Olney, Milton Keynes

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Olney is a small rural town in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England with a population of around 6,000 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse, very close to the borders with Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and equidistant from Northampton, Bedford and Milton Keynes itself. It has easy access to the M1 at Junction 14 (approximately five miles) and with fast and frequent train links to London from Milton Keynes Central (approximately ten miles).

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Contents

1 History

1.1 The Olney Pancake Race

2 Description
3 Trivia

History

First mentioned in the Domesday Book, the town has a history as a lace-making centre, and as the place where the Olney Hymns were written. John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace was curate of Olney and is buried here. His guest was William Cowper (English poet and hymnodist (1731 – 1800)) and the town hosts the Cowper and Newton museum dedicated to them.

The Olney Pancake Race

Since 1445, a pancake race has been run in the town every Pancake Day. In modern times, Olney competes with the town of Liberal, Kansas for the fastest time in either town.

Description

The town is neatly divided by the A509 road and the wide High Street adds to the charm of this historic market town. Market day is Thursday with traders selling fruit and vegetables and other foodstuffs as well as clothing and hardware. A farmer's market also takes place on the first Sunday each month. In recent years Olney has become a popular destination for Sunday afternoon shoppers, with its plethora of antique shops punctuated by other high-end boutique shopping opportunities.

As Olney continues to expand (with new housing estates and its 3rd school due for completion in 2006) the contentious issue of a by-pass to re-route the busy A509 may continue to be an issue for the residents of the town, as are the [various wind farm sites proposed in the locality].

Trivia

Although Olney is in the Milton Keynes area, and uses an MK postcode, it uses the Bedford dialling code (01234).
Before an administrative boundary change in 1995, Olney was in Buckinghamshire. It now forms part of the Borough of Milton Keynes, a unitary authority.

A prospect of Olney, across the Ouse flood plain

	River Great Ouse	[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ]
Administrative areas: Northamptonshire \| Buckinghamshire \| Bedfordshire \| Cambridgeshire \| Norfolk Flows into: The Wash Towns (upstream to downstream): Brackley \| Buckingham \| Old Stratford Milton Keynes (Stony Stratford, Wolverton, New Bradwell, Stantonbury, Great Linford) \| Newport Pagnell \| Olney \| Kempston \| Bedford \| St Neots \| Godmanchester \| Huntingdon \| St Ives \| Ely \| Littleport \| Downham Market \| King's Lynn Major tributaries (upstream to downstream by confluence): River Lovat (or Ouzel) \| River Ivel River Kym \| Old Bedford River \| New Bedford River \| River Cam \| River Lark \| River Little Ouse \| River Wissey Major bridges (upstream to downstream): Harrold bridge \| A428 Turvey bridge \| A428 Bromham bypass A6 Bedford Town Bridge \| A421 Bedford bypass \| Great Barford Bridge A428 Bridge St Neots \| St Neots Town Bridge \| Godmanchester Chinese Bridge A14 bridge, River Great Ouse \| Huntingdon Old Bridge \| St Ives Bridge
Longest UK rivers: 1. Severn 2. Thames 3. Trent 4. Aire 5. Great Ouse 6. Wye 7. Tay 8. Spey 9. Nene 10. Clyde 11. Tweed 12. Eden

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