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I live about 20 miles away but work in MK.
I used to hate the place, but it's grown on me over the years. As a passer by I think generally people don't like it as you never get to see anything - stop for a newspaper and a drink at a corner shop - no chance, they're hidden on estates at the "Local Centre" (although there are plenty of petrol stations). It's all a blur of roundabouts and dual carriageways.
But MK has everything you need and lot's of things you don't need too!
If you don't have a car live near the city centre (another avoid area is Conniburrow). Not too sure about living at the Hub, if you have little willpower you can make yourself bankrupt by just walking downstairs and eating out somewhere different every night. I've always thought the flats at Campbell Park look ok (but not lived there). No idea what bike storage would be like in any of the flats around the City Centre - but I assume the newer ones will have been built with this taken account of.
Shenley and Loughton have always struck me as being fairly nice and they're only a few mins by bike to the train station.
I lived in Netherfield for a few months, it was "interesting" to say the least and an experience that will haunt me forever!
If I need to visit the post office I go to Netherfield. I've never noticed any cycling magazines in the shop, but I was amazed at how many tattoo magazines are published.
Yes Netherfield isn't one of the nicer places but has some good areas surrounding it . I used to live in Downhead Park near the canal, great place to walk your dog .
[i]Noooooo. Take the train. 45 minutes. Car 2 hours + at rush hour.
[/i]
Agree, as long as you're on expenses... The fast trains must be the dearest 30 mins journey in the UK.
^^^
Agreed !
Living in MK without a car is like not using the Tube in London
Interesting footie match coming soon
From a 'dark' football forum...
"In the early 1960's They picked on an unsuspecting patch of Buckinghamshire farmland to build Their mega hive. As with all of Their installations it is like an iceberg, with 90% being out of sight and underground. The New Town They put on top as camoflauge is one of the most awful places known to man; yet the majority of the residents fail to realise where they are and their true state of affairs, but there'll be more about that later...
As part of the New Planning for the New Town most of the streets were built on a grid pattern. This was to facilitate easy bus travel so instead of asking for a named destination a passenger could just blurt out the alphanumeric co-ordinates, as well as making navigation a f*cking pain in the arse for any Mole-Eyed Cyclists who rode through the townn some 25 years ago. (I managed to make it out again as the complex had yet to be completed). A note to those who don't want to stand out as a non-resident: Don't shout "BATTLESHIP!" when you hear such speech, most non-residents don't last too long... In fact, under a 1974 plan, a whole dictionary of Newspeak-a-like Milton Keynes Acronyms was produced for the residents to duckspeak to each other, it didn't take off until the widespread adoption of textspeak; now it is gaining ground and spreading beyond the town boundaries...
All that was lacking in this concrete utopia, apart from real live cows, was a football team, so They decided to kill two birds with one stone and delete a proper football club that had caused Them trouble in the past, then relocate it and Premierise it to Milton Keynes. Wimbledon FC was chosen as Their victim but it could so easily have been Pompey... It was a bitter fight: the Wombles dug-in Hard but in the end the mixture of fur and dried spunk they used to line their burrows was their undoing: when set alight it burned out the entire complex and the dirty deed was accomplished.
I need to stress again the extreme danger that visiting Milton Keynes poses to anyone sympathetic to the Movement. Once within 20km of the Peace Pagoda you are f*cked. Your brain will turn to mush, you'll be Assimilated, issued with a Stepford wife, a young son named Matthew, an imperrmanent looking house built on such a small ground plan that it has a gothic aspect, a silver car of ugly angles that looks as if it has been designed by the visually-impaired with a migrane, and an mk dons (uncapitlalisation deleberate) season ticket. You'll spend the rest of your miserable life happy-clappy in the stadium mk, Matthew by your side, wearing your mk dons shirts, and you'll be so blissed-out that you won't even realise what They have done to you.
There are worse things than death."
As a single person 14 years ago, straight out of uni, I hated MK. Whilst I was there they built the theatre district which improved things slightly but it the most soulless place I've ever been too which made for an unhappy 2 years. Perhaps now I would value some of the better points like open spaces and cycling routes, but I suspect not.
The best think about MK is the road system, you can get about very quickly and in the days before satnav you didn't need a map just an road grid reference.
As a passer by I think generally people don't like it as you never get to see anything - stop for a newspaper and a drink at a corner shop - no chance, they're hidden on estates at the "Local Centre" (although there are plenty of petrol stations). It's all a blur of roundabouts and dual carriageways.
That describes very nicely why I would never, ever live there. At least the road network allows you to leave quickly.
I ride into MK reasonably often on my road bike for work and never touch the redways. I stick to the roads. The cars may all be passing at 60mph+ but at least they're predictable. Unlike groups of school children walking 6 abreast each wearing headphones and not talking to eachother, or people walking dogs on one side of the path with a 20ft lead and their dog on the other side of the path.
The football is a shocking state of affairs. They're not actually too bad a team and play some ok football. It's just everyone sits there in silence eating hotdogs like they've just finished their shop at Ikea which is practically next door.
Like oldgit I live in the area of Leighton Buzzard. A pretty good middle ground for Woburn and Aston/Chilterns.
Linslade is perceived as the nicer part of Leighton/Linslade (historically it used to be in Buckinghamshire), it's on top of the railway (15 minutes closer to Euston than MK) and has excellent schools and dead easy to ride to Woburn.
I've lived in the Linslade area for pretty much all my 34 years and I've grown to love MK. Yes there are some dodgy, soulless areas of MK but it's certainly mellowing with age and there is loads to keep my wife and 2 kids happy all year round. Personally I would concentrate a home search away from the centre and estates but hidden in the new are the old villages consumed by the city (Shenley, Middleton) which are quite nice.
Housing in Woburn Sands seems ridiculously expensive compared to others. Personally ,the more rural areas heading toward Bedford, Buckingham, Northampton and Leighton Buzzard would be where I would be looking as with the road and rail networks it's dead easy to get into the centre.
If you want any more info let me know I'll see if I can help.
I'm slowly coming round to thinking Shenley/furzton would be the right area for me.
Really close to the office and the station, and not to far to ride to Woburn Sands...
I'm not really bothered about clubs/night life but It would be nice to be fairly close to the center.
People please, first rule of Da Buzzard!
I've lived in and around Milton Keynes for 44 years. Currently In Ampthill but parents still in Stony Stratford. I think it has pros and cons but you should be able to make a great life there.
The traffic is not as easy as it use to be. In the town its generally OK but commuting into and out of MK can be busy a peak times.
I'd be looking at
Walnut tree for close to Woburn
Close to CMK (possibly Loughton) for a short commute and close to night life
Wolverton, Stony Straford, Newport Pagnel for that small town feel and a range of pubs and shops nearby
My GF lived Furzton. It did seem a little far from the action. Many estates are on pub one shop, or there abouts. But that was a long tome again. But that side of town is better for road riding IMHO....
Not lived there, but I always enjoyed going round the ring road on a motorbike, endless opportunities to get the bike right over on the 6 million roundabouts they have!
I live in Bletchley, close to the station, happy to help if needed.
Just out of interest, Bletchley train station is cheaper then MK if going to London.
PS - I'm a Roadie. 😉
I'd agree with Ampthill there, and please just listen to the people that have actually lived in or about here as its so easy to slag off where people live with no real knowledge like some of the ass ole comments above. I'm mobile with my work , rent at the moment so have no ties, and I still choose to live in MK even though its 50 odd miles from where I'm working at the mo. it has some beautiful parks, lakes, walks , not bad shopping , good fast roads, some very expensive lovely estates, and its rough ones, but almost all my friends/workmates/ family that eventually come here to visit like the area after I've shown them the attractions. I really can't see you being disappointed when you come here , and don't forget to let us all know so you can be shown the local trails 🙂
tbh, I am really looking forward to it!
I've arranged flat viewings in Shenley, furzton and walnut tree, but still keeping an eye out for anything else which might be suitable.
I should be around and free for the last week of November If anyone would be interested in showing me some trails or pointing out the best roads.
🙂
James, if you fancy a good road ride give me a shout, I'm close to Furzton and through out the winter there is training at the bowl and in summer racing on a Thursday night.
Whats the name of the street in Walnut Tree, I can tell you if its worth turning up 🙂 (there are a couple of nasty streets on Walnut Tree)
Hi Rochey,
Hope your ok ,
The other si and hels,
Welcome to MK fella. Newport Pagnell resident myself. Half hour off road ride to Brickhill woods (Woburn), miles of redway to ride away from traffic and mud in the winter. Great pubs in Stony, Newport and Woburn. Great road riding all round the city. It's all good 🙂
Is there still training round the bowl on a Tuesday night through the winter?
I worked there for a month.
Some days when I woke up, I thought I'd died.
It really is the most souless place I've ever been.
And I've been to Lincoln.
I live in Wolverton which iis in the north and is one of the original towns that were joined together to make MK.
It's about a 15 minute cycle to the city centre and about 30/40 minute to cycle to Woburn.
You can get all over the town on the redways without having to go on main roads. Cycling on the roads is a bit hit and miss as cars tend not to expect you to be there. CX bikes are a better bet than a road bike as some of the redways are a bit rough.
Phil Corely's is very good for road stuff (in MK), Roy Pink's is also good (in Newport Pagnall) and Chainey's is OK for lower end bike stuff and BMX.
[url= http://www.cyclonembc.co.uk/website/ ]Cyclone MTB club[/url] meet up on a Sunday ride round Woburn every Sunday at 10 and 11. They're a good bunch of guys and girls so worth a ride with them.
Give me a shout if you want an intro and a lift
Cheers
Ken
Cyclone mtb look good, and would be nice to meet some new people!
Jase, the two places i'm looking at are very close to each other. They're on pimpernel grove and ramsthorn grove
Not familiar with Pimpernel as it’s a large Cul de sac that I’ve never needed to venture down. I don’t believe there are any pathways out so prob quite quiet.
Ramsthorn is small cul de sac and looks quite nice, its off of a little lane that has another road off of it that isn’t so desirable and is a 2 min walk to shop/pub (don’t go in there in an evening unless you like watching women fight) takeaways/doctors/vets.
Both places are 2 miles from the woods and 1 mile from country lanes.
Sorry for the gratuitous thread hijack but as there are many MK forumites assembled here can I ask to please keep eyes peeled for 2 bikes stolen last week from Wolverton.
Mine: Black Kinesis Decade with Black and Red rockshox Reba and 1X9 transmission (xtr rear mech. Hope blue bolt through front hub and brown madison flux saddle. Wont be many or any others around.
Boys: Black Norco Nail bmx with green bits.
Cheers
Walnut Tree shops after dark, hmmmm. Greasy takeaways, loitering youths, tracksuit wearing meatheads with trophy dogs and The Tawny Owl pub just over the road for lovers of Hungry Horse cuisine and shit beer. What more could you want!
hammerite - Member
Is there still training round the bowl on a Tuesday night through the winter?
Posted 16 hours ago #Report-Post
Yes but not sure if its started yet, keep an eye on TeamMK.com.
Think it's CycloX training on Tues at the moment
Wavendon Gate here, all good as far as i'm concerned
Yep, CX at the moment.
I think the road stuff will start after xmas.
Thanks Canny/Jase - is it Team MK specific training or is the Bowl open for use by members of MKCA affiliated clubs?
I've never been to it but as far as I'm aware they just open open the facility to let you do your own thing, as opposed to a coach actually training you. On that basis I'd imagine members of any affiliated clubs could go along.
I lived there for 10 years, left 15 years ago, family still there though.
For in MK Great Linford would be my recommendation, as close to the old village centre as possible, Nags Head is a nice pub, close to Newport Pagnall for a decent curry at the Mysore and easy distance of the centre (walkable on a good day).
Bow Brickhill is nice, but expensive.
I'd move back to the area but not onto one of the big estates (I've lived in Heelands, Conniburrow and Bradwell Common...), it would have to be one of the villages on the outskirts like Bow Brickhill, Castlethorpe, Hanslope, Cosgrove etc
Thanks Jase, that's what I gathered it was like.
Yep officially riders of MKCA member clubs
I rode for MCKA years ago, great club.