The Milton Keynes Tourist
2012 is a very special year for the UK and “staycations” are being promoted as the new way to holiday, yet can you imagine Milton Keynes being a tourist destination? It is always hard to step back and view your hometown with the fresh eyes of a visitor but Milton Keynes particularly does not seem like the obvious place for a holiday.
I was born and bred not a million miles away in Bedford and moved to Milton Keynes in 1996. Since then I have fallen in love with the place. There are numerous green spaces, a road system that makes getting about easy, every shopping outlet you could wish for and increasingly more and more places of entertainment. What’s not to love?
Sadly, some people would argue that there is not a lot to love about Milton Keynes. “The Concrete City” where even the cows are concrete, apparently. These do tend to be people who have never visited the place or who have spent very little time here. Still, for someone like me, trying to make a living out of selling home made preserves, it is obvious that Milton Keynes is not the tourist magnet that say, Cornwall is.
Back in January 2011 I was sat around drinking coffee with friends and bemoaning the fact that I lived in Milton Keynes and not Cornwall. Nothing wrong with MK you understand, just if I lived in Cornwall I could make my jam as usual but market it as “Cornish Jam” and sell it in the nearest gift shop to the tourists. To my surprise my friends suggested that the same thing was possible within Milton Keynes and perhaps with even more of a novelty value just because Milton Keynes is not considered such a tourist hot spot.
This hit me like a lightning bolt of inspiration. What better way to make the point that Milton Keynes is not all concrete cows and roundabouts than by selling jams and chutneys made in Milton Keynes from only fruit and vegetables grown in Milton Keynes. And so Jammy Cow was born, with an honorary nod towards our famous concrete cows.
Having established the brand, I then went in search of the market. I was somewhat surprised to learn that about 3 million tourists visit Milton Keynes every year for business and leisure purposes and from all over the world. I soon found out that there are over 20 hotels within Milton Keynes too, as well as B&Bs. I’m pleased to say that already Jammy Cow products are available in several of these hotels.
But what of the other little gems that we so enjoy when on holiday? You know, gift shops and quaint little cafes serving coffee and sandwiches or cream teas. Well, I’m pleased to say that such places do exist within Milton Keynes and are well worth searching out. From the garden centres of Woburn Sands to the listed buildings of Stony Stratford there are independent shops and cafes that have all the charm of anything you would find in Cornwall. And it’s not only the older parts of MK that hide these gems. You will find lovely places such as Squeaks in Broughton, Yenna Bean on Grange Farm and The Coffee Boutique in Oxley Park. All excellent little places to pop into for a drink and a bite to eat with friends and family.
So no need to count the days until your next holiday. Instead, make the most of what Milton Keynes has to offer and treat yourself to a holiday-style day out without the hassle of packing a bag and getting stuck in traffic. And if you fancy a souvenir to remind you of what a special place Milton Keynes is, don’t forget to pick up a jar of Jammy Cow – Milton Keynes grown and made.
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For more information about Jammy Cow please get in touch. We would love to hear from you. At this time of year we are on the hunt for surplus fruit and veg to go into our preserves. If you have any spare perhaps you would like to swap it for a jar or two of our lovely jams and chutneys.
www.jammycowmk.co.uk www.facebook.com/jammycow
Or contact Hazel: Email: enquiries@jammycowmk.co.uk Twitter: @jammycow
Tel:01908 673013
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