How did you get on with yesterday's bit of fun ? How many neighbours of Miltion Keynes were you able to wave to ? 

Here are the answers ?

QUESTION ONE:

Which football club did a bespectacled pop singer zoom into ?

WAVE: Elton John had a hit in 1972 with a song Rocket Man, Appearing on Top of the Pops he wore a pair of spectacles with the letter Z to the left of the lenses and M to the right spelling Z-O-O-M. In 2019 a film telling Elton John’s story was released. This year, 2023, Elton John will headline Glastonbury Festival. WATFORD FOOTBALL CLUB. Elton John is currently honorary life president at Watford, his boyhood team, having first bought the club in 1976. As chairman he oversaw a period of huge success with manager Graham Taylor, and he later bought the club back again in 1997. Elton Hercules John is not his birth name but an adopted stage name. Hercules, he took from the horse in Steptoe and Son which first ran on BBC TV in 1962.

QUESTION TWO:

With what industry in days gone by would you have associated Luton ?

WAVE: For many years Luton was famous for making hats. It still does although most of this hand sewing was done in the home or in small establishments before being sold onto larger firms. The industry may have declined but in Luton today there are fifteen companies still linked to the manufacture of hats. Next time you see our Queen Consort or Princess of Wales on television news ponder to yourself if their hats were made in Luton.

 

QUESTION THREE:

Which group of Leighton Buzzard residents told Shep to get down ?

WAVE: Get Down Shep – taking the mickey out of Blue Peter and John Noakes dog Shep. Little White Bum – taking the mickey out of Tommy Steele’s hit Little White Bull. Sit – taking the mickey out of TV dog trainer Barbra Woodhouse, first broadcast by the BBC in 1980. All were hilarious silly songs from Leighton Buzzard group The Baron Knights. Formed in 1959 the band is still playing today.

QUESTION FOUR:

Name the once celebrated artist and singer took up residence for a time in a Bicester gaol.

WAVE: The prison is HMP Bullingdon and its resident Rolf Harris who had mega hits with Tie My Kangaroo Down and Two Little Boys. His songs are great to listen to but not so politically correct after this TV artist, singer and personality was convicted in In July 2014, at the age of eighty-four, on twelve counts of indecent assault on four female victims during the 1970’s and 1980’s. He was sentenced to five years and nine months, part of which he served at Bullingdon in Bicester. Milton Keynes may have its own prison at Oakhill but this is a Category A prison, most sentenced by Milton Keynes magistrates court end up at Bullingdon.

QUESTION FIVE:

With what industry in days gone by would you have associated Northampton ?

WAVE: Have you ever seen the film Kinky Boots ? Released in October 2005 it is hilarious and one of my favourite pieces of comedy. Set in Northampton which was once centred on the shoe industry, a drag queen Lola who saves shoe factory by re-inventing the business making men’s fetish footwear – kinky boots. Northampton Town Football Club has the nick-name of The Cobblers.

QUESTION SIX:

Stoke Hammond, how many canal locks fronted the waterside pub ?

WAVE: That wasn’t difficult  was it ? Three, the Three Locks. Way back, I think it was in the 1980’s, a TV advert was filmed there.

QUESTION SEVEN:

Which former Milton Keynes member of parliament lived at Headington Hill Hall in Oxford ?

WAVE: None other than Robert Maxwell who was labour member of parliament for Buckingham from 15^th October 1964 until 29^th May 1970. He ran again in the March 1974 general election which overturned the conservative government of Edward Heath and put Harold Wilson back in Downing Street. However, Maxwell failed to unseat the conservative Bill Benyon.

QUESTION EIGHT:

A B C. If B stands for Brewery and C for Company, what is A all about ?

WAVE: Aylesbury – The Aylesbury Brewery Company which in the infant days of Milton Keynes ran many pubs within our New City. It  was originally registered 1895 and operated 146 pubs. However, brewing actually ceased in 1937 as it was found to be more economical to buy in beer. It remained an independent company until it was taken over by Allied Breweries in 1973. It continued to operate semi-independently until a merger in 1989 when it ran 187 public houses.

QUESTION NINE:

Which celebrated writer’s former garden shed can be found in a museum within Great Missenden.

WAVE: Not a difficult question to answer. How many books written by Roald Dhal have you Read ? Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Matilda, James And The Giant Peach, The Fantastic Mr Fox ? Danny Champion Of The World. My favourite is his autobiography Boy. Roald Dhal was born on 13^th September 1916 and left us on 23^rd November 1990. He had a writing den in his garden shed at his home in Great Missenden. That shed can now be found in the Roald Dhal Museum and Story Centre in High Street Great Missenden, a super place to visit. Ticket prices are modest at £7.40 for adults, £4.90 for children and old age pensioners like me, Under five year olds are admitted free of charge. (Prices a heck of a lot cheaper than Bletchley Park where you’ll need a bank overdraft for a day  out.)

QUESTION TEN:

Milton Keynes may be the New City of roundabouts but which town owns the magic roundabout ?

WAVE: Is it still there, the magic roundabout ?  Indeed it is and is to be found  in neighbouring  Hemel Hempstead. Everyone calls it The Magic Roundabout but it is actually the Plough roundabout. The familiar name comes from the children's television programme, you’ll need the skills of Zebedee to find your way around it.

 

QUESTION ELEVEN:

Why may it be an idea to nick-name MK Dons as The Wombles ?

WAVE: The Wombles Of Wimbledon Common was a fun TV series for kids but much loved by Mums and Dads. Broadcasting sixty episodes from 5^th February 1973 to 24^th October 1975 it was, as its name suggests, set in Wimbledon. Wimbledon FC was nicked and transported to Milton Keynes where it became MK Dons. Back in London AFC (Amateur Football Club) took its place. In the TV cops series New Tricks Brain Lane is an avid AFC Wimbledon fan.

QUESTION TWELVE:

What is possibly the most notorious case tried at Aylesbury Crown Court ?

WAVE:  It was of course the trial of the Great Train Robbers following their stealing £2.6 million on  8^th  August 1963. The trial in January the following year sentenced Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Buster Edwards, Bruce Reynolds, Roy James, John Daly, Roger Cordrey, Jimmy White, Bob Welch, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, and Ronnie Biggs to lengthy prison sentences with seven of the convicted being handed down thirty year terms. Only twelve at the time of the robbery, I remember the media reports and how the public secretly regarded the robbers as heroes. There was a general disapproval at the length of the sentences. Twenty years later I was to serve on a jury in the same Aylesbury courtroom as were tried the Great Train Robbers.

QUESTION THIRTEEN:

Which football club was supported by one half of a mega popular TV comedy duo ?

WAVE: Luton Town FC  also known as The Hatters. Eric Morecambe was, perhaps, Luton Town Football Club's most famous patron and director. His TV shows with Ernie Wise, and their Christmas specials cemented his status as a household name, and Eric was proud to let everyone know that he was a Hatters fan. Today the club has a hospitality lounge named after him. For a time the club had a school and community officer, who travelled up the M1 to Milton Keynes including the New City in his mandate. However. Fearing the club may be nicked my Milton Keynes visits declined. Milton Keynes did not nick the Hatters, instead kidnapping Wimbledon FC. 

QUESTION FOURTEEN:

Who was the last  person to be executed at Bedford Prison ?

WAVE: The death penalty in England, of which Bedford is a part, was suspended in 1965 and finally abolished in 1969. James Hanratty was executed at Bedford Prison on Wednesday 4^th April 1962. He was convicted of murdering Michael Gregsten on the A6 at Deadman’s Hill near Clophill. I remember both the murder and Hanratty’s execution being reported in the press. There was widespread thinking that Hanratty was not guilty, something I still think may be correct in spite of modern-day DNA testing upholding his guilt. Hanratty features in my books Behind  The Noose Or Not and The Hangman’s Grandson.

QUESTION FIFTEEN:

Who designed the gardens at Stowe House near Buckingham ?

WAVE: If you have never been to the National Trust Gardens at Stowe I would urge you to put it on your to do list. My stories The Lonely Ghost and The Adventures Of Dorothy The Duck And Friends are set in its one thousand acre parkland. Lancelot Brown, better known as Lancelot Capability Brown as applauded as the Shakespeare of English garden design. He designed the gardens at Stowe as was head gardener there for ten years.

QUESTION SIXTEEN:

What association does Stoke Manderville Hospital in Aylesbury have with the Paralympic games ?

WAVE: Stoke Mandeville Hospital has become known as the home of wheelchair sport and the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. On 29^th  July 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games, Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised the first competition for wheelchair athletes, the Stoke Mandeville Games. So our near neighbour is world famous in sport.

QUESTION SEVENTEEN:

What colour would you associate with motor racing ?

WAVE: Just up the road from Milton Keynes, close to Towcester you will find the home of British Formula One Racing Silverstone. SILVERstone. Opened in 1947 it is owned by the British Racing Drivers Club. Given the overall standard of driving across Milton Keynes I suspect many of our City’s motorists are fully paid up members.

QUESTION EIGHTEEN:

In neighbouring Towcester what form of racing would you associate this friend with ?

WAVE: Sadly no more but once upon a time Towcester was mega famous for horse racing.

QUESTION NINETEEN:

In the days of 8mm home movie making where would you send your reels of film to be processed ?

WAVE: Hemel Hempstead. This was my teenager hobby and I can remember so clearly having to post the exposed film for developing to Kodak Box 14 Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire. Was 8mm filming once a hobby of yours ? Did you live in Milton Keynes and buy film from Camera Hayes in Bletchley ?

QUESTION TWENTY:

Who was Walter Tull and which neighbour would you associate him with ?

WAVE: There is a great pub and restaurant in Northampton called The Walter Tull. A stature of him can be found outside Northampton’s Guild Hall. Tull was the first non-white football player in an English league but more importantly he was the first non-white British Army Officer. Second Lieutenant Walter Daniel John Tull led his men on dangerous missions behind enemy lines and returned without loss or injury. For these acts of bravery, he was cited for his "gallantry and coolness" under fire by Major General Sir Sydney Lawford, his commanding officer and recommended for the Military Cross. Walter Tull died on25^th March 1918 at the age of twenty-nine years leading an attack on the Western Front during the Second Battle of the Somme

QUESTION TWENTY-ONE:

Which neighbour has an Old Gaol in the middle of its modern-day shopping area ?

WAVE: Buckingham. You can’t miss this beautiful piece of architecture when you visit the former country town of Buckinghamshire. However, I suspect the tales it could tell may be slightly less than beautiful !

QUESTION TWENTY-TWO:

What is a Stoic ?

WAVE: A Stoic is a former pupil at Stowe School near Buckingham. Among there numbers are Alexander Bernstein (1936 – 2010) Television executive and labour politician. Sir Richard Branson (Born 1950) He of Virgin fame. David Niven (1910 – 1983) Actor and author. Prince Rainier III of Monaco (1923 – 2005) John Sainsbury (1927 – 2022) Grocer – Sainsbury’s Supermarkets. Sir Nicholas Winton (1909 – 2015) Humanitarian and nicknamed the British Schindler. If you want to send a child of yours to Stowe School this academic year there is firstly a registration fee of £200. If your child is accepted there is a fee of £1,200 to be paid in order to accept the place. Next there is a £11,500 deposit if parents live outside the UK. Termly fees are £13,599 = £40,794 per year. Assuming your child attends Stowe for six years, in addition to the registration costs and before yearly fee increases you will need to budget for £244,764 before uniforms and all the rest ! However, there is a 10% discount if you send more than one child to Stow ! Even so eight hundred and forty-four parents are able to find the cash for their offspring to become Stoics. What do you think, better stay with Milton Keynes schools ?

QUESTION TWENTY-THREE:

Which motor manufacturer would you associate with Luton ?

WAVE: Vauxhall became a car manufacturer in 1903. It was originally based in the South London suburb from which it takes its name, but after two years needed larger premises and moved to a six-acre site in Luton, where it supposedly still manufactures motor vehicles today.

QUESTION TWENTY-FOUR:

Which neighbours hill is said to be the most haunted in the country ?

WAVE: Clophill in Bedfordshire. Legend says, and many will tell you that it is true. The old church is supposedly a place where Satanists dance their evil. The tomb of Jenny Humberstone, who had died in 1770 at the age of twenty-two years, was opened up in the 1960’s and her skull and bones taken into the nave of the church. The bones were laid out in a symmetrical circular pattern on a makeshift stone altar and the skull impaled on a metal spike jammed into the ground. Symbols were scrawled onto the walls and a cockerel was sacrificed in a bloody culmination to the ceremony. No witnesses came forward to the incident itself, save for an unconvincing expose in The News of the World from a supposed member of the coven, but the aftermath was discovered by two young boys, Duncan Stein and Calvin Smith, who were first on the scene. If you want to learn more then read Kevin Gates book Paranormal Diaries.

Neighbours everybody needs good neighbours
With a little understanding
you can find the perfect blend

Neighbours should be there for one another
That’s when good neighbours
become good friends