Ruby Tuesday: Outdoor living at Cotswold Outdoor

We are a long way from the Cotswolds but Cotswold Outdoor stores are a synonymous high street name across the UK, specialising in clothing and kit for walkers, mountaineers and skiers. 

Their North Face clothing and equipment range covers base layers to hats and gloves and quite a cool looking range of rucksacks, boots and  ski wear too. I covet the Parkway jacket but at £280 I can only dream, likewise the bitsy jacket at £100. But there is the Karina hoodie at £40 which I could buy, and there are always options for bargains too (which are a hit with me). You just click on The North Face discount . 

Or you can pop into the Cotswold Rock Bottom store on Oxford Road, as illustrated in today’s photo. The other local branch of Cotswold Outdoor is on Deansgate. Elsewhere in the north west there are three in Cumbria and the Lake District, one in Liverpool, another in Preston, Chester and even one at Bridgemere Gardens in Nantwich, Cheshire. There are about 60 in total across the UK. 

A friend told me only last week how much she enjoys shopping at Cotswold Outdoor, due to the friendly and knowledge staff who are themselves outdoors enthusiasts and keen to hear your adventures and share their own. A cut above the usual disinterested and demotivated lowly paid shop assistants that other high street and large companies employ. My friend purchased a lovely blue reasonably priced headtorch, then couldn’t resist a Rab jacket she spotted on the way out. She had to ask the staff to escort her from the premises before she bought more items ... 

Taking part in Ruby Tuesday.