 Me and Eddie plus two and a half children When Eddie and I were married in 1957 we first lived in two rooms in a very large house in Hampstead. After the birth of our first son we moved into a self contained flat in New Cross in South London. Our second son was born there and I became pregnant with our daughter. This was when we decided that we needed to think about the future and wanted a nice home and garden for our family to grow up in. We tried to buy houses a little further out from London, Erith in Kent etc., In those days the wife’s earnings was not considered for a mortgage, and my husband did not earn enough to procure a reasonable mortgage for the house we wanted. We applied for a house in a New Town, and originally wanted to move to Crawley, but the list was closed. We were offered other towns but Eddie did not want to change his job. He worked for the Post Office and eventually got a transfer from WDO (Wimpole St. London) to Bletchley. We moved into a very nice semi-detached home with a good sized garden. Four months later, our daughter was born and our family was complete. We had no front paths or pavements when we first moved in and relied on mobile shops for our main supplies. The nearest shops were in Bletchley Town, three quarters of an hour walk away. A trip to town was almost a full day out with the baby in the pram, one child on the pram seat, and the eldest holding the pram handle, and the shopping in the rack underneath. This was usually a once a week trip, on a Thursday, which was market day and the children could enjoy seeing all the farm animals. We had many visitors, family and friends to stay, and all saw the potential of life in this part of the world, even though the idea of Milton Keynes was not at that time, a factor. All our neighbours were the same as us, all had young children and were restarting their lives, so we became a very closeknit community, and I am glad to say, although we have all moved on, we still keep in close contact and still see one and other quite regularly. Eddie’s parents were the first to follow us here. They moved from a flat in St. Johns Wood, London and settled into a bungalow. A short time later, one of Eddie’s brothers with his wife and family decided to move here, as did our bestman and his family. There was one thing that continually worried me in the early days, I was concerned that my children, particularly my boys would have nothing to do as they grew up. But my fears were not justified, as the community grew and new schools opened, they joined various youth organisations, for example, the cubs, then the scouts, they joined a nature club which instilled a lifelong love of the countryside. My daughter became a brownie, then a girl guide. As the children grew so did the opportunities for them to widen their knowledge and their social accomplishments expanded. Eddie did well in his job, I started a teaching Training course at Bletchley Park, our eldest son went to the local Grammar School, and both our other children were doing well too. It was while I was at college that the plans for Milton Keynes were first made public. This intrigued and excited the whole family, and next to move here was my youngest brother, his wife and two children, quickly followed by my other brother, his wife and their children. There were no problems finding work or homes in those days. Over the years other family members arrived. When my parents retired, they sold their house in Blackheath and bought a bungalow near the Golf Course in Bletchley. Both my sister-in-law’s parents decided to spend their retirement years here and their other daughters and families followed. This completed the migration to Milton Keynes, but of course the family is forever expanding. Most of the older members of the family are no longer with us, my mother died two years ago at the age of 94 and only one member of that generation is still with us. Our three children worked hard at school and secured a very good education. They all have very high flying careers, nice homes and families of their own now. My nieces and nephew s have been just as fortunate. From a very young family of 4.5 persons arriving here in 1963, the immediate family grew to 55 persons, and apart from those who have passed on and one family re-locating to Wales, everyone else is still living in Milton Keynes. We have all seen the constant changes and I might add, improvements to the City, there is always something going on, it is never boring, and there is something for everyone if you look for it. We would never live anywhere else.  
We have lived in our present house now for twenty seven years. We were surrounded by fields initially, and we have watched our environment change dramatically. The gravel pit behind our house has now expanded to become an extensive leisure lake with a wildlife area with facilities for walking and games. We feel we are very lucky to have all the amenities of Milton Keynes within easy reach and the country on our doorstep.   |