Millet’s

Millets in Oxford is pretty much identical to Millets everywhere, although surprisingly small, which is perhaps due to its sister shop Blacks being just down the road. It stocks fairly cheap and cheerful camping equipment and clothes, and is great for festival purchases, raincoats and cosy woolly jumpers that your mother would want you to wear, but that don’t look like they were knitted by your shortsighted granny. There are some good walking boots and wellies, as well as flip-​flops that won’t break straightaway for summer. It’s also a good place to look for presents for those people who are impossible to buy for: how about a penknife or maglite torch? Or a book on survival skills? There’s a limited range of skiwear: mainly socks and funky hats. I’d stay away from Mac-​in-​a-​pac type waterproofs: convenient though they may be, they’re not at all breathable and can’t take much water at all. The proper raincoats, particularly the gore-​tex ones, can prevent many miserable outings in the rain and are well worth the money. Millets always seem to have offers on or a sale, so it’s well worth checking if that item you want is about to become half-​price.