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This is one of the best museums I’ve seen. There is so much there to see, so much history as well as modern art.

I had taken some of my family to Jephson Gardens. It had started raining so we stopped for a drink at The Aviary. It is small in there but it’s clean and nice. We all had a hot drink. I’d say the prices were about average for the area. The service was friendly and the drinks were nice.

I probably shouldn’t have visited on a bank holiday knowing it would rain all day! Still, it was nice in the garden despite getting soaked. It’s very pretty and spacious. I liked the fact that my son could run about without me worrying that I wouldn’t see him if he went too far. We also visited the temperate house which was nice. It’s very small but I thought it was something unusual and gave us a little shelter for a while. We sat for a picnic under a shelter. That was good because it kept us dry but it wasn’t very clean in the shelter. That, if anything, would be the one thing which I would say lets the place down.

I had seen the website for Littledean last year (not quite sure how I came across it originally) and finally got round to going. I took my dad as a birthday treat! My partner and two kids came too. My kids are aged 12 and 6. Some parts of the museum aren’t suitable for very young children but some things are shut behind separate doors. We were warned upon entry and warnings are displayed around the museum.
We didn’t spend a very long time there. Only about an hour and a half but it didn’t seem that long. There is a lot to see. The one thing which disappointed me, though, was that the place itself isn’t anywhere near as scary as the website seems to present it! However, I am not sure if my 6 year old became “possessed” during our visit!
The location is nice as well. Right in the forest of dean. So it was ideal to go into the forest for a picnic after we’d been to the museum.

I think this has a different name now but, as far as I know, is still the same company. I went in with my two sisters and my youngest nephew. It was a weekday so wasn’t particular busy. We picked up a couple of items from the fridge, the girl serving took them without really acknowledging us. We also asked for a couple of other items (meals). One of the meals included a sausage roll meant for my nephew who is 17 months old. The girl did not ask whether we wanted items warmed up but took it upon herself to do it anyway. We had stood and asked for the other items while the girl stared at us. After a couple of minutes, she turned to get a pad and asked to take our order! While taking our order, the girl started chatting to another member of staff (this was while I was mid-sentence). I’d asked for a coffee. The girl did not ask if I wanted a small or a large, she assumed I wanted a large so I told her I would like a small one. She got the coffee ready and then stood there with it for a little while. As my sister and I agreed, it might have gone cold by the time she actually gave it to me (we were less than a foot away from her). The girl did not look at us when she spoke.

When the food was served to us (we were in the eat-in bit) it was served by two different people. The second one did not know where he was supposed to be going. He called out what the items were but turned away again before we had chance to see us trying to get his attention. We did do eventually though when he turned again. When we got the food (which wasn’t too long), some of it was warm and some not so. I’d had a jacket potato which was just warm whereas I would expect that kind of thing to be piping hot. The food wasn’t too bad though.

The prices are OK. I thought the pricing was a bit higgledy-piggledy to be honest. Some items (such as jacket potato with cheese, beans and salad for £2.50) were good value but then other items (such as the kids meals at £2.75) were not good value.

When our table was cleared, the woman who cleared it was polite. She had tattoos on her arms. I know that’s not really an issue but, personally, I’d prefer that these things were covered in such places as it puts me off my food.

Another side issue is that my nephew could have done with sitting in a high chair but there was only one in there which was being used. Also, some tables are right next to a fire exit and the people sitting at one of those tables was asked to move her chair because he was too close to the fire exit!

All in all, I wasn’t particularly impressed but the two stars I’ve given are mainly for the cleanliness of the place. I don’t know if it’s like that all of the time but it was clean when we went in. Although I didn’t see anyone wipe tables or anything while we were there.

The choice wasn’t brilliant either. The fridge wasn’t very well stocked. I suppose it would be possible to ask for other items as there is a board up showing some items which were not readily available.

Considering that this is supposed to be a high profile, nationwide company, I have been quite disappointed so far. They did a thorough job on the service but then quoted almost £900 to get my car fixed (my car is worth about £100). Then they MOT’d it (eventually, the service and MOT were meant to be done at the same time but one of their machines was not working) and overcharged me for the MOT. As part of the service, it should have only been charged at £20 (although I was told £25) but they charged the separate MOT price of £35.

After a full service, I was also informed that my spare tyre was 9 years old. Firstly, I’ve only had the car for 3 years and it’s had two sets of new tyres, one included a new spare. It might be possible that the tyre is that old because it was a reconditioned one. There is, however, nothing wrong with the tyre yet I was still quoted £50 for a single new tyre! I paid just over £100 for 4 perfectly good fully fitted tyres elsewhere.

Because the car failed the MOT, I had to have some work done. The work which needed doing is going to cost around £200 so that’s a huge difference from thinking it would be £900. I booked it in for the work to be done – partly because I thought it would be quicker and I wanted the car back as soon as possible. I was told that the MOT would be 3pm Monday so I needed to take it in for 12 so they could do the work.

My partner had a ‘phone call (even though they have my number and know it’s my car. At least one of the people there knows that my partner can’t even drive!) at around 4pm saying that they hadn’t even got the parts they needed! OK, so their supplier might have let them down but when the MOT’s supposed to be at 3, it’s poor form to call at 4 and say they hadn’t even done any work. It meant that I had to leave work early (and lose an hour’s pay) for nothing.

I was also not impressed with the apparent age of the people working there. I’m all for giving people a chance and everyone has to start somewhere. And I’m sure they know what they’re doing but I found it rather unimpressive and uncomfortable that, of all the people I saw working there, only one looked like he’d been left school for more than five minutes.

So, anyway, after expecting the car back at the end of Monday, I’m still waiting Tuesday afternoon. With the delay in the MOT and now the delay in getting it fixed, I have felt like they just think people don’t have anything better to do than wait for them to call. I used them on a personal recommendation. I won’t be using them again. I think it will be worth waiting for better and cheaper service somewhere else.

I didn’t think it could get any worse. I finally got the car back late Tuesday afternoon – a full 24 hours after I had expected it. They had made some excuse about fitting the wrong part.

I’d been quoted one price for the work. When I paid them, they asked me for less than the quote. It turns out that they hadn’t actually done all of the work they were meant to. They reckoned they thought I only wanted enough done to pass the MOT so they had clearly not listened to me. They didn’t offer a written quote either so I wasn’t impressed with that.

One redeeming thing is that when their boss was informed of the situation, he wasn’t impressed either but, then, I’ve only actually seen him there once in the time I’ve been taking the car up and down. This is despite being assured that he would be the one doing the work. Twice now, I’ve ended up being late for things because they were messing around.

I don’t know what they’ve done to my petrol gauge but I ran out of petrol in a rather dangerous place yesterday. I couldn’t use my petrol gauge to tell me how much I’d got left because it wasn’t moving. Funny how it was fine before I took it to Kwik Fit. Also, they supposedly put nitrogen in my tyres. This is meant to improve fuel consumption. Again, I don’t know what they actually did. I don’t know what my car does in miles to the gallon but I know that if I put £10 petrol in, I can go for just under 60 miles. Since taking it to Kwik Fit, it’s hardly got past 45.

Really NOT happy with any if it. If anyone’s thinking of using this place, just don’t. There are loads of other places in the area where you won’t be ripped off, kept waiting, fobbed off with excuses and come out wishing you’d gone somewhere else.

This is always busy (which is usually a good sign!). I’ve had tyres from them as well as having work done on my car. They always do a good job and, in generally, they’re 50% cheaper than their closest rivals! When I had new brakes fitted, I had one quote for about £300. C & C quoted closer to £150 including parts and labour. I know someone else who needed new tyres and was quoted over £200 by a dealer, she went to C & C and got just as good quality tyres fitted for less than £120.

They do servicing and MOT preparation (but not actual MOTs). They will work with any make and model. And they sell and fit tyres and exhausts.

They are always really nice and get the work done quickly, they don’t charge too much and they always do a good job.

I’d definitely recommend them.

I used these last year when I needed an MOT and some work doing. I haven’t been driving very long so I’ve not got a lot to compare. Of the 4 places I have taken my car (3 for MOTs), Bedworth MOT centre has been the best. They are brilliant. They aren’t patronising (which is something I find with a lot of male-dominated businesses). When I used them, I was lucky because they happened to be breaking up a car which just so happened to contain a part needed to fix mine which we couldn’t get hold of anywhere else! They were efficient and I felt that the cost of the work they did was fairly reasonable. I would definitely recommend them and I will be using them again in the future because they do seem to be the best. They do MOTs and servicing as well as repairs and sourcing parts. I prefer everything to be done in the same place so that’s good. The people were friendly as well and there were a couple of women working there (I think they were just receptionists but it’s still a good thing!)

We tried this place when our favourite Indian closed. Shaz just happened to be the nearest one. The food was not too bad but could have been much better. The service and delivery are good though.
I wouldn’t use this as a first choice but if you happen to be in the area and fancy a curry, it’s OK.

I was never sure about this pub but recently, since it has been a “Fayre and Square” pub, it has improved. I’ve been in a few times in the past year or so and the service is always really friendly. The prices are quite reasonable. I took my Mum out for her birthday and we chose meals of the “2 for £10” menu. At that price, we expected tiny plates with not much on them but you do actually get a reasonable amount for the money. The food is always nice but I think they could offer a wider menu choice.