Venues Listed in Shopping

One of the larger garden centres in St Albans.  Burston has all the usual features including coffee shop and restaurant.  Burston is also a major nursery to the Garden centre trade, growing roses and bedding plants for the wholesale garden centre industry.  Adjacent is Hertfordshire Fisheries - also part of the Burston group - specialising in outdoor and tropical fish.

The monthly flea market at the Town Hall offers an eclectic mix of vintage fashion, homewares and hand-made creations. Enjoy tea, coffee and home-made cakes from the flea market cafe while you browse. Admission 50p.

Willows Activity Farm offers a wonderful day out with a fun-packed programme, whatever the weather. All activities are included in the ticket price: visiting the farm animals, shows, funfair rides, large indoor soft play area, Toddler Town, riding on the JCB diggers and tractors, outdoor play area and an agility play trail.

Highlights

Large garden centre with a wide range of seeds, plants, garden quipment, summer furniture and gifts. The popular Dahlia Coffee House serves drinks, cakes, sandwiches, salads, light lunches and daily specials to eat in or out. Advice and tips are available from the plant information centre. The nursery is known for its award-winning dahlias, on display in the adjacent field from August until the autumn.

Café Revive is on the second floor of Marks and Spencer, St Albans, overlooking St Peters Street. It serves fairtrade tea and coffee, milkshakes, soft drinks, sandwiches, cakes and children's snacks.

Alexander is a Gentleman's grooming salon that specialises in offering our clients a unique and traditional grooming experience.

Explore our 5 star services that allow you to indulge in the best male grooming environment you will find on the high street. Our aim is to ensure you leave the salon feeling rejuvenated and relaxed whether you have a quick lunchtime hair cut or our VIP Gentlemen''s Treatment.

We offer a full range of classic grooming services such as Traditional Barbering, Hot & Cold Towel Wet Shaving, Facial Treatments, Relaxing Head Massage, Ear Flaming and Our Unique Shoe Shine service. We also offer a full range of Shaving Gifts and Male Grooming Lotions such as Skin Care, Hair Treatments and Styling Products.

Our goal at Alexander is to provide a first-class Barber shop experience for all our customers. It simply is an experience you will never forget.

Apt Creations is a unique charitable enterprise founded in St Albans in 1998 by The Camphill Village Trust. It has a gallery at 39 Catherine Street and a studio at 42-46 Adelaide Street. The studio produces handmade goods for sale. These include pictures, handmade and printed greeting cards, wedding stationary and woven articles including tapestries, cushion covers, rugs and tabel runners. The Studio Team includes people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. The products of the Studio - ladies fashion, contemporary jewellery, seasonal gifts and decorations - are sold at Apt Creations Gallery alongside goods from other Camphill Centres.

The well established Bare Beauty from Bushey opened in Hob Salons, St Albans in August 2011. The salon aims to offer the ultimate holistic experience, based upon over 20 years of practice and teaching of beauty therapy. Staff pride themselves on giving the most professional, confidential and friendly service, along with the latest and very best therapy treatment and advice available.

Bare's comprehensive range of treatments include manicures, pedicures, make up, green peel and dermalogica facials, eye treatments, cosmetic skin resurfacing, spray tanning, massage and holistic therapy. 

The salon offers a rewards points system so that every visit enables clients to build up points towards free treatments. They have a range of packages from Teenage Treats and Something For The Boys, to Pregnancy Pamper and Mother of the Bride that also make ideal gifts.

To find out more, contact the team at Bare Beauty on 01727 866662.

Winner of the ''Local Gem'' award at the St Albans Food and Drink Awards 2009, this Italian deli stocks a wide range of Italian food and wine including cheese, salami, bread, pasta, olives, antipasti and seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Flagship Wines is an award winning independent wine merchant listing 500 distinctive worldwide wines. These are available from their shop and also online with free delivery in St Albans and a national next day delivery service. There are free informal tastings every Friday from 6pm to 7.30pm and on Saturdays from 11am to 6pm. In addition Flagship Wines runs a series of wine events through the year at local pubs or restaurants. More information can be obtained from the shop or website.

Hertfordshire Wine School is an independent wine education company offering wine tasting for everyone. The school is not tied to any wine merchant or retailer and offer impartial advice. Evening tastings and courses are held in Harpenden and St Albans and include a minimum of six wines. Once a month on Saturdays the school runs a daytime tasting at Darcy's Restaurant in St Albans, which includes a three-course lunch and at least ten different wines. 

The tastings and courses are, above all, fun and entertaining and set in a relaxed atmosphere. They are seated, and tutored, and usually include visual aids and notes. Professional ISO tasting glasses are provided and no previous wine tasting experience is required. Guests come by themselves, in couples or in larger groups and it is also a great way to meet others with the same interest in learning about wine.

Please note that the address below is for contact purposes only, courses and tasting sessions take place at a variety of local venues. Please visit Hertfordshire Wine School's website or contact David Rough for more information.

Brilliant & Bespoke

??Tucked away in the Old Dairy near St Albans, Hertfordshire, is the wonderful Hopton & Furlong workshop, a collaboration between Designer Goldsmiths Martin Hopton and Tracy Furlong. These accomplished designers have over 35 years’ combined experience in creating beautiful bespoke pieces of jewellery. From beautiful diamond necklaces to simple yet elegant wedding bands, each commissioned piece is unique and designed to suit each customer's personality, style and budget. Hopton & Furlong work with a range of precious stones and source all their  ‘non conflict’ diamonds from legitimate sources in compliance with United Nations regulations. Why not get in touch for a free consultation, you’ll be amazed by what they could create for you. 

?Unique tokens of love

??Whether it’s an engagement ring, an anniversary gift or simply, you want to give something truly special, there’s nothing quite like a piece of commissioned jewellery to show how much you care. Designs can range from simple and stylish to the more elaborate. Working alongside Tracy and Martin you can create something truly unique and individual, knowing that the beautiful finished design is something created especially for them.

Open Studio

Come along and visit our workshop! We’ll be hosting special visitors’ days, at our studio on Saturday 14 November & Saturday 12 December between 11am - 4pm. Drop in and see us for a glass of bubbly, a chance to buy some unique and limited edition pieces, or simply to look around our jewellery studio. You’ll be very welcome.

Rachel Jeffrey is a designer goldsmith who creates meaningful sculptures, which are greatly influenced by the natural world of plants and rocks, using precious metals.

Rachel grew up in St Albans and studied at Loughborough College of Art & Design.  She has been in business for 14 years, and opened her own workshop and store in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire in 2005.

She continues to develop her career by gaining commissions (Rachel has been favoured by the Royal Family and was commissioned to make a piece for HRH The Queen Mother), teaching a varied cross-section of age groups and securing media coverage.

The Rachel Jeffrey Jewellery School offers a wide range of courses, classes and events, suiting complete beginners to experienced craftspeople. Tuition is provided by four tutors and visiting experts, and takes place in a well equipped workshop.

Contact Rachel or see her website for more information.

Your First Impressions is an image consultancy providing private and corporate image coaching. Services include colour analysis, style advice, grooming and cosmetic guidance, wardrobe management and personal shopping. 

Jacky Williams is a qualified Image Consultant, Accredited First Impressions Consultant and a Registered Affiliate Member of the International Federation of Image Consultants. 

Quote from Jacky "Consultations are designed to give you the skills to save time, save money and the know-how to look and feel fabulous, effortlessly, everyday."