In 2017, On the Verge and its partners: MK Council, The Parks Trust MK and MK City Discovery Centre, delivered the yearlong ‘Underpasses’ project with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), MK Community Foundation and MK Council. The project took place in 4 communities around Central Milton Keynes aiming to:

• unite people in their joint MK identity
• celebrate and connect residents with the unique urban heritage of the ‘New Town’
• help preserve its uniqueness for the future.

OTV worked with partners and artists to renovate and breathe new life into two of the underpasses connecting the four estates delivering heritage and cultural events to engage these communities, helping them to uncover local history by collecting artistic responses and oral histories.

Heritage inspired public art that transformed two underpasses were commissioned and a range of educational resources were produced for the MK50 celebration including:

• A group of 12 exhibition panels ‘Underpasses’ a briefly history of the city and of the 4 estates.
• A leaflet ‘MK Heritage Trails – The Story of Housing in MK’ which outlined guided walking of the 4 estates and a version for children of this leaflet ‘Children’s Activity Trail’.
• Two postcards – Secklow Mound (site behind the Central Library) and for the ‘Underpass’ painting by Boyd and Evans now at MK Central Library.
• Two publications for children and young people giving a glance at the history of Milton Keynes, ‘Travelling in Time – Adventure in Milton Keynes’ and ‘my MK’
• ‘My MK Walking Heritage Tour’  App for ages 11 to16

All items downloadable from the On the Verge website.

Website: www.ontheverge.org.uk/downloads.html