Hi guys

Had a sneaky preview of the "new" Pyle Garden Centre today (in the old
Wyevale Place). Bill - the cafe's still there though my complaint
about you business types taking all the ground level car park has been
addressed and the car park's expanded into what used to be the
compost, (broken) pots and (rotting) fencing area.

I think there's a lot more stocking up to do but the inside has been
fairly well refreshed. The old "upstairs" that used to be pets and
fish but became who knows what is sealed off. The outdoor plant area
has been thoroughly refurbed and, today, looked smart and I couldn't
find any plants that weren't totally presentable, presumably because
all the stock is, of course, new (delivered yesterday). Spoke to a few
staff and they seemed to know what they were doing.

Price-wise, there were a fair few things that were decidedly cheaper
than they were under Wyevale. Plants were more or less at usual
"local" garden centre prices which tend to be a bit cheaper than the
chains. Probably because of the opening schedule there weren't any
summer flowering bulbs, plug plants and the seasonal stuff and the
seed selection was very small.

Anyhow, the "official opening" is set for 11.00 next Saturday. Derek
Brockway ("dippy Derek" to many, "bouncy castle" to others and who
knows what to his international fan club) will be performing. There
are some other BBC celebrities sort of lined up but that's expected I
suppose given that the place is owned and managed by a former BBC
newsreader.

I'll have some pics of the place on my website later in the week.

If anyone's planning on visiting, let me know - it would be good to
meet up.


Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the east end of the totally
dry and sunny Swansea Bay.