Swan Rescue

Another of our Yorkshire holiday trips was a visit to Lightwater Valley Theme Park, once again courtesy of Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Two things made an impression on our arrival at the park – the lovely countryside setting and the amazing animatronic dinosaurs at the entrance.

On entering the park properly, the first area that we came to was filled with fairground rides, although we soon realised our favourite of these (the dodgems) was missing. What did grab our attention was the birds of prey centre, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Containing many species of owls and other birds, and even a small snake section, this made for interesting viewing and a change from the rides.

A wide selection of rides are on offer at the park, a good number that are suitable for younger children, as well as some more daring thrill rides. The park setting is great for picnics and the little train that runs round the park is a good way to view what’s on offer.

The Lightwater swan rescue begins!

One of the more traditional attractions available is the pedalo ride, little boats in the shape of swans. We fancied a relaxing trip across the lake, so we climbed aboard. The boats hold four people and are operated by a steering wheel as opposed to a tiller. This should have been straightforward, but unfortunately we were assigned a boat that malfunctioned.

A short way into our ride the steering would no longer allow for a right turn. “Never mind”, we thought, “We’ll just do a circuit bearing left.”

But no! It then refused to go in even a straight line (having jammed) and would only send us round in small circles. As we started to drift into the bank, we waved at the attendants on shore – who promptly ignored us!

For some time we debated how best to remedy our situation, until finally another family came along and offered to tow us in. This was not as easy as it sounds, as both boats kept drifting, but after a concerted effort, we made it back to dock – some 40 minutes after setting out!

The young girls managing the ride were still oblivious to our plight, and looked blankly when we tried to explain. However, we eventually managed to persuade them to contact maintenance and left it in their hands.

Looking back we found the situation slightly comical, but at the time it was extremely annoying!

Our saviours!

Apart from this blip, we quite enjoyed our day; Lightwater Valley is a bit different from other theme parks that we have visited.

A Tale of Two Abbeys

On our recent holiday to North Yorkshire, we visited two sites of Abbey ruins, both managed by English Heritage. Clutching our new membership cards, acquired with Tesco Clubcard points, we were eager to make use of the benefits.

The majesty of Byland Abbey

Having visited the well-known Whitby Abbey on a previous occasion, we had planned to visit Rievaulx Abbey, having seen it on the BBC programme Secret Britain. However, before we got round to making that visit, we stumbled across a sign for Byland Abbey, which we had not heard or read about, but decided to explore.

The route took us along windy country lanes and we half expected to find a minor ruin at the end of it – a heap of stones or partial wall – but how wrong we were! As we rounded the final corner a stunning sight met our eyes!

The ruins are actually quite substantial, certainly ample enough to give you the feel of what the original abbey would have been like. There is also a small museum on site, housing a model of how the abbey would have looked in its heyday. The setting was quite something too, surrounded by peaceful countryside and overlooked by neighbouring hills, making it a very tranquil spot. Following this visit we knew that Rievaulx would have to go some to beat it.

The day arrived of our planned Rievaulx visit, so we packed up our picnic and followed the signs from Helmsley to the more publicised ruin (it’s given twice the space of Byland in the English Heritage handbook and has a large gift shop and café, whereas Byland just has a small kiosk). Our initial reaction was slight disappointment at the location – the abbey appeared to be shoehorned into quite a small area, whereas Byland enjoys more space. It’s true that a larger part of the original structure is intact, yet it somehow didn’t seem as impressive as we felt it should.

 

This also has a museum/exhibition that’s slightly larger than the one at Byland, but there was no model of the original abbey as we’d expected. We do know that the museum was about to close for refurbishment (strange at peak visitor time) so maybe it will undergo an improvement.

We still enjoyed our visit to Rievaulx, but felt it was a bit of an anti-climax after what we’d been lead to expect, whereas Byland was a surprising little gem.

Exploring Rievaulx

July’s Jaunts

Have been a bit quiet on the blog front of late, life has a habit of taking over, and I’ve recently returned from a holiday in Yorkshire. We stayed at the Tollerton Caravan Park, some 10 miles north of York, which proved to be a very peaceful place – well, except for the train line on its border!

Anyway, there will be lots to report on with regard to that trip, including visits to Lightwater Valley Theme Park (watch for the interesting tale of the swan pedalo rescue), Rievaulx and Byland Abbeys and The National Railway Museum (a bit of a sting in the ‘tale’ with this one, or more specifically a burn on the belly).

So that’s a taste of future posts, but in the meantime, before I leave the Yorkshire theme, a word of warning if you’re visiting Thirsk. The short stay car park in front of the Wetherspoon’s in the town square, states that parking is free for up to 60 minutes. However, what is not immediately apparent is that you still have to press for a ticket to record your time of arrival. We missed this bit and were almost presented with a parking ticket, but fortunately our mistake was pointed out to us by a friendly parking attendant (yes, they do exist) so that we could remedy the situation in the nick of time!

As with any holiday, we returned with bags full of washing, only for the washing machine to go into meltdown. There’s no doubt that appliances do tend to pick their moments to break down! However, following my favourable experience of buying a new fridge/freezer from Co-op Electrical online, I headed straight to the website in search of a new machine. I was thrilled to find a sleek silver Beko number, at an astounding £110 off, which boasted rave reviews, so I wasted no time in placing my order. This was on the Monday – by 9.00 am Wednesday morning the machine was here and raring to go! I’m extremely pleased with it, and will be looking at reviewing it in more detail in a future post.

Earlier in the month we returned to a favourite visitor attraction of ours – Dover Castle. Having rejoined English Heritage this year (courtesy of Tesco Clubcard vouchers) we were eager to make the, now free, trip. However, this meant journeying across Kent, a manoeuvre greatly hampered by the existence of Operation Stack, which is still in place as I write. The journey was a nightmare, with many other roads on route log-jammed as a result. We finally arrived at the castle over an hour later than we should have done, but fortunately went on to have a lovely visit.

For those of us living in Kent, Operation Stack is a nightmare, which needs to be remedied by creating decent lorry parks just off the motorway. Of course, the source of the problem is far more complex, with its origins in Calais, which also need to be addressed.

So with July coming to a close it’s been a busy, but interesting month, now I’m just waiting for the return of summer, which I hope is just round the corner!

June’s Japes

The warmer weather has seen a return to the family picnic. One of our favourite picnic spots is Reculver in Kent, where we recently enjoyed another lovely trip. For those of you not familiar with Reculver, it’s on the North Kent coast and is the site of a former Roman fort, still boasting the ruin of a 12^th century church. The area is also a country park with small visitor centre and has a beach complete with rock pools. Car parking is a bargain, at 20p per hour or £1 for the day! However, the car park is not that big, sometimes resulting in queues. Despite that it’s a great place to visit.

Of course, a picnic isn’t complete without the food, for which I turn to the Tesco picnic range for additions to the usual home-filled rolls and healthy fruit. Their tubs of picnic goodies can be bought on a two for £3 deal, and include pasties, cheese onion rolls, pizza pockets and our new favourite, mini chicken kievs.

Until last year we owned a static caravan, which we kept on an independent site on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. However, following our rural move, we decided to sell up and just in the nick of time it now emerges! When we’d first bought our caravan we’d kept it on a Park Holidays site in Kent, but due to astronomic charges and appalling service, we moved to an independent site – Broadland Sands. Now I’ve heard this once lovely caravan park has been taken over by, you’ve guessed it, Park Holidays – a company that I do not recommend. If we hadn’t already removed our caravan from the site, we would now!

In light of that last revelation, you may like to read Static Caravans Can Move and Static Caravan Update

Finally, having had a couple of years break from English Heritage, we’ve just rejoined using Tesco vouchers. For £30 worth of vouchers, we’ve been able to take out a year’s joint membership (includes up to six children under 19 free), which is great value considering the number of places we can now visit at no extra cost. It’s a great use of Tesco Clubcard vouchers!

How did June work out for you?

Foodie News

On a recent trip to a local Morrisons’ restaurant, I was disappointed to see a change in the presentation of their sandwiches. Formerly served on a little red and white checked tray, with a salad garnish and mini pack of crisps, the sandwiches are now being presented on their own on a brown bit of card! However, on closer inspection, it was revealed that each pack of sandwiches came with a free pack of Morrisons’ crisps, although salt and vinegar was the only flavour available. I miss the cheerful tray and salad garnish, and quite liked the fact that the mini crisp packs allowed for a little treat without overindulgence. The sandwiches themselves are still good, however, with my favourite being the selection featuring egg and cress, cheese and tomato, ham, cheese and pickle and prawn – one of each for £2.49.

Admittedly, I do like a bit of chocolate cake!

After my recent comments about food products that are sporting the word ‘joy’ in their name or slogan, I would like to draw your attention to Cadbury’s Mini Rolls. One of the many slogans currently printed on the wrappers states, “Mini roll, big joy”. Is this meant to be a statement about what will happen to me if I eat too many? I do like a bit of chocolate, but still...

What’s happened to Tesco Strawberry Milkshake Powder? It used to have such a lovely, authentic strawberry taste, containing what appeared to be strawberry pips, but now it’s just bland! The ingredients have obviously changed, though the packaging and price remain the same. It’s very disappointing and I will definitely not be buying the product again.

I do enjoy the odd Lotus Biscoff caramel biscuit, but I don’t’ think that I can bring myself to try the spread of the same name. I mean, can I really imagine having the flavour of the biscuit spread on my toast?

What are your latest foodie loves and hates?

A Move To Morrisons

Since moving to a new, more rural location last year, my shopping habits have changed somewhat.

At my old home, I did my main grocery shopping at the local Tesco Extra, with smaller top-up shops at Sainsburys’ and the Co-op, but all that has changed since the move.

My current nearest Tesco is rather smaller than the Extra at which I once shopped, with far fewer product lines on the shelves, making it impossible to replicate all my most common buys. Although the store can meet a lot of my needs, it falls short on others.

Similarly, I have neither a Sainsburys’ or Co-op within easy reach, so have needed to look elsewhere. Attempts at buying groceries in Aldi failed dismally, I couldn’t get on with their products at all, and although I like Lidl better, the journey to the nearest branch is too far to justify any savings. And when it comes to grocery shopping, I’m not a fan of doing it online, as I like to scrutinise the meat, carefully select the fruit and veg and take the time to mull over relevant offers.

Therefore, my weekly shop now tends to be divided between the smaller Tesco, and Morrisons’, as there is a large branch of this store near to said Tesco.

On my first few visits to Morrisons I tentatively tried a selection of own brand products, as well as selecting some well-known labels that were on offer. I decided that many of the products were of good quality and therefore represented good value, an opinion further enhanced by the introduction of the Match and More card. This loyalty card price-matches your purchases not only with other leading supermarkets, but also with Aldi and Lidl, converting any extra money that you have paid on your comparable Morrisons’ shop to points, which then accumulate until you have sufficient to be awarded a £5 voucher. Despite targeting many own brand and offer items in my shop, I always seem to earn points, and have received several £5 vouchers, further reducing my shopping bill.

In addition to this, Morrisons have been sending me a variety of additional money-off vouchers through the post – they’re really making an effort to gain custom!

I’ve now also become a fan of certain of their own brand products. Here are a few of my favourites:

Morrisons Laundry Gel (Bio) 540ml (up to 18 washes) for just £1.75 – just as good as the Ariel version in my opinion and much cheaper!

Morrisons Pure Fabric Conditioner £1.50 (up to 42 washes) is a great bargain buy that leaves my laundry really fresh.

Morrisons Bolognese Sauce 725g for 99p, we actually preferred this to many other makes that we have tried.

Morrisons Chilled 100% Fruit Juices, 1-litre bottles, 3 for £3 (£1.29 each), not only are these really tasty, but there is such a great range of flavours. In addition to the normal apple, orange and pineapple, I love the apple and mango, Clementine, apple and pear and red grape and berries.

I’m also a big fan of their deli items, such as vegetable samosas and olive selections, and am pleased to see that their meat tends to be sourced from British farmers.

It would definitely seem that I’ll be doing much more of my weekly shopping in Morrisons in the future.

Return Of The Random Thoughts

It’s been some time since I last shared some of my random thoughts with you, so here goes...

I’ve been enjoying the indulgence of the variety of little desserts that come under the heading ‘Pot Of Joy’ (current favourite Terry’s Chocolate Orange), but feel that there may have been a mistake with the labelling. I think it should read ‘Pot For Joy’, then they could all be mine!

Whilst out shopping recently, I bought an item that for some reason proceeded to set off the alarms in nearly every store that I subsequently entered. Annoying? Yes. But what was actually quite worrying was that in none of the shops that I visited did anyone check what was causing the problem. I could have been walking out with half their stock for all they knew!

So much for Tesco’s new, permanently low prices. Some of the targeted items that I’d started buying in the store have risen by as much as 40p during recent weeks. Granted, some products are still cheaper than elsewhere, but is this the start of a slippery slope, reverting back to higher prices quite quickly?

Talking of Tesco, I’m thoroughly frustrated with their freezer arrangement in my local store. The items seem to be displayed using some sort of spring-loaded system, meaning that if you select an item that you subsequently want to put back, you can’t fit it in. Even selecting an item in the first place makes you feel like you’re under attack – it’s a worrying experience.

Believe it or not, I’ve only recently discovered wine boxes! I often enjoy a glass of wine with the evening meal, sometimes adding a splash to a dish that I’m cooking, and I like to have a bit in reserve should visitors descend. I previously made sure that I had a bottle or two in stock, but after being given a box of wine as a present I’ve been converted. With boxes containing the equivalent of between three and six bottles of wine and lasting some six weeks after opening (keeping fresh, not magically refilling) they can be a handy, cost-effective buy. I’ve not been tempted to drink more because of the discovery; it’s just nice to know there’s enough to offer round if unexpected guests arrive!

Death Of A High Street

Many High Streets have seen a large number of shop closures over the last couple of years, with some towns suffering more severely than others.

In some cases, closures have been the result of the demise of whole shopping chains, whilst others have been due to localised closures, where retailers have had to reduce store numbers to avoid total collapse.

I’ve visited some High Streets and shopping centres that appear to be holding up quite well, but others are ghosts of their former selves. One in particular that falls into the latter category is Chatham in Kent.

I was born and bred in Medway, having lived in various locations around the towns, often using Chatham as a place to shop. Although I have now moved out of the Medway area, I have made a couple of recent trips back to Chatham High Street when visiting relatives and can’t believe the change in the place.

As a child I loved to go and spend my birthday and pocket money in the town. There were some great toy shops (Youngsters and Gees) in the town and lots of big High Street stores such as Marks and Spencer, Woolworths, British Home Stores (as it then was), Co-op and Featherstones.

In the 1970s the Pentagon shopping centre opened (I remember going there to see the Wombles turn up for the official opening) and some of the stores from the High Street, such as WHSmith and Boots moved inside, as well as new shops arriving such as C&A and Etam.

Today both the High Street and Pentagon shopping centre are shadows of their former selves. Marks and Spencer and the now rebranded BHS moved out years ago and of course, Woolworths disappeared from all of our High Streets, but what is more concerning is the number of other retailers that have pulled out of the town, seemingly making it their first choice of towns from which to withdraw.

In light of the news that Tesco needed to close a large number of stores, Chatham was put on the hit list. Now WHSmith have also announced they’re shutting up shop and rumours are flying about who else is set to go.

Over the years national chains such as Next, Peacocks, Mothercare, HMV and The Early Learning Centre have, one by one, left the town, although all still exist in nearby Maidstone.

The only new shops that seem to be opening in the town are pound stores. Poundland, 99p Stores, Poundworld, The Mighty Pound, Around-a-pound – talk about in for a pound! Now whilst these shops may have their place, there are a hell of a lot of things you can’t buy in them and not all of us want to shop in them. It seems the more that the council allow these shops (along with betting shops, pawnbrokers and dubious ‘market-stall’ type shops) move into the town, the more the long-standing stores decide to leave. I always thought councils looked carefully at the balance of shops in a town, limiting numbers of any one type of shop, to maintain diversity.

shops are packing
up and going!

There was a time when people would have travelled to the town from all around Kent because of the great selection of shops on offer. Now the choices are miserable, the town looks dowdy and people not only don’t visit there to shop anymore, but even locals choose to travel elsewhere.

The decline of the town’s High Street is very sad and is largely due, I feel, to bad town management. It will take something miraculous to revive this dismal High Street.

How are High Streets near you holding up?

January’s Highs And Lows

It’s been a strange month. The weather has been freezing cold one moment and unseasonably mild the next. With a general election looming this year, there have been debates on how and even whether there should be party debates and slanging matches have started between party leaders.

I’ve been trying to keep warm in the ‘glorified shed’ (you can keep up with the latest on that at www.ruraljoy.blogspot.co.uk) and despairing as to whether any party leader is actually fit to run the country!

 

Anyway, here are a few of my other highs and lows for the month.

Highs

Discovering a handy website for knitting patterns and wool, as I had been very frustrated at the lack of decent patterns available. My local craft and wool shop only seems to stock patterns that appear to belong in the 1970s and knitting magazines tend to print lots of patterns for small items, with only the odd cardigan or jumper that may or may not be appealing. I was very pleased therefore to discover www.deramores.com where you can sign up for a newsletter giving you access to free patterns as well as purchase reasonably priced patterns and wool. My order was processed and despatched literally within hours and I was very pleased with my purchases.

Grabbing some late sale bargains, including a pair of trousers from Wallis reduced from £30 to £10, a cardigan from Dorothy Perkins down from £25 to £10 and a perfume set from Boots for just £8 as opposed to its original £28! That amounted to £83 worth of shopping for just £28 – well £20 actually, as I used my Boots Advantage points for the perfume!

Receiving my first £5 Morrisons’ Match and More voucher, despite only purchasing quite minor amounts of shopping in the store and targeting offers most of the time, these points still added up very quickly!

Enjoying Father Brown on TV, although why it’s shoved into an afternoon slot on BBC1 I don’t know – it would make great evening viewing. In fact, that’s exactly when I do watch it, as I record it on my Humax box. It has a great cast and if you’ve never seen it I strongly recommend you start watching!

Lows

Finding out that Sainsburys’ online grocery shopping slaps on an extra charge for orders under £40, although I can report that Tesco only put an extra fee on the bill for orders under £25. My elderly mother-in-law particularly wanted to order some groceries from Sainsburys’ and enlisted our help. As she is only catering for herself, we checked that the minimum order for delivery was indeed £25. It was not until we got to the checkout stage, that we discovered the extra charge. Fair enough, there has to be a minimum amount to make delivery viable, but I don’t believe any supermarket should be charging extra for orders above the £25 mark.

The return of Broadchurch to our TV screens has been somewhat of a disappointment to me. I’d read various articles saying that the story was going to be really different and exciting, yet half of the programme each week seems to be going over old ground and dwelling on the court case relating to the last series. I would have much preferred more emphasis on a new story than dredging up the past – I can only hope it will improve as the weeks go by.

Reading ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald, which I’m not criticising for its writing or characterisation, but purely saying the plot was not for me. I like a good detective story, but this was too gory for me, with a higher body count than even a series of Midsomer Murders! It has some great reviews, but personally I prefer a little more mystery and a little less graphic content.

A Year In Supermarkets

With only weeks left of the present year, I thought it was time that I started looking back at some of my shopping experiences for the year, and in particular, what has been happening with the supermarkets.

Tesco were in the news this year for dodgy accounting, which has resulted in a criminal investigation. Now whilst this is serious stuff, and we should theoretically be concerned, as a shopper, I’m more interested in what is actually happening at ‘ground level’ so to speak. All the while I can go into a Tesco store, find what I want at a reasonable price, get good service from the staff and earn valuable Clubcard points I will continue to shop with the chain. They certainly operate the best loyalty scheme around, with points amounting to four times their value when exchanged for days out and Clubcard send out a regular supply of relevant money-off and extra points vouchers too.

Sainsbury’s, on the other hand, announced that they are set to cut the number of Nectar points that you earn on your weekly shop. (Loyalty cards) With their loyalty scheme already offering a poorer deal than the likes of Tesco I don’t think this is a very clever move. They are, however, pledging to cut more prices, so we’ll have to see how all this works out in practice.

Morrisons launched their new ‘Match & More’ card this year, (I want more) an interesting twist on a loyalty card, whereby you earn points on items that you would have been able to buy cheaper elsewhere – a price comparison that includes the likes of Aldi and Lidl as well as the other major supermarkets. What pleased me about this card was that Morrisons offered three options when it came to registering the card – online, by post or in store – a refreshing change from companies that expect you to do everything online!

Asda has never been one of my favourite supermarkets, but they’ve certainly put themselves in the doghouse recently. My daughter placed an online grocery order with them, but the goods never actually materialised (Oh dear Asda) and despite phone calls, completion of an online form, a blog post and a Twitter conversation (which reaps results in most cases) the company failed to properly apologise for the inconvenience, or offer any explanation as to what went wrong. Needless to say it’s not an experience she has rushed to repeat. In fact, my prize for “The Worst Customer Service of 2014” is hereby awarded to Asda. Perhaps they’d care to take note!

Whilst I continue to give Aldi a wide berth, having rated previous shopping experiences with them at 2/10, I have become a bit of a fan of Lidl. For me, Lidl have been one of the great emerging retailers of 2014. Most recently I’ve found them a great place to stock up with Christmas spirits – port, cream liqueur and cherry brandy all costing around the £5 mark, and tasting delicious – and I love their Stilton too! I’m sure that I’ll have much more to say about them in 2015.

So wherever you shop, I hope you’ve had good experiences this year – if not, let me know, I’m always keen to hear your shopping stories too!

I Want More!

When it comes to loyalty cards, I’m a serial collector, as many a blog post has demonstrated. It’s little surprise then, that when I heard about the Morrisons’ Match & More card, I just had to grab one and find out, well more.

Strictly speaking, this is not so much of a loyalty card as a price match tool. When shoppers get their card swiped at the checkout, the grocery spend is compared with Tesco, Sainsburys’, Asda, Aldi and Lidl – a selection of supermarkets that just sent the automatic spellchecker on my computer into meltdown!

Always looking to save valuable pounds!

If you would have spent less at these stores, then the difference (with an added zero) is converted to points and put on your card. My first shop with the card could have theoretically been 54p cheaper elsewhere (despite the fact that I targeted offers), and so earned me 540 points. Once I have accumulated 5000 points I will qualify for a £5 voucher.

When I first heard the details about the card, I was unsure whether the benefits would be worthwhile, but considering I’m already a tenth of the way to getting my first £5 following a relatively small grocery shop, it could prove quite handy.

In addition to the ‘match’ points, I’ve spotted a few items in store for which extra points are awarded and you also get 10 points for every litre of fuel that you buy at a Morrisons’ garage.

But what really struck me when I picked up my new temporary card and accompanying leaflet, was that Morrisons actually provide customers with a choice of ways to register – either online, by post (postage paid) or by dropping off the completed form to a box in store. Following previous posts bemoaning companies that only expect customers to communicate with them online, this was a breath of fresh air. After all, there are still people (some of my more elderly relatives included) that either do not have or cannot use the Internet. Well done Morrisons!

Oh Dear Asda!

Personally, I do not opt to purchase my food shopping online – I’m much too fussy a shopper to elect someone else to make specific choices for me! However, there are many customers that find this a convenient way to shop.

My daughter often buys her food shopping online, as she has a young son and relies on public transport, so having at least the heavier items delivered can be a big help. Buying groceries from Tesco using this method had proved reasonably reliable. Although the occasional item was missing from the delivery, the shopping did at least turn up and mistakes rectified where appropriate.

However, she recently decided to try home shopping with Asda, which in her case turned out to be a big mistake!

Online shopping may not be the key

Despite receiving two confirmation emails relating to her order, stating the delivery time slot, the shopping never arrived. After waiting a suitable amount of time (sufficient to allow for unavoidable delays), she contacted Asda. The first customer service adviser that she talked to was somewhat brusque, intimating that the order may not have been properly confirmed, despite the receipt of two emails.

She was then passed on to an adviser in store, who at the outset appeared more helpful, but did not go on to fulfil this promise. Despite their assurance that they would track down the relevant order and inform my daughter as to what was happening, they never did get back in touch. And the shopping never did arrive!

My daughter contacted Asda again the following day, when she was told that they would not take the money for the shopping! Did they think they were doing her a favour saying this? They can hardly charge for something that they’ve literally not delivered!

When my daughter expressed her displeasure at the whole debacle, the adviser decided to offer her free delivery on her next order – as if she was going to trust Asda again in a hurry.

I relate this tale as an example of what I consider to be appalling customer service. My daughter was left without vital shopping (including milk for her young son), no explanation has ever been made for the error, and their half-hearted apology doesn’t go far enough!

I was so incensed that I contacted Asda myself via Twitter - a method that has had favourable results with other companies in the past. Although Asda did respond, it was all a bit half-hearted, only providing me with the suggestion that she spoke with the store in question. Not very clever, when I'd mentioned that she'd already done this! Asda home shopping is definitely not an experience that I would recommend.

What online shopping disasters have you experienced?

I Love My Loyalty Cards

Like many shoppers, I was quite incensed to hear that Sainsburys’ are halving the amount of Nectar points that they award to customers as of April next year. They will only be awarding one point per pound spent, as opposed to the current two (two points are only worth 1p ).

It’s true to say that Nectar points always have been slightly inferior to those awarded by Tesco Clubcard, with the exchange rate of the latter being four times their face value when converted to Days Out vouchers, and each point being equal to 1p .

There are some shoppers (misguided in my opinion) that question the value of loyalty cards, but I believe that any reward you are given for shopping is better than no reward at all.

Less effective than a loyalty card

The argument goes, that if stores are operating reward schemes, they subsequently have to set their prices a little higher to offset these incentives. However, I would refute this, as many good value items I buy are purchased in shops that offer reward points.

Many of the products that I purchase in places such as Tesco and Superdrug, are not only cheaper or at least comparable to those offered at other shops, but earn me points. Over the years I have acquired so many points under the Clubcard scheme, that we have been able to pay for several family days out each year, including trips to expensive theme parks, which we would not otherwise have afforded. Even if I have occasionally paid a few pence more for the odd product or two, I have received this amount back umpteen times over. It’s true to say, that if I could have bought some items slightly cheaper elsewhere and put the pennies I’d saved into a savings account, I would not have accumulated anywhere near enough to pay for the equivalent number of fun outings.

I regard all loyalty cards (and I can boast a considerable collection) as mini saving schemes that allow me to enjoy life’s little extras. Unless prices are considerably higher in a shop that offers a good value scheme, I am unlikely to shop for identical products somewhere that does not offer me these extra benefits.

So my message to Sainsburys’, and any other stores planning to reduce or withdraw their points schemes, is that this may result in a customer-cutting exercise as opposed to your intended cost-cutting one!

The Quest For Ginger Preserve

It’s really annoying when you start using a product and really enjoy it, then suddenly it disappears from the supermarket shelves.

That’s exactly what’s happened to is Duerr’s Chunky Ginger Preserve, which I’ve previously blogged (see here ). I just loved its spicy tang, which helped to wake me up when spread on my morning toast. But since its disappearance I’m mourning its loss.

I had been buying it at Tesco, but as I could no longer find it in the store, or in any other local supermarket, I decided to email Duerr, who replied within hours, so a big thank you to their customer service department.

I was pleased to learn that they have not discontinued the product, although Tesco have withdrawn the brand from their shelves. Duerr urged me to write to Tesco to complain about this move, which I am in the process of doing, and would encourage other Ginger Preserve fans to do the same. Send your letters to:

Tesco Customer Service Centre

Baird Avenue

Dundee

DD1 9NF

In the meantime, Duerr tell me that I may still be able to pick up the preserve at larger branches of Asda (which sadly does not seem to apply to my local branch) and they apparently make Sainsburys’ Ginger Preserve for them, although I have not managed to find this as yet either.

However, in recent weeks I have managed to buy some Asda, Chosen By You, Ginger Preserve, which whilst not quite on the par with Duerr’s, will suffice until I manage to get more of my preferred variety. The Asda version is too jelly-like in consistency and therefore not so easily spreadable.

Have any of your favourite products disappeared from the shelves in recent times?

Thank You Tesco Clubcard

I’ve previously written about my frustration at how more and more businesses only want to conduct transactions or communications online. Although I’m happy to use this method for certain things, there are cases where I prefer to get in touch by phone or letter, or even in person.

My argument against the emphasis on things being ‘online only’ has been that some people still do not have Internet access or the skills to use it.

I was recently without Internet for some time (during my 'big move' ), but wanted to exchange some of my Tesco Clubcard points for days out vouchers. Forms used to be provided for doing this by post, although this no longer seems to happen. In addition to encouraging the ordering of vouchers online, Tesco now operate a system whereby they email some of their vouchers to customers to be printed at home. A straightforward system when you have the facilities to do so, but not so good if you don’t.

However, after having communicated with Tesco Clubcard, I’m happy to report that vouchers can be ordered by post or over the phone. If you are unable to supply an email address (as I couldn’t for a short time) then they will print vouchers and send them to you.

So if anyone else is looking for the more traditional way of exchanging Clubcard points, here are the details:

By post: Tesco Clubcard Boost, PO Box 654, Crawley, RH10 1RG (You need to send a request by letter, not that there is no form available).

By phone: 0808 100 0707 (free from BT Landlines) or 0330 123 0707 (charged at local rate from mobiles and private telephones), Option 2, Monday to Friday: 9am to 8pm and Saturday: 9am to 5pm.

So thank you Tesco for providing these services, responding promptly to my query and issuing vouchers to me via the good old-fashioned postal method.

A Supermarket – But Not As I Know It

Following my recent, more rural, move, I have had to make a number of changes to my everyday life. One of these changes has involved visiting a different branch of Tesco to do my weekly shop.

Formerly I shopped at a big Tesco Extra store, which always seemed to be busy, even mid-week when I opt to shop. Queues would often build up and negotiating the aisles could be a tricky business in itself. But my new shopping venue is a smaller Tesco store (not an Extra, but not a Metro, something in between), where the whole shopping experience seems that much more civilised.

To visit this branch I have to venture out from my new village location to the nearest small town. Once in the store the aisles are pretty devoid of customers, with the few I do meet generally pausing to pass the time of day. What a joy not to have to play ‘dodge the manic trolley driver’ or ‘avoid the mass of parked trolleys’!

 

On my first visit I was pleased to see that the checkouts looked, what I considered to be, very quiet, with only about one customer at each. So imagine my surprise, when as I approached, a call came over the tannoy requesting, “All red cardholders to checkouts please.” Why? Was that busy by their standards? Anyway, I shouldn’t complain, as I was promptly whisked to an empty, newly opened checkout where I was given help to pack the shopping!

And no, this wasn’t a one-off as much the same thing happened on visit number two!

OK, so it doesn’t offer the all-singing, all-dancing non-food aisles, but at least I can get my weekly shop without being tempted to buy all the other things that I don’t really need. Sounds like a win-win situation.

My Best Buys This May

I’ve really been enjoying the return to salad weather and tucking into Tesco Sweet and Smoky Beetroot – shredded beetroot that actually isn’t dowsed in vinegar. To my mind this is how beetroot should be eaten. I’m a bit unsure about the packaging though. It proclaims, “I’m new” and “Keep me in the fridge”. Er, I don’t think it can actually talk Tesco, so why insist on trying to thrust this human quality on it?

In our household, we occasionally enjoy a glass of Sprite/7Up Zero, but it can be pricey at around £2 for a 2-litre bottle, so I was thrilled when I discovered Tesco Lemon and Lime Zero for just 65p for the same size bottle. But then I was even happier when I found Sainsbury’s Lemon and Lime Zero for just 55p a bottle! Although the price has now risen to 60p it’s still a great buy, which is as tasty as the big name brands.

For a lovely summer meal, we’ve been enjoying Sainsbury’s Minted Lamb Grills (frozen, 4 for £2) accompanied by Sainsbury’s Microwaveable Golden Vegetable Rice (frozen, £1 for 2 sachets) and served with a salad. This is a tasty, budget, family meal that is quick and easy to prepare.

As a bit of a treat I’ve bought Marks and Spencer Passion Fruit and Peach Jaffa Cakes. They are absolutely gorgeous, but strangely come in packs of eleven, what’s wrong with twelve? Nevertheless, Jaffa Cakes have come of age!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Free Coffee

There have been loyalty cards available from coffee shops, and indeed anywhere that you can purchase a cup of the brew, for many years.

I’ve spent a good many years myself peeling the little stickers off McDonald’s coffee cups, collecting the required six per card to claim my free cup of latte.

For some time I’d also had my Marks and Spencer loyalty card stamped, although this required ten stamps to qualify for a freebie, until the service at my local branch deteriorated somewhat, and I decided to seek refreshment elsewhere.

Last year I acquired a Tesco Family Café (Fonta Nella) card, which in the spirit of McDonald’s requires six stamps for a free coffee, and is handy for grabbing a latte to get me through the weekly shop.

But most recently, I’ve added a Greggs’ loyalty card to my collection – rather startling considering I’d had a bit of a falling out with them just over a year ago. I still haven’t returned to their cafés, but do sometimes grab a take-away coffee when on a shopping mission. In this case, you have to get the card stamped nine times (strange number) to be rewarded with a coffee, so it’s not as good as Tesco and McDonald’s but preferable to M&S.

Mind you, all of the aforementioned cards appear to offer better deals than a Costa card as far as I can see. I abandoned thoughts of getting this one, when it appeared that I’d have to spend the equivalent cost of a small family home (OK, bit of an exaggeration) to having any hope of having a coffee on the house.

But I have to say, free is always good, so I’ll keep collecting those stamps!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Low Tech Cookery

Following my post on Monday where I told the nostalgic tale of my trusty, old Stork Cookbook, it got me thinking just what kind of a cook am I?

Looking round my kitchen, you won’t find a lot of the fancy gadgets that you see on offer in the shops these days. Some people seem to possess some piece of fancy equipment for every food preparation task known to man!

When I did my cookery ‘O’ level at school, I was taught the traditional methods for baking. For ages we toiled at creaming butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, gently folding in the flour with a metal one. Once we’d mastered the technique, we were finally allowed the treat of using an electric food mixer to save time! Indeed the aforementioned trusty Stork Cookbook introduced us to the ‘all-in-one’ method, whizzed up using one of those precious mixers.

For years I made cakes at home using only a wooden spoon, until finally deciding to ‘invest’ in an electric food mixer. I say this tongue-in-cheek, as I only purchased a Tesco Value model for £5, which is still going strong years later.

Even now, said mixer is one of the most high-tech pieces of kitchen equipment that I own! Well, that and a basic blender. Not for me the super-whizzy food processors, juicers, grinders etc. Many items of kitchen equipment, in my opinion, just collect dust and are tricky to clean, so I’m sticking with the basics!

Are you a low-tech or high-tech cook?

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Re-usable Shopping Bags

There has been talk of late about placing a charge on carrier bags that are issued by shops, as if this is some new innovation. However, this has been done before, and quite honestly I don’t really know why it was stopped in the first place.

When I was a child, people tended to take their own bags when they went to do their weekly shop. I remember my mother gathering together her sturdy bags without giving it a second thought. Once in a while, if she bought an extra lot of shopping that wouldn’t quite fit in the bags, she would select a cardboard box from the pile provided by the supermarket for customer use.

By the time I got a Saturday job in Fine Fare (whatever happened to them?) carrier bags were much more in evidence – but customers were charged for them. Rival supermarket Safeways (another blast from the past) provided large paper sacks, which although were more environmentally friendly, were hard to carry as they had no handles.

Re-usable bags don't have to be boring!

So basically, there were generations of shoppers who were quite prepared to provide their own shopping bags, or at least pay for the ones available in the shops.

More recently, customers have come to expect that stores will provide bags for free. Many shoppers bear little regard to the number of plastic bags that they stuff their shopping into, or give much thought to the impact on the environment.

Carrier bags have almost become a habit, they are taken for granted as part of an average shopping trip.

Supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys have long offered an incentive, in the form of extra loyalty points, awarded for every reusable bag used by the customer. I have often thought incentives (points) work better than punishments (charges) but sadly in this case many customers have not been persuaded to kick the carrier bag habit.

I would quite happily see as much as 5p charged per carrier bag, with proceeds going to good causes if possible, to hopefully reduce the amount of bags used and see a return to shoppers providing reusable bags of their own. This is definitely a good habit that we should all get into.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy