An Unlikely Place to Find Village Life Graham Norwood Explores Buckinghamshire’S Maligned Marmite Town and Its Bucolic Surprises
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Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 23, March 2019 Page: 10,11 Area: 1557 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 345618 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search An unlikely place to find village life Graham Norwood explores Buckinghamshire’s maligned Marmite town and its bucolic surprises ay “Milton Keynes” to Eighth Street and (my favourite) most people and they V6 Grafton Street. think of brutalist archi- So describing it now as a grey com- tecture, roads lined with muter haven is hardly surprising, yet S Sixties-style blocks of that is only half the story of Milton flats and offices, and a Keynes. For surrounding this very town full of London’s Marmite town – some love it, others overspill residents. passionately hate it – there are several That’s hardly surprising, as it was de- indisputably lovely villages, many signed just over half a century ago as a with surprisingly good-value homes futuristic new town, when those de- given their size and the charm of their scriptions were kinder than they are local communities. today. Back then, car travel was being Look at Aspley Guise, an elegant vil- encouraged and navigation was easy lage with 13th-century roots and more thanks to its US-style grid pattern and than 20 Georgian listed buildings. It’s functional road names such as South laden with footpaths and bridleways, while Woburn Abbey and the local golf and east. Or, not far away, you find Wo- club are close by. It has its own primary burn Sands. More of a town than a vil- school and it’s only around 20 minutes lage, perhaps, this community is close by car to Milton Keynes Central sta- to some of Buckinghamshire’s most at- tion, and far less to the M1. tractive countryside but also has a Beachampton, surrounded by roll- proper high street with pubs, several ing countryside, is pretty too, and is a good schools and excellent transport favourite with walkers and horse rid- connectivity. ers. The Bell is its popular local pub Then there’s the waterside – yes, and there’s a village hall and parish even near Milton Keynes. The Grand church. Sherington is another charmer, Union Canal runs close by and boasts while other nearby settlements steeped towpaths linking waterside pubs and in character and popularity include villages including pretty Stoke Swanbourne and Stoke Hammond to Bruerne, a little north-west of the main the south-west of Milton Keynes town, MK town, which has its own canal and Hanslope and Moulsoe to the north museum. You get the picture: there’s Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 1 of 7 450260936 - SHENAT - A25564-1 - 147612177 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 23, March 2019 Page: 10,11 Area: 1557 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 345618 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search more to Milton Keynes than its urban ocks, often less formulaic and not image, even though it has as many fans abiding by the grid street system that as detractors. characterised the first decades of the “Milton Keynes has got everything town. In other words, there’s much to going for it. There’s a good train line like: as estate agents might put it, into London [35 minutes into Euston], there’s the best of both the urban and highly sought-after schools, a huge rural worlds. But all that might be retail offering, a theatre and a cinema. about to change. These make it an ideal choice for For while Milton Keynes has a track families looking for good schooling record of successful expansion (its and an easy commute,” says Nick population has risen from 160,000 to Rudge of Savills. about 250,000 in 30 years, mostly in a There are good-value properties, series of sympathetic and long-planned too: the average price according to extensions to the town), the future may Zoopla is around £311,000. Most see it facing its biggest challenge yet. country house agents say large proper- The Government’s National ties with paddocks and land in this area Infrastructure Commission wants up are as much as a quarter cheaper than to one million homes plus road and rail they would be just 25 miles further links built in a development corridor south in more fashionable Home Coun- running between Oxford and ties territory. Cambridge, with many of Milton “There’s definitely, for some, an air Keynes’ current villages slap bang in of disdain for Milton Keynes, but it the middle. Specifically, the council makes for a satisfying surprise when says that land must be identified for friends visit to see how rural you can some 26,500 new homes around be within a £15 cab ride of the range of Milton Keynes by 2031. amenities in the town,” explains Rachel Some in the town fear that while pre- Johnston of Stacks Property Search, a vious expansions have been led by lo- buying agency. She says the best-value cal planners (therefore, usually villages are on the Northamptonshire ensuring amenities like schools, parks, side of the town. doctors’ surgeries and transport links “The housing market in Milton were provided for growing popula- Keynes has performed no better or tions), the new corridor is primarily for worse than the rest of the South East the benefit of Oxford and Cambridge, due to steady demand from commuters and so may be less generous in crucial from London,” says Mark Rimell of facilities along the route. Strutt & Parker. He lives in a village 20 “The essential thing for the future is miles from Milton Keynes, and says the to preserve the villages and the com- key draw is living in genuine country- munity sentiment,” explains retired side yet still being a short drive from all businessman Roger Fennemore. He the amenities you would need. knows the area better than most, and In fact, even when you are in the has lived in five different Milton Keynes heart of the town centre itself, you villages since 1967. In addition to might be surprised by the open spaces careers in the law and property and fields that exist within relatively development, he and his wife, Sally, dense residential or shopping areas; have been driving forces in charity and there are a few man-made lakes, too. community activity in the area for half Meanwhile, even in the most congested a century. times, Milton Keynes remains easy to The couple now live in the village of drive through, and there are numerous Wavendon on Milton Keynes’s eastern low-cost car parks, mostly at ground- edge. Fennemore says many existing level and a short walk to shops, offices, villages have had additional homes homes and public transport. built, especially in recent years, but Much of the central area’s housing, usually with sensitivity. Ambitious new mostly flats, are low-rise and now look housing targets, however, might end a little dated, but on the outskirts there that. “I’m passionate about Milton are modern houses and taller tower Keynes and the expansion to date has bl Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 2 of 7 450260936 - SHENAT - A25564-1 - 147612177 Source: The Daily Telegraph {Property} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 23, March 2019 Page: 10,11 Area: 1557 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 345618 Daily Ad data: page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 Phone: 020 7931 2000 Keyword: Stacks Property Search been ‘so far, so good’ with infrastruc- ture and amenities to support new FOR SALE homes. The key is to ensure that that continues. The last thing we want is one vast urban sprawl,” cautions Live in Milton Keynes’s nearby villages Fennemore. However, the mere pros- pect of this corridor of housing is al- ready affecting the market. WOBURN SANDS “The expansion of Milton Keynes, especially towards the south and south- Sandy Court is just two west, has meant that previously sought- minutes’ walk to the high after villages like Whaddon have street and it has a games suffered somewhat in anticipation of room, cinema den and the impact,” warns Johnston. “School four bedrooms. catchment areas have also tightened, £1.125 million which can catch buyers out if they Guide Price: Jackson-Stops (01525 don’t do research early enough.” Agent: 290641; jackson-stops.co.uk) For the buyer considering purchas- ing around Milton Keynes and not wanting to be part of a large housing WOBURN SANDS scheme, the message is clear: research your chosen location carefully. If you A chalet bungalow-style get it right, however, you can enjoy a home with two beautiful country lifestyle at a good bedrooms in a semi-rural price, enticingly close to modern location that is also close amenities and a short hop to London. to a train station. And you can enjoy the reaction when £495,000 you tell snobby friends you’re moving Guide Price: Brown & Merry (01908 to Milton Keynes… Agent: 583231; brownandmerry.co.uk) ASPLEY GUISE On the edge of the village is light and airy Timber Ridge, which has six bedrooms, a cinema and a gym.