MK Today - Saturday 14th January 2023

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

Here in Milton Keynes we have twenty-two million trees, every one of them different.

Trees are the history book of nature – if only they could speak what stories would they tell ?

Twenty-two million trees in Milton Keynes which was built as a City of Trees. Twenty-two million with more being added every week.

Which is your favourite tree ? Here is a picture of mine. Where is it to be found ?  I could say you out and look but you’d have a lot of looking to do ! It can be found in Ouzel Valley Park, Woughton. For me this is a very special place.

Trees are the history book of nature – if only they could speak what stories would they tell ?

My friend has lots of stories to tell. In MILTONKEYNES THE CITY OF LEGEND I speak of how in days gone by many different ghosts used to roam the open fields of Woughton. This tree, however, is not old enough to remember any encounters. It is located not far from the home during the reign of King James I local witchfinder Rev Henry Turpyn !

Also in MILTON KEYNES THE CITY OF LEGEND I say how we built an arboretum then placed a city beneath its branches.

If we take our city’s population at quarter of a million (There are actually a few more than that but let’s keep the maths simple) that means each and every single one of we Mkeneyans have EIGHTY-EIGHT trees dedicated to us.

What is the population of London ? Nine million.  So how many trees are there in  London ? It would appear that nobody has counted them but for certain it is not one hundred and ninety eight  million.

Birmingham ? Sheffield ? Glasgow ? Cardiff ?

When it comes to trees Milton Keynes is The City of Trees. Twenty-two million beautiful specimens in our arboretum, twenty-two million but not enough. Milton Keynes was planned from its birth in 1967 as a city of trees. Not for environmental reasons but for beauty. Drive around our road system, avoiding Central Milton Keynes, and you will see just how that  beauty has grown. Grown since this document from over fifty years ago.

Here's something from 1970 published by Milton Keynes Development Corporation.

 NO BUILDING SHALL BE TALLER THAN THE TALLEST TREE

How terribly sad that the cowboy planners within Milton Keynes Council have trashed this

foundation stone of our city. Central Milton Keynes or City Centre, I wonder if a forest of giant California Redwoods could obscure that architectural monstrosity !

Where in our beautiful city is your favourite tree ? You won’t find it in Central Milton Keynes, that’s for certain, but as you go about the arboretum seek it out and celebrate the twenty-two million fingerprints to be found in Milton Keynes The City of Trees.

I am a treeaholic. Yes I am a self-confessed treeaholic – where better a place to live than Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes complete with its incredible TWENTY MILLION TREES.

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

Read more about our treesand the arboretum beneath which we built our city in MILTON KEYNES THE CITY OF LEGEND

NEXT WEEK I am going to talk about the real people behind the names on our City's war memorials.