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Newport Pagnell memories

Here are memories of Newport Pagnell and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Newport Pagnell or a Newport Pagnell photo.

Before Milton Keynes

North Bridge From The Play Pen 1956
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I now live in Australia but as a youngster I grew up just outside Newport Pagnell at Tongwell Farm. Whilst at school in Newport and whilst they were building the M1 motorway we used to get collected in a mini bus and driven too and from school each day. I well remember the announcement that they were going to build a new city called Milton Keynes and the farm would be part of that new city. Despite significant efforts I find getting pre-Milton Keynes photographs of the area where the farm was impossible and like many other I have regrets that I did not take the care to look after the past for the next generations.

Loved Going to The River

North Bridge From The Play Pen 1956
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My grandmother had a shop in Newport Pagnall and my mother was born there, she is now 90 years old. We have fond memories of Lathbury where we used to have our summer holidays there, playing and swimming and fishing in the river. A great site, thank-you. Kind regards, Viv

When I Was A Lad

North Bridge From The Play Pen 1956
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The lad leaning on the wall was John Cook, whose father was a policeman in NP, the guy to the left in the dark suite is me and the lad sitting on the pillar (to the right) was David Ashworth son of Major Ashworth who lived in Silver Street.

Memories of Buckinghamshire

The Great Linford

I had heard of The Great Linford and can trace genealogy back to the one subjects that lived on the Great Linford although it is not named after any of my ancestors.

In 2000, I had the opportunity to vist London and rented a car and drove out to Milton Keynes and the Great Linford just to see what it was all about.  It is amazing that the buildings have endured as long as they have.  I found it peacful and serene even though the Great Linford Manor is now a recording studio.  I hope to return one day and spend more than a couple of hours and see more of the area.

Memories of Village Haircuts.

Just before the 1960’s transformed our innocent lives, all us village boys had a limited choice of tonsorial art; indeed you could count the number of available haircuts (styles wasn’t a word used for men or boys) on the fingers of one hand… Short Back & Sides, Square Neck, Feather Neck & Crew Cut.

Short Back & Sides; the standard cut for 90\% of the male population and had been forever as far as I could tell. It left only the crown hair… to be individually determined e.g. long - medium – short. And for the MEN Brylcream was a must to spruce them up.

Square Neck and Feather Neck where pretty much the same thing, with the finish at the nape of the neck being either squared across with the clippers or feathered. The Square Neck was a Teddy Boy cut… Elvis was the role model, so the top was usually long and quiffed. With both these styles the biggest difference from the SB&S was the... Read more

Where The Name Heelands Orginated

I was told a tale by Mrs Lester of Bradwell Village that one day the lord of Bradwell Manor had visitors from Scotland staying, and early one morning as they looked out of their bedroom window and looked across the fields towards Heelands they remarked how much the scenery reminded them of home and the Hi'glands, and this is how the name became.

Kings, The Bakers.

Church Street c1955
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I always remember the lovely smell of the bakery and seeing their chimney smoking away whilst they were baking the bread. I used to love going into the shop as a child to buy freshly cooked bread and I would enjoy picking the hot crust off on my way home to Mum. Happy Memories of my childhood in Wolverton and where I lived for 20 years until 1975.

The Wolverton Palais

Church Street c1955
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I remember the"Palais de Dance"in Wolverton. They used to put some great bands on there. We used to come up from Fulham in London 7 or 8 times a year to go there. The people of Wolverton were some of the friendliest people we ever met. There were always 7 of us on scooters or in cars and the people welcomed us (a lot different from some of the towns and villages we visited!!!). One Saturday night we didn't have anywhere to stay so we went into the police station in Wolverton to see if they knew of anywhere and the desk sergeant sent us across the road to a garage that had 4 coaches parked there. He said we could sleep in the coaches as long as we didn't make any mess or noise and were out of the coaches by 9a.m. Can you imagine that happening today!!!!? Thank you, the people of Wolverton of the 1960s, you were wonderful to us.

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