I can only speak from a gardening point of view, but this place is awesome. The range of plants…read morethey have is amazing and better value than you'll find elsewhere in Barnstaple. B & Q may sell 24 bedding plant plugs for £4 but at BJ's you'll get more mature and healthy plants for your money. Their selection of herbs is better than I have ever seen anywhere else, they really do sell any that you could think of including umpteen varieties of thyme, mint and sage. Perenials are also very good value, they have a range of plants starting at £1.79 for example. They also sell fruit plants including gooseberries etc, strawberries and rhubarb crowns. Their range of gardening sundries is superb, they sell loads of different planters and containers and every type of feed and pest killer you could ever want. Other outdoors-y things are great, loads of various types of bird food, BBQ supplies, flip-flops, you name it! I myself am off there after work to buy a paddling pool to dunk my feet in after a hard afternoon's digging on my allotment. Go to BJ's and spend some money, you won't regret it!

St Johns garden centre is a lovely place to go. They sell a great stock of plants, garden ornaments…read moreand at the moment they have some lovely Christmas decorations there. The decorations are slightly more expensive but they are unique.They have also got Christmas lights and trees. We took our girls there the other day and met with our family there and sat and had a meal in there cafe. The cafe is quite big and very relaxed and decent priced. They also have a jungle section which is full of plants and a little track you can walk round which has some pretend animals like leopards and owls, that move when you go by.There is a little bridge with fish under that you go across and a few real animals in cages like turtles and chipmunks. My girls loved looking around there and underneath there is a bit about each animal so they learnt something as well. So it's not just a garden centre there's other bits to look at.

Trelawney is a big garden centre located in Ashford. Outside the garden centre there is a pond that…read morealways has really well fed looking fish and there is a little park for your children to play in. I quite like it in the summer as you can walk round the grounds. Outside they also have a variety of plants, garden sheds and garden ornaments that you can buy. Inside there is a big choice of plants, gifts (especially at Christmas) and they have café which has seating in and outside. A few times we have been to the café and had a roast dinner which was lovely. At Christmas time the garden centre normally sells lots of decorations and has a Santa's grotto. The garden centre always looks really well looked after I'm not really into flowers but I still enjoy looking around there and my daughters do as well.

Trelawney garden centre (previously Ashford) is a recently refurbished big garden centre.Situated…read morejust outside barnstaple it has lovely views over the estuary that you can see for the garden and pond outside the centre. As well as the usual plants it has a huge range of gifts and a cafe that does an extrememly delicious cream tea!

Slees hardware is a great store that sells everything you need for your diy. When you walk in the…read moreshop it doesn't seem that big but then you notice that as you go further in the shop leads out both sides. If there is a bolt or screw missing from when you make something you are sure to find a replacement here. I think you can also get your keys cut which here which is good. Around the shop they have other things you will need for your home like: plates, bathroom items, storage containers and lots more. The staff are very friendly and if you are struggling to find something then they will take you straight to it.

wow what an emporium. a true hardwarestore. sells everything youll ever need and more, at the same…read moreprices sometimes less than the bigger diy sheds. great friendly staff, the store is huge yet they know where every thing is. they deliver stuff free if charge too!