Rob B.

Review of Peter The Painter

18 Jun 08, 14:04

Exceptional quality and a great price

We've had Peter The Painter do various painting and decorating jobs for us over the past few years and have always been pleased with the quality of workmanship.

Pete offers competitive prices and has been in the trade for over 40 years so he knows his stuff.

I'd certainly recommend Peter The Painter for any painting and decorating work whether it's indoor or outdoor work, big jobs or small jobs.

We're currently got Peter The Painter in to decorate our staircase and landing and so far it's looking really good.

Rob

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Review of UK Entertainments

30 May 08, 14:56

Top DJ's and quality service for your event

We were looking for a mobile DJ to provide entertainment for a party we were having for some friends and family. After ringing around a couple of places and asking around we were recommended to try UK Entertainments.

They listened to what we wanted and provided a complete package of entertainment including DJ and equiptment at a great competitive price.

On the night, the mobile DJ turned up in plenty of time to setup. He was dressed smart for the event and had everything needed including a speaker system, lights and music.

We were able to request certain songs and the DJ played a good range of music from some of the latest songs to older well known songs and really managed to get everyone up on the dancefloor. He really kept the crowd happy and we've had some good feedback from friends and family who were at the party.

I'd certainly recommend UK Entertainments for any party such as a birthday party, engagement party or wedding reception. I was told by the DJ that they also have a karaoke system which sounds like fun for those budding stars of X-Factor. They also appear to cover a wide area of Devon with DJ's travelling as far as Plymouth and Tiverton and even in to North Devon!

The DJ we hired was called Stewart. We'd recommend him through UK Entertainments and hopefully we'll be able to book him for our next party.

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Review of Treasure Park

28 May 08, 12:03

Not as exciting as the brochure

We visited Treasure Park whilst on holiday in Cornwall.

The brochure we picked up for the park made it look like such an exciting place to visit with attractions such as a mine and real time machine.

It was easy enough to find from the A30, just head into Redruth and follow the brown signs.

On arrival we found that it wasn't as much to see as we had originally anticipated. There was a mine and a small children's play area but the main attraction seemed to be the big jewellery shop on the site.

In the jewellery shop there we a couple of interesting attractions. As you entered the shop on the left hand side was a Delorean car as featured in the Back To The Future films. Now as a big fan of Back To The Future I was really excited by this. Unfortunately it didn't appear that you could sit inside it as advertised on the brochure although you could get fairly close to take pictures. I personally don't think it was one of the few Deloreans used in the actual films but rather a pretty good replica.

Other sights in the shop included an Aston Martin DB5 with all the gadgets as used in some of the Bond films, some original outfits as worn by famous stars of film and music, and also £1,000,000 in £5 notes.

I'd say it's worth a visit if you're in the area and stuck for something to do. You might even want to try your hand at finding the £1,000 diamond they have in a tank (it's not as easy as it sounds). I'd suggest though unless you're really into jewellery, don't get your hopes up.

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Review of Riviere Sands Holiday Park

24 May 08, 16:53

Not a bad stay, bit of a basic caravan though

As we couldn't afford a family holiday abroad we decided to give the Riviere Sands Haven Holiday Park in Hayle, Cornwall a go. We stayed for 4 nights, so prices below are for a 4 night stay (it's a little extra for 7 nights).

First of all it was a bit of a struggle to find (the AA directions using the postcode on their web site took is to the wrong place!). Once we found the holiday park we found we weren't able to check-in before 4pm. We were able to park up on the site temporarily to pick up a check-in pass (which gives free parking in the local car park).

We stayed in a standard 2 bedroom caravan. It was a reasonable size with combined kitchen/lounge area and two small bedrooms (one with a double bed, the other with two single beds).

In a standard caravan you don't get much. Bed linen is an extra £10, a microwave is not included (that's an extra £5). There is a TV in the caravan although you don't get anything other than the basic 5 channels (this isn't really too bad if you're out most of the time). We were able to hire some bed rails for our 2 yr old daughter although there was an option to hire a travel cot (again both of these are about an extra £5). We also had an issue with ants in the caravan which despite us complaining about, it didn't seem like anything was done about it (it wasn't a big problem, just annoying).

Facilities on site included a laundrette (£4 per wash, and about £1.50 for dryers), fish & chip shop (we didn't try this), local convenience shop selling the essentials (it's a little pricey, Lidl's and Co-Op supermarkets are probably your best bet in Hayle, or Tesco in Redruth). There was a play area for the kids, vast sandy beaches (with great views), two swimming pools (one in door, one outdoor) and also an arcade and clubhouse with offering entertainments during the day and evening and a bar in the evening.

I'd certainly recommend the holiday park if you can find a good deal. The staff were friendly enough (Leighton deserves a special mention) and the kids loved the entertainment. If you stay in a standard caravan make sure you bring extra blankets if you're staying in the spring, and maybe a DVD player to keep the kids amused if you don't want to go to the clubhouse. It's also a good idea if you arrive early to do a bit of shopping for essentials (food, toilet rolls, tea-towel, washing up liquid) before you check in.

We've booked for next year although this time we're going to stay in a 'Superior Plus' caravan which while more expensive is a big bigger and includes a few more things such as microwave, heaters in the bedrooms and TV with video (or DVD if you're lucky).

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Review of The Cornish Cyder Farm

24 May 08, 16:34

Not bad for an hours visit

We visited The Cornish Cyder Farm mainly because it was a free attraction which was fairly close to Hayle where we were staying on holiday.

The farm site itself was small but they provided a tractor tour of the vast orchards and also a tour of the farm site itself.

It was interesting having a look around the site. You are able to actually see where they prepare the and brew the cider, have a look to see how they make many varieties of local jams, chutneys and mustards including testing all the varieties they have for sale (there must have been about 30 odd varieties of jam, some with hints of brandy, lots of different chutneys and also Cider Apple Sauce - yum!).

In the farm shop you are able to try a wide range of tipples including their cider, apple juice (for those who are driving, teetotal or just too young for the cider) and also a few different wines and spirits.

Once you've tried the actual produce itself you're able to buy some of the produce to take home, plus a variety of other nicknacks including fridge magnets, stickers and even little cider glasses.

It was worth a visit, although we only managed to last an hour there, it was free to get in (the tour and tractor rides were a couple of quid per person) and we were able to sample and buy some authentic Cornish cider.

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Review of National Seal Sanctuary

24 May 08, 16:16

Lots of cute Seals & Sealions

We visited the National Seal Sanctuary mainly because of the pictures of cute seals on their brochure.

The sanctuary has quite a few Seals including resident Seals who live there permanently and also Seals which they rescue from across the country and nurse back to health before releasing them back into the wild.

The visit was mainly educational. We learnt lots about the Seals themselves including what the differences are between a Seal and Sea Lion. The park itself was rather hilly (a free bus service was provided) and didn't have too much to see (the seals were in about 5 or 6 tanks) although it was enough to keep us busy for about 3 hours.

It's quite expensive to get in so if you can, try and get one of the 50% off vouchers (we picked one up from the holiday park we were staying in). It's worth a visit if you're stuck for something to do for the day, but as it's all outdoors it might not be the best place to go if the weather is bad.

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Review of Paradise Park

24 May 08, 16:08

A great day out with lots of interesting birds

Paradise Park is a great day out for folks who either live in Cornwall or who are visiting the county.

They have a wide variety of birds including many species of Parrot, owls, and even penguins. They also have a few farm animals which you're able to feed.

Activities at the park include an educational talk about the penguins where you're able to feed the penguins and even get up close and pet them (they're really cute up close), a free flying bird show where they demonstrate how they train the birds (this isn't the usual parrot on a unicycle but rather training the birds to live like they would in the wild).

Probably the best bit of the visit was being able to actually feed the Lorikeet Parrots. You're able to buy a small pot of nectar (for 50p) and then they fly over to you, sit on your hand (or arm, head, shoulder, pretty much anywhere they can find to perch) and then eat the nectar out of the pot.

Although it seemed a little bit pricey at £9.95 per ticket (adult), they did offer return tickets valid until March next year for £2.50 per ticket. I'd say it was really worth the ticket price though even if you don't buy a return ticket.

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Review of Future World

24 May 08, 15:55

A must see attraction for anyone into gadgets and technology

Future World at the Goonhilly Visitor Centre in Helston, Cornwall is the perfect place for anyone who has an interest in all things technical. It is home to quite a few large satellite dishes which have historic value - the first dish built in 1962 called "Arthur" was used to receive live video of the space landing on the moon.

Not only do they have tours of the Arthur satellite, they also have an exhibition where you can find out how technology has changed over the years and you can learn how things may change in the future.

As well as the Future World exhibition, you're also able to have a go on a Segway vehicle (a platform with steering on two wheels) and you can also experience the 'world's fastest free internet cafe' which is hundreds if not thousands of times faster than a home broadband connection.

It was a very interesting experience although it might not be too interesting if you're not interested in technology.

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Review of Fairhaven Guest House

02 May 08, 12:53

Great value and tasty breakfast

I decided to give the Fairhaven a try when looking for a cheap hotel to stay in overnight while I was away for a training day for work. It promised that it was close to Nottingham, and the web site looked pretty good so I thought for £35 for a single room it wasn't bad.

When I actually arrived at the Fairhaven (after taking a detour through the Boots complex in Nottingham) I thought it wasn't going to live up to the pictures on the web site. But I'll admit I was pleasently surprised.

There was enough parking for a couple of cars on the guest house grounds itself with other on street parking near by. The room was actually a reasonable size considering it was a single. There was a small bathroom with toilet, sink and showe in there, just enough for a one night stay.

The hotel was fairly close to Nottingham (I'd suggest parking at the Nottingham Park & Ride carpark and getting the bus in to the city centre), and about a 25 minutes drive from Derby.

A full English breakfast was provided in the morning with the option for cereals and toast if you wanted them. The breakfast was really tasty and certainly was a good start to a long day.

I'd say that if you're looking for some cheap accomodation for an overnight stay then you can't do much better than the Fairhaven for the money. I'd certainly consider staying there again.

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