Huge garden centre where you can spend all day with Santa's grotto is best in the UK

A massive garden centre that has been named the best in the UK.

Barton Grange Garden Centrein Preston is officially the best of the best, having been handed the prestigious top gong at the 'Garden Centre of the Year' awards organized by the Garden Centre Association. It saw off competition from 200 contenders from across the country to snatch the top spot.

It is not the first time that Barton Grange Garden Centre has tasted glory since opening its doors to the plant-buying public in 1963. In fact, it has won the award six times.

Fans of the garden centre have praised its size and extensive offerings, noting that it's easy to spend an entire day there.

The main part of the centre is a large gardening area, where a five-year guarantee is offered on hardy plants. That is a particular draw for serious gardeners who want to know they're buying quality and plantsthat will properly bed into their plots.

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Another big feature is the farm shop, where you can find everything from local butchers to freshly squeezed orange juice and cheese. It is stationed next to the culinary shop, which features brands such as Emma Bridgewater and Le Creuset.

The centre is also home to the Riverside café, which serves breakfasts and lunches, as well as the Willows restaurant, which serves afternoon tea. In Riverside you'll find hearty breakfasts that'll give you plenty of energy to keep pursuing the aisles and a fair amount of change from a tenner.

One of the big ticket items is the Full English which comes with two Althams Cumberland sausages, two rashers of bacon, one hash brown, one plum tomato half, mushrooms, Branston baked beans, a choice of either scrambled or egg omelette and a slice of toast.

The centre organizes various events, from painting and weaving to calligraphy and candle-making. For Christmas, Barton Grange gets a serious festive makeover that includes large wintery displays and merry evening events.

A new feature this year will be Santa's grotto, where kids can meet Father Christmas before going to his Toy Workshop to make their own toy. If that wasn't seasonal excitement enough, you can then enjoy a full Christmas dinner from the on-site restaurant.

The garden centre has been lavished with positive reviews online. One person wrote: "We came to see the Lancashire hawks and owls event, which is a free event where you can see and for a small £2 cash donation hold an owl and have your photo taken. An amazing cause, all the owls are rescues, supporting a local birds of prey sanctuary run by a lovely couple who care so deeply for the birds they have rescued. They will be at the garden centre over more weekends in the future so it's worth a visit."

Another wrote: "Excellent family day out! My husband and daughter and I visited the garden centre and had a lovely lunch in the café. The staff were very attentive. It's definitely worth a visit."

A third enthused: "Superb garden centre and more! We only popped in as we were passing and ended up making a purchase. The prices are great for the quality. No wonder they have won awards for their displays. Definitely worth a visit. We will be back again."

The centre is owned by the Topping family and was sold to Blue Diamond this year. Whether they can continue its incredible run of garden centre dominance remains to be seen.