Being someone who loves Milton Keynes, I was eager to get
down to the MK50 Anniversary Exhibition in Middleton Hall this week to see what
I could learn. It is easy to think that you know a place when you live in it
but there is so much more to find out. There is history that out-dates even the
oldest of residents and plans that never became reality. So even if you think
you know everything there is to know about Milton Keynes, think again.
My 12 year old daughter and I carefully went from exhibit to
exhibit, making sure we didn’t miss anything. She particularly liked the 3D
models in display cases that showed various parts of Milton Keynes. Their
toy-like quality and the creation of a 3D space you can view for all angles is
probably what appealed to her. After scratching our heads trying to work out
which way round the model of The Kingston Centre was, we realised that these
models were made during the planning process and not all of them worked out how
they were expected. This to me is fascinating and leads on to my favourite part
of the exhibition which is the “What Might Have Been” display that talks about
things that were planned but never built.
I can’t help thinking that tourists would be flooding to Bletchley to
enjoy the Cowcommon Canyon. I would have liked further text to explain why some
of these amazing ideas never become reality.
We also enjoyed the maps and boards that went back to the
days before Milton Keynes was even conceived and then through the gradual
building process. On one aerial photograph we could pick out the field in which
our house is now built and we tried to imagine what it was like back then. Throughout
the exhibition there was a real mix of the familiar with “oh I had forgotten
that,” and “I never knew that.”
As someone who was interested in the first place, this
exhibition was a great opportunity to slowly digest and ponder the various
forms of information on a variety of different aspects of Milton Keynes life.
My daughter was also suitably entertained by it but I can see that not every
child would be quite so patient. The organisers have made an effort to make the
exhibition accessible for all and to have a variety of different ways of
conveying the information to appeal to different ages and types. If reading
information boards is not your thing then the models in cases are interesting, as
are large objects such as the driverless car or the Triceratops .
Alternatively, you can sit and watch an old TV advert or similar at one of the
TV screens. There are also a few hands on play areas for younger kids that
include building things out of blocks that look like giant Lego or playing a
large board game. Give yourself 10 minutes to half an hour to get round it
depending on your level of interest and whether you are being nagged but do
make the effort to go – after all there’s not going to be another 50th
birthday.
The exhibition is in Middleton Hall in the Centre:MK, is
free and can be accessed during normal opening hours between now and 23rd
January.
