For a long time now I've been very interested in the theory behind a home built to Passivhaus (Passive house) standards. Since changing my central heating earlier in the year, my home obsession has now become finding and blocking the sources of draughts. So far my journey has lead me to discover the huge hole below! The pipe which disappears though the gap seems to be someones fix to a blocked telephone duct into one of the houses. The blue stuff should be insulating our houses, and behind this is a large void between our two properties. A small can of expanding foam later and the gap is now no more.
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This evening I've chosen to look though my collection of random Milton Keynes stuff, the first piece of paper I pulled out was a leaflet from 1980 providing inforamtion about the 'new' shopping building. 'Welcome to Central MIlton Keynes where everything has been designed to provide you with shipping as it should be' - This is the opening line on the leaflet, and what a bold opening statement. It then goes on to boast that there are over 6000 free car parking spaces, all at ground level and all within a short walk of the main building. Futher reading provides information on the 'Design Centre Showhouse' on North Elventh Street, where the contents of the house have been selected from the Design Index and many of the goods are on sale in the shopping centre. Looking back at the list of shops, it clear to see that our shopping 'high street' have clearly changed. Opposite Mcdonalds there was once the City Duck (Public House) and not far along was Jemimahs (Wine Bar).. Also gone are George Ort (Bakers), Gerrards (Greengrocers) and Goddens (Butchers). And of course there was a section of specalist retailers, where the public loos are now located. It's nice to see some independent names that are still present, including Stephen Conway (Jewllers). Another big change on the map is the now missing 'City Square'. Orginally a large open space this has since become Marks & Spencer, there wasnt really much in the square just a few childrens playpark rides and lots of open space. I think the best way to discribe it would be a mirror image of the area outside the station. Have you ever noticed that the path of the south side of the shopping building has more room than the north? Well this isnt a mistake, the designers of the shopping building knew that the south side would get more sun, they had visions of people sitting outside enjoying the summer evenings. Which is also why all of the food outlets were orignally located on this side. Anyway - Thats enough of the list of stuff which isnt there anymore, now its time for the infamous advert - Thank you for popping by, as you'll see i've been really neglecting by blog of late. But I've been inspired to publish more articles as Milton Keynes celebrates its 50th year.
As we enter 2017 we are being reminded that Milton Keynes celebrates its 50th Birthday. Don't get me wrong I'm a fond follower of everything MK, but I'm starting to see the same lists of achievements appearing as if they are copy and pasted from a master document.
I've chosen to start a list of alterative facts about MK -
This weekend I'm be taking part in the annual 'Milton Keynes Get on Your Bike' event. This year to make it interesting I've decided to take my 18 month old daughter in her trailer. So far i've been blown away by the generosity of some of my friends and family, i set a target of £100 and thats already been exceeded. Though some have said that they are sponsoring my daughter not me. of course I'll be attaching the customary GoPro camera to the trailer to capture the experience - and will post the video on here when i've edited all of the walking out.
If you'd like to donate some money to what in my opinion is an amazing charity please visit my Just Giving page - https://www.justgiving.com/Mark-Coster/
It would seem that every Milton Keynes estate has some kind of ghost pathway - and to be honest some of them i've walked along recently could have been anywhere in the country, they are little walks in the woods. I understand that some are just access corridors to separate the housing from the grid roads, others are just routes which local dog walkers have created over the years.
One of the best examples of going against initial plans has to be along side the H7 near Monkston. Its clear to see from above how someone once planned for the Redway path to go behind the mound and tree line but for some reason it takes a sudden route change and runs parallel with the main grid road (shown below). So if your out and about in Milton Keynes and fancy a change of pace i'd recommend visiting google maps, clicking on the earth view and checking out where the hidden routes go.
Currently dotted around Milton Keynes are a collection of characters from Disney's 1967 animated film 'Jungle Book'. None of them are partially hard to find - that is once you've seen them.
The pieces have been produced and are advertised by the twitter account @gridkidz whose profile page describes them as 'Suburban Street Art. Finders Keepers.'. The pieces are all produced using spray paint onto hardboard which is quite amazing when you see how much detail there is. When I mentioned the pieces to my cousins in Bedfordshire they thought that maybe the MK council had a come up with the idea, but to the best of my knowledge they haven't, its a completely rouge initiative. I'm particularly fond of the unorthodox public art pieces, though I'm not condoning graffiti but if someone is particularly talented with a spray can and can improve the feel of a normally plain concrete wall - Why Not? Anyway if your the passenger of someone driving around Milton Keynes why not keep you eyes out for the pieces. Best be quick though some people take the statement 'Finders Keepers' literally and they tend to disappear quite quickly.
I find it really upsetting when people choose to steal others work for their own commercial gain. This blog entry is the result of a twitter conversation with a local media outlet in my home town of Milton Keynes. They'd used my image of a road sign to promote themselves and their website on social networks, when confronted they were all apologetic until I advised them I would be invoicing them for the usage. At which point they took the article down.
I suppose it is not their fault, it happens all the time so it must be ok! Both my brothers have been given homework which included the statement 'Go home and google a subject and bring the images in'. What they fail to instil in the psyche of these young individuals is that one day such a act of digital thief might get them in serious trouble. I once has a conversation on this subject to which someone replied 'but you put them online so what do you expect' and my answer is always - I put them online to share them with others not hand them out for free, I take some pretty random images of normally boring things but i find them interesting, and given the amount of people with access to the internet there is bound to be another soul out there with similar interests who agrees with me. Photography is not a money making exercise for me, is a hobby, it's a very expensive one but its something that I like to do to help keep myself amused. I don't look to get paid from the images I take but I take offence from others doing so without my permission. They are also doing people who are very talented and do make a living from it an injustice also. So if your looking for images to use on your website or on your blog and don't have anything to spend on images why not get your camera out and take a picture yourself? It will be a lot better as you'd own the copyright and would guarantee it is just what you want. Failing that there are website which you can buy photos from such as http://www.istockphoto.com. If you really don't have any money why not try the usage rights tab in Google Search - but still check! They might have got it wrong and it doesn't hurt to ask. Anyway I feel this article has been a bit of a negative one which is why I want to share this video with you -
We didn't want a cardboard box delivered by a faceless courier and having to search about on youtube for the best way to put it together. To be honest I wasn't actually expecting the level of customer service I received at Roy Pinks! It was great and made me realised what is missing from the experience of online shopping, actually sales people helping you make the right purchase. Instead of handing over the cardboard box the trailer was put together for me, tested and then a demonstration was given to how it all worked. The trailer is great, it includes the stroller kit which means when you arrive at your destination it becomes a buggy. Its also got proper wheels, not tiny pram ones. And not forgetting the boot - the space in the back is massive! The tiny ones changing bag was rattling around in the back. Of course I couldn't wait to take it for a spin, so we took a trip into Bletchley Town Centre. GoPro video below -- Picture from the archive with my old trailer.
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