This year the clock tower in Central Milton Keynes celebrates its 30th Birthday. Originally erected in 1984 and supplied by Haward Horological Ltd. A quick search of the internet reveals very little about the clock, many people have uploaded and shared pictures of the Frog Clock, this entry is my attempt to correct that imbalance. Standing outside BHS, for years it has been used by the centre as a refuge for those who 'have become loss or separated' while out shopping. A recorded message which once played out over the general PA system at frequent intervals throughout the day, which must have become useless now as most people would just use mobiles to find each other.
The clock is impressive as not only was it a working time piece but also a great example of engineering art. The clocks workings are located within a glass display case at the bottom and the bells for the chimes located below the clock faces. For those who pay particular attention will notice that with each of the four main uprights contain the requried counterweights. The clock is a completely mechanical device and must be wound regularly. Anyone visiting the Shopping centre will notice that the tower no longer chimes, I'm unsure if its because the clock is broken or maybe it made to much noise. Either way wouldn't it be nice to get it going for such an important year? If you think so why not contact the Shopping Centre Management and ask them why it doesn't chime? --UPDATED-- The Clock now Chimes! I emailed the Centre Management and it turns out it was already being repaired.
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Though not as famous as the ‘Milton Keynes: Red Balloon Race’ or ‘The Wish’ adverts which both featured children portraying Milton Keynes as a family friendly city, the ‘Fisherman advert’ was produced to promote economic growth by persuading business’ to relocate to the new city. It did this by contained lines such as‘companies that move her seem to grow’ which gives an idea that business might be booming here. The advert follows a cyclist as he travels around Milton Keynes finally arriving at a stretch of canal near New Bradwell. Throughout the advert we are lead to believe that he might be travelling to work, but the twist is at the end of the advert when the narrator states he only moved her because of the fishing. The first location used within this advert is better know for appearing as the ‘Solar House’ in the film the Forth Protocol, though the house originally started its existence as part of the Homeworld ’81 exhibition some six years earlier.
Other known locations that feature in the advert include:
This advert actually started a obsession with documenting Milton Keynes as I couldn't locate the houses shown at 0.34sec. After about a year of walking round Milton Keynes I was contacted on Facebook by the daughter of the old gentleman pruning his roses. The reason I couldn't find the location is because his since passed away and it would seem that no has looked after his roses, which are now very much overgrown. One of the most famous and well remembered of the television adverts, the MILTON KEYNES: RED BALLOON RACE featured a young boy as he travels throughout the new city of Milton Keynes. The advert was produced in 1989 by midlands based advertising agency Cogent Elliott on behalf of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. I believe that Cogent Elliott took inspiration for the advert from the 1956 short film called 'Le Ballon rouge', by Albert Lamorisse. Both the advert and film feature a lone boy who is accompanied by a red ballon, as they go about their home towns.
I started documenting the filming locations sometime ago but it wasn't easy as many have changed though either development or because they are now overgrown. The known locations Include:
Based on Google Maps, and the known locations, the boy would have travelled 14.2 miles from start to finish. If he had been walking all the way around it would have taken him over 4 hours to complete the journey. The Google Maps we have posted below show the actual locations and the quickest route between those locations. Of course these maps are not to be taken as gospel!
The MK Gallery currently has an exhibition which allows visitors to experience a nostalgic look back at the 'finer' days of Milton Keynes, and celebrates the work undertaken by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation pre-1992. On arrival to the gallery you are welcomed by the faint sound of the Red Balloon advert playing on loop in the cube gallery and display cases full of leaflets, magazine pages and postcards that at one point in history formed the propaganda which encouraged so many to become inhabitants of what was once known as Europe's largest building site. Normally I would make sure I spent an hour or two checking out such an exhibition but this time its a bit different because i've loaned a quite a few items on display. Most have been purchased from eBay with the exception for a couple of items which have been purchased by chance when visiting charity shops. One of my most interesting item has been a VHS tape called 'Milton Keynes Megamix' purchased for 10p from Age Concern in Bletchley. At the time the person behind the till didn't know if it was just a blank tape so was willing to give me it for free. I've since learnt that the tape was produced and given to members of the MKDC when it was wound up in 1992. It's a nostalgic look back across the first 25yrs of the corporation, and contains the three famous TV adverts, television news clips documenting the new towns progression and how it celebrated turning 25, but the most impressive of all is some ariel footage which shows unfinished Milton Keynes. This video started what could only be called an obsession with items about Milton Keynes hence my ever growing collection, i thought if this video could be donated to a charity shop and possibly thrown in the bin what else was going to end up in landfill? As well as the exhibition the MK Gallery put on a number of Events which explored the themes of 'Why we came to Milton Keynes' and 'What Does our Future Look Like?' Attending these events were some prominent people from the early days of MK. One such person is captured below, his name is Derek Walker and was first Chief Architect of the MKDC. He remarked during presentation that he got the job because 'he wanted to build Milton Keynes to be greener than the surrounding countryside'. It was also nice to meet so many other ex-MKDC members and watch them become transfixed to the snippets of the VHS I had saved from the charity shop bin. I think the normal enjoyment I experience from looking at the items on display was considerably eclipsed by hearing the memories which my items triggered in others.
You'd have to be quick to catch the exhibition now as it closes on the 5th January 2014. For more information visit - http://www.mkgallery.org/exhibitions/future_city/ The MK Gallery has used this exhibition to provide a backdrop to reveal its exciting expansion plan, and wants reflect on what has brought us to this point and consider aspects of its future. Its very important to note that not all of the items on display are mine, and credit show also go to - 6a, Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre, The Living Archive, Milton Keynes Council, Buckinghamshire County Museum and The Open University. Pupils from Deanshanger Primary School, Slated Row School and Swallowfield School; Ms Christine Behrendt, Mark Coster, Marjorie Mackintosh, Sue Malleson, Helen Mayes, Dave Quayle, Suzan St Maur and Haili Sun. This fenced area is located on the Coffee Hall housing estate in Milton Keynes. The green on the floor isn't grass but instead is moss which has grown over the tarmac.
The remains of a high level fence still mark the perimeter of what was to be an outdoor leisure area, designed by the architects of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. There were a total of three of these areas constructed which gives a insight into how the MKDC thought the new residence would be spending their social time especially as there wasn't much else to do in the new town. They really did believe that they were constructing new homes but also a new way of life, which would include a spot of tennis on a Saturday afternoon. Two of the these areas have now been redeveloped and luckily have maintained their allocation as areas for leisure. Its interesting to think that if Coffee Hall was built today it is very unlikely facilities like this would be constructed instead the developer would have attempted to build as many properties as allowed within the grid square. This is a great example of how the original town planners purposely built expansion into Milton Keynes. What initially looks like an overly large verge is actually the space reserved for this particular grid road to be converted into a dual carriageway, this is theory is backed by the overall length of the foot bridges which pass over the road.
There are quite a few routes which still remain 'unfinished' and given the cost of expanding them they will probably remain that way. |