Evolution is a fabulous place to shop for unusual gifts. Everyone has friends and relatives that…read moreare hard to shop for and this is the perfect place to get gifts for them. The atmosphere is really relaxed and peaceful. It is full of Buddhas and Incense sticks and scented candles and novelty candles. They have little sets of candles that spell out I LOVE YOU and HAPPY BIRTHDAY as well as for the festive season candles that spelt out HAPPY NEW YEAR and MERRY CHRISTMAS. They also have a large selection of hand made jewellery as well as ethical begs and accessories. I bought Christmas presents for my best friend there - A glas wall plaque saying PEACE and a gorgeous incense stick holder in the shape of the Buddha. Another great accolade to this store is the friendliness of the staff. They are helpful but not intrusive. They say Hi to you as you enter but in a pleasant polite and friendly way as opposed to being in your face. As the asistant carefully wraped my gifts, we chatted about the holidays and the weather and as I left she wished me farewell and welcomed me back again. I can't wait to visit again - even if it is just to browse.

A fantastic shop for unique and bespoke cards, gifts, retro goods and handmade items that can't be…read morefound elsewhere. Definitely well worth checking out! It's great for gifts for the hard to buy for people in your life!

This is the shop that you go in when you havent got a clue what to buy someone as they have some…read moregreat gifts. They have loads of cards too some handmade. Buy your wrapping paper here aswell and youve done it all in one shop. I could spend hours in here and the shop staff are lovely.

What a beautiful little shop, down a cobbled street in the lovely town of Leek. This place is the…read moreperfect venue to buy cute gifts and knick knacks for anybody from 1 to 101. I have to mention the owner in this review, she is super duper sweet, and on my few visits, she is very helpful and smiley. This place not only is a lovely shop, but it also holds regular crafty workshops, from crotchet and knitting to dressmaking. These are all reasonably priced and range from beginners level to expertise. They encourage the ladies (and gents) to drink tea, eat cakes and have a natter whilst doing so. I also believe that Bibelots also has something called crafty matters, which are opportunities for people to meet up and socialise whilst making and creating in the beautiful Bibelots environment. This little shop supports the community and does it in style. I really loved the totally locally feel, and I'll be back as soon as I can.

From the owner: Bibelot is the areas only authorised Cath Kidston stockist - we carry a large range including bags…read moreand accessories, homeware, toiletries, bedding, books, stationery and umbrellas. Alongside Cath Kidston we also stock bags & accessories from Disaster Designs, toys from Maileg and much more! Bibelot are proud to support British designers and manufacturers, we stock a selection of homeware, jewellery and cards including Poppy Treffry, Tatty Devine, Love Boutique and Laura Sherratt Designs to name a few. We also stock a variety of gorgeous locally handmade items. We also have a fantastic haberdashey and craft room upstairs - we stock a large range including yarn, fabric & fat quarters, ribbon, buttons, jewellery findings, books and craft kits from names such as Rico, Rowan, Stylecraft, Tilda etc. We run a range of craft workshops including sewing and crochet, full details can be found on our website.

What a delightful establishment this is! I might even go as far as to say delectable!…read more Nook & Cranny stocks a veritable cornucopia of gorgeous gifts, stationery and homewares, all utterly charming. The first thing that caught my eye (and drew me in from my journey up Bold Street) were the beautiful Cable & Cotton fairy lights displayed in the window - these stunning textured, multi coloured, orb fairy lights are just magical and certainly set the scene for the rest of the shop. There is so much to gaze or chuckle at and drool over in Nook & Cranny that I just wouldn't know where to start telling you all about it but other highlights include the bear paw oven mitts, the 'My Cuppa Tea' colour matching guide mug and the Knit Your Own Zoo kit. I was in seventh heaven. Imagine my delight when I discovered that the back of the shop (which used to be storage space) has now been turned into a cosy little cafe called Quills & Coffee. Sadly I couldn't stay to sample any of the beautiful looking cakes but I vowed there and then to visit again as soon as possible. Yet more delight...Nook & Cranny and Quills & Coffee put on occasional film screenings at the back of the store!! The next one is American Beauty on Saturday 28th March at 7pm - tickets are £10 and include free drinks and pizza and available from www.nookandcrannyshop.co.uk. Magic

This is a fantastic independent biz that I ventured into when in Liverpool a couple of weeks back…read more We actually held an event in the back part of the business and I didn't realise it existed until Liverpool CA Gemma A introduced me to it - but the space is really cavernous and it was great to temporarily see Quills coffee set up in the back. Very very cool cards and gifts throughout, I was especially impressed with the awesome range of band music posters in the back - everything from Queens of the stone age to classic hiphop ones - really worth a look if you're nearby and fancy some colourful artwork to brighten up your walls. Very friendly staff, they hopefully will do well in this prime location in Liverpool.

It is long overdue that I write this review. The Heart of the Country is simply a potpourri of fun…read morethings to do for folks of all ages. In terms of value - unless you decide to buy a meal, drinks or goods from the various stores and restaurants it is free! Even the parking is free. Everyone seems to be friendly and welcoming. There are walks too, especially nice for the kids. And yes all the eating and drinking places are good to excellent!

The pear tree creperie is a small French restaurant specialising in you got it crepes. It is…read morelocated in a small crafts place which is called the heart of the country village. Now me and my sister are obsessed with pancakes anyway so when we heard about this place we decided we had to go and find it. So Saturday off we went in the car and found it. Mouths watering at just the thought of pancakes they had a lot to live up to but they managed it and this creperie is such a little find I think I will go there more often now I know where it is. The address is as follows; Heart of the country village Swinfen Near Lichfield Staffordshire WS14 6QR Now in terms of location it is a great place as it is right by Lichfield city centre which is a great place and as it is practically just off a main road it is quite easy to find. I can't really tell you much about the actual craft village as we didn't go around as this was purely a pancake hunting trip only. It did look very sweet though with lots of furniture, garden and even a bridal shop. The actual creperie is tucked away and has an inside and an outdoor area. Outdoors the wooden tables and trellising around is very pretty. Inside and you get a very French feel about the place. The tables have plastic covers which looks very sweet and the decoration is very nice with antique looking things which is nice. The furniture is all a nice wood and everything just looks nice. The menu is lovely with lots of sweet and savoury crepes on offer. I went for a sweet maple syrup one because I really fancied it but they do so many different ones such as cheese and ham ones, pear and chocolate sauce and ones with alcohol which they light at the table which looked great. The prices are not to bad with the cheapest being about £2 and the most expensive being around £6. Drinks were around £1.20 each. The pancakes did not take long to come out and when they did they were massive and they gave us a lot of maple syrup so they do make sure you get full from them. I noticed people having savoury ones with salads and they looked yummy and definitely filling enough to have for lunch or for tea. The crepes were cooked to perfection and I have to say I couldn't have done any better. They taste so nice that when you have eaten one you always want another. Even though I felt quite sick when I had eaten it I still would have had another if my sister would have let me but she dragged me out of there which I am glad of. The craft village is very sweet and the car park is quite big so you will always be ok to park. I think the creperie is lovely and well worth the visit especially if you do take a look around and then maybe go visit Lichfield to finish off your day. I am going to visit again as it was nice and the food is cooked to a high standard. There are plenty of staff there who are all very friendly and I think that you will have a good time. It might be worth mentioning as well that you can reserve tables there as it does get quite busy and as we left there was only 1 table left. What a little find in the middle of the country. Wonderful! Thanks for reading. xxx P.S .Thsi has been posted on other sites but always by me katygriff

Stumbled across this little hidden gem whilst out with my local walking group.. We just managed to…read moreget our group of 16 in the conservatory where they serve delicious cakes and tea/coffee etc. (The fresh cream Victoria sandwich was to die for).This is a newish business still developing (Nov '15) but they have some lovely craft items for sale as well as refreshments. Highly recommend.

While what they sell is lovely, the owner hardly ever opens for business. Which is very…read morefrustrating if you want to mooch and buy something. I've been by several times and I think the shop was only open twice in the spread of my visits across the year!

I have only ever seen a Jacaranda in Southampton so I was made up when I found this one!…read more They are quirky to say the least, but you can find all sorts in a Jacaranda shop - clothes and accessories, body jewellery, wicca stuff, novelty gifts, the list goes on. If you can find one they are well worth a visit.

Just off the A38 is the Barton Turns Marina, set in sizeable grounds which are part of the National…read moreForest, the many fishing lakes and collection of mature trees, make this a good place to go for a stroll, rain or shine. It is particular popular with anglers, and there is a small caravan site just after the entrance. The Marina itself is quite sizeable, with the space for many narrow boats to moor either temporarily or permanently. Nearest to the spacious car park is the Waterfront, a large pub with outdoor seating overlooking the marina, it is a popular place, with regular live entertainment. Adjacent to this is a Garden4Less, a garden centre and on the other side Toys of Yesteryear, a toy shop, housing a toy museum. There is also one of the top 10 coffee shops in the country here, the Apple Tree, which also has a speciality delicatessen. There are a number of fashion stores including Blue Harbour (high end women's fashion), Sophia's and Start and Tremayne (Handbags etc). There is an impressive art gallery - Gallery 3, adjacent to a large and popular Thai restaurant: Siam Corner; as well as the Butcher, the Baker and the ice cream maker, a great place for specialist food ingredients, which also provides groceries for the mooring narrow boats. There are even shops on narrow boats, including an estate agent, a bookshop and ceramic painting boat for the children. The pick of the bunch is probably Brauz, a gift shop where you are likely to find that present for the person who has everything. Barton Marina is a great place to wile away a few hours.

A Lovely place to visit if the weather is good but also loads to look at and do if weather not that…read moregood see my full review and photos at http://www.kevinsimon.co.uk/?p=2810