Some years ago I had a very successful day at the Mackeson Gold Cup, Cheltenham, and invested I invested part of the winnings in a set of Zeiss 10 x 50's, excellent optics, well made good all round glasses though a bit on the heavy side and not cheap.
I've been a member of the RSPB for a good many years but I found that these people offered better advice and had a wider range to choose from:
http://www.at-infocus.co.uk
Your local RSPB place will probably have binocular / telescope open days actually hosted by In Focus. Go to www.rspb.co.uk and surf around for details.