Moo-ving purchase of Dolly the unique cow

Reporter: Iram Ramzan
Date published: 03 August 2017


HAVE you herd about the blue and yellow cow in Scouthead?

Barrister Pete Edwards (46) has moved from his home in Essex to Saddleworth ­-­ and he had to bring the udderly amazing Dolly with him.

Dolly is no ordinary cow. She is part of the famous Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, an iconic work of sculpture created in 1978 by the Canadian artist Liz Leyh. The cows are constructed from scrap and skinned with fibre glass-reinforced concrete.

They were created as a leaving present from the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, which was in charge of constructing the new town from the mid-1960s.

The cows are now arguably the town's most photographed residents and are a key part in Milton Keynes' history. They were first made at Stacey Hill Farm, which is now the site of the Milton Keynes Museum, and were first showcased at a parkland in Bancroft.

Since then they have resided beside the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, the National Hockey Stadium and INTU Milton Keynes.

In spring 2016, they were moved back to where they were created - at the MK Museum.

Anyone wishing to take a closer look at Dolly can wander past the old Vicarage in Huddersfield Road, which is where Pete now lives with his fiancée Angela and her two children.

"I got the cow from ill-gotten gains from betting," Pete explained. "It gave me enough to buy Dolly outright. I'm a massive Dolly Parton fan so she had to be Dolly.

"I bought her three years ago and I've just moved to Scouthead. She had to come with me.

"I knew the cows were in Milton Keynes, but I didn't realise they were for sale.

"If you buy odd things on the internet a list then flashes up of all these other things you might want to buy.

"I bought a full-size Lion King throne in silver on eBay, so eBay then identified me as someone who might be interested in a life-size fibre cow. I don't know if that's a good thing.

"It cost £450. It was a bargain - she's unique. There's only one Dolly in the world. I've been told that they have never made another one like it. She's got goggles, which none of the other cows have. There are definitely no other Minion cows. She's definitely unique.

"I've got the garden for it. She will graze happily in my garden. My two children live in Essex and they come up particularly to see Dolly.

"I think my fiancée Angela signed up to my eccentricities when she said she would get married to me!"