Milton Keynes; Friday, 16 June, 2023

I took an extended lunch break to head up to Milton Keynes and shortly after checking into my hotel was back on my work laptop finishing off my day.

Once I’d finished work for the day, I was able to head straight out of the hotel and start to have a wander through downtown Milton Keynes, heading up towards the historic centre – though in this case the historic period is the last quarter of the 20th century.

I wandered through Midsummer Place and the market before reaching the link bridge over the V8 Road to Campbell Park. Main roads in Milton Keynes are labelled V for those heading Northish to Southish and H for those heading Eastish to Westish – the whole place is on a slight angle as Midsummer Boulevard, the main central road in the city, was laid out so that on the Summer Solstice the sun rose directly down it.

The park has an art trail that runs round the site, taking in many of the art installations that have been placed in the park. The largest one being the Milton Keynes Rose which is just at the entrance to the park and doubles up as the city’s cenotaph and central place for celebrations.

A short distance further on is the Light Pyramid which is set on the same axis as Midsummer Boulevard and is located on the end of a short ridge over the park, consequently the sun should rise directly behind the peak of the pyramid on the Solstice.

I wandered all the way through the park down to where it meets the Grand Union Canal and then walked a little further down to the nearest bus stop as the walk meant I was now more than 2 miles from the centre of the city, and with the walk back being mostly uphill I decided to cheat and catch the bus back in.

Back in the centre of the city I popped into one of the many restaurants around The Centre as it’s branded for dinner before heading back to the hotel for a quick beer and then an early night.