Like almost any normal, healthy young female, I was looking forward to the chance to do some shopping during a trip to Milton Keynes at the very start of this year. I had with me a native of the area who I assumed would be some help with this, but that’s where I was wrong. You see, he was a he, and being the type of he that he is, although he knew where the electrical and sports shops were, he knew not where anything I needed was. (BTW, anyone think I deserve a prize for getting all those “he”s in one sentence???) Anyway, on with the op. We went to The Centre in Milton Keynes which is a huge half mile long shopping complex, offering a mixture of high street names and local independent retailers.

There’s a branch of everything you would imagine here. There are clothes shops and book shops and music shops and sports shops and toyshops. There are places to buy cosmetics and chocolate and glasses and furniture. You could book a holiday or have your hair cut or take out a loan or mortgage your house while you’re there. If you’re hungry, there are more than 60 places to eat, offering small snacks to full meals, fast food to gourmet cuisine. Basically, this place has got the lot. Technically out of the centre, but really just across the way, is a food park, with Sainsburys, Waitrose and Iceland among others. It’s like that children’s book by Paula Danziger - “This Place Has No Atmosphere”- which is set in a futuristic place where some people live, work and socialise in vast shopping malls, never having the need to step outside. This isn’t that good, yet, but it’s paving the way.

Scattered along the pathways there are lots of little stands and carts (or barrows as those southern types seem to call them)– for all those sole traders out there who can’t afford the overheads of a fixed space. These were selling ice creams, Christmas decorations, framed pictures, balloons, chocolate, smellies, candals and hand made ornaments when we were there, and were a refreshing change from some of the big brand names. In the middle of the centre there’s an out door plaza which has a market on 5 days a week (including weekends).

The complex is very much n shaped (I’d prefer a capital N, but it changes the shape from what it is, i.e. a little n), with shops stretching from Debenhams round to Lewis’s (as opposite ends so they can’t fuss, no doubt. The complex is mainly on one level, although some shops have an upstairs or downstairs too if you see what I mean. For a place so large, they don’t fall down in the facilities department either. There are public telephones and toilets everywhere you turn, and the complex also has lost property, security and crèche services on offer (the latter of these being able to be booked for children’s birthday parties, during the day and in evenings). They go one step further with some of these too, like having extra big toilet cubicles you can take a pram into, handy if you’re shopping with a fast asleep child who you don’t want to disturb, but also don’t want to leave unattended. There are lots of benches for when you need to take a break, and some nice looking outdoor areas that we might have ventured into had it not been, you know, January.

They have excellent disable facilities and provisions, from loos to wheelchairs for hire to a “shop and see” service for visually impaired customers – book in advance and a volunteer will pick you up and take you shopping, helping you along the way with descriptions of items, and of the suitability for whoever you’re buying them for.

The centre hosts lost of special one off events throughout the year. Although none were on while we were there, upcoming ones include :

Maurtraid Craft Show - Thu 07 Feb 2002 until Sun 10 Feb 2002

Milton Keynes, as I learnt when I was there, is built around a grid system, with most roads being H(orizontal) or V(ertical) with a number attached. The centre can be found between H5 and H6, and between V7 and V8. If you don’t know the area, fear not because it’s pretty well signed from the M1 (junction 14). Busses stop in a special bus bay, and these run to the railway station down the road as well as further afield. There’s a ton of parking – some free, some not – so no matter where you want to start shopping, you shouldn’t have to leave the car that far away.

On a par with the Trafford Centre really (although not quite as good), this place is open