Fine for the money, with one reservation: the Shire Everest Pocket 1000 Mattress is a deep, turnable, medium-firm pocket-sprung mattress with handles, on a spring count that's on the low side. If you're light and sleep on your side wanting a soft top, this isn't it. For a budget bed you'll turn every few months, it's a sound buy. It's also the safe all-rounder, and the one I'd send most couples to on a budget.
Nested springs and plenty of filling
Shire nests 1000 pocket springs, each in its own sleeve, between deep white fibre fillings, with a rod-edge wire round the unit. It's hand-tufted under a damask cover, 29cm deep, double-sided and fitted with turning handles. Shire grades it medium to firm.
Nested means the springs sit offset, so they fill the gaps between their neighbours. It's a neat way to get a more even surface out of a modest count, which is the right instinct when the count is 1000.
Bouncier than you'd expect from medium to firm
Owners are happy with it, and the gripes are small. One owner says it sinks away at the sides, which is the one thing I'd sit on and test before you keep it, and another found it a touch firmer than they wanted at first. One found it a bit bouncier than expected for a medium-firm, which is what pocket springs under fibre feel like: lively rather than sinking. If you want to sink in, you'll want foam or latex in the comfort layer. This has neither, so avoid it if that's you.
Couples sleep well on it, even in two singles
One owner says you don't feel the other half moving in the bed, which is exactly what pocket springs are for. Another couple bought two 3ft6 large singles and sleep in their own beds side by side. My partner snores, so I see the appeal of that more than I'd admit to them.
The happy owners are mostly people coming off something worse. One, after a cheap mattress with springs digging in, says they can't feel a spring in this one, and a couple came back to buy a second. One pair who paid twice as much for a Silentnight the year before rate this one higher, which tells you what a name is worth.
A couple of owners needed the large single for an old or unusual frame, so measure before you order.
The Shire ladder
Within Shire's range, the Everest sits between the Seattle (the same count without handles) and the Spectrum Luminaire (a full layer of 3000 springs). Is it the Shire I'd pick? Not quite: I'd stretch to the Luminaire if I could, and take the Everest if I couldn't.
The step up, or wool and cotton
If the budget stretches, buy the Shire Spectrum Luminaire Pocket 3000. If you want natural fillings rather than fibre, the Shire Artisan Ouse Pocket 1000 is deeper and filled with wool and cotton.
