Midsummer Place shopping centre in Milton Keynes have unveiled the Dino Discovery Adventures attraction for the summer season.
Launching on Saturday 5 July, the centre’s Dino Discovery Adventures promise free activities for families running all the way until Sunday 1 September.
The centrepiece of the attraction includes five larger-than-life prehistoric creatures who have taken up residence in locations throughout the mall.
Kids (and grown-ups!) can take part in The Great Dino Discovery & Fossil Trail, where participants will be looking to seek all five dinosaurs, unjumble the secret letters, and reveal a mystery five-letter word.
Those who crack the code will be entered into a free prize draw to win a mega bundle of goodies, including prizes from Gulliver’s Dinosaur & Farm Park, LEGO, and Waterstones.
Dino detectives can also dig deeper into history with the centre’s interactive fossil trail, where hidden ammonite and belemnite fossils can be found in the floor of the centre. Using cryptic clues, families can uncover these ancient secrets, learning fascinating facts along the way.
For younger adventurers, the summer holidays also contain several free family workshops:
Dino-Themed Music Sessions (8, 20 & 26 August): Designed for children aged 0–5, these sessions by Ragdolly Annas feature upbeat songs, movement, and bubbles to keep little ones stomping and smiling.
Dynamic Dino Storytelling (16 & 29 August): Professional actor Amy brings dino tales to life with movement, sounds, and full audience participation for kids aged 1–8.
Family Dino Disco & Balloon Modelling (23 August): Dance, roar and bounce to dino beats at this high-energy family disco, complete with balloon art from the Ragdolly Annas team.
For the full schedule and details, visit www.midsummerplace.co.uk/events/dino-discovery
And for those who want to ride into the Cretaceous in style, ride-on dinosaurs will also be available in the centre on select dates. A small charge applies for these.
Kirsty McGiff, Marketing Manager at Midsummer Place, said, “Dino Discovery Adventures is a great way to entertain children – and adults – during the long summer. There’s something for every age—from exploring fossils and cracking secret codes, to dancing with dinosaurs and winning epic prizes. And with even more surprises to be announced in the coming weeks, it’s going to be a roarsome summer at Midsummer Place!”
Milton Keynes Council are putting together the final touches for a 60th anniversary celebration of the Emberton Country Park.
The 60th anniversary of the park’s opening will be marked by a two-day family-friendly event taking place on 12–13 July.
The theme, ‘Back to the 60s’, reflects Emberton Country Park opening as the nation’s first country park in 1965.
Emberton Country Park was developed on a former gravel extraction site, where sand and gravel had been dug that was used to construct the adjacent M1 motorway, which was the first motorway opened in the UK.
This was the first country park of its type, where the land was restored, trees were planted, the lakes formed by gravel extraction were filled with fish and a static caravan site was created and a camping field, along with three play areas and a café.
Thousands of visitors are expected at the birthday event, where they can expect live music, vintage displays, and family-friendly activities set against the backdrop of 200 acres of lakes, wildlife, fishing, sailing, play areas and camping.
Planned for the event include live music, performances including a battle re-enactment, food from local suppliers, nature-inspired walks and talks, a falconry display, bug hunting and family crafts such as making bat and bird boxes.
Cllr Jennifer Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for the Public Realm, said, “For 60 years, Emberton Country Park has been a special place for local people and visitors alike. This anniversary is about celebrating its contribution and getting together for a really great community event.”
Rumours build ahead of British Grand Prix linking Max Verstappen with move from Red Bull to Mercedes
F1 media has been dominated ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix with rumours linking Max Verstappen with a move from Red Bull to Mercedes.
The Dutch driver is under contract at Red Bull until 2028, but has been repeatedly linked with moves away from the Milton Keynes-based team, with Mercedes and Aston Martin having been the most frequently linked teams.
Sky Sports in Italy have turned up the ante this week, first reporting earlier this week that team and driver had been in advanced discussions before reporting in a follow-up piece that a deal is in place for Verstappen to join Mercedes for 2026 with board sign-off awaited. Other sources have however said that announcement of any move is not imminent.
Dutch journalist Erik van Haren, widely regarded as a reporter with close connections to the Verstappen camp, wrote on social media that, “The game around Max Verstappen is on and will certainly remain so in the coming weeks. Reigning world champion is in doubt about his future at Red Bull and is taking his time to make a well-considered decision.”
Both Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are on contracts that expire at the end of 2025.
Russell himself revealed during a press conference at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes had been talking to Verstappen’s representatives, although his boss Toto Wolff said he was expecting it to be likelier that Russell would be at Mercedes than Verstappen.
The move has lead to particular speculation on the future of Russell. The British driver and Verstappen had a major public spat after an incident during qualifying at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Both drivers were asked about the situation in press conferences ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend.
Verstappen was minimal in his remarks, with his only confirmation being to deny rumours that had emerged over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend that he was considering a sabbatical and staying out of Formula One in 2026. When asked if he was considering such a move, he simply responded “No. No, for sure, not.”
When asked about specifics regarding his 2026 plans during a press conference, Verstappen refused to be drawn on what the future holds.
He said, “There is no decision at the moment, you know. So for me, it’s not about 26 or whatever. I just focus on what I have ahead of me, work with the team. And then, of course, a lot of people make up assumptions. But you know, that’s not me.”
Russell was more open, saying that he believes it is likelier than not that he will stay at the Mercedes team he joined in 2022, having previously been a part of Mercedes’ junior programme on the way to F1.
The British driver said, “The likelihood I’m not at Mercedes next year, I think, is exceptionally low.
“I want to continue with Mercedes into the future. The fact is, Toto has never let me down. He’s always given me his word, but he’s also got to do what’s right for his team, which includes me. But it also includes the thousands of people who work for Mercedes.
“For me, it’s nothing to worry about because I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere. And whoever my team-mate will be, it doesn’t concern me either.
“I know where their loyalty lies. It doesn’t need to be public. It doesn’t need to be broadcast to everybody.
“I feel I’m performing better than ever. And it’s as simple as that really. Performance speaks for everything.”
Wolff said that he aims to finalise Mercedes’ 2026 line-up by the end of F1’s summer break, which is scheduled to run between the Hungarian Grand Prix in early August and the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
Defender Jack Tucker has signed for Colchester United after leaving MK Dons.
The former Dons defender has signed a contract of undisclosed length to move to Essex, where he joins the U’s on a full basis after spending the second half of last season on loan at the club.
Tucker had been released by MK Dons upon expiry of his contract, having played his last game for the club in the EFL Trophy in November 2024.
The 25-year-old had joined MK Dons from Gillingham in 2022 and made 81 appearances in all competitions, scoring once.
A majority of his first appearances came in his first season at the club, when he played 48 times. Injuries affected his availability for much of the 2023/24 campaign, before Tucker fell down the pecking order following a revamp of the Dons’ defensive unit in the summer of 2024.
After playing 10 times on loan for Colchester last season, the Essex club have opted to add Tucker to their ranks for the new campaign. He becomes the U’s third signing ahead of next season.
He told the official Colchester United site that he was happy to make the move to the club.
He said, “I really enjoyed my time here before, from January onwards, and I’m happy to have cemented my future here for the next couple of years.
“It’s a great group, the staff, the players, and it feels like we’ve already got that togetherness in place. From when I came in, the form table was reading really well. If we can keep that core of players fit and ready, we’ll definitely be in a strong place to compete.”
A new radiotherapy centre for cancer treatment has opened at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
This week, a new £17m radiotherapy centre at Milton Keynes University Hospital officially opened, saving cancer patients a 70-mile round trip to Oxford for treatment. It’s expected to save local people around 6,500 such trips each year.
The new radiotherapy centre is an extension of the cancer centre and is run by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It has a state-of-the-art medical linear accelerator and a CT scanner alongside consultation rooms.
Milton Keynes City Council declared that money raised from city growth and housebuilding has enabled them to provide the hospital with £15.7m towards the development and construction of the site.
In a statement, the City Council said money raised from housebuilding operations allowed them to make the investment.
They said, “The City Council collects money from housebuilders when they build new homes in the city to invest in facilities like the radiotherapy centre. In the last five years it has provided £15.7m to the Milton Keynes University Hospital Trust this way.
“It previously gave £5m towards the Hospital’s emergency assessment centre which opened in late 2022, and £5m towards its bespoke cancer centre which opened in early 2020.”
Milton Keynes City Council Leader Cllr Pete Marland hailed the opening of the new facility.
Cllr Marland said, “As a growing city, we believe it’s critical that we have the right services and infrastructure available to residents. Our investment in this state-of-the-art facility brings cancer treatments closer to home for vulnerable patients – saving them time and reducing stress. I’d like to thank our healthcare partners for delivering this important expansion to Milton Keynes University Hospital.”
