Wubi News

How on the day Bowie died he apparently paid £10,116 towards a village car park

2026-01-11 00:00:14
Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, told Norman Miller his pleas for the star to play in Binley Woods had been taken as a joke, but one that "kept David's hopes up"

Before the generous donation, Miller said the hall's car park fund "was going nowhere".

So, as a Bowie fan, he thought "I'd write to him - I've admired all my life".

"I thought, 'Well, I'll get David Bowie to come and do a concert' [to raise the funds]," he said.

At the time in 2014, Jones sent a reply saying his father was not taking on work due to his health, but that didn't stop Miller.

"I kept sending letters, and I put everything in it that I could think of about my family, about the Sky Blues, everything I could think of I've crammed in a letter."

Miller heard nothing for two years, but then on the day of the star's passing, he heard from Jones again.

The second letter thanked him for the joke he had sent and that it had made Bowie smile.

But, it also said "because of the letters and jokes you sent, which kept David's hopes up, we are going to give your village hall £10,116".

According to Paul Salisbury, current chair of the parish council, the amount covered the deposit on the car park's construction.

The village has affectionately called it "the car park David Bowie paid for", ever since.

"Without that money, it wouldn't have been done. It was the last part of the jigsaw," Salisbury said.