A new telescope for £34.99

I could not resist buying the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) astronomical telescope today when I visited the RSPB Reserve at Leighton Moss. It was for sale at half price.  the telescope comes with two eyepieces and a Barlow Lens which are of fairly poor quality at that price but are 1 1/4 inch standard fit so you can use your own eyepieces which improve matters considerably. I tried the telescope out the same night and started with Jupiter - a bit difficult because I was looking through the branches of the dominant oak tree that blocks much of my view to the south west. The disk on Jupiter was visible but difficult to focus. I will try again when I have a clearer view.  I then looked at Ursa Major and Mizar/Alcor. I could only see those two stars with the supplied 25mm eyepiece but when I used my own 25mm I could see the third off centre star between the other two quite clearly. No Moon which I suspect is the object that the telescope would be most useful for. The alt-azimuth design is easy to use and objects can be found by sighting along the tube - not difficult with the wide field provided by the 25mm eyepiece. I can see that the telescope would be a good starter for Moon observation. When the Moon is in a convenient position and phase I will try again. You could use it for observing birds in your garden once you got used to the telescope and an upside down view! I tended to move the whole telescope when I tried to adjust either axis and I think that clamping the telescope somehow would improve matters considerably.  Viewing a chimney pot on an adjacent property gave a very clear view with the 25mm eyepiece supplied - I am looking forward to using the telescope to view the Moon - it could potentially be very convenient for that purpose. I gather that at that price the telescope is selling well - the staff at Leighton Moss said that it was a very popular item.