Bloomin’ marvellous – Five garden centres near Leek
There’s nothing quite like a visit to a local garden centre, where clients can view the plants, gifts and other items on sale and then relax over a cuppa in the centre’s café.
Our Care Professionals at Home Instead Leek and Moorlands enjoy taking our clients out to sample the delights of a local centre. It gives them a breath of fresh air and time to look around before enjoying a drink and snack.
The Staffordshire and Derbyshire countryside has a host of good garden centres to choose from. Here are our five personal favourite places to visit in the area.
Jacksons Nurseries
You’ll get a friendly welcome from this family-run business based in the Staffordshire Moorlands at Bagnall. Jacksons Nurseries has been going strong for over 60 years, and stocks a wide range of flowers, shrubs and trees. It’s a perfect place for wandering around, enjoying the beauty of the flowers and their subtle fragrances.
As well as the garden centre itself, visitors can browse around the farm shop – with a great selection of produce and gifts – and then enjoy a morning coffee or afternoon tea in the award-winning Staffordshire Tea Room. Open seven days a week, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, this serves cakes and deserts that are produced by the centre’s own baking staff. The tea room has received a range of excellent reviews from sites such as Trip Advisor (4.5 out of 5) and Trust Pilot (4.6 out of 5).
Bridge End Garden Centre
t’s well worth taking a short trip to the Bridge End Garden Centre – an independent, family-run centre just on the outskirts of Leek, near the local football ground. Founded over 20 years ago, it has a large car park. It’s particularly handy for those who struggle to walk, as there’s wheelchair access to all the facilities – as well as a toilet for the disabled.
The centre offers a wealth of gardening products, and has a shop that offers a wide range of gifts, toys and cards. As a member of the Horticultural Trades Association, it both sells and accepts National Garden gift cards and vouchers. The comfortable little café, AJs, provides home-made refreshments, including a good choice of cakes and drinks. The centre is open from 9:00am to 5:30pm, seven days a week. It’s easy to find right beside the shell garage.
Fairways
Not to be outdone in terms of good garden centres, Ashbourne plays host to Fairways, a local award-winning, family-run business that provides quality plants, homeware, and food. It’s a great place to wile away some time admiring the plants or visiting the large gift and homeware shop. Over the years, Fairways has won several prestigious awards from The Garden Centre Association.
And then – time for a cuppa! You’ll be spoilt for choice – there’s the relaxing atmosphere of the Garden Room Restaurant, with its lunches, hot drinks, and scrumptious cakes or scones, or the new Honey Bee Café, where you can enjoy tea or coffee and more home-made snacks or light lunches. Older adults are well catered for – the centre is wheelchair-friendly, and although the restaurant is upstairs, there’s a lift available for those who need it. Check the website for opening times, as these vary according to the season. To find the garden centre turn off the main road into Ashbourne.
Matlock Garden Centre
Many seniors still take an interest in anything relating to gardening, and there’s plenty to stoke that interest at Matlock Garden Centre. Situated in the village of Tansley in the Peak District, the centre has a host of lifestyle products for the home, and plants galore for the garden. And if your older adult or relative has a pet, there’s a shop selling toys, food, and other items for dogs, cats, and small animals. Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas but must be kept on a lead. For visitors who are less mobile, there’s wheelchair access to the facilities. Wheelchairs are also available from the centre on request.
And when it’s time to take a break, the Garden Gallery Restaurant serves some lovely home-made cakes, snacks and other refreshments. It also has a terrace overlooking the garden centre and the beautiful Derbyshire countryside.
Forest Garden Centre
Hidden away in Derbyshire some five miles north of Matlock, the Forest Garden Centre is an ideal venue for elderly guests and relatives. It caters to those with mobility issues, as there’s wheelchair access throughout and a wheelchair is also available for customers to use. The site has a toilet for the disabled. There’s even a ‘carry-to-car’ service. It’s another independent, family-run centre that’s a delight to visit.
The gift shop sells and accepts HTA National Garden gift cards and vouchers. After a trip around, why not take your guest to the centre’s Tall Trees Coffee Shop and Restaurant, surrounded by glorious plants? It offers fresh, seasonally, and locally produced food and also boasts that it bakes ‘the finest scones in Derbyshire’! There’s an al fresco area so your guests can sit outside when the sun’s shining. The opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9 am – 4 pm; Sunday 9.30 am – 4 pm. It’s easy to find garden centre only 5 minutes away from Matlock.
We hope that’s given you a taste (in more ways than one!) of some of the lovely garden centres and cafés that can be found in the Leek, Matlock, and Ashbourne areas. They can all be easily accessed by car and most of them cater well to older visitors.
Would you like to know more about home care in Leek and Moorlands? Give us a call to find out more!
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