Well another year nearly over...

Its coming to that time of year when its a case of 'Oh that's another year gone' with the passing year being a distant memory as soon as 1st January hits and then the realisation that January is a heck of a long month until you get paid!

Well to cheer you up and to make January that little bit bearable, we still have an incredibly good sale going on here! With up to 70% off on many items.

Yeah you maybe broke but at least you'll have some nice things to show for it! 

Further reductions...

...Just to get you more excited than you probably are already, we've added a few items to our 50% off sale.

Its another glorious here day here in Padstow, sun is shining with not a queue insight for anything - unlike some of the citys around here! 

This is what winter is all about...

I had a wonder around the harbour earlier today to see if it is as deadly quiet as it feels.  

Even though its so bitterly cold outside you can not beat it when its like this.  Cold and everything so still with the sun shining-what a perfect day.  I think this poem sums it right up: 

The Winter Sun

Hangs low in the sky

The navy blue sea

Sparkles in the sunlight

The trees are silhouetted

Shafts of lights shining through

Their barren branches

Frosty nights leave icing

Covered lawns and cobwebs

The winter sun

Pale and watery

Hardly warming the hard earth

But welcome like an old friend,

On this cold winter day.

And yes it is as deadly quiet as it seems but perfect for Christmas shopping don't you think?

We've now got 25% off selected items!

Bit skint this Christmas?

Well we've got it solved for you as we have 25% off many items in store and it started today!!

So grab a pressie bargain!

We are now on Facebook!

Well we had to follow the trend so we decided to get ourselves onto Facebook!

We will be putting more pictures and details up very soon so keep a look out or recommend us to a friend!

Oh and we're on Twitter as well!  Oooh get us being all trendy!

A little reminder...

Just a little reminder that its the Padstow Christmas Festival tomorrow and its running through to the 5th December!

We shall be open till 8pm tomorrow night with wine and nibbles.

And did I mention that the harbour is going to be covered in snow?! Well there's no ifs and buts there is going to be snow guaranteed!

And we're having a BEER festival!!  This thing is just getting better and better!

Oh and we're offering 25% off!

Told you it just gets better!

See you all there!

A get together with Reef...

Last Friday the managers at Gul all got together to go and see Reef play in Truro.

Reef was the first concert I ever went to 12 years ago and I was interested to see how they  had aged now.

Well I can tell you now that they haven't lost it one bit!  They were brilliant!

We even had the opportunity to meet the band and this is when I became quite star struck as in my head all I could think about was that Reef were there right in front of me!  At one point I couldn't even look at them - that's how star struck I was!

I somehow got over being this silly and managed to get a photo taken with the main man himself, Gary Stringer and do you know what, they were all so nice and didn't seem all that put out when all I could do was mumble!

Well I supposed they're used to meeting people like me - mumbling, star struck idiots!

If you ever get a chance to see this band and you can remember all the classics then go and see them as I guarantee you will reliving your youth and jumping round with the best of them!

Good times!

A week to go...

Well its one week today until our Christmas Festival and it promises to be good!

From Santa and his to Reindeer to a Beer Festival, there's something for everyone! 

Also the harbour is going to be covered in REAL snow!!

But if the weathers anything to go by at the moment,  we might actually have real real snow by then!

On the Friday it is Late Night Christmas Shopping with many shops open till around 8pm offering all sorts of discounts (we're offering a staggering 25% on all Gul Products for the entire weekend) and a glass of wine and a mince pie chucked in! And its only £1 a go, all proceeds go to a worthy course.

We're also doing a Raffle to raise money for the RNLI, you could win a £50 voucher!

All in all it sounds like a good weekend and what better way to get your Christmas Shopping all wrapped up!

But don't forget to pop into see us though! 

We're on Duke Street incase you didn't know...

Spotted in France!

Just thought this was worth putting on the blog, seeing as we haven't updated this for a while!

Here is my friend Jay killing it somewhere in France! 

Can you spot what he's wearing?!

SAS Raffle tickets!

Just to let you know that we selling Raffle tickets for the SAS and what great prizes they have to give away!

And theres 20 prizes to give away and the first prize is to win a unique Gul union Jack wood veneered longboard along with a rare SAS branded summer Gul Recore wetsuit AND £500 worth of Gul vouchers to spend in store!

And its only a quid to enter! 

Buy One Get One Half Price

In Store at the moment we are now offering Buy One  Get One Half Price on our Autumn/Winter range!

Brilliant for those Christmas ideas!





Adieu mes amis!

Well it has arrived... my time here at Padstow has come to an end. I've had some giggles but I must now pack my little checkered handkerchief, pick up my tail and hit the road (the A39 to be exact) for the final time.

So I bid a fond farewell to Tee and her team here in Padstow and return to my native store and the madness that will ensue.

It's been fun...

Over and out! x

Parallel Universe

There must be another Padstow somewhere out in the ether... a parallel Padstow that has heat, sun, and lots of visitors, because the Padstow I'm currently inhabiting has none of the above.

The only thing I will say is, if this parallel Padstow does indeed exist then it won't have the offer THIS one has.

Yup... Gul is continuing this amazing deal for yet another week... so get on down here and take advantage - it's nearing Christmas and think of the money you can save...

I bet those people in the other world wish they were so lucky!

Poppy? Yes we have them...

Not only do we support everything water related we also support things that are closer to our hearts and that's the Poppy Appeal.

This has always been a day we should remember and even more so now.

If you can't find somewhere to get your poppy, we have them here.

Go on, show your support.

Also here's another...

We're on twitter!!

Well we decided that we had to go with the trend so now we're on Twitter!

Come and follow us!

It's back

It's October, the kids are about to break up, in fact some particularly lucky ones already have, and the weather looks like it may just treat us, so Gul have decided to give us a big Brucie Bonus too!

Yes! It's back... and with an added extra!

Not only are we offering 3 for 2 on all Autumn/Winter clothing and accessories* but the offer has been extended to our technical accessories range as well!!

Surely an offer not to be sniffed at so jump in your car, get on your bike, or simply race on foot to your local Gul Store and take advantage of us, because it won't last forever and you'll be more than a little irritated if you miss out!

* Terms and Conditions apply

A perfect Autumnal Morning.

Wow what a beautiful morning!

Padstow is so pretty at this time of year and now's the time to enjoy it!

No queues for the car park or the pasty shop!

And don't forget to drop in a say hello to us as well!

Brrrrrrrr its cold!!

Do you need a new wetsuit thats going to keep u warm?

 

We've got that!

Do you need a nice snuggle warm fleece for this evening?

We've got that and fluffy socks!

Come on then, come and get them here in Padstow!  Theres no busy crowds here!

Just us and a few seaguls!

Space Hopper saves the day

Who said you can only bounce around like a loon on a Space Hopper?
It turns out that, other than being my most treasured possession in the bygone days, our beloved 70's toy can be used to save lives... it's true.
Whilst driving to work this morning I heard on the news that 2 teenage girls, who were swept off a sea wall in Exmouth, were saved from their watery predicament with the aid of one such smiling, orange bag of wind.

Space Hopper, my dear old friend, you have every reason to be grinning like a Cheshire cat!

Well Done!

(Although, personally, I would recommend a Buoyancy Aid or Life Jacket to keep you safe whilst around the water! Both, of which, can be purchased from your local friendly Gul store ;o) )

Ghost Towns

It is very quiet in Padstow today, almost ghostly, so whilst contemplating this fact my mind slipped back to a documentary I watched the other day about the abandoned village of Hallsands in Devon. This small fishing community was destroyed by storms in January 1917, after the Admiralty dredged its shingle to extend Plymouth Dockyard.

Before

After

Now

A sad tale of lost livelihoods, homes and more importantly community, but thankfully no fatalities in this instance.
Whilst investigating some pictures of this village for you to look at I stumbled across some more 'Ghost Towns' from around the world - bizarre to say the least that these places have simply, for whatever reason, been deserted.
Entire seaside resorts left abandoned;

Varosha, Cyprus

Googlemap

deserted theme parks;

Tohoku, Japan

Tohoku Park, Japan

Chippewa Lake Park, OH



and, according to Googlemaps, a town that for all intents and purposes exists - yet doesn't... and never has! Go on... Google it, you can find all sorts of data on it, and yet it never was!

Argleton, Lancashire

Having observed these poor, sad and lonely places I have come to realise that Padstow, although not a bustling metropolis today is, however, alive - and for that we can be grateful. No matter how quiet it gets, it is by no means a ghost town, it has life, it has blood in it's veins, it has a heart.

Its my birthday!!

See as its my birthday and I would love it if you all came into say Happy birthday to me and at the same time look around and maybe buy a few things?!  This would truely make my day!!

Come on now, come down and wish me a happy 21st!



Psssst...

We are here you know!

We haven't gone anywhere!

 No, a spaceship hasn't obliterated Duke Street!

So what are you waiting for?

Come in and say hello!

Please?!

Wedding socks





I was a bridesmaid at a wonderful wedding this weekend at Watergate Bay and it was all quite emotional.

As the lovely groom was signing the register, he caught my eye and flash me his socks!!  He was only wearing the Gul socks I had given him for Christmas on his special day!! 

He also said he would be flying the flag for Gul by wearing his Gul clothes whilst they are honeymooning in Vietnam and Hong Kong! 

What a memorable, wonderful day! Glad to have been part of it.

Weather Lore

As I stood outside my front door last night taking some snapshots of the brilliant reds and oranges the sunset produced, I found myself muttering the old folklore my Mum told me so many years ago:

Red Sky at Night Shepherds Delight

Red Sky in the Morning Shepherds warning

On throwing back the curtains this morning, I wasn't surprised to find a truly spectacularly glorious October day awaiting me. Proving, on this occasion, these lores do have a modicum of truth surrounding them.

I was curious to find out how, and why, this particular 'Weather Lore' came about and whilst munching on my lunch I decided to do a little research and found that, to my surprise, this particular gem dates back to the Bible.

Matthew 16:2-3

He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Apparently the reasoning behind this saying is due to the fact that weather systems generally move from West to East. In a nutshell; If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds coming in from the west. On the other hand, in order to see red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west in order to light 'damp' clouds moving to the east.... Simples!!!! For a more in-depth explanation follow the link... it's too long winded for a blog.

And it's not just us, here's some more of the same from around the world:

Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
 
Morgenrøde gir dage bløde.
Kveldsrøde gir dage søde.

Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera,
rosso di mattina mal tempo si avvicina.

Avondrood, morgen mooi weer aan bood,
Ochtendrood, vanavond water in de sloot.

Rouge le soir, bel espoir,
Rouge le matin, de la pluie en chemin.

So... seeing as it's such a lovely day today why don't you pop in and see us here in Gul Padstow and say hello, you never know what useless drivel you may learn!!!

I Don't Believe It!

I don't, and can't, believe it - yesterday gave us rain, wind and generally all-round miserableness but the people came in droves. Today, on the other hand, brings bright sunshine and warmth but it appears the mist stole the people in the night.

I'm unsure as to why this phenomenon has occurred, it's like something from a cheesy horror movie.

I don't understand it. We have lots to offer here:

but most importantly

With our continuing 'Money-Off' campaign on selected items of the new Autumn/Winter Collection AND 20% Summer Wetsuit Sale I just don't understand why you're keeping away.

So what are you all waiting for? In good old Brucie fashion.... "Come on Dooooown"