Library Treasures

There are some excellent books to be found in Milton Keynes libraries (and not just the local studies section in the Central Library) – about the history of our city.

I’m currently borrowing (fear not, there are multiple copies) – three excellent books – which are aiding my research. I will be putting the results up on this blog.

The three books are

The Changing Landscape of Milton Keynes – R A Croft and D C Mynard. This has a chapter by R J Zeepvat on the geology and topography of this area – an essential for understanding our city’s past and present; Descriptions of the area at different periods. [Prehistoric; Roman; Saxon; Medieval and Post-Medieval]; a chapter by M Gelling on place-names of the Milton Keynes area. It concludes with a series of parish essays – focusing on discoveries made in the old parishes of our city.

Roman Milton Keynes: Excavations & Fieldwork 1971-82 – edited by Dennis C Mynard. It has some excellent maps; drawings and lists of finds. There are also a set of photographs.

Excavations on Medieval Sites in Milton Keynes – also by Dennis Mynard in the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society Monograph Series. This too has some excellent diagrams & drawings; photographs and descriptions of the major sites.

I have my own copies of two excellent books – R J (Bob) Zeepvat’s “Roman Milton Keynes” which has chapters on Iron Age Background; The Roman Occupation; Roman Government; Towns; Communications; Countryside; Villas; Trade & Industry; Religion and Burial – and Further Reading.

and “An illustrated History of Early Buckinghamshire” edited by Michael Farley – which describes the area and puts it into a wider context.

Thanks

… to the Parks Trust for this year’s excellent Walking Festival. There was a great programme – covering everything from Nordic Walking; to local history; flowers and wildlife.

After Saturday’s MK Past & Present which I did with my Son and Daughter in law; I joined the Stony Stratford in Bloom Walk with my wife on Sunday morning – and then I joined the Iron Trunk and Ouse Valley Walk.

The weather may not have been brilliant – but I feel so much better; not just because of the fresh air and exercise – but all the walks were so interesting.

It’s fantastic what Stony in Bloom have done – a very nice town has been made brighter and more attractive by the work they have done. A new leaflet has just been produced – and is available in hard copy around the town. I’ll be going back to revisit the route as the seasons change.

Walkers on the “Iron Trunk and Ouse Valley Walk” were also given a useful map for future use – of the five “Iron Trunk Aqueduct Trails” which can be downloaded from http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/1551.pdf

‘The Park Trust’ and ‘Stony in Bloom’ can only bring these delights to Milton Keynes citizens through their volunteers.

Thank you for all you do.

 

Walking

We are in the middle of the Milton Keynes walking festival….

(more details here – http://www.theparkstrust.com/about-us/media-centre/post/383-milton-keynes-walking-festival—10–11-may-2014)

… and yesterday we went out on the MK Past and Present walk – which took us through Bradwell Abbey; past the Milton Keynes cows; to the Roman villa – then into Bradwell village itself. Interesting, informative – and good for my health!

There’s a report out on the benefits of walking – to see the summary, or download the full report go to http://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/get-walking/walking-works

Lack of exercise is one of the top four global killers., responsible for 10.5% of heart disease cases; 13% of type 2 diabetes cases and 17% of premature deaths in the UK. The cost is enormous – in personal terms – death; bereavement; unpleasant illnesses – and in the cost of treating the effects (it’s OUR taxes that pay for the pills and the care) – but walking is FREE!

Must go now – I’m heading off to the walk, Stony Stratford in Bloom. Details of walking for health arranged walks can be found at http://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/walkfinder/south-east/milton-keynes-health-walks

 

A brief respite

We took the opportunity yesterday, during the brief respite from the awful weather, to go for a cycle ride. We took the Millennium cycle route along the Loughton Brook as far as Bancroft, past the Roman Villa, across to our Son’s new house in Wolverton, and home via the Redway which runs alongside Watling Street.

There’s an awful lot of water in the Loughton Brook at the moment. The route had developed a number of large pools, but they were relatively shallow. However it was another matter when we reached Bancroft. The path disappeared under the water – and it was impossible to follow. A bench was close to being submerged.

More bad weather is on its way. I fear that the carefully constructed system of balancing lakes to avoid flooding is going to be put to a severe test – I’ve not seen Furzton Lake or Loughton Brook this full since we first came to Milton Keynes. Do take care!

New Year’s Day

The Celts apparently celebrated 1st November as the start of their year. One website I found states:-

“November 1 is the Celtic feast of Samhain. Samhain, Gaelic for “summer’s end,” was the most important of the ancient Celtic feasts.

The Celts honored the opposing balance of intertwining forces of existence: darkness and light, night and day, cold and heat, death and life. The Celtic year was divided into two seasons: the light and the dark, celebrating the light at Beltane on May 1st and the dark at Samhain on November 1st. Therefore, the Feast of Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, since it marked the beginning of a new dark-light cycle. The Celts observed time as proceeding from darkness to light because they understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. Therefore, the Celtic year began with the season of An Geamhradh, the dark Celtic winter, and ended with Am Foghar, the Celtic harvest.”

If this was the case, then there would have been plenty of celebrations “West of Watling Street” on this day a couple of thousand years ago. When our new city was being built, archaeologists were given a great opportunity to discover our ancient history. There were a number of iron age sites – including a settlement in the centre of Furzton; and close to the site of the Roman Villa in Bancroft.

The map below (from Croft and Mycroft’s excellent “The Changing Landscape of Milton Keynes” [copies available for loan from the libraries at Bletchley; Stony Stratford; Wolverton; and Woburn Sands – and at the MK Local Studies Library in the Central Library]) show the main sites. You may be able to enlarge the picture by clicking on it.