Milton Keynes Museum is preparing to re-open ahead of the Easter holidays after a closure due to fire.

The city’s museum documenting Milton Keynes’ history has been shut for much of 2025 following a fire in early February, but its doors will re-open on Friday (11/04).

The re-opening comes in time for the Easter celebrations, with the Museum for Milton Keynes set to mark their re-opening with Easter fun such as the search for hidden eggs will return, and of course the Easter Egg Hunt.

For 2025, the hunt will see visitors trying to locate a couple of incredibly rare eggs that will be hiding somewhere in the Museum. Suitors that find the rare hidden eggs will be rewarded with that season of treats – a large chocolate Easter egg!

The Easter Egg Hunt will be available from Good Friday, 18 April to Easter Monday, 21 April.

Further seasonal activities will include Easter themed arts and crafts and cookie decorating.

The egg search runs daily from Good Friday to Easter Monday, with visitors also being able to enjoy so much more that the space has to offer; from playing Parlour Games in the farmhouse and peeking into the world of toys over the years, to taking a stroll along the popular Street of Shops with their original facades from stores once active in our towns. How many will you remember?

You’ll also gain an understanding of farming habits locally, and can see some wonderful examples of transport, including a Sinclair C5, a canal barge, a fab array of wheelie great bicycles, and even a fire truck from the turn of the last century, once in use in Newport Pagnell!

The Easter holidays are also a great time to come and investigate the brand new Ancient Gallery, where demonstrations of ancient crafts including chain making and leather working will show you how things used to be done way back in the Bronze Age (April 11-13 and 16 & 17).

Little creatives will be able to get busy with ancient-gallery-themed arts and crafts, and there will be more cookie decorating, while history fans of all ages will also enjoy being able to get hands-on with replica and original artifacts.

If the day’s activities leave you eggs-hausted, the Museum’s Granary Tea Room will have a selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks to stop bellies from rumbling.

Museum director Bill Griffiths said, “We barely had time to catch a breath having finally opened the Ancient Gallery to such fantastic response when the fire struck and turned our elation to devastation.

“These past few weeks have been a very difficult time, but we have been cheered by our visitors who are so supportive of all we do here.

“Having their messages of support, and so many of them, has lifted volunteers, the Museum staff and me at a time when we most needed it,” he added.

“By way of thanks, we hope to see as many familiar faces, and new ones, join us this Easter. We’ve gone all out to ensure that everyone who visits will have their fill of fun…and chocolate!”

For more information visit miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk

MK Dons have confirmed that club captain Dean Lewington will retire from playing at the end of the season

The 40-year-old defender will hang up his boots after a career that has seen him play over 900 competitive appearances for the team from Stadium MK.

Lewington, who is the son of former England assistant manager Ray, made 915 competitive appearances for the Dons, having been with Wimbledon FC when they first moved to Milton Keynes in 2003 and played in every season since the club became MK Dons in 2004.

In 2023, he surpassed John Trollope’s record for most league appearances for a single club, while his role call has seen him win a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and win 3 promotions in his time with the Dons. He has made 789 EFL appearances for MK Dons.

Lewington’s match time however had begun to dwindle this season, with the defender making just 4 EFL appearances this season and not playing at all since mid-November.

MK Dons have confirmed that Lewington is seeking to attain his coaching badges in order to become a permanent coach, having previously had three separate caretaker spells in charge of MK Dons.

The club have also confirmed there will be events to mark the end of Lewington’s career, with fans encouraged to celebrate Lewington at the Dons’ final home game of the season against Grimsby Town on April 26th, as well as a formal event to celebrate Lewington’s career after the season ends in May.

MK Dons said, “Dons supporters and people in the city of Milton Keynes are being encouraged to give Dean the send-off he deserves in MK Dons’ final home game of the season against Grimsby Town on Saturday the 26th of April at Stadium MK. This game will mark Dean Lewington Day and will be a special occasion to celebrate Dean and his remarkable efforts over the years.

“Then, on Friday the 9th of May, there will be an opportunity for everyone to come together and thank Dean at An Evening with Dean Lewington, a two-course meal and celebration of Dean’s career with friends and family as well as former coaches and teammates.”

Ben Gladwin was left confused and disappointed as his MK Dons side suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Barrow.

The Dons’ interim boss was left to rue the way things got away from his team as despite having chances, they were beaten 3-0 at home by fellow lower mid-table outfit Barrow, making it three defeats in a row and ten goals conceded.

Gladwin reflected that there were parts that worked but admitted that from the moment they fell 2-0 down, there was not enough to feel positive about.

He said, “We were sat in the office with the rest of the staff for a few minutes as we were just confused. I will always 100% protect the players because I love them all to bits.

“We’re going to try to continue to help but something’s going to have shift because there’s still five games left and a lot of football still to be played.

“The confusing thing is that large portions of the game actually look relatively good with the ball.

“When we go 2-0 down, everything looks horrendous after that and there’s just no doubting that. Before that point, a lot was quite good.

“Because of the context of how the season is going and the current state of the group, it just feels horrendous. There’s no place to hide. It’s absolutely not good enough and everybody will be well aware of that. I just hope the club can now get someone in to help the boys out.”

Gladwin reflected that the week had been a difficult one, feeling that the collapse against Fleetwood had lead to a negative spiral but that the players had a duty to pick themselves up to go again for the remainder of the season.

He said, “I’m very much someone that wants to help the players. I really am. That sense of changing energy is probably just disappointment within myself maybe and not being able to affect them in the way I would’ve liked.

“I think until half-time at Fleetwood, we were in a really good place but that second half has damaged the lads a lot and I can feel that a lot just from being with them. But there’s no place to hide.

“We all get paid to perform for the football club so we can’t just throw in the towel and just wait until next season. There’s no way that can happen.”

Gladwin also said that the players were looking like they were still applying themselves but the grind was not working in their favour.

He said, “It would make my life easier if I just came out and said they’re not running around and not trying. They are trying but they’re not in a great place. We’ll continue to try help them until the last moment.

“But I understand the fans. They’re within their rights. They pay good money to see a product to enjoy and right now, it’s just not happening.”

Although Gladwin said he was enjoying his experience as boss, he said that the time had come for the Dons to look to appoint a long-term successor to Scott Lindsey in the Stadium MK hot-seat.

He said, “For me, it’s been an incredible learning experience and I know now it’s something I really enjoy doing, but I’ll be able to reflect on this experience afterwards. I’ve learned a hell of a lot but it’s just the right thing for the club, group and everybody to have a new manager with fresh ideas and fresh energy to change the place because it absolutely needs that.”

The police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have made a public appeal for witnesses after the fatal shooting of a man outside Milton Keynes Central station.

The IOPC have opened the investigation into the incident after a man was shot in an area outside the station around 1pm on Tuesday (01/04) last week.

As part of their appeal, the IOPC identified the man as David Joyce, 38, who lived in Milton Keynes.

His next of kin has been informed and he was formally identified at a post-mortem examination this morning (3 April). The provisional cause of death is a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Joyce had been given first aid at the scene but died at the scene.

In a report of the day, the IOPC revealed they were advised that Thames Valley Police officers were dispatched after the report of a man with a firearm, which later turned out to be a man with a knife in his hand.

Their statement read, “We were advised by the force that firearms officers were sent to the station shortly before 1pm following a 999 call reporting that there was a man with a gun at the scene.

“We have viewed police officers’ body worn video footage and a substantial amount of CCTV footage and established that at around 1.04pm the man was just outside the railway station main entrance with a knife in his hand, and ran towards the officers.

“Shortly afterwards the man was shot at close range. We have established that a single shot was fired by one officer.”

As part of their investigation into the incident, the IOPC have said they have talked to officers who were present on the day. The watchdog have added they are also seeking to speak to members of the public who were also at the station when the incident happened and to recover CCTV from adjacent buildings.

The IOPC said, “We attended the police post incident procedures on Tuesday, where the officers involved provided their initial accounts of the incident. All officers who attended the scene are currently being treated as witnesses.

“We will be taking statements from members of the public who were at the station at the time and are looking to secure further CCTV from nearby public buildings.”

IOPC director Derrick Campbell said, “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this man and all of those affected by this tragic incident.

“Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.

“We appreciate that this incident outside a busy train station will understandably cause concern. We know the community will want answers quickly and our investigators are working hard to establish the facts as we piece together what happened and how.

“We have obtained details of some members of the public who witnessed the incident who we will be contacting, however we know there were many people near the station around the time of the shooting and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen the incident or has footage of it.

“We have contacted the man’s family and will meet with them soon to explain our role. We will keep them regularly updated throughout our investigation.

“Witnesses to the incident can contact us on 0300 303 5727 or by email at [email protected]”