The big MK50 Anniversary Exhibition – it’s here

A New City Comes to Life, at Middleton Hall, kicks off Milton Keynes’ year, celebrating 50 years since the city was officially born.

From Tuesday January 10 until the ‘Designation Birthday’ itself on Monday January 23, the huge exhibition tells the story of the UK’s most successful new city showcasing everything Milton Keynes. From dinosaur bones to driverless cars; from Stone Age nomads to the digital generation; from farms, sleepy villages and Victorian railway towns to a vibrant regional economic and cultural powerhouse of 260,000 people – and it is still growing.

Follow the information and data trail and learn how Milton Keynes was born and built. What was here before, what’s here now, and what is to come. See archive images, period videos and those famous TV adverts as well as a unique collection of original architectural models of iconic city landmarks.

Read the words and hear the voices of those who conceived and constructed Milton Keynes, the first residents and those who came after. Build a house from giant Duplo bricks, play on the MK50 Game Mat, enter the Quiz and win prizes. There’s music, kids entertainments and more on the MK50 stage.

Don’t miss the Aston Martin Vantage, Lutz Pathfinder self-driving pod, a replica Enigma machine from Bletchley Park, the Festive Road Triceratops, the stadiummk visitor’s book signed by Her Majesty The Queen and much more. Visit the MK50 website http://www.mk50.co.uk/

• The MK 50 Anniversary Exhibition is part of the MK Heritage Consortium STACCess:MK Project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and has been curated by volunteers.

Middleton Hall, centre:mk, CMK MK9 3EP. Free Entry during centre:mk opening hours.