Our photos come from the city’s Living Archive collection. Some of these were donated by members of the public while many others came from old newspapers at the time, including the MK Citizen and our former sister paper the Milton Keynes Gazette.
In the 1980s the new shopping centre was still the place to be, with people saying they were going ‘up city’ to vist the shops, The Point or the plethora of pubs and clubs.
Milton Keynes Hospital was very much a talking point after it officially opened in 1984, as was the famous ‘red balloon’ advert of that year, urging people to come and live in the new city.
The local landscape, formerly fields and farmland, continued to change almost daily as new estates sprang up and new schools and local centres opened.
Take a flick through our gallery of photos and see what you can remember.
1. 1980s in Milton Keynes
The Bowl wasn;t just for bands in those days - it hosted regular crowd-pulling events such as this garden show. Photo: Living Archive
2. 1980s in Milton Keynes
The famous Peartree Bridge dinosaur pictured being built by Bill Billings and local children Photo: Living Archive
3. MPMKnews-09-12-24-poll tax-Centupload
By the late 80s, all the talk was of Margaret Thatcher's new poll tax. Milton Keynes was one of the places to host a mass people's protest. Photo: 1980s in Milton Keynes
4. 1980s in Milton Keynes
As new estates sprang up, so did new play areas - much to the delight of local children Photo: Living Archive