In an established community local knowledge would be passed on from one generation to the next. A sort of village story if you like. For instance, Shenley Brook End was a village long before Milton Keynes existed. There are quite elderly people who have lived there all their lives, others who moved there during the war and have grown up there. They can tell you a lot about the development of their part of Milton Keynes, where the farms used to be and such like. Equally the 'newcomers, because they have moved in to an established community have been absorbed into it and are part of 'village' life, even though it is no longer a village; there is a sense of community.

It would be nice if we could build up a 'story' for Kingsmead so that future generations would have some 'history' to belong to. We don't want to pry; you can use a pseudonym if you like, but it would be interesting to build up a picture of this new community. It would be interesting to know your origins, where you moved from, why you decided to move here and what you do. Do you have any children, grandchildren?. Perhaps you have skills which local people might value, or hobbies which others might share but are not aware of .

Here is our story as an example; let us have yours. Contact us on kingsmead@enterprise.net

Gillian was born in Wellington in Shropshire and after living in a variety of places, including three years in Malaya, settled in the Isle of Man, or at least her mother did. Gillian was sent to school at a French convent in Anglesey. At eighteen she left school and the Isle of Man to study in Manchester.

At about the same time Keith, who was born and brought up in St Helens near Liverpool, also left home to study at Manchester University. He and Gillian met in a jazz club in Stockport and found that they shared the same interests. Marriage swiftly followed and after Keith's graduation we left the north of England for North London. A brief sojourn under the shadow of Alexandra Palace and we moved, with small daughter, to Welwyn Garden City where, over the next fourteen years, we produced three more daughters.

We arrived in Kingsmead in February 2001 when Keith retired from the chemical company for which he had worked for forty years. He started his working life as a young development chemist and ending up as Operations Director. We now have four grown up daughters and, at the time of our move, had family in South London, Essex and Liverpool (as well as in Pennsylvania USA). Milton Keynes seemed to be rather more central than Welwyn Garden City where we had lived for almost forty years. So we pulled up our roots again and together with a pantechnicon load of pot plants and another one of furniture, set out for MK. The saga of our moving day is a whole other story. Suffice it to say that we are now happily established in our new home with two cats and have no regrets. We feel we have founded a dynasty, with twelve grandchildren, the oldest being twenty one, and the youngest, born on Boxing Day 2007.

Keith is a keen gardener and Gillian is a fanatical quilter. If you're not sure what a quilter is and you have a few hours to spare ask Gillian! To see some of Gillian's quilts click here.

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