New Town Heritage Explorers Project

30 Jan

Written By Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre

Milton Keynes has never stood still and has will continue to grow into the future with maybe even 400,000+ people living here by 2050. But its oldest areas – the original new town – needs some regeneration and investment too. As heritage specialists, we wanted to know from people living there what they think of the place where they live, what they want to keep and what might change to make their place better.
In 2019 we partnered with Milton Keynes Council to secure a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £70,100 to enable us to do just that.

The New Town Heritage Explorers project brought fun and exciting design and creative activities to celebrate the unique new town heritage of Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes or ‘MK’ as the locals know it is the largest and most successful New Town in Europe! Designated in 1967, for the first 25 years the MK Development Corporation set about transforming this rural part of North Buckinghamshire into a new city. Many people moved here from across the UK and abroad and our global heritage is truly unique. Over 50 years on and over 250,000 people now call MK their home. The project explored and document the social history of MK – the stories of the people who live here, the impact of the buildings on daily life and what is it really like to live in a city built from scratch.

These stories complemented the New Town Heritage Register which MK Council is leading on to document the significant architectural areas, places and spaces which were built from 1967 – 1992. The project produced an innovative ‘new town toolkit’ to help local communities to use the city’s archives to find out about the history of where they live, assess the city’s architectural and heritage character: what has worked well, and what not so well? Put forward buildings that could go on the New Town Heritage Register & shape the city’s future planning and growth.

The Creative Programme used fun activities and events to involve children, young people and communities to explore the design heritage of MK and suggest what they would like their future city to be like. This will be shared across Milton Keynes for everyone to discover.

Would you like to become a New Town Explorer? Download the toolkit below.

New Town Toolkit

Questions

Creative programme

Exhibition: No corners here

The concept for the project was to explore the impact of African and Asian influences on Milton Keynes’ unique architectural design heritage and to look at what buildings in Milton Keynes reflect these influences.

Led by Global Outreach Foundation MK, a series of workshops was held at Shenley Brook End over some weeks to discuss New Town heritage and what it meant to young people. The development of the eco-structure came out these series of organic conversations with the group.

Interestingly, young people started to include and interweave current issues such as community cohesion, belonging and acceptance and the impact of climate change.

What started to emerge was the idea for the development of a structure to encompass the inclusivity of MK communities. Constructed as a rounded structure where everyone is welcome, and where there are no divisions or hierarchal structures, No Corners Here is aptly named.

The use of plastic bags is used to reflect and highlight the impact of plastic on the environment and illustrates how the recycling aspect, an important part of the New Town ethos, can be used as a productive covering.

Black Pioneers Exhibition

On 23rd January 2020, the Black Pioneers Exhibition was launched in the Central Library by the Mayor of Milton Keynes Sam Crooks. Led by Nana Oguntola and the Junior Filmmakers and supported by the Global Outreach Federation. This exhibition showcased a number of important Black Pioneers who had come to Milton Keynes and who had contributed significantly to the community over many years.

The Black Pioneers showcased are:

Albert Bernard, The Policeman
Lena Barnes, The Dance Teacher
Yaw Asiyama, The Creative
Gladstone McKenzie, The Councillor
Joyce Vassel, The Personal Assistant

The exhibition celebrated their status as positive role models for younger generations of black children growing up in Milton Keynes and the importance of understanding and celebrating their heritage background and shaping their identity and pride in a modern and richly diverse Milton Keynes. It is these messages which Junior Filmmakers and Global Outreach Federation MK use in their work across the borough.