Forum: Best of British

The gift shop stocks a full range of intrinsically British goods and memorabilia: model red double-decker buses, red phone boxes, red post-boxes, black taxis, racing green Minis, yellow Robin Reliants, blue police boxes, and daleks; framed copies of old maps; teapots, tea-cosies and tea-strainers; union jacks as flags, tea-towels, T-shirts and bunting; jigsaws and picture postcards of famous British landmarks; DVDs of British comedy shows and films (movies); singles and albums from British musicians. It stocks the major British newspapers and magazines, and books by classic and well-known British authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Enid Blyton. It also has Ordnance Survey maps, and non-fiction titles on British culture, British history, landmarks and walks. The staff will understand if you tell them that it is a local shop for local people.

The café sells regional and traditional items such as Welsh rarebit, Cornish pasties, steak-and-kidney pies, sandwiches (smoked salmon, cucumber, cheese-and-pickle, coronation chicken, BLT), Scottish shortbread, Chelsea buns, Eccles cakes, Bakewell tarts, custard tarts, biscuits, flapjacks, toasted teacakes, (English) muffins, crumpets, cream buns, fruit cakes, sponge cakes, gateaux and cheesecakes, tea (of course), scones with strawberries-and-clotted-cream, cloudy lemonade and ginger beer. Every day before eleven in the morning it offers a Full English Cooked Breakfast, and on Fridays it does fish-and-chips all day, eat in or take away. It does not sell subs, bagels, pizza, or American-style muffins. Murder Mystery parties are available by arrangement.

The off-license (liquor store) has a range of imported British bitters, ales, ciders, perries, and stouts. There are British-produced wines, and it stocks Pimms, London gin, and several types of mead. The interested browser can spot labels on bottled beer such as Sheepshaggers, Blandford Fly, Grumpy Bastard, Dog's Bollocks, and many others with names ranging from the descriptive through the picturesque to the risqué or downright rude. Any British visitor will almost certainly be able to find any old favourites here that can pass the import regulations. The department does not, however, sell lager, despite the great quantities sold in Britain (some quirky personal preference of the owner, apparently). Yes, it does sell Butterbeer.

The delicatessen is a source of those hard-to-find-outside-the-country items as salad cream, Marmite, Bovril, marmalade, Branston pickle, and Worcester and HP sauces. It has a range of quality British-made fruit jam (preserves), British honey, chutneys and fruit curds. It stocks a full range of chiller-cabinet items such as British cheeses, cured hams, pastry-crust pies and black pudding. It also has cakes, buns and custard tarts, and many of the items sold in the café can be bought here to take home. It has several varieties of tea, both loose-leaf and in bags. It has British biscuits (with the only visible 'cookies' being choc-chip and gingernut). It has no bagels, no pretzels, and no peanut butter (although it does have hazelnut chocolate spread).

Beside the deli is a small but very well stocked sweet shop (candy store) with plenty of British chocolate and shelves and shelves of traditional British sweets that can be bought by weight and carried away in white paper bags. Here the shopper can watch the staff lift down the jar they want and measure out into the balance-scales their choice of barley sugar twists, pontefract cakes, lemon sherbets, cloves, sours, pear drops, humbugs, fudge and toffee of many varieties, gobstoppers, or any of dozens of other old-fashioned varieties. Sticks of red, white and blue rock can be bought with 'Best of British' written through the middle. There is not a single Hershey bar or candy cone to be found here.

The sporting goods section includes all the supplies anyone could possibly want for field sports: fly-fishing and coarse-fishing, working dogs and gun-dogs, shotgun maintenance, and a large section for English saddlery, English equestrian goods and polo. In a secure section there are guns too, almost all shotguns for hunting although there are also a few air rifles, as well as ammunition. In the same section one can find items for the traditional field archery enthusiast, including longbows, and also weapons for fencing enthusiasts. On the same floor one can find equipment and clothing for rugby, cricket, football (soccer), netball, tennis, hockey, lacrosse, fencing, and British equestrian pastimes such as hunting and polo. It has here accessories such as shooting-sticks, hip-flasks, and fitted-out hampers. Last but not least, it has quite an extensive range of umbrellas, from the tiny folding sort to the fit-a-small-party-underneath golfing variety. Staff will tactfully check that where licenses are required, the purchaser has what is needed.

The clothing departments, menswear and ladieswear, specialise in outdoor and countryside clothing- the sort that frequents foxhunts, grouse shoots, and the owners' enclosure at Epson, Ascot and Cheltenham. Labels include all those familiar to the huntin'-shootin'-fishin' fraternity, and some need no labels at all- Harris tweed, Fair Isle sweaters and tartans. Yachtsmen and climbers are not forgotten with ranges of modern British outdoor-pursuits clothing brands. Shoppers in the menswear department can find flat caps, deerstalkers, straw and felt hats; they can also deck themselves out in true James Bond fashion if that takes their fancy. The ladies' section has every type of skirt-suit, demure dress and fanciful headgear a woman could possibly want to choose from for Ladies' Day at Ascot, and also a select, tasteful collection of little black dresses. The children's clothing department is full of miniature versions of the adult outdoor clothing sections and pony-and-pet themed casual wear, and also has a range of amusingly patterned Wellington boots. Items in specific Clan tartans are available by special order. Positioned beyond the main clothing department one can find what could be loosely termed the Costume Department, although it is not separately signposted. Here can be found quality Victorian-inspired clothing- crinolines, bustles and corsets, gowns and and tailcoats, velvet and lace, top-hats, parasols, button boots, full-length gloves, pocket-watches, opera-glasses and monocles (the latter made to prescription if required). Everything is available made-to-measure or off-the-shelf. The department also has a range of adult costumes such as British policemen and women, firemen and postmen, all of very good quality. All the mirrors in the changing-rooms are within well-sized, curtained cubicals.

The jewellery department is in its own area with additional (though subtle) security. It offers designs by modern British jewellers, antique and reproduction jewellery, and a range of tasteful Celtic-themed items. While not suited to every pocket, and while never stooping to coloured plastic, the lower end of the range is just about affordable to the averagely employed.