The special set features its four stations (Milton Keynes, Fenny Stratford, Bletchley and Wolverton). Instead of Old Kent Road it has Concrete Cows and instead of Mayfair it has Bletchley Park.

Since 1971, more than 1,600,000 people have studied with the Open University, whose 48-hectare campus headquarters is in Milton Keynes. It is the fruit of Labour’s general-election manifesto commitment to establish what was variously called a University without Walls or a University of the Air; ie, a public distance-learning and research university that would give opportunities to many who would otherwise not be able to enjoy tertiary education, which is precisely what it has done, not to mention earning itself a stellar academic reputation. Unfortunately, it’s not true that Milton Keynes was named after two great, if ideologically opposed, economists. Nor is it true that the other name considered in 1967 for the city was John Maynard Friedman. However, the village of Milton Keynes – from which the 50-year-old city gets its name – was once Middletone, and owned by a Norman family named de Cahaines, from whom Keynes may have descended. Perhaps the bidders recalled Arnold Wesker’s play, in which someone defends the town thus: “But after all Milton Keynes is the home of the Open University and it’s not all that dead here and there’s this gallery … ” It has become so much more, while not quite overcoming native sniffiness. As writer Neil Gaiman once noted: “Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.”This is a very exciting addition to so many other features this vibrant City has to offer visitors and residents. And, what a great way to bring all things special to a board game for family, friends and colleagues to enjoy. While the company was originally started in Burton-upon-Trent its headquarters are now much closer to home.

In 2013, Milton Keynes had around 255,700 residents – expected to rise to almost 300,000 people by 2026 and 325,000 by 2037. Thirteen people move there each day. How many leave each day, you ask? Apologies, I don’t have figures to hand. This is the eighth entry on the tourism board’s list entitled 101 Facts About Milton Keynes. (“Think you know Milton Keynes? Well...”) The ideas of Californian urban theorist Melvin Webber, who believed that the traditional concentric city would be superseded by “community without propinquity”, proved influential among Milton Keynes planners. It was envisaged as a low-density, low-rise city of light industry and convenience. Hence the city’s distinctive 1km-sized “grid squares”, or suburbs, where “workers, managers, vicars and doctors” would mingle in shops, schools and AFUs (advanced factory units).The world’s favourite retail mechanical lubricant is made in Milton Keynes. Only six people know the recipe, so imagine how much more squeaking there would be in the world if they died in a freak accident or were bumped off by business rivals. In November the National Infrastructure Commission’s interim report into the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor stated Milton Keynes could become a global showcase for science, technology and innovation. If you look at a relief map, though, you won’t see a valley – silicon or otherwise – so much as a slight depression. To be fair, Britain’s Silicon Depression doesn’t really have a ring to it. If you aren’t humming Ravel’s Bolero yet, you will after learning that the city’s Planet Ice rink was used for practice by the 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning ice dance duo.