British Ironwork Centre — Attraction in Oswestry Rural

We visited the British Ironwork Centre recently, as my partner and I took our Mum's there to treat us all to one of their infamous Afternoon Teas.

We arrived at the centre over an hour earlier than our Afternoon Tea was due (these MUST be booked in advance, and there was quite a waiting list when ours was booked ). This was so we had time to look around the amazing sculptures they have on display!

When my partner went to book us all in, he discovered that the centre hired golf buggies for getting around all the sculptures, which are widely spread out on the site. At £40 for 30 minutes, this did seem a little pricey, but when you realise that's £10 each for four people, it doesn't seem so bad. We decided to take the buggy as 3 out of 4 group members have mobility issues. The buggy was great, except for getting on and off it. The step onto it was enormous, and my partner had to help me lift my foot onto the top of the step, then as I pulled myself up, he unceremoniously shoved me until I was on the buggy. He had to repeat this to various degrees with both his and my Mum. We were very surprised and disappointed that no step or ramp had been provided to access the buggy. Especially as I imagine that most of the customers have mobility issues.

Anyway, we loved viewing the multitude of statues around the site. It's amazing what can be made with scrap metal!

Next, we took a slow ramble around the shop areas, which have some wonderful items. Many of which are unique. It's a great place for gift shopping.

Finally the main event, we sat down for our Afternoon Tea. We'd seen photos of these on Facebook, so we had an idea of what to expect, but our minds were still blown when they arrived!

We hadn't sent in any requests, so our items were chosen by the cafe. We were happy enough with what had arrived though. The few items we didn't like, we swapped among ourselves. We had a portion of piping hot chips, 4 finger sandwiches (egg mayo, ham & mustard (both on white bread) along with tuna & sweetcorn and cheese & pickle (both on brown bread).

Then onto my favourites, the cakes! We had massive scones, unfortunately, I couldn't eat mine because they contained currants. - The others enjoyed theirs though. Our 2nd cake was a brownie - and it was an awesome brownie too! Luckily I had two as my partner swapped his brownie for my scone 😃 We all had each of these items, so there were some leftovers when we were ready to leave. That wasn't a problem though, as we were each provided a bag to take home our goodies, so none would be wasted.

It was a fantastic day out, which I'd...

I must preface this review by stating that I hate giving bad feedback. However, on this occasion we believe that it is more than justified. My wife & I visited with our 4 young grandchildren during half term, along with one of our daughter in laws. Our 8 year old grandson had warned us that it was not a pleasant experience. But we, sadly, chose to ignore him. On arrival we were confronted with over spill parking, which wouldn't have been a problem normally. However, on this occasion the ground was sodden & many vehicles, once driven onto the grass, were finding it very difficult indeed to get off! ( there was a sign which told people to park leaving two wheels on the hard surface, but this wasn't in a prominent enough position). Once out of the car the next problem was a lack of appropriate directional signage. Having purchased our tickets & parking we stumbled into what appeared to be a shop & only exited via a fire door, after having asked a member of staff! The 'map' provided did absolutely nothing to assist us, as we struggled to work out an obvious & logical way to see all of the exhibits. I eventually resorted to asking a member of staff to assist. He told us to revisit the ticket area, go through the shop & passed a large white marquee! Needless to say this proved completely fruitless and we ended up having to exit again via the fire door, which was now propped open!! We eventually figured out that you effectively had to risk walking on or by the exit road in order to view the exhibits. This would be dangerous at anytime, but with 4 young children in tow it was extremely difficult to say the least. On the topic of 'dangerous', a word of warning with regard to many of the exhibits. By their very nature they consist of metal, but I couldn't help but notice that far too many appeared to have sharp points & edges, which could, given the conditions underfoot, have proved deadly to anyone who was unfortunate enough to fall/slip in their direction ( one very large axe head in particular was at the perfect height to skewer a child!). We lasted just over an hour, which for the £26+ spent was not, in our collective view, good value for money or indeed the pleasant half term experience that we had been looking for. Lastly, I note that the parking voucher states that 'all proceeds go to grounds care'. I take it that does not include the 'surface' of the over spill car parking?!

Date of experience: 14th...

Went to visit The British Ironworks Centre yesterday (Saturday) with my son and daughter-in-law, and it was fabulous! I'd looked it up and thought "this looks interesting" but it was so much more! The Sculptures were fantastic, the cafe had gorgeous food, especially the cakes!! The coffee was smooth, rich and tasted beautiful! You can book for an afternoon tea which looked delicious. The slices of cake were big, and the scones were the size of side plates!!! I had a scone and it came with butter, jam and clotted cream and was huge and I could only eat half of it! We wandered around taking in the enormity of the the Sculptures from massive Gorillas and other animals to the comical Minions, and all the fantastic creations being presented. The Iron Throne from Game of Thrones was massive and brilliant! The write-ups for the Extinction Area of all the animals we are in danger of losing was eye opening. I saw a lot of children taking everything in with wide eyes and excitement. It was a wonderful day out, it was educational, awe inspiring and fantastic!! We didn't get to see everything but I will be returning with my partner to have a look at areas I didn't see on Saturday, as well a second look at what I did see. It all deserves a second look. I'm a 65 year old woman who felt like a child on their first visit to a toy store. 5 stars are not enough to recommend this tourist attraction it deserves so much more. It also has to be noted that the Staff, and there were lots of them were equally as good as the site itself. They were all so pleasant, polite and respectful, something you don't see much of these days! All in all it was a fabulous and enjoyable day out. You need at least 3-4 hours just to take everything in and another hour to enjoy the cafe. The Shop was also great with their small and large creations and the 3 legged cups are beautiful. Thank you for my wonderful day out with my family, it is one to remember forever. I was totally surprised when I got home, looked at the photographs I had taken only to discover that there were 157 of them. My daughter-in-law took nearly 100. I have a disability that affects my memory, but I won't forget this day any time soon! A Fabulous, Fantastic, Mesmerising...