I went to a fancy restaurant just outside Birmingham and it’s like a posh Marks and Spencer

“It’s a really nice thing with the garden center around here,” my friend Nick told me as we smashed our Sunday roasts at the Green Man pub in Middleton. I don’t know Tamworth that well, other than the hours and hours I spent queuing for jacket potatoes at Spudman’s around that time, so I was open to ideas of places to go after my gone dolcelatte and fig roast.

A “thing” from the garden center sounds interesting. It wasn’t just expensive gardening gloves, compost bags and bird feeders at Forage, he explained, so it’s not your standard garden centre. There is a pub, gift shop and a very large food hall to explore at the Coppice Lane location. I didn’t need to hear anything anymore, I was totally there.

It made sense to go with a belly full of roast potatoes, I learned, once I walked in the door. Otherwise I would be broke.

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The hall is huge and beautifully decorated. Huge wicker baskets, which we anticipated would be filled with scones, were overflowing with giant pink and white, vanilla and raspberry ‘Eton mess’ marshmallows from the bakery.

Wicker picnic baskets were filled with Forage branded confections, including beautiful boxes filled with glistening coffee beans covered in dark chocolate and sophisticated white packets of praline milk truffles. Everything felt very neat and special.

Sweets don’t come cheap, of course. Flat boxes of nine chocolates are £9.99, while larger boxes of 12 are £12.50 and 16 are £15.99. Precious, but as a little treat for a loved one, it looks gift-worthy!

At the butcher shop, the shiny, clean cabinet displayed large cuts of dry-aged beef next to pre-cut packages. The trolley in front was loaded with Packington eggs, 55p each or £3.50 for half a dozen, or six Field Farm duck eggs cost £4.25.

The deli counter was equally well stocked with homemade salts, several meats and cheeses. Teas and coffees, jams and preserves and a whole bakery section was equally impressive. It’s a large room with lots of options, ideal if you’re preparing a special picnic or just want to while away some time on a lazy Sunday.

Just opposite the Forage is another store, this is a large ‘Lifestyle’ store. Candles and reed diffusers, cushions and vases, it’s a great place to think about things you didn’t know you needed. The books and stationery caught my eye, as did some really cute Starbucks style reusable cups in bright colors that have fun slogans about the party!

There’s a lot more to explore at Coppice, which I’ve learned is the collective name for all these different sections, so I’ll definitely have to go back. Everyone seems to be in a rush for breakfast too, so I’ll have to leave earlier next time. It’s only half an hour from Birmingham, but it feels like you’re inside the bottle, with plenty to do to make it worth the drive.