The laws around giving notice for marriage changed on 2 March, which meant there was a new set of…read morepaperwork/items to collect. As I was making sure that we had everything, I noticed that both of us had to supply a passport photo. It was no problem for me as I keep a stash on hand since I regularly need them for visas, but Mr. Snarky didn't have any. We parked up at the garage in the city centre and were making our way to the Post Office since I remembered they have a photo booth there, when we spotted Max Spielmann. Mr. Snarky suggested we go in and see if they do Passport Pictures, how long it will take, and how much. When we went in, there was a bit of a queue: one lady wanting to print pictures off of her memory card, another lady waiting for a print of her child (they had just had a photo shoot), and a very anxious man waiting for passport photos. I took off a star for the fact that the store is quite cluttered, making it 1) difficult to find a spot to wait without being in the way and 2) very easy to knock a bunch of frames onto the floor, shattering the glass in all of them. Unfortunately the hold up seemed to be revolving around one machine that was being used for all of this, despite the other three sitting next to it. The staff, however, were extremely friendly and even humored Mr. Snarky when he was making jokes. For £7.99 you get 6 photos and it takes a few minutes... actually it probably takes less than that if there is no one else in the shop. The other man waiting for his passport photos was being very picky since his other set were returned by a government agency for being too dark. The lady lightened it up as much as she could but he was still unsatisfied and kept muttering under his breath. As the lady cut them, she did tell him that they are guaranteed, so if they are rejected again, he could come back and they would take another picture and reprint for free. I had no idea that they were guaranteed... so there you have it! After all of his protesting, he finally left with his photos in hand. The staff member apologized for our wait and even gave us a 10% discount because we had waited for quite awhile. To be fair, we weren't expecting anything as there didn't seem to be much else they could do to speed things up as the other machines, they explained, are for different purposes, but it was a very nice gesture and this is where we will return if we need more passport/visa pictures.

Greta canvas, really clear picture and good quality frame. It was ordered and delivered to me…read morewithin 3 days. Excellent service and cheap too-will definitely us again

Gallery 786 is an odd specimen, even odder when you consider its location…read more There's art on the walls - obviously. But these places need ways of making money to pay the rent. So, you have the usual picture framing service offered. Standard. They have things in cabinets to look at/ or buy - trophies, interesting bits and bobs - and very expensive costume jewellery, or all things. I suppose jewellery is a decoration to the body and - like fashion - must be seen in one respect as art. But it does contribute to an overall feeling of oddity that pervades this place. And I do wonder if anyone ever spends any money in here or just glances round open mouthed like I did.

After feeling I should support local businesses in Prestwich I had a print framed here..never…read moreagain. The result wasn't brilliant and the customer service that followed was awful, I came away with the impression that once he had my money he was disinterested in anything else.

As a pedestrian, there is a small part of the walk that is not pedestrian friendly, which is why I…read morewas a little shocked that there was no pedestrian walk connecting this shopping area with the B&Q. Anyway, it is quite a large store... I didn't even make it upstairs because I had already spent so much time downstairs. There are a couple of clearance sections starting on the right wall near the tills. And... fortunately the first clearance section is yarn (or knitting wool). Unfortunately the yarn isn't labeled properly so it is difficult to figure out how much the yarn costs. That wouldn't have been a problem if there had been some staff to help, but there was only one lady on the tills who may have been training and I'm not sure where everyone else was. One of the reasons I took off a star. However, the selection for any craft you happen to be undertaking is amazing. They have supplies for baking, knitting/crochet, model building, felting, cross stitch, sewing, art supplies, etc. This could be a very dangerous store for my wallet ;). The other reason I took a star off is that the yarn section was a bit bare. It looked like a 3 for 2 sale, so probably why the shelves were bare, but still it didn't provide much for variety. And it was difficult to figure out what was part of the 3 for 2 sale, but again, there was no one to ask. However, the one item that I was quite impressed with and will have to investigate on another visit is the "yarn" made out of jersey material called Boodles. They also had a nice selection of books/magazines for crochet. Typically there are loads of books/magazines for knitters, but not crocheters... so this was a nice surprise. However, there were not a lot of choices for crochet hooks, especially for Tunisian Crochet, but I will probably inspect the online inventory to see if I can order some of these. When I did go to check out, they had added another staff member to the tills because there had been a line and what I really appreciated was when the staff member checked the lot numbers on my yarn and asked if it was ok that the lot numbers were different. Those of you who crochet or knit know how important lot numbers can be, however, because this was off of the clearance shelf and I did have a look and as far as I could tell there wasn't a huge amount of difference, but it is a variegated yarn so I think the changes in the colours will actually be hidden. Overall it is a great stop for crafters!

Not a bad shop for craft-related materials. Let's start with the positives: there's plenty of…read moreparking, a fairly wide range of stock, and the prices are competitive (by and large). The downside from my visit was the customer service; there was huge long queue at the check-out and two assistants standing chatting to each other for seemingly ages before one of them showed the initiative to open another till. Perhaps I just caught them on an off-day but it didn't make for a happy customer. All in all -- OK, but nothing special.