than never was and lock down gave me an abundance of time and so came volume two – Milton Dreams The City That Never Was. In Milton Dreams the dream I tried to spark was that  one day our home would be granted a city charter. I promised that when this happened I would turn my two books into a trilogy with Milton Keynes The City That Truly Is.

I think I may need to make an appointment to see my doctor as my body is covered with bruises. To be more precise my body is covered with pinch marks where I have been nipping myself making sure it is not I who is dreaming !  On Friday March 20^th 2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted Milton Keynes its city charter. I am not dreaming am I, I am awake. Let me give myself a pinch to check.

Owch ! I am awake. On with the story then.

History is bunk. A quotation from Henry Ford and something I totally agree with. History belongs in a stuffy old museum where boring people can spend their time. Heritage is what is important. Heritage is alive. At the centre of society’s live it advances, is added to and moved forward every day.

Another quote. This from Mark Twain the pen-name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens: It may be history, it may be only a legend, a tradition. It may have happened, it may not have happened: but it could have happened.

Within Milton Keynes there is more heritage and more legend than any other town, city or village in the country. Within that legend of heritage Milton Keynes started as a village, became a town and is proudly now a city.

Those who live in Liverpool are Liverpudlians, those who live in Manchester are known as Mancunians, Birmingham Brummies and London Londoners. What about the residents of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ?

Those of us who live in Milton Keynes ate Mkeneyans.

I came up with the word Mkeneyan and claim all rights to it !  No I don’t I want this to be a word of pride which all residents of our amazing city can lay claim to. In 2021 I contacted the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper inviting it to take the name and broadcast it to all “citizens”. Obviously not interested, its editorial team did not respond to my  idea. Oh dear, what  a shame, never mind !

Around the same time when Milton Keynes Council failed to engage with my a series of letters wishing to add my thinking to its presentation to Buckingham Palace for a city charter I submitted my own presentation based on my love for my home and using my writing across more than three decades. I received a lovely and supportive letter in return. (Unlike the Milton Keynes Citizen and Milton Keynes Council Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II knows how to read and write !)

So here I am tapping away on my laptop introducing the third volume in my trilogy. Milton Keynes The City That Truly is – NO. That title I am abandoning as it does not capture what I am aiming to do.

Not The Concrete Cows as a kaleidoscope through the adolescent new city of Milton Keynes. Milton Dreams The City That Never Was set out to spark a dream that  one day we would be granted a city charter. That day has now come and with it the title for the third volume is Mkeneyan – A Handbook For An Amazing City.

The bunk can stay in history. Here I am going to take the heritage and legend of our amazing CITY and inspire Mkeneyan love for our home.

Is that OK with you ?

THEN OFF WE GO.

Are you a proud Mkeneyan ?  Join our facebook page.

If you want to read NOT THE CONCRETE COWS Then CLICK HERE

If you want to read MILTON DREAMS THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS Then CLICK HERE

If you want to read MKENEYAN A HANDBOOK FOR AN AMAZING CITY THEN WATCH THIS SPACE