The Stony Stratford Pump House was built in 1884. At the same time a water tower was built on higher ground at the corner of Augustus Road and Calverton Road. Their joint use ensured the supply of water to the town of Stony Stratford.

The pump house was operational between 1884 and 1950 but due to the development of larger reservoirs the pump house and water tower fell into disuse.
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Can you imagine our premises as a teashop, a family home, a gym or a boathouse? Well other people clearly could - and did. In fact by the time we purchased it, The Old Pump House had changed hands on many occasions since being vacated by the water company many years before. Each new owner had brought a new idea to the table. But, it has to be said, none of those ideas ever amounted to more than yet another set of architectural drawings - all of which are still lying about somewhere today.
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Towards the end of 2008 we found ourselves, not unusually, sitting in a pub - bemoaning the fact that very few of us would get the chance to go skiing in the upcoming months. Something clearly had to be done about this sad state of affairs. And done quickly. In fact, to coin a phrase, if we couldn’t get to the mountains, then the mountains would have to come to us - virtually of course!

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They say that Christmas is a time for giving, and this year at freestone we’ve taken that phrase to heart. What’s more, we’ve decided to do our giving to those who clearly need it most.

So this year instead of forking out on the usual celebratory Christmas meal, we’ve purchased a selection of gifts that Oxfam will distribute to some of the most unfortunate people on our shared planet. By using our ‘Christmas party money’ in this way not only are we providing useful, practical and essential gifts designed to last a lifetime and longer, we’re also avoiding some nasty hangovers - and that can’t be a bad thing!

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freestone wins creative pitch to promote the world’s most expensive car.

Conceived at Aston Martin’s stunning new Design Studio facility by Sheffield born Marek Reichman; the man also responsible for the elegant Aston Martin Rapide, project One-77 is an ultra-exclusive £1.2 million super car/work-of-art. A maximum 77 of these bespoke, seven litre, V12 powered creations will be produced – hence the name. 

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For those of you feeling in a generous mood, a worthy recipient comes in the form of our good friend and general adrenaline junkie, Andrew Bullock. For 6 days during March 2009 he will embark on a hair-raising trek around Brazil, covering 125km on very little flat ground! Much of the terrain is mountainous with rivers, waterfalls, jungle paths and caves to contend with.
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Some of you will no doubt know that early in 2007 I decided to join the ever growing army of “grey bikers”… …although I must admit I caused my mother some concern ( yes even at my age) as when I phoned her and said I had joined the ever growing ranks of the grey bikers, she miss heard me and thought I said gay bikers, and asked me what about my wife and two children!!!! read more…

Our web blokes managed to convince me that some people may be interested in my recent motorcycling trips. I reckon they just needed some cannon fodder myself! If you’re quick you can backtrack now, however if you aren’t, you’ll need to increase your caffeine levels before you read on. Sorry - some of you may or may not be aware that I have had a bit of a thing for motorcycles.
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The introduction of high-speed, high-bandwidth internet access in recent years has pushed the capabilities of the web enormously. Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s) represent the next step in web development.
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As I write this article on the train home, you’d think that the last thing I’d want to do when I get back tonight is switch on my Mac and get stuck into some code. However, after spending the day at The Brewery in Chiswell Street (London) with some of Adobe’s top Product Developers and Platform Evangelists, I’ve been left with the ‘kid in a sweet shop’ feeling, and the best thing is, the sweets are all free.
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