Photos show the shocking decline over the years in this main shopping street in Milton Keynes

An old photo of Bletchley’s Queensway has dramatically highlighted how much the town’s centre has changed over the years.

The bottom photo, taken in the 1970s and recently published on the popular Milton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page, shows an old United Counties bus trundling along after dropping off shoppers.

The pavements are bustling, full of people spending the afternoon in what was then a major shopping destination for Milton Keynes.

Today it is a very different story. Not only are the distinctive buses long gone, but the people have also disappeared from Queensway.

The Citizen visited at peak time on Saturday this weekend– and, as our photo shows, the same area was almost deserted.

Wilko and Boots recently closed and the Brunel Centre sports rows of empty shuttered stores. The huge Co-op, once a mainstay of the town, closed down many years ago and Sainsbury’s shut the doors on its supermarket early in 2021, despite shoppers’ protests.

A petition was drawn in vain up to save the supermarket, stating: "Bletchley needs this store. It has lost so much over the last 20 years. If this store goes a lot more will follow as there will be fewer people going to the town centre."

Today people have commented that the main attractions the town now has to offer are charity stores and betting shops, interspersed with barbers, nail bars and independent eateries. There is still, however, a couple of very popular butcher shops and a thriving fabric shop.

“I can remember when a shopping trip to Bletchley on a Saturday was the highlight of the week,” recalled one pensioner. “We’d eat in the Wimpy Bar and browse round the shops for hours.

"Irons Shoes was where all the children got their school shoes. And then there was the market – it was crammed full of bargains and you could buy everything from the latest fashions to the latest records. They were good old days...”

But the good news is that Bletchley is soon set to benefit from a huge investment £23m from the government's New Towns Deal, which is aimed at levelling up the UK.

It is intended to “transform the town’s prospects” with a focus on regenerating Queensway, seizing new growth opportunities and improving links to the town centre. All this is centred around the planned East-West Rail scheme that will provide Bletchley with direct rail links to Oxford and Cambridge.

The investment will mean underused buildings and sites in town centre being redeveloped. Indeed, already there are big plans afoot for the sad-looking Brunel shopping centre, which will be converted a large mixed use and high density housing development with new retail and leisure opportunities.

Residents are being given the chance to have their say and you can view the official Brunel Centre proposals here.

It states: “The redevelopment of this site will deliver a major investment within the town centre and, with the Bletchley Town Deal, be part of the transformational regeneration of Central Bletchley, taking advantage of the growing accessibility of Bletchley town centre to Oxford and Cambridge with the completion of relevant sections of the EastWest railway line.”