The Bletchley Leisure Centre is an indoor leisure facility in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.
The new Bletchley Leisure Centre opened in 2009 replacing the original centre.
The original centre opened in the 1970s replacing the outdoor queens pool. The centre was quite iconic with its pyramid building that housed the pool. Until the 1990s it also had a multi-storey car park with a snake-like walkway leading from the carpark to the centre reception.
The old centre and duck pond were demolished and the site was cleared for the new leisure centre and a new multi storey car park. Some groups tried to get the pyramid building listed to prevent demolition.
The old centre housed a 907-seat capacity sports hall which was the home of professional basketball club Milton Keynes Lions. The Leisure Centre has been home to the Lions basketball team since 1998, when the Hemel Hempstead Royals later Watford Royals relocated here.
The Milton Keynes Lions had planned to move into Arena:MK, a new 4,500-seat arena at the stadium:mk site in Denbigh, Milton Keynes, before the start of the 2008-2009 season. However, completion of this arena has been delayed due deferral of proposed commercial developments around the site (which would have funded the build). The Lions original home in Bletchley became scheduled for demolition, leaving the club searching urgently for a new base. [1] Subsequently, the Lions obtained agreement to play their home games in Middleton Hall in Central Milton Keynes. [2] The Lions subsequently moved to a warehouse in Grafton Gate, having converted it into a 1,400-seat basketball arena and practice venue. [3]
Milton Keynes is a city in Buckinghamshire, England, about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms the northern boundary of the urban area; a tributary, the River Ouzel, meanders through its linear parks and balancing lakes. Approximately 25% of the urban area is parkland or woodland and includes two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Woughton is a civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The parish council uses the term Community Council.
Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of the city, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. In 2011, the two parishes had a combined population of 37,114.
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats: this was temporarily increased to 9,000 between 2003 and 2007. It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and then as a professional football stadium from 2003 by Wimbledon FC, renamed as Milton Keynes Dons in 2004.
Denbigh is a district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, to the north of Fenny Stratford and on the eastern side of the West Coast Main Line. It is in the civil parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and is categorised by the Office for National Statistics as part of the Bletchley built-up area. The A5 forms its eastern and northern boundary; parts of Bletcham Way and Saxon St form its southern boundary. The overall district has five sub districts, divided by Watling St/Denbigh Rd, the 'uptick' of Bletcham Way and Grafton Street, and Saxon Street northbound. The district names are planning designations that have persisted without ever being changed to the style "North Denbigh" etc. as is the norm elsewhere in Britain.
Bletchleyrailway station serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England, and the north-eastern parts of Aylesbury Vale. It is 47 miles (76 km) northwest of Euston, about 32 miles (51 km) east of Oxford and 17 miles (27 km) west of Bedford, and is one of the seven railway stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
The National Bowl is an entertainment venue located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay pit, filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil excavated by the many new developments in the area. It has a maximum capacity of 65,000. The arena is open-air grassland, without seats.
Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council.
Bletchley and Fenny Stratford is a civil parish with a town council, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was formed in 2001 from the unparished area of Milton Keynes, and according to the 2011 census had a population of 15,313. Together with West Bletchley, it forms the Bletchley built-up area.
London Lions are a British professional basketball team based in Stratford, East London, England, and competed in the league formally known as the British Basketball League.
The Milton Keynes redway system is an over 200 miles network of shared use paths for cyclists and pedestrians in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is generally surfaced with red tarmac, and criss-crosses most of the city.
Sport in Milton Keynes covers a range of professional and amateur sport in the City of Milton Keynes unitary authority area. In 2019, Milton Keynes was officially designated as a European City of Sport for 2020. There are professional teams in football, in motorsport and in ice hockey. The National Badminton Centre, and the Marshall Milton Keynes Athletic Club train professional and amateur athletes. Most other sports feature at amateur level although there are semi-professional teams in rugby union and football among other sports. There is an international-standard karting track owned by Daytona Motorsport.
Stadium MK is a football stadium in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, the stadium hosted several matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.
In January 2004, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced the United Kingdom government's Expansion plans for Milton Keynes. However, the change of government in 2010 and the abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategy in 2012/13 saw these plans revoked and a planned expansion of up to 44,000 dwellings reduced to 28,000. The Milton Keynes Core Strategy was published in July 2013 and regards the figure of 28,000 new homes to be the minimum figure.
The Point is an entertainment complex in Central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. When it opened in 1985, it was called the UK's first multiplex cinema although the UK had introduced multi-screen cinemas in 1930 and had been increasing the number of screens in cinemas ever since. The front part of the building has a distinctive mirrored crystal ziggurat shape, framed by external steel beams at each corner, joined at the apex. Originally it had red neon lights connecting the apexes at each side, so that it looked like a pyramid at night.
The Marshall Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The 3,420 square metres (36,800 sq ft) multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and anticipates music and sporting events, conferences, exhibitions and parties.
Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes is a 2,800-capacity multi-purpose ice rink/hockey rink located in Milton Keynes, England, as part of the Leisure Plaza complex.
The 2009–10 BBL season of the British Basketball League (BBL) was the 23rd season since the league's establishment in 1987. The regular season commenced on 25 September 2009, when Milton Keynes Lions claimed the first win of the season with a 94–81 victory in the opening game against Worcester Wolves.
Buses in Milton Keynes are run by a mixture of operators on a network of urban and rural routes in and around the Milton Keynes urban area. These services have a varied history involving five different companies. At the foundation of the 'New City' in 1967 and for some years afterwards, Milton Keynes was served by a rural bus service between and to the pre-existing towns. Apart from a small-scale experimental service, urban buses arrived on the scene with deregulation in 1986. Since April 2010 the core local services have been provided by Arriva Shires & Essex. Long-distance coach services also serve MK, often via the Milton Keynes Coachway located near junction 14 of the M1 motorway.
MK Lions Arena, also known as Prestige Homes Arena due to sponsorship reasons, was a basketball arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the home venue for the Milton Keynes Lions of the British Basketball League from 2010 to 2012.
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