Marks and Sparks

Gary

• 2 min read

We have arrived in England and it has been very nice, the first day it was my job to sort out the loft much to my parents delight –


Mum in the Loft

The next day Amy and me went into Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon for some shopping, it was a delight to walk around Marks and Spencer and see all the delicious food, it makes you wonder why there’s not one anywhere in Australia, I’d probably shop there exclusively (not for the clothes but the food) – well here’s the scoop, in 1996 they had big plans to open up a store in Sydney, then in 1998 they cancelled plans to start an M&S franchise with Just Jeans due to the weakening AUD at that time, then in 2001 the company was restructured and contintental European stores were closed, however, last month they announced they were investing £1.1bn expansion program particulary interested in Ireland, China, India and Europe. Hopefully Australia will get into some of the action – we need Marks and Spencer Australia. Here’s Amy in the sandwich isle of the great store –


Amy in M&S – Nice sandwiches in boxes what a great idea

I have to admit it is a sorry state of affairs when I convert all the pound values in Australian dollar, I preferred it much more when I was doing it the other way around! So I didn’t end up buying very much as you might imagine.


New Twenty Pound Note

The next day we went into the Cotswolds which is a nice part of central England that has various old towns and villages to walk around. First stop was Chipping Camden, where we checked out the markets, then Stow on the Wold and then Bourton on the Water, where I had a luxury coffee and we had some scones and a mince pie.


Bourton on the Water

We did a bit more of a drive around to Broadway where we had lunch at a nice pub/hotel called The Lygon Arms, which was built in 1530 and in my opinion was definetly haunted, with its little passage ways and hidden rooms.

That night we headed back into Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Christmas lights, aren’t they beautiful –


Stratford-upon-Avon Christmas Lights