It’s hard to believe that it is now two years since my PhD passed examination! I placed the text of my PhD under embargo for two years from 13 November 2017, while I developed the monograph of my first book, Milton Keynes in British Culture: Imagining England, published in February of this year. The embargo … More PhD thesis now open access
I’m pleased to be presenting on my book and current works in progress at the first Deakin Cultural Heritage seminar of the semester on 31 July 2019. The seminar title is “Ideal landscapes, planning and heritage in postwar British culture”, and the abstract as follows: While Britain’s postwar planned landscapes, including modernist urban redevelopments and … More Deakin Cultural Heritage seminar, 31 July 2019
It was extremely exciting to be asked to write for the relaunched Tribune magazine, who have taken an especial interest in rethinking recent British political history, especially around urban policy. My article, “Come to Milton Keynes,” can be found here. It discusses the new, fascinating exhibition The Lie of the Land being held at the … More Article for Tribune: Come to Milton Keynes!
The University of Sydney’s Political Economy department are a fantastic team and I have previously mentioned how fascinating and enriching I found their 2018 Historical Materialism conference. Their blog Progress in Political Economy is one I always read with great interest, and so it was very exciting to be asked to write a guest post … More Guest post for Progress in Political Economy: Imagining England, Imagining the Centre
I’m excited to announce that my first book, Milton Keynes in British Culture: Imagining England, has been published by Routledge as part of their series Routledge Studies in Modern British History. The publisher page can be found here, and a free preview is available via Google Books. The publisher’s description can be found here: The … More New book: Milton Keynes in British Culture
My 1980s British badge collection has been continuing to grow. Recent acquisitions include a number of general political badges from a single collection in Northamptonshire. These appear to be from between the 1983 election and 1986 – “Save Jobs: Sack the Tories,” “I didn’t vote Tory”, and a “save the GLC” badge. Possibly these could … More Historical lapels: 1980s politics edition
As a gift to myself for completing my PhD, I bought a collection of 1980s badges from eBay. They all came from one collector, whose interests mixed political activism and local heritage preservation in the Northamptonshire area. I rather like theming my lapels to what I’m reading or teaching on a particular day (or to … More Historical lapels: Milton Keynes edition
I have a long list of bookmarked eBay listings of Milton Keynes historical ephemera which I try to collect when funds allow. Most of my Milton Keynes postcards are unused, however this one I purchased for its photo montage of the Shopping Building had been used by a local resident. The Shopping Building opened in … More Milton Keynes ephemera: postcards from the 1980s
Milton Keynes Central Library is one of those institutions which reflects the generous public-spiritedness of early 1970s Milton Keynes – a publically funded organisation with a focus on building and serving their community, especially working class people and people on lower incomes. MK Library service has many local branches, however even when I lived in … More MK50 in Melbourne: a care package from Milton Keynes Central Library
