The Packhorse Centre has several useful shops and is a good route to use when going from the railway station to the University especially on rainy days. Many of the shops have changed over the years but the Merrie England cafe has been there all the time and changed very little. There are sandwich shops and a newsagent plus 'pound' shops, clothes shops etc.

It was possible to see a glimpse of the Packhorse Centre on Harry Hill's TV Burp when he used a clip from the recent programme about Peter's department store.