When wandering through the Victoria Quarter, for some reason a card shop isn't something you expect yourself to wander into or across. However it's there and it does a grand job of serving the general public with cards, postcards, gift bags and gift wrap. There is the odd poster or cuddly toy dotted around here and there too. There it is in its crudest form. A card shop. In reality it's a little bit more than that. The polar opposite to Card Warehouse, and a bit more snootier than Clinton Cards, Bayliffe and Lupton clearly take pride in providing cards of better quality than their card stocking counterparts. The prices reflect this, but in fairness so does the quality. Handmade cards often say 'oooh you're extra special' and it's even better when it's got extra specialness and you didn't have to get your hands all dirty or glittery whatnot. It's always nice to splash out on a card for a loved one, sometimes 29p cards don't cut the mustard, but I also take issue with cards that are about £6 just cos they can. When you add that to the cost of a £4 gift bag, you've lost a tenner haven't you? And in these hard economic times and all that, it could be better spent on whacking that tenner into the gift pot. Miser aside, pretty, delicate and exquisite are all words that come to mind when discussing quality of product at Bayliffe and Lupton. But breaking it down, it's just bags and cards. read more