It's abuse! (The Concrete Cows)

Member Name: offy

Product:	The Concrete Cows
Date:	07/12/01 (306 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, a legend, a bit of fun

Disadvantages: Boring after 1 minute, hard to find, no-where to park

So what is the point of the famous concrete cows of Milton Keynes? Having visited specifically to research this opinion, I still can’t really say!

I moved to Milton Keynes in 1986 and there were here before me. I have heard conflicting reasons for their existence. Some say it was to prevent the children of this city from forgetting what cows look like, as real ones would be so far away (so why don’t they have some in London or Birmingham then?). Some say they were ‘crafted’ to represent the sprawling concrete in this new town. I have also heard that the local council commissioned an artist to ‘create’ them as a tourist attraction. Does anyone know the real reason (comments please)?

I found out that the Milton Keynes concrete cows were sculpted in 1978 by Liz Leyh and donated to the city, but I still don't know why.

Anyway, what are they really like? They do indeed appear to be made of concrete and are carefully painted in black and white to bring out the cow features. There are two adult cows (complete with concrete udders), one adult without udders (but with no horns) and three babies. They are full cow sized so you can easily sit on them (and thousands have).

They are situated next to a busy dual carriageway the H3 – Monks Way (Milton Keynes has a grid system - Horizontal Ways and Vertical Streets) near Bancroft, about 3 miles from the shopping centre. If you are going more than 40 M.P.H. or don’t know where to look, you would miss them. They are in a field with no sign-post or other attractions nearby – very strange! There is also no parking nearby and I ended up parking in a nearby estate which must be annoying for the residents.

Unfortunately, they are frequently abused (hence the title of this opinion). The most recent abuse I saw was graffiti painted across one cow’s back saying ‘I love SM’ and a carefully planted dog poo on one cow
217;s rear (I do hope they wore gloves for that one). One abuse, which made the papers, was when a local university made a paper mache cow and carefully placed it mounting one of the others. Another time, a cow was kidnapped and a ransom demanded. They have also been painted all the colours of the rainbow in their time. I’m surprised they still have udders!

A lot of publicity shots have been taken here. Local celebrities and residents have their photos taken here, and the most popular postcard you can get of Milton Keynes is one of the concrete cows. Basically, they are a bit of a legend.

If you are in Milton Keynes and have a bit of spare time, I they are probably worth a look, just to say you have sat on them, but don’t get your hopes up about a fascinating tourist attraction. Locally, Bletchley Park (where the German codes were decyphered in WWII) is much more interesting.....or you could always come and visit me!

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