Oh what a beautiful morning…

…the sun is back & the skies are blue. So (at the least for a few days) there are opportunities to enjoy the natural delights of Milton Keynes. Here are a few from Furzton –

The Number 7

The new timetable for the No 7 bus is available now here.

The first service leaves Bletchley bus station at 06-15 on weekdays – calling at Furzton (by the Tesco) at 06-28; Shenley Church End (Fortescue Drive) at 06-37; the Milton Keynes Central rail station at 06-45 and The Point in CMK at 06-50.

It is disappointing that there is no service which serves the first Virgin trains to London (06-23 and 06-38). The choice remains walking (OK in the summer  [if you are fit & healthy] – not so attractive in the cold and wet!) or parking the car near the station (at extortionate rates) or having someone drive you in (& then return home) – Not exactly an environmentally friendly option.

From 9-00am the weekday service leaves

Bletchley                                                -34     -04

Furzton                                                   -47     -27

Shenley Church End                            -57     -27

ARRIVING Station                              -05     -35

ARRIVING The Point                         -11      -41

ARRIVING Wolverton                       -37     -07

West of Watling Street (the leg from Bletchley via Furzton and Shenley Church End) continues at the reduced frequency, though there is a more frequent service from the station to Wolverton. Do you think we deserve better? If so drop me a line at jdavidmorgan@furzton.org.uk

The Number 7 Bus

My post today was going to be like the earlier one I did on the Number 8 service, but when I went to do my research, I discovered that the timetable will change from Sunday January 19th.

A statement on the Milton Keynes website states – “New electric vehicles will be introduced on Arriva service 7. The current timetable will be amended and some minor route changes are anticipated. Further details will be announced at a later date.”

As soon as I hear more, I will update you and publish a guide to the new service.

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.

Furzton Lake

You won’t find Furzton Lake on the old maps of the area – because it was built as part of the development of Milton Keynes. Our planners knew that building upon fields (in which water is absorbed into the soil) can lead to occasional flooding problems. The water runs off houses and roads and reaches streams quickly. Flash floods are more likely. Willen; Caldecotte ; Furzton and the teardrop lakes are designed to slow the rush of water into Milton Keynes’ streams and rivers.

Three streams flowed and met close to the low bridge which takes Watling Street across the valley. Loughton Brook is the main stream flowing through Tattenhoe; Emerson Valley and divides Furzton into South and North Furzton. The lake narrows but extends for some distance upstream. The Brook which rises close to the site of Snelshall Priory  and flows through Shenley Brook End is the second stream. Another stream flowed through Howe Park through Emerson Valley.

The lake was built during the 1980s. It is now the home to much birdlife – and is popular with walkers; cyclists and anglers.

Furzton Street Names

Anne Baker brought out a series of books setting out the background to the street names of each ‘estate’ in Milton Keynes. I have the full series at home – and they make very interesting reading.

The two volumes dealing with “West of Watling Street” are Milton Keynes West and Milton Keynes South.

Ms Baker points out that the name Furzton “was taken from the old names of fields which previously covered this area. ‘Furze Ground’ is shown on the Ordnance Survey map 168 and,, with ‘Furze Field’, on a 1771 plan and survey of part of the Lordship of Shenley belonging to John Knapp.

The theme of the street names is “Exmoor” – where there are hamlets,  villages and towns called Allerford, Bampton, Barnstaple, Bickleigh, Bilbrook, Brendon, Brushford, Calverleigh, Carhampton,Cheriton, Cloutsham, Combe Martin, Dulverton, Dunster, Elmhurst, Exbridge, Hawkridge, Kingsbridge, Loxbeare, Luccombe, Luxborough, Lynmouth, Marwood, Morebath, Muddiford, Northleigh, Porlock, Selworthy, Shallowford, Shirwell, Simonsbath, Swimbridge, Timberscombe, Treborough, Trentishoe, Twitchen, Washfield, Watchet, and Withycombe.

There are hills in the area called Countisbury, Croydon, Dunkery Beacon, and Winsford

Loughton Brook

Loughton Brook dominates “West of Watling Street” – even though it’s main course is to the East after the low bridge by Furzton. Its tributaries have shaped the estates to the West.

The brook rises in the fields around Whaddon Road, to the south of the Buckingham Road, and just north of the village of Mursley. It enters the Borough of Milton Keynes at the Bottle Dump roundabout where Standing Way begins. Although “Emerson Valley” suggests that there might have been an alternative name for the brook, that name combined the names of two farms in the Shenley area – Emerson Farm and Valley Farm. (Anne Baker – Street Names of Milton Keynes West, 2006).

The brook flows into Furzton Lake, which was built to reduce the risk of flooding further downstream and into the Great Ouse valley. Two streams joined the brook at the bridge. A stream also flowed in from what is now Oldbrook (no prizes for guessing where the name for that estate originated).

The old Loughton village was built just above where streams flowed in from both the western and eastern slopes of the valley. Another important tributary flowed in from what is now the Abbey Hill golf course.

The brook finally joins the Great Ouse near New Bradwell.

Two of Milton Keynes’ most important historical sites lie close to the brook – Bradwell Abbey and the Roman villa at Bancroft.

The Geography of Milton Keynes

Central Milton Keynes is built on a plateau between the Loughton Brook and the River Ouzel. Both are tributaries of the Ouse which flows from West to East.

Watling Street runs alongside the Loughton Brook Valley from the point where the stream flows out of Furzton Lake. Two streams used to met near that Watling Street crossing – the most northerly is the ‘brook’ from which Shenley Brook End gets its name. Loughton Brook heads in a northerly direction, which Watling Street is aligned to the North West.

The map above show the original pattern of streams. (Click on the picture to zoom in)  An Ordnance Survey 1:25000 map shows the contours and the remaining streams. The OS website is a useful one to visit. http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/

Geography has played an important part in our history. The original settlements were close to streams or other sources of water. The roads; canal and railways followed either the river valleys or ran across the top of the ridge.

In future posts I will explore some of the settlements that were here, long before we arrived.

WOWS is back

Finally, West of Watling Street is back. Welcome – whether you are a new reader or followed this blog in the past.

A bit of background first (though previous posts are available). I’m David Morgan – and I have lived in Furzton, Milton Keynes since my wife and I moved here in April 2009.

This blog is about the area I live in – the Milton Keynes estates west of the ancient Roman Road, later known as “Watling Street”, and now the V4 grid road. I’m in the civil parish of Shenley Brook End, but this post will cover all of Milton Keynes ….West of Watling Street (and I may occasionally cross the road!).

Currently I’m a tutor for the Open University on their Law Degree Courses – but my interests are much wider. History fascinates me – and I’ve recently been researching this area – and the general historical context. I love listening to jazz; watching American Football (the teams I follow are the NFL’s ‘Washington Redskins’ and our own ‘Milton Keynes City Pathfinders’ – and, when I can – I go to MK Stadium to watch the MK Dons.

Do subscribe to this blog – I have lots of items of local interest which I am planning to post – from practical details about local transport and other services – to the fascinating history of this area.

The Elections in the US

Although I live (and work at home for most of the time) in Furzton, Milton Keynes – my interests are spread widely. In geographic terms that includes France – but, especially, the USA. I am currently in the final stages of completing my Ph.D. which focuses on the workings of the British Parliament and the US Congress.

For the last two Presidential Elections I have commentated for BBC Radio Northampton (and occasionally for BBC Three Counties) on the progress of the campaigns. Last week I did a live interview (from my home here in Furzton) with my friend Bob Carr (a former Congressman – who has visited Milton Keynes) who was speaking from his home in Washington DC (it was 03-25am for him!).