BBQ Summer - What a Washout!

The Met Office have recently done a bit of a U-Turn and have now seen fit to revise their 'Odds on for a BBQ Summer' statement they made in April. Other untruths from the Met reported by BBC News were that 'we are heading for a long period of BBQ weather this year' but on to July and all is not quite as reported what with the case of 100 children being evacuated from a water-logged Camp Site in the Lake District and general gloom on most seafront promenades up and down the country.

Ewan McCullum, chief meteorologist at the Met Office went public in April and said 'We are seeing a signal for a warmer than average summer which again means that we could have good hot spells and perhaps get the BBQ out', but in the last couple of days he has added 'The phrase we used was Odds on for a BBQ Summer, we were talking about a 65% chance, that meant there is a 35% chance that July would turn out the way it did, but as I say we still have August to come'. Never mind Ewan, I'm sure August will be lovely!

May Offers

Recent news from the BBC suggests a hot and dry Summer at last!

To make the most of this good news, throughout May 2009 we have several promotions that will offer you substantial savings on selected outdoor products and free gifts to go with your purchase.

Offer 1 - Free Standard Delivery on all Cast Iron Pizza Ovens - these items weigh 115 kilos, free delivery on this product will save you £39.95 for most UK deliveries and significantly more if you live in any of those hard to reach areas that normally attract addittional postage.

Offer 2 - Free BBQ Grill Brush if you purchase any BBQ. Additionally if your BBQ costs £99.99 or more we will also throw in a free 3 Piece BBQ Tool Set. We will upgrade the tool set to the Stainless Steel version for all Silversteel barbecue purchases.

Offer 3 - Free Standard Delivery on selected Stainless Steel Water Features saving you up to £19.95 for most UK addresses. Models included in this promotion are the Angel, Backstone, Cautley, Colwith & Hardraw.

Offer 4 - Free Basketballs with any Xtreme Air Basketball Set - this will include both a Dunlop Mini & Dunlop Standard Basketball.

Offer 5 - 20% off all Chimineas excluding any clearance items. This includes the cost of the product AND the postage and will lead to a substantial saving.

For any further clarification on any of these promotions please call us on 01702 545466. To claim your discount at source you will have to telephone your order through. All web sales will be charged at the non-offer rate and the savings will be refunded back within 1 working day.

Stainless Steel Facts

Today we have for you a quick lesson on stainless steel types. There are many different grades of stainless steel for a wide variety of uses, the two grades commonly used for consumer goods are 430 Stainless Steel & 304 Stainless Steel.

Grade 304 is better quality, particularly for outdoor use as due to its nickel content (about 8%) it cannot rust. Our SilverSteel BBQ’s are made from 304 Stainless Steel.

Grade 430 contains iron and can rust. However, highly polished 430 Stainless Steel is still quite weather resistant and takes a long time to rust if the surface is left unscratched. It is much cheaper than Grade 304 as it doesn’t use any nickel. It is also magnetic due to the iron content. There is a miss-conception that Stainless Steel can’t be magnetic, Grade 430 is Stainless Steel and is magnetic.

Stainless Steel products available here include our SilverSteel BBQ and some of our range of Alan Titchmarsh Water Features.

Handy Hint: The best way to keep an outdoor Stainless Steel item nice and shiny is to occasionally clean it with either olive oil or baby oil. This gets rid of all marks and prevents water marking.

Hope you enjoyed our quick nugget of information.

Get Set for Easter with Garden Games & Leisure

Welcome to the first of many posts from your friends at Garden Games & Leisure!

Today's post is all about Easter, which begins with Good Friday on 10th April, and for many this long weekend presents the first opportunity to get the garden ship-shape for Summer. Recently, we have received a lot of interest in our Xtreme Air basketball products which can act as a good diversion away from the stack of Easter Eggs! For an easy way to get fit and have fun outdoors this Summer, be sure to check out our range of Basketball Sets & Trampolines.

For those slightly less energetic but still prepared to work up a sweat digging and perfecting their flowerbeds it’s the perfect time to put in a tranquil and relaxing Water Feature, we’ve got a fantastic new range including Stainless Steel Tubes and Sphere water features, Textured Glass in an array of designs and some very interesting and pretty Resin Models with Pigs & Frogs providing the theme.


To make the most of the (few!) warm and sunny Summer days you might consider cooking and eating outside to make the most of the good weather. BBQs are a great way to socialise with friends while enjoying great tasting food outdoors. Here at Garden Games we stock everything you need to make a great event. Our range of Teak & All Weather Furniture suits the unpredictable nature of the great British weather. Outdoor cooking requires a BBQ of course, and so we have a range of barbecues to suit all requirements and tastes, from a range of small Fire Pits for low volume cooking to monstrous Gas Barbecues for larger gatherings - we believe we cater to all.

Don't forget to take a look at our BBQ recipes if you are stuck for exciting ideas.