Hay bro you need to come to cape town (south africa)... on one of your trips I will come with you and you see the car parking lots there all over the place and Cape Town so cheap and beautiful
I had work colleagues that lived there and stayed overnight once, 25 years ago. It was just the same as your video then. All concrete and quite boring. 😂
Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.
I lived in MK for over 30 years. You’ve made a reasonably fair assessment of it. Back in the day it was nicer - everything better kept and very clean. There was also a lot of public art, but much of it has been sold off. There used to be a really good live music scene, but that’s declined somewhat. However, it’s so easy to get to London, so lots of people do that. The other thing that most people don’t realise is that people who live in MK will often tend to socialise in the satellite towns that have been absorbed into the new city - Stony Stratford and Newport Pagnell. There you’ll find historic buildings and lovely old pubs. Thanks for not trashing my old home town. It’s far from perfect, but much better than many make out.
I think instead of only staying 24 hours and stayed at least a week, it would've given you a perfect opportunity to explore a bit further out and around mk. There's more than just skiing and arcade games at the xscape building there's also bowling, a cinema and at the very back of the building there's also indoor skydiving. If you head towards mk central train station there's also an ice skating rink, plus you can have some fun with go karting near Rooksley. Also you can visit the local art gallery in the theatre district. If you went just a bit further than the cricket club you would find that there are various other lakes to explore. For example willen lake (1 of 15 lakes) where you can do all sorts of water sports and other activities as well as checking out the peace pagoda. There's also a theme park (Gulliver's land) which is just across the road from willen. Then you've also got caldecotte lake that also offers water sports and many more green spaces scattered throughout. If you want something a bit more tranquil then there is also the blue lagoon lake near the lakes estate. Another one is Furzton lake with it's hotel and restaurant. It's near the national bowl where concerts are usually held. Ideal if you're here for a show and need somewhere to stay. If you want something else to do there's also Milton Keynes museum with the old steam train on display and the concrete cows or there's bletchley park, also a museum of sorts. It's known for the code breakers, the Turing test (including Alan Turing himself) and the enigma machine. Plus the football stadium (mk dons) which is also where various events take place including a concert or two. You can get so much done in just a day and there's plenty of options for bus travel too. There's tickets for day travel, or a whole week. So getting to everything is very manageable with mostly short journey times. Or if you prefer cycling it's perfectly doable with many cycle paths that's part of an interconnected network known as the red way. There's even Woburn Safari park on the outskirts if you like animals. It's a lot more than just a city of roundabouts.
@@EdChapman23 I'm from Essex, not Bedfordshire so I've no idea why I took notice of that when I was in Milton Keynes lol. I'm still laughing that you found a windowless hotel.... With no breakfast 🤣
Newcastle upon Tyne has a deserted shopping centre called Eldon garden that is still open to the public if you’re looking for a dystopian dump to go to
I used to travel to Milton Keynes for work regularly. It's such a strange place. I kinda like the idea of a grid system and there's definitely benefits of building new towns and cities on the scale of Milton Keynes, we need more places like it. The biggest lesson to learn from it though is that you need less focus on cars. A grid and segregated roads/paths is good but you need a more human scale, buildings closer together to make everything feel less distant.
Thanks for another Ed treasure. I love watching your videos. You're naturally funny and a genuinely nice guy. Looking forward to seeing where you go next. Cheers Ed. We love you x
Apart from passing through many times I stayed in Milton Keynes 24 years ago for a few days, I also found it weird but also great tbh. Shopping centre is massive and the indoor skiing is cool. One thing you seeemed to miss in your vid was and that's the auto shopping delivery carts from Waitrose, Sainsbury's etc, they can be seen trundling along, deliver the shopping and then go back to the relevant supermarket and park themselves!
That frog clock is one of my oldest memories of when times were good for me. Every hour it sends a golden ball down the track and then suddenly bubbles!!!
As a 25 yr MK resident, it’s telling that the first place you liked is the horrible Midsummer Place shopping area. A true carbuncle on the otherwise magnificent central MK.
There was so much to take in with this one....the weird pyramid, the expensive Haribo, the terrible room, the amazing eggs....what can I say to all that? 🤪 Totally in agreement on the Solero by the way 👌💯
It's like a load of mid-90s business parks stuck together with two shopping centre's and the Teletubbies set. Oh and a terrible football team nicked from South London.
Having spent most of my adult life living in another New Town (Stevenage), I find that British people who have only lived in towns that have grown organically tend to zone in on the negative sides of New Towns. Yes the architecture is a bit bland but it is functional. In Milton Keynes, the Redways cycle network is fantastic and the amount of greenery is enormous compared to some of the UK cities that were created during the Industrial Revolution and still have a legacy cramped streets with two-up, two-down terraced houses whose front doors open up directly onto the pavement. The video doesn't cover the residential areas, which have been cleverly designed within the V and H road grid with comparatively limited access and thus are not used as rat runs by drivers.
Lets all be honest... we'd all live there. Quiet streets, modern, good infrastructure. Im going to go just to go in that upsidedown house! Imagine a theme park all to yourself! That's Milton Keynes!
12:06 "tear to the eye...". Yeah, that'll be all the jarring and friction on the testicles from that bike, Ed. Great vid, MK looks just as soulless as I imagined it would.
if you had carried on cycling another 5 min you would have come to Willen Lake which is really nice. We have lots of great places, Furzton Lane is nice with a lovely Italian cafe/restaurant and some good places to eat at the Hub as well. Very easy to get around with all the cycle paths.
Worth noting about this place, I am from Leeds myself and I travel to Milton Keynes and use this cheap hotel for our business when we have events in Silverstone! cheaper alternative and quite close so you'll often see those car parks filled with ALOT of nice cars around event time! :D
I'm from a nearby town to MK and I'm a pretty regular visitor. So weird seeing you wandering about haha! Your observations are pretty spot on (as always btw.) The Xscape was always soooooo exciting as a kid; you should have gone on the slopes!! Also highly recommend Willen Lake as there's an inflatable obstacle course on the lake! But you're right, it's a dump 😂
I spent a lot of time in MK as a kid, that second shopping centre was opened in 1979 and it didn't look much different than it does today - it was like stepping into the future back then!! Shopping centres were not common at all in the 70s / early 80s. The big open area used to have different exhibitions such as big Lego scuptures at Christmas etc - also not common to see. Some of the suburbs of MK are real shit-holes, thats where the real dystopia is! (Look up Netherfield Milton Keynes)
You should have left the run between the train station and shopping centre more. If you'd headed five min either north or south, you would have seen the real face of Milton Keynes.
Went to Milton Keynes once. Spent 45 minutes looking for the City Centre before realising I had walked through it twice but no one else was around. This was on a Saturday.
There are modern housing estates built like New Towns. Thamesmead near Abbey Wood in South London, for example. The road from Thamesmead doesn't have a pavement. You aren't supposed to walk along it.
I can’t really work out why tbh… but these videos have turned into the best part of my week. And as lovely as you and your videos are, that feels a bit sad.
Love the videos, have you thought about visiting Bath? It's a super unique city, kinda feels like a mini country within itself. Also a world heritage site, so could be a good title.
Cant believe you were in my ends!! One Junction up from Luton and it can be nice haha and yes centre MK is dead in the week as we are working to afford to live here😂❤. Keep up the good work, we love the vids as always.
Giving me flashbacks... I spent 24 hours there, stayed in the EasyHotel and ate at Spoons. I had hours to kill before check-in so spent it wandering around the shopping malls
Something random but hotel related. I went to Oslo, Norway for a weekend trip with the partner and stayed in a cheap hotel called CityBox. Didn’t expect much being a budget friendly hotel but surprisingly had one of the best bests I’ve ever slept in. Apparently they get rid of room TVs and kettle to spend on better beds… ever in a Scandinavian country search for a CityBox hotel. P.s. if you want a kettle they have shared facilities in the community areas.
I've never been to Milton Keynes but going off this video it doesn't look that bad but then again I'm in rainy Wigan most towns and cities look great in comparison.
What's weird is you go up the city centre and think it's the whole of MK. It's literally the greenest city in the UK. Very convenient as well. Better than most places. That was the equivalent of stepping off the tubes in london and calling it sht 😂.
Been watching every video on this channel, good shit young Ed Seeing this makes me so glad I live near the sea. Rather lick razor blades and then suck salt than live there or have to visit. 😅😅
I used to live here in Milton Keynes for a year been in shopping centre a few times and your taking me back of what it was like it’s all roundabouts & traffic lights I used to hang out in where the ski slope is there’s lots of nice walking places around the lakes I used to live near willen lake v nice enjoyed watching this video well all of them Have you been to Durham before please visit & Chester le street please love to see what you think of them
I've only been to MK to change buses - once. It feels sufficient. But you're right - try anything once, keep an open mind, etc.... So, when are you going to Cumbernauld, then?
You could not pay may to sleep in that hotel room. A soulless, windowless cube with a rock hard bed and harsh unnatural light. Its like something from the Backrooms or a Resident Evil research facility.
