A great store for people who like to go outdoors, climbing, fishing, camping, hiking. Whatever you…read morelike to do outdoors, you will find what you need here. Friendy people, great gear! Have fun, be safe!

I love this place. Excellent range, reasonable prices, and absolutely fanatical but friendly staff…read more Even better they have all the little twiddly accessories that a lot of other places don't have - the kind of things that are small, but can make a big difference. Very often specialist shops can have staff that think they are über cool for working there - not here, eager to help without being intrusive, and they chat to you about the product without trying to get you to buy - which is great - they provide the info and let you come to your own decision. This doesn't seem to be an exclusive to the Birmingham store - the Manchester one is similar. I'd thoroughly reccomend 10/10.

As an outdoor lover I think Oswald Bailey has high quality products and beats the high street…read moreprices for outdoor equipment needed for things like camping and hiking. I came in during a sale and thought the original prices were a costly but worth it and it was great to see high quality products at more reasonable prices. When visiting independently owned stores (especially outdoor specialists) I often find that the products aren't good quality and the shop is often cluttered and messy. Here it felt like they had a lot of things happening but store is very spacious and looks much more professional. Rather than piling things up on the floor, like many other stores of its kind, the staff have smartly attached items to the walls. The staff were polite as they greeted me and offered help soon after I walked in. They were also helpful by giving any information I wanted to know about the products.

Osawald Bailey is an outdoor specialist, located on station road in Solihull. I often find that…read moreindependently owned outdoors stores like these can be really horrible shops to try and use, they often seem to be very cluttered and unorganised. However, Oswald Bailey's is much closer to a professional chain such as Millets or something similar. They've laid everything out very clearly and have a lot on show without making it confused. Most importantly, they've got great prices, more than competing with the big chains, and always have loads of deals on. I recently bought two fold up camping chairs for just £20, and they're significantly better quality than similar ones I bought from B&Q last year. Highly recommended.

Went quad biking here with 5 friends. You get to quad bike through an obstacle course for training…read moreand then guided through a course of trees and hills. We went on a wet and muddy day which personally I think added to the fun. We were guided, advised and regularly unstuck by the wonderful and attentive staff. We were provided with freshly cleaned overalls, a helmet and gloves. Absolutely great fun. I would strongly recommend for teenagers and older and groups of friends looking to get muddy and have a thrilling time. Bring spare raggy clothes to wear as even with overalls the mud and water will soak through.

I must admit, I always thought Cotswold Camping was a bit twee, a bit cheap and a bit middle-aged…read more How wrong I was. This is a big, modern store with clothes and equipment for people of all ages. I was very tempted by their women's clothing, which ranges from outdoor casual to normal casual. It's maybe not the best place for highly technical clothing, but it's great for general hanging around the park type clothing, and fantastic for entertaining bored friends who've been dragged along with no interest whatsoever in the outdoors. Sadly the prices are the same as those for more technical clothing, so I couldn't justify buying one of their pretty skirts. I went to look at tents. They've got a selection of all sorts from lightweight to giant family jobs (for the families of giants, of course), but not a huge amount in each category. There was a very helpful shop assistant who took me outside and helped me assemble 3 tents. He didn't know much more than me about them, but was very polite, honest and keen to help as we fumbled around in high winds. I was especially impressed as he didn't look older than 15.

From the owner: At the Bicester store we are keen to help a variety of people whether it be finding boots for…read moregeneral walks around the local area or preparing your kit for a trek up Kilimanjaro. Our staff will be with you every step of the way to help you find exactly what you're looking for and at the same time making you feel as comfortable as possible and offer varying knowledge from their own experiences. This store is set in a prominent position on the outskirts of the ever growing and developing market town of Bicester. Access is simple with direct access through to London and Birmingham and by passing hotspots such as Silverstone on the A43 and the Heritage Motor Centre, Junction 12 on the M40. There are regular direct links through to London and Oxford by train and coach. Parking is free and there is a selection of other shops available to satisfy your shopping needs including a delightful cafe and restaurant with an adjacent indoor play facility for the younger explorers.

Shop is fine. Prices are good so long as you pay for their membership card. Staff are pleasant…read more But oh my God pray you never have to deal with their head office customer service dept. They are completely incompetent and lazy. I ordered some jackets online for my family, in several sizes to try. Kept 4, returned 6. They processed the refund at three different prices - for the same jacket in different sizes. When I pointed out their error I just got a "we refunded this correctly" email. I'm now 12 emails in to this conversation and they're still doubling down. No attempt to explain why they're applied 3 different prices to the same jacket. No attempt to explain why the difference between my original payment and the refund is more than the cost of the 4 jackets I've kept. Just insulting "I've looked into this..." emails when they clearly haven't looked into it and can't be bothered. Lazy, rude and incompetent. It's terrible that their shop staff are being undermined by head office like this.

Go Outdoors is located just off the A45 and is an ideal location for me, but you need to know where…read moreit is because its out of the way a little bit. Store is absolutley massive and has a large range of goods. Has some great offers on coats and tents, which is ideal for family holidays as we love to go camping. I would recommend visiting here if your looking at buying tents or anything to do with the outdoors. Staff can be a bit useless but where dont you get that.

Ironically, this ugly warehouse-style building by the side of an urban road contains everything you…read moreneed to enjoy the great outdoors. It's recently been taken over and the new manager is really friendly and has introduced some new ranges, so it's well worth a visit. As the name suggests, the focus is on outdoors clothing and equipment, so expect fleeces, walking trousers, raincoats and walking boots. There's also a good range of camping equipment, ranging from tents to caravan gear, camping stove and dubious looking mountain food. Think Millets, but bigger. If you're not used to outdoor shops, it's great fun looking at the gadgets like 'sporks' (half spoon, half fork) and 'platypuses' (water bladders in backpacks with a giant straw). If you are used to outdoor shops, you'll be bound to find something here. I must confess to being a bit of an outdoors snob, but there are some really good bargains here, especially with waterproofs, and you can't go wrong with generic camping bits and bobs. There's even a new and improved rock climbing section with all the basics. It's probably the best place for rock shoes and harnesses in the area and the manager can give some very useful advice. There are sections for fishing, running, cycling and even skiing, and whilst this is in no way a specialist shop for any of them, it's big enough to have a reasonable range of basic items to satisfy the enthusiast's immediate needs. Go and buy lots of fun gadgets and look forward to your holidays, when living in a tent suddenly seems like such a fun idea.

A great place if you like the outdoors as the name implies. They have a great range of products and…read morealso offer a price match policy and they honour it. They offer a discount if you purchase one of there discount cards and it can amount to considerable saving for just £4.00 per year.

friendly staff serve you here with a smile. Tents and…read morecamping equipment are on the upper floor. so if you fancy a new tent for next year september is the best time to go as they can be often reduced ready for next camping season. Also there is on display a range outdoor clothing and walking boots on the ground floor.

Their customer service cannot be faulted, although the shop itself is not that small, the staff…read moreknow exactly what they are talking about and will order you any bits that they do not have. They have a sale on tents which is not as cheap as you can get them on the internet for but if you want to have a look they normally have a couple in the shop. This is great for accessories and normally have a few brands of the item you are looking for so at least you have a choice. This is situated right in the heart of Lichfield but could be easily missed. Well worth going to have a look even if you do not need anything

My favourite campsite in the whole wide world…read more I really shouldn't be writing this review as I want to keep it a secret.... but Bycross Farm Campsite has been in the Telegraphs top ten UK campsites, so I think the cat is out of the bag now. Oh well. We've camped here four times now and its always been a lovely experience and on our most recent trip we were the only people here, which was nice. We initially found this campsite when we did our first canoe trip down the River Wye, it was on the Wye Valley Canoe Centres list of places to camp on the river route. That is you could land your canoe at these locations and camp up. The overall highlight of this place is its an apple orchard. A magical setting to be honest as the place is surrounded with fabulous bird life. Be warned the dawn chorus in the summer time is mega here, so if you don't want to be woken, bring good ear plugs. Otherwise, lie back and test out your knowledge of birdsong. Another highlight is this camp is it allows camp fires, unlike most other campsites I've stayed at in the UK. The owner treats campers like the adults they are and as a result the positive camping experience is increased ten fold. Before now there was one shower and two toilets, which was just about enough. But one our recent stay I found out that a whole shower & toilet block has been built out the back. And an excellent one it is too. There are also more wash up sinks, I think three more to the existing one that was already there at the existing toilet block. It's a little rough and ready, but that is what makes Bycross in my opinion the nicest place in the world when it comes to camping. No manicured lawns. There are very little notices up telling you what you are not allow to do. In June 2013 it cost 5 GBP per person per night. The hot power showers will cost you 1 GBP per five mins. For me this is excellent value for a fantastic camping experience.