Birds in the Barn

Poplar Nurseries is a garden centre in Marks Tey on the A120 that we’ve been going to for many years, and it’s been fascinating to see it expanding over the years.

Right next to the big car park is a lovely shop and craft centre, ‘Birds in Barn’. Without being sexist, it’s the kind of crafts that will attract women and girls rather than men – there aren’t any Aircraft kits, balsa wood airplanes or anything like that. The staff have thoughtfully prepared a ‘man chair’ in the corner where men who aren’t into papercraft, card-making, scrapbook-making and all manner of other things can sit and relax. There’s also a couple of comfy chairs on the verandah where men can sit and admire the cars and talk to each other about camshafts, torque, miles to the gallon and that sort of stuff.

There’s masses of things to buy and to take home with you and while away the hours (and we’ll put a link to this article on our Rainy Days in Essex page, as a drive out to Poplar Nurseries and a look around the garden centre, delicatessen, gardening stuff, and a visit to their cafe, and popping in to Birds in the Barn to buy some extra goodies to take home and start working on, sounds like a pretty good idea for a Rainy Day in Essex!

And they also run a workshop programme. Their July to September 2012 program had more than a dozen workshops, ranging from free ones, to a number at £15 for a half day, and £35 for a longer day. Look out for their October to December 2012 workshops.

You’ll find Birds in the Barn on the web here and on Facebook here