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Millets Farm Centre (Oxfordshire)
by katyc
I have been visiting Millets since I was a child and still remains a great favourite.
...........What is Millets.........
Millets is a Garden centre, farm shop and farm with play park and pick your own facility. In the summer it is home to Millets Maze.
...........Where is ... Millets......
Millets is situated in Frilford in Oxfordshire and is easily accessible however I am not going to give directions as these can be found on www.milletsfarm.centre.com
...........Garden Centre............
The garden centre is managed by Frosts and is well stocked with a great variety of outdoor plants, indoor plants, gardening accessories, gifts, home ware, BBQ's, garden furniture and pots, fish, Jacuzzi's, and Chickens yes really Chickens my hubby was very excited by this however I refused point blank!
The Garden centre really is one of the best in this area, not only well stocked but also very knowledgeable and helpful staff. There is also excellent offers to be had often a free cuppa in the café as well.
I must also mention at the back of the Garden centre there is Big Game Hunters who stock Garden play equipment and Garden games. I have not purchased anything from here however once our Garden is ready I would be interested in the climbing frames as they are wooden and better quality.
............Craft Hut........
There is a small craft shop which sells all sorts of products for crafts I cannot comment on this as I have only poped in as they also sell bubbles!
.............Farm Shop.............
This is an excellent shop selling a wide selection of vegetables many which are grown on site they also have a fishmongers, butchers, bakery, Deli. We often get some picnic bits from the Deli and they have a superb cheese selection. I would also recommend the Butchers for the variety they have on offer particularly good for BBQ's. The Bakery is superb selling a great selection of cakes and they are truly gigantic.
The shop also sells a great selection of cook ware which is different from the norm and is reasonably priced.
..............Play Area...........
The play area is situated in the field area and is stocked with a good selection of equipment. A slide with climbing frame, a slide, two sets of swings, a roundabout, a large sand pit which is a particular favourite plus bouncy animals. There are also go karts and diggers which are an additional £1 however you can push the go karts yourself.
............Animals............
There are pigs, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, cows, ponies and of course Ducks but be warned the Ducks are really not very interested in being feed! At the end of the animals there is phoebe wood which is a nice walk however we have only ever done a small part of this just to the stream as unfortunately little legs to get tired!
............Restaurant & Cafe... .........
The Lakeside restaurant situated upstairs in the complex has a very nice sounding menu however it is a complete sit down experience and in my opinion very expensive, we have used the café and I have had lovely lunches and also not so great ones I do think the café is expensive with a child's lunch box contains 4 items and a drink priced at £4.00, soup with bread is £4.95 I personally take a picnic or head home for lunch, however on occasions when we have eaten here they are also happy to split a bowl up soup into two bowls which is good service.
...........The Maze...........
We did this a couple of years ago because I won tickets and I was very impressed within the Maze area they had giant games, a trampoline, a bouncy castle. There is also a quiz to do as you go around the maze. Once you have paid you can go off site and return as many times as you wish in that Day.
I would suggest that it isn't really suitable for under 4's it is a bit boring for them and in my opinion it is expensive if they are not that interested, see website for full prices.
..........My Opinion..........
Millets is a great day out with something for every one of all ages, it's an excellent meeting place, a great place for the children to burn off steam and no arguments over whose toys they are! I mentioned that we like to take a picnic which also makes it a whole day out and because my friend and I like to have a mooch around the Garden centre we then normally let the children choose a cake as well.
I can safely say this is a great day out and can be a free day as well if you do not go in the Garden centre plus we have found that a walk to see the animals takes about half a hour possibly longer then a good play followed by a picnic and more play a really great value day out.
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Ashford Designer Outlet (Kent)
by johnherbert
I have been to the Ashford Retail outlet centre three times now, each time I have found the prices good and came back with some great bargains. I actually went today which inspired my review.
The centre is around an hour drive for me, you can access it by bus or train but I find it easier to just jump in the car and drive ... there.
The shops are all located outside in one big circle, you wont get wet in the bad weather though as they are all covered with a decent amount of rood. There is also a Mcdonalds, Harry Ramsden, Spud u like and millies cookies, so you wont find yourself going hungry halfway through your shopping.
I have never had a problem parking as the location has a lot of spaces, you have to pay though and the charge is £1.00 for 0-4 hours and £10.00 for anything over this. So don't stay too long. I would say that if you go over to the outlet as a couple, look at several of the shops and have something to eat, you still won't be there over 4 hours. Still just keep in mind to have an eye on your watch though just to make sure.
I find the bargains very good and in my experience have found the discount to be around 20-30%, this is very good considering most of it is designer. I go there to shop mainly just for lacoste and fred perry, today a managed to pick up the following bargains:
Lacoste t-shirt - was £50.00, now £12.00. Saving £38.00
Lacoste t-shirt - was £41.00, now £22.00. Saving £19.00
Fred Perry polo shirt - was £55.00, now £35.00. Saving £20.00
Overall I saved around £77.00, with a total spend of £69.00. So you can see that the savings are great, I did have to use £10.00 petrol to get there but I found it worth the cash.
The centre is open until 8pm on a weekday so you could also pop there after work. Overall I love the centre and would recommend you check their webpage to see if the stores are ones that you normally like.
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Forbidden Planet (London)
by stufflover
I have only been to the Forbidden Planet in London, so my review will be based on that store, although they do have a few more around the country, including one in Newcastle. The others are in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Croydon, Liverpool and Southampton.
Forbidden Planet is basically the geeks dream world, ... selling comic books, action figures, wrestling goodies (YAY!) Twilight Merchandise, Manga, DVDs, Books, Clothing, Anime, Collectables and much, much more.
They sell most things from the latest cult TV shows and Movies etc like Twilight, True Blood, Star Trek, Doctor Who and Batman. There is so much choice of stuff from different eras and programmes in this store, it really is geek city in there.
The store covers two levels, and is totally huge, with massive sections for each set of items being sold, and with a signing desk area at the back of the store where they hold many different events and signings for people like TV stars, Movie Stars and Wrestlers. I have been to two wrestling signings in the London Megastore.
The most expensive items like collectables etc seem to be sold on the top floor, near the tills, where they are kept in glass display cabinets. These include things like busts of movie characters like the Joker from Batman: The Dark Knight. Downstairs is mostly books and comics, and you can access this level by escalator, and I think there is a lift for disabled access.
The store itself is located on Shaftesbury Avenue, past Tottenham Court Road. They are open 7 days a week. Monday to Friday they open at 10am and on Sundays they open at 12pm. Monday to Wednesday they close at 7pm, Thursdays and Saturdays they close at 8pm. Fridays they close at 7.30pm. Sundays they close at 6pm.
The staff are a bit miserable and seem like they really don't want to be there. I have come across a couple of members of staff who were nice and chatty, but the majority of them are not worth trying to talk to, they just sort of grunt at you and look at you with a blank expression if you ask for help. Any answers I do get out of them seem to be the most unuseful bits of information, a complete waste of time. Do not expect a lot from the staff if you go shopping here.
You can shop online too on their website, which is great if you can not get to a store or if you just want to avoid their staff members. Their website is www.forbiddenplanet.com where you can see all the items they sell and have them delivered to your house. You can also use this site to see where your nearest store is, store opening times and contact details, to enter competitions, and see what events and signings they have coming up and where.
I think this place is ok to shop in, if you don't mind the staff, but you should look around at other places first as the prices can be a bit steep, especially for the books and action figures.
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