The government have pumped a lot of money into building houses there so that our population doesn't flock to the already overcrowded cities.

This makes for a huge area of new build houses and roundabouts. So very many roundabouts.

You'd think that since it's new, there could be lots of signs telling you where stuff is. But no. Nothing.

Lost Sheeps top tip: Buy a local map - for the love of god buy a local map or you'll drive around in circles forever.

Milton Keynes has been a strong farming commuity since the 1800's and most of the farms have been passed down 4/5 generations.

In order to build a city there, many of them were told by the government that they had to leave and took their farms from them as the city would create more jobs than the farms could afford to offer. Many of them started B&Bs with their remaining farm houses or joined the retail industry. They have a sad look in their eyes when they talk about how it used to be.

Oasis very inconveniently booked their gigs at Silverstone weekend, which meant all the accommodation was booked a year in advance. After phoning 70 places, we finally got a cancellation at a B&B called New Cottage.

New Cottage - BB London Road Broughton Milton Keynes MK10 9AA

Phone +44 (0)1908 665461

Her little dog Whisky is just adorable and very friendly (again, take your allergy tablets!) - watch him slide over the kitchen floor as his feet can't grip it properly.

She's very accommodating and offered to cook us what ever we wanted for breakfast - she even humored me and put a huge bowl of fresh fruit on the table whilst Steve had a full English breakfast which was too big for even him to finish. There's also yogurts and pastries and cold meats and cheese to choose from.

The rooms were immaculately clean and very comfortable with lots of pillows and extra covers and sheets. She told us she washes the pillows at least twice a month and just throws them out when they begin to lose their shape and buys new ones. She's very conscientious and will make every effort to ensure that you enjoy your stay.

There's a full sized bath and separate shower room, and the water is hot (yay). Steven said the shower wasn't as powerful as he would have liked it to be, but we have ours hooked up to the mains at home so it's super powerful. He's just spoilt.

It costs £30 per person per night, and includes breakfast and tea/coffee/juice all day. There are single rooms available without any additional supplement.

It's home to the National Bowl which has so many visitors a year for concerts and the like, it should have one of those nice brown signs. In reality, there is a small yellow sign on the M1 roundabout but nothing other than that. We had to drive round again and again and again to find it, which we stumbled upon by pure chance. It's £5 for parking, which IMHO is horrific, but you've got no choice but to pay since their public transport doesn't come close to what I'm used to in London. With no busses and many roundabouts and no pavement, you've got no choice but to drive, which must really suck for young people.

The Bowl itself, is a large grassy hill (take your hayfever tablets!) with a flat arena at the bottom, and the stage is clearly visible all round so where ever you sit, you'll get a good view, and the toilets (always important at festivals) are very well maintained - they stock up the toilet rolls every 15 minutes!

Since it's a new build town, there isn't much culture or history but they do have a modern art gallery which is free and the locals rave about.

Website: http://www.mk-g.org/ 

This is just round the corner from the *huge* shopping centre which gives the American malls a run for their money. Again, it's not signed up and parking is £1 an hour. You'll get lost in there, so always overestimate the amount of parking you'll need.

It's split into 3 modern buildings, which are unattractive to the landscape.

- food

- shopping

- entertainment.

Food contains most of the major supermarkets and a hairdressers and petshop thrown in for good measure

Shopping has every retailer you'll ever need, WH Smith, Next etc

Website: http://www.thecentremk.com/ 

Entertainment has a series of pubs, bars and restaurants downstairs, on the second floor is a cinema, climbing wall, bowling alley and a few more pubs, on the top floor is Xscape which is an inside ski slope with *real snow*. If you have teenagers leave them in the Entertainment building while you go have fun. They'll be in their element which I thought made a refreshing change to have something specifically geared up for them.

Website: http://www.xscape.co.uk/ 

After a hard days shopping, check out the massage chairs on the ground floor of the Entertainment building. For £1 you can vibrate your troubles away.

Milton Keynes Tourist Board - http://www.mkweb.co.uk 

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