Under The Grid
Our podcast ‘Under the Grid’ explores some of our favourite things about Milton Keynes and shares findings from working at the Museum. New episodes come out the first Monday of every month. You can also find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. So subscribe and happy listening!
Ep 21 - Pennyland
🎶 On Pennyland there was a Saxon weaving woollen clothes, and houses built to grab the solar warmth for free….🎶 We pay a visit to Pennyland and investigate self-sufficiency in textile production and energy use.
Episode 21 – Pennyland
Ep 20 - Accessible Sport
We talk to two of the people featured in the Paralympic Heritage: Stories from Milton Keynes exhibition. Baldip Sahota was the first Indian man to represent GB&NI in fencing, he coaches para-fencers at Touché Fencing Club based in Towcester and coached the GB&NI paralympic team for the 2012 and 2016 games.
Episode 20 – Accessible Sport
Ep 19 Women's History Month
We explore how we can discover the lives of women who lived in the past using examples from Wolverton Carriage & Wagon Works and the Saxon cemetery at Wolverton. Can we ever really know a skeleton’s gender? How many women were working at the male-dominated factory and what were they doing?
Episode 19 – Women’s History Month
Ep 18 Retail
Shopping as it should be! We explore Iron Age and Roman retail, how you formulate shopping provision for a target population of 250,000 and link them together by deciding Magiovinium was a district centre.
Episode 18 – Retail
Ep 17 Stony Stratford
We’re visiting Stony Stratford this month – historic coaching town on Watling Street full of pubs, narrow passageways and lots of history! Catherine reveals the impact of the new city on the town and Tabatha explores a nationally significant Roman religious hoard found nearby.
Episode 17 – Stony Stratford
Ep 16 A Wheel and a Tram
We’re getting specific in this episode and each picking a special item from our collections to explore. Is it a sun disc? Is it a wheel? Tabatha talks Iron Age and Roman sun gods. Catherine tells the story of an object you wouldn’t want to fall from the roof of, but that you might like to get your lunch delivered in.
Episode 16 – A Wheel and a Tram
Ep 15 Myths and legends
We talk tea bags, stone circles, roundabouts and a temple of the sun in an effort to prove or debunk local myths and legends. Let us know if there’s any stories you want us to investigate!
Episode 15 – Myths and Legends
Ep 14 Great Linford
We welcome guests Ellie and Julie from The Parks Trust to tell us all about Great Linford Manor Park. We explore the original pleasure gardens, learn about the doctor/reverend/occultist Richard Napier, find out just how furious canals and railways can make people, and hear about the park’s recent restoration.
Episode 14 – Great Linford
Ep 13 Free History
Inspired by Heritage Open Days, we highlight some of the free historic sites to see. Travel back to Roman Britain, Norman castles and new town firsts with us, all for free and all in Milton Keynes! We also explore the brick making industry and what Pokémon Go can tell us about the world around us.
Episode 13 – Free History
Ep 12 Bradwell
We explore all the Bradwells – New, Old and Abbey! Along the way we consider hoards – what are they and why are they, what to do when your priory is in decline and when is retirement not retirement?
Episode 12 – Bradwell
Ep 11 Women's Football
Catherine takes us back to meet the enterprising young women’s football teams of the late 1930s. We discover who was dominant, who was nicknamed “the canaries” and how they all let their hair down after games.
Episode 11 – Women’s Football
Ep 10 Volunteers
We hand over this episode to the museum’s volunteers and let them tell you some stories of their own. What it’s like volunteering at an interactive, hands-on museum? What do they get up to behind the scenes? Listen on to find out!
Episode 10 – Volunteers
Ep 09 Wolverton
What do one of Milton Keynes’ most controversial buildings, monkey-saving firefighters, owl pyromaniacs and Neolithic grid roads have in common? Wolverton! Find out how in this month’s episode.
Episode 09 – Wolverton
Ep 08 Unbuilt MK
We welcome our first guest to Under the Grid and talk with Tim Skelton about our new town history that never happened. Tim tells us about the buildings and schemes didn’t get past the drawing board...
Episode 08 – Unbuilt MK
Ep 07 Nomenclature
Or: the names of things. We take a look into why the streets, roundabouts and buildings in Milton Keynes have particular names. Tabatha takes us back to Saxon times, Sarah celebrates women in STEM and Catherine discovers why you should always question everything.
Episode 07 – Nomenclature
Ep 06 Newport Pagnell
As we dig into the history of Newport Pagnell we talk about the big subjects – war, religion and… ceramic models. In this episode we discover spies and dissenters, and ponder tipping your hairdresser with pottery clay.
Episode 06 – Newport Pagnell
Ep 05 Meet the Team
We answer burning questions from the public – like how we’d survive the zombie apocalypse, our ideal museum pet and what is our favourite object.
Episode 05 – Meet the Team
Ep 04 - Christmas
Our gift to you this December is a bumper Christmas-themed episode. Tabatha talks mystery cults, Sarah introduces us to bangs of expectation and Catherine reminisces about Middleton Hall. Let us know your traditions and memories of shopping centre grottos!
Episode 04 – Christmas
Ep 03 Industry
Sarah tells us about the boat-making business 74 miles from the sea, Catherine gushes about bright yellow boxes and Tabatha reveals an industrially devoid archaeological record.
Episode 03- Industry
Halloween Special- Passenham
We’re pretty convinced Passenham was the inspiration for Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s Funnybones books. Why? Skeletons galore. This Hallowe’en, come with us on a journey to discover the cursed excavations of a possible Saxon war grave. Content warning: discussion of human remains and animal sacrifice
Halloween Special- Passenham
Ep 02 Woolstone
Catherine looks at the modern development and architecture, Sarah reveals our local connection to steam power and Tabatha’s talking coffins. Is cultivation better than ploughing? What IS apotropaic imagery? And how do you maintain a village’s rural setting in a new development for 250,000 people? Listen on to find out!
Episode 02- Woolstone
Ep 01 Transport
Tabatha takes us back 2,000 years to the Battle of Watling Street, Catherine treats us to her party trick and tells us why the grid roads aren't straight, and Sarah reveals the essential 1838 guide book to railway travel in the area.