 | Milton Keynes is a manufactured city, located almost centrally between London and Birmingham, Oxford and Cambridge. However despite looking and acting like a city it is still technically just a town because it has not been granted city status.
It was designated a 'new town' in 1967, a planned community created to allow for urban expansion in the South East. It was designed with cars in mind and follows the American style grid system for its road layout interestingly however it does feature more roundabouts than the average UK town.
When Milton Keynes was created it incorporated a number of smaller villages and postcodes for Milton Keynes begin with the letters MK which not only includes Milton Keynes itself but it Buckingham, Bedford, Newport, Olney and Pagnell.
The general perception of Milton Keynes is that is it a concrete jungle with concrete cows, however the facts about the city may come a surprise, as the reality is far less grey than the detractors would have you believe. Milton Keynes has plenty of trees, about 20 million in fact, and the local Parks Trust is still planting around 100 trees and shrubs a day. As a result of this continued work Milton Keynes won the Britain in Bloom competition in 2005.
In addition, there are around 4,000 acres of parkland, three ancient woodlands, 15 lakes and 11 miles of canals. Milton Keynes even attracts rare species including the protected Great Crested Newt, the Wood White Butterfly, the Spined Loach and around150 scarce plants.
However along with being a greener place than people imagine, it is also a more interesting place, as there's plenty of local entertainments to enjoy. These include:
Campbell Park - plays host to cricket, concerts and other events such as the fireworks spectacular on Bonfire Night
The Stables - a great all round music venue but particular good for jazz,
Milton Keynes Theatre - regarded as Britain's most popular theatre because of its high booking rate
The Centre:MK - in the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest shopping mall in Europe, but also has a wide variety of shops to keep retail therapists happy.
The Snowdome - The largest indoor ski slope in Europe featuring real snow for skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing.
Whether you live in Milton Keynes, are visiting on business or fancy being a tourist in the area, check out the City Visitor online directory where you can find everything from hotel accommodation to carpet shops and much much more.
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