Delightful! One of my favourite shops. I can always find the perfect card or gift. Worth a special…read moretrip everytime.

I 'popped' in to Fat Cat the other day for a look around, but left after mooching for about an…read morehour, spending £40 and having a coffee in the lovely Skinny Kitten cafe that's attached. I only left as I had to collect my daughter from school! A really lovely Aladdin's cave, full of beautiful gifts. I'm going to be a regular I think!

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

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

Great little card shop, has great cards, gift wrap, gifts etc. Lovely friendly staff and very cheap…read moreprices and good quality, the cheapest i've found anywhere.

At the entrance to the Mill Lane Mews is the Tutbury Present Co, a small gift shop with an…read moreinteresting selection of items, perfect for Birthday and Christmas presents. As you enter the shop the pleasant smell of Yankee candles fills the air, can be a little overpowering after a while though. As well as having a wide selection of candles, there is an impressive range of cards for all occasions, with some particular surreal ones inspired by the late Spike Milligan. There is also a good variety of wedding and Christening themed gifts, as well as a selection of hand made jewellery and soft toys, including some rather large tailored bears.

The most ridiculous customer service…read more They sent me a blanket that was the wrong size after me paying for a large. They then denied it, and refused a refund. Avoid these scammers!

Just a nice little store close to the center of Swadlincote, just over the street from my bank…read more(Barclays) and my barber (Sweeney Swad). This little store has been run since 1997 by the same man (only staff) who served me today - basically cutting me a new key (living in a centuries old manor home means you are using "historic" keys - and he can grind them for you. Great, prompt, polite service and very interesting guy to chat to (as I did). I think the main business is the keys and shoe repairs. Strangely much of his limited space is taken up with a gigantic (given the small size of the store) collection of Steiff "button in ear" Teddy Bears. https://www.steiffteddybears.co.uk/more-things-steiff/steiff-button-in-ear.php. Now that is weird - don't you think?? If the shoe repairs are as good and as prompt as the key cutting then you will be happy! He did have a few (VERY few) pairs of shoes. I LOVED the Jeffery West men's shoes https://www.jeffery-west.co.uk/ - the coolest that I have EVER seen for sure - see pics of the soles - the tops are equally awesome in terms of style, quality and more (shiny black leather, bright red laces an stitching - NICE!!!! Review # 50 2018

Lovely traditional shop, cuts keys, fixes shoes, sells a wide range of interesting gifts. Owner…read morefriendly and very helpful. Shops like this are sadly an endangered species! Swadlincote is lucky to have this one survive in very tough times, long May it continue!

I drove past this place 2-3 times a month, Mrs G would often say "I'd like to try that place" but…read moreit was signed as, and looked like, a foo foo gift shop with coffee as an afterthought. But was I wrong!! Yes it is a foo foo gift shop with a large variety of gifts including personalized options (see pics) and also a coffee shop - BUT also a full blown restaurant with a broad selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner options (as well as daily and seasonal specials) AND a full bar. WOW I was almost tempted to keep this as my little secret but I will be generous and give everyone on Yelp a Christmas gift!! This place is a must visit - my full British breakfast was the best I have had in a long long time and (all day breakfast) served at 2pm with a great, large skinny latte! Two big thumbs up Review #112 2019

A touch of the 'olde worlde' eminates from this modern boutique style shop. Extremely friendly and…read morehelpful staff are only too willing to give advice on that special gift you maybe searching for. With something for everyone available, and a whole host of different themes and merchandise; you can be sure to unearth something special, that isn't found in every other high street store.

This is a really great store for an amazing variety of goods for the garden, for the home and much…read moremore including seasonal goods - it is THE place to go for Christmas decorations for example and the very best Christmas Trees. An enormous variety of goods ranging from souvenirs and neat gifts in the Gift Shop, all sorts of outdoor clothing - not just for in the garden but raincoats, casual gear for men and women and all the seasons, plants, turf, trees, fish, parrots, rabbits and more - and all your needs for your pets. Then organize day trips to a wide variety of places - and not to forget the REALLY good restaurant that does breakfast, lunch, afternoon teas (High Tea) and bargain dinners. Indeed today Mrs G and I had 2 two course dinners for 12 pounds ($16-17 for TWO!!). I had beef bourguignon, while Mrs G had a Quiche Lorraine with chips and peas/salad, and then I had apple pie with custard while she had lemon meringue pie. Served promptly in the clean and bright restaurant - we sat "outside" so that Ricky Martin could sit with us and share in a little with my beef :). Will we be back? Hell yeah!!! Review #44 2018