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Milton Keynes

 

Linford Manor

Linford Manor

 

 

 

It's many people's aspiration to live in a beautiful country like France. On the other hand, nobody thinks of Milton Keynes as beautiful - it's just a bunch of roundabouts and concrete cows, right?

 

 

 

 

I doubt anyone would wake up and decide they needed to explore Milton Keynes. That's a pity, because this "city" has 2 remarkable things going for it, that together make it unique.

The cycle route along the old "Nobby Newport" railway line

Cycle path along the old Nobby Newport railway line

 

The windmill at Bradwell

New Bradwell windmill - Grade II listed building

 

 

 

Milton Keynes has:

 

1) Many outstanding features

 

and

 

2) The best recreational transport facility in the country; known as "the Redway".

 

 

 

Milton Keynes is a new city, which to many people equates to a boring grid-work of roads and duplication of unimaginative buildings, on a grand scale. To shake this popular belief it's necessary to see the city by bicycle.

The excavated Roman villa at Bancroft

Bancroft Roman villa

 

The Legendary Concrete Cows

Concrete Cows

 

 

 

The Redway is Milton Keynes' system of dual-use cycling / walking pathways. Its 272km network was part of the city at the start and therefore its needs have been well catered for.

 

 

 

 

This makes a strong contrast with Sefton (where we now live). The Sefton coast is beautiful, and a ride through Ainsdale wood is exhilarating but there's always the problem of having to interact with heavy traffic, when cycling on a circular route, to or from the pine wood.

Bradwell Abbey

Bradwell Abbey

 

One of the Homeworld exhibition houses

One of the Homeworld exhibition houses

 

 

The Milton Keynes Redway is relaxing because you never have to worry about fitting in with traffic at busy junctions. At every roundabout, the cycleway is routed beneath the road.

 

Now that sort of infrastructure costs millions to implement and so this system is likely to remain unique to Milton Keynes.

 

 

 

 

Britain is only a small island and new cities are never built on virgin land. Instead, what Milton Keynes (and the redway) does is to link, and therefore give easy access to, a number of established towns and villages - each with their own special character.

Central Milton Keyenes

Central Milton Keyenes

 

Rob's favourite piece of art work in Milton Keynes

 

 

 

Rob had a favourite cycle ride in Milton Keynes. It was 15 miles long and he cycled it, on average, 4 times a week - a total of approximately 15,000 miles in the five years we lived there. That kept him fit!

 

The photos on this page show a few of the things that went by during the ride. They are mainly photos used in our video of 2002 and are in the order in which they appeared on the route.

 

 

 

 

Campbell Park, in the centre of the city was just beyond the halfway point on the ride. In this photo, both the theatre and the Xscape building can be seen in the background.

 

A video* taken from one of our model aircraft, flying from Campbell Park in 2003, can be seen below.

Campbell Park

 

 

 

 

Art work adjacent to Campbell Park

 

 

 

 

destinationmiltonkeynes has some great ideas for cycling in MK. Just click on the link above for access to all this information.

 

 

 

(A Redway map is also available).

 

 

 

 

The biggest slide in Milton Keynes - couldn't resist going down that.

The biggest slide in Milton Keynes - at the intersection of H4 and V8

 

 

Milton Keynes cricket ground

 

 

 

Stopping to watch some cricket in the summer months. A relaxing thing to do, whether you understand the game or not.

 

 

 

The North Lake at Willen.

 

While the South Lake is geared up for watersports; sailing, cable waterski etc, the North Lake is for wildlife and quiet contemplation.

Willen Lake

 

 

Willen Peace Pagoda

 

 

The peace pagoda at Willen.

 

 

 

 

The beautiful church at Willen, designed by Robert Hooke in the seventeenth century. The church's website has some interesting information on the building and there is also a fascinating website devoted entirely to Robert Hooke.

St Mary Magdalene church, Willen

 

 

Cycling alongside the Grand Union canal

 

 

 

 

In 2000, when Alex was four, he had his own seat on the back of Rob's bike.

 

 

 

 

In 2008, one of our favourite bits of equipment was the bike rack on the back of our car. We always took our bikes with us when visiting friends in MK. Here's Alex, cycling over Grafton Street (V6).

Alex cycling over Grafton Street

 

 

The brick kilns at Linford

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of the ride, the last landmark before heading back to Newport Pagnell, is the set of old brick kilns at Linford.

 

 

 

 

That covers a cycle ride through the city centre and to the North, but there's still plenty to see in the South of the city. Maybe another time.

The windmill on Bletcham Way (H10)

 

 

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C.A.R.T.