This Spar has a special place in history! It was the first place in the UK where the Mosquito high…read morepitched noise alarm was installed. The idea is to stop teenagers gathering in crowds outside the store. The alarm emits a high pitched whine that adults cannot hear, but children and dogs can. It worked so effectively, that the inventor took out a patent and has sold the device to hundreds of stores across the country. I and many others, think this device is barbaric. There must be other ways in which a civilised society can control its young people. However, that aside, the store has a good selection of magazines and newspapers, general groceries, and a hot food takeaway and bakery goods counter. The staff are friendly although a bit on the rough side, (although I suppose they need to be to cope with the above mentioned youths.).

As convenience stores go, this one really isn't bad…read more I couldn't park anywhere near my beloved 'best one' down the road so I had to resort to using the bigger and more yellow, Lloyd's news. Inside there's a pretty good range of things you might need at the last minute and most impressively the booze selection is really very great. Lots of wine and most amazingly, lots of offers on that wine. The till had lots of strange and abstract American candy dotted around it, which I scooped up with both hands, like an obese child. The man serving me was polite, very polite. So polite in fact that when he turned away so I could enter my pin number he moved with such force he almost gave himself whiplash.

The Penarth times is released weekly providing local residents with an update of local news and…read moreevents. The office, located in a small shop just minutes from the centre of Penarth's popular high street, reels out hundreds of copies every Thursday which find their way into most local supermarkets and news agents. Particularly prominent are articles featuring; local schools and their pupils, fundraiser and charity events, and local sports team match reports. The paper is well written and informative, with a broad range of news and sport documented. Furthermore, the paper is particularly good in it's support of local business and trade through advertisement and positive feedback. A good local newspaper which is an important feature of many local residents' weekly literature.

Weirdly, the Penarth Times is now based in Barry, as its Penarth office recently closed. I guess…read moretimes are tough for the media as well as every other business, and so this publication has had to move in with its sister publication, the Barry & District News, both of which belong to the Newsquest media group. The Penarth Times is a weekly newspaper serving the local town of Penarth, just outside Cardiff, which is home to a modest population of around 23,000. The paper focuses mainly on stories of local interest, whether it's news about local businesses, the activities of councillors, school sports' team successes, charity events, and so on. It also carries quite a lot of local advertisements, announcements and letters. It is published in tabloid format every Thursday, but it is available to buy throughout the rest of the week in local newsagents, supermarkets and so on. The last time I glanced at a copy I think it was selling at 40p an issue, but it is also available to be delivered to your door on a subscription basis. I'd read a copy if it was left on the train, but I wouldn't buy one - it's not the most exciting of publications, but for local residents it will keep you in the know about all the key local issues.

This is quite a small branch of Smiths and so doesn't exactly have a great selection…read more There's plenty of stationary and your bog standard magazines but if you're looking for something more specialist then it's probably not going to have what you want. For some reason it has a whole section dedicated to 'Tragic life stories' so if you're looking for some heartache and misery it will certainly deliver.