Cows on the mooove!

Created in 1978, the Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes have become the city’s best-loved and most widely known piece of public artwork. To date the cows have lead an adventurous lifestyle which has included being kidnapped and held to ransom, decapitated Damien Hurst style and headlining at the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Now, in order that they may be enjoyed by a wider audience, five of the herd have been loaned to Midsummer Place Shopping Centre by their owners, The Parks Trust. Greenbarnes Ltd are delighted to have been chosen to supply the three bespoke interpretation panels, framed in oak with graphics printed onto Dibond panels, which accompany the three cows and two calves currently corralled under the oak tree in the centre.

One of the more unusual challenges to present itself in 2007 was the construction of a new “watering point” for St Peter’s Church, Iver in Buckinghamshire. The project required that the new unit, which was funded by a family in memory of their parents, be built as closely as possible as a replica of the original, a challenge made no easier by the absence of a number of the original details.

The new unit, which we are delighted to report has been well received by the client is constructed in oak and comprises a pair of 100mm square posts with decorative brackets, a central panel and “tap box” to accommodate the plumbing and a hipped roof structure with oak slats and ridge mouldings.