Don’t ask us when it happens, but there’s a point in life where you favourite place on earth becomes a garden centre.
And garden centres don’t come much fancier than Bents Garden Centre, an enormous sprawl of a building filled with the obvious stuff (like, you know, garden plants) but also so much more.
The Warrington favourite is never more popular than at Christmas, when it turns into a twinkling wonderland and people from across the north west make the pilgrimage.
There are colourful decorations spilling out from every corner, from themed baubles to fairy lights to festive soft furnishings.
Bents Garden Centre does not hold back on its decorating – this year alone there are Alpine dining scenes, a life-size car with presents spilling out of the boot, and an arctic landscape with polar bears, snowmen and igloos.
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There’s also a winter food market, where wooden lodges sell everything from Yorkshire pudding wraps to bratwurst sausages to beef brisket sandwiches.
In the outside space there are heated dining globes, decorated with plants, blankets and bunting.
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Bents garden centre is so popular, it even had a fairly famous visitor this festive season, when Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury popped in for a day out, documenting the whole thing to her 1.7m YouTube subscribers.
The former Love Island couple, who are expecting their first child, visited to pick up their Christmas tree decorations.
The couple bought a tree togetherTommy Fury at Bents Garden CentreCredit: YouTube, Molly Mae Hague
She proudly showed off a trolley piled high with food-themed baubles, in the shape of cakes, doughnuts, gingerbread men, candy canes, and even a giant pink lollipop.
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She said: “Don’t ask me why we’ve never come here before. It’s SO cosy.”
Molly-Mae added: “This garden centre, Bents, in I think Warrington, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know why we’ve never come here before.
“It’s kind of like a farm shop too, they’ve got food and food stalls. I am so excited to come back here with a baby next year, like it’s so special.
“It is quite expensive I’m not gonna lie, to get all the decorations and things, but we’ll keep them each year and reuse them.”
Featured image: Bents Garden Centre / YouTube
Christmas
The Oast House confirms return of legendary Christmas tipi with twinkling lights and festive cocktails
Emily Sergeant
The Oast House has confirmed that its legendary Christmas tipi draped in twinkling lights is set to return for the festive season.
And there’s really not long left to wait now before the magic arrives.
The popular Spinningfields venue’s winter tipi has played its part in brining the festive spirit to Manchester for the past 11 years now, so it’s fair to say it’s become something of an institution – and now, with the air getting nippier by the day, The Oast House has given Mancs the news they’ve been waiting for.
That’s right, The TeePee is back once again for another year, and it’s set to open for the festive season in just a couple of weeks time.
Complete with two roaring fires, twinkling fairy lights, faux fur throws, The Teepee will be made up of three tents joined together with a huge open hub, and is all sounding set to be a popular spot for locals and those who’ve finished a hard day at work during the colder months.
The Oast House has confirmed its legendary Christmas tipi is back next month / Credit: The Oast House
Set to reopen on Wednesday 11 October, and then staying open to festive revellers every day of the week throughout the winter, The Teepee is famed for its free live music, house-cooked food, and laidback warm and welcoming atmosphere.
There’ll be a mouthwatering street food menu, a selection of limited-edition winter cocktails, mulled wine, and festive hot chocolates, and, of course, a stage area set up for guests to dance the night away – with a packed lineup of live gigs all planned over the next few months.
Katsu chicken fries, Northern poutine with bone marrow gravy, Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, chicken, or plant-based gyros, stacked burgers, hot wings, and hanging kebabs, are just some of the warming dishes you can tuck into from the street food menu.
There’ll also be a wide range of festive tipples also on offer to wash it all down with.
There’ll be festive-themed street food and winter cocktails under twinkling fairy lights / Credit: The Oast House
The TeePee reopens for 2023 on Wednesday 11 October.
The Oast House and The TeePee are then open every day 12 noon until late throughout the winter, and will continue hosting a packed roster of live musicians covering a range of genres – from pop and rock, to funk and soul, and so much more.
30% of Brits have apparently already started doing their Christmas shopping
Emily Sergeant
A new survey has revealed that 30% of Brits have apparently already started doing their Christmas shopping this year.
As much as many of us find ourselves running around the shops like headless chickens on Christmas Eve in a bid to buy all those last-minute gifts we forgot, on the flip side of that, we all know a few organised people who like to get their presents bought and wrapped well in advance so they can enjoy a relatively stress-free festive season.
But is September just a bit too early to start? Apparently not for three in 10 Brits.
According to a new survey by American Express – of which some 2,000 people nationwide took part – a surprising 30% of adults who celebrate or shop for Christmas in the UK have already started buying things for the festive period.
Presents for others were the most-common items already in the basket, but while gifts may be the obvious one, that’s not all.
30% of Brits have already started doing their Christmas shopping / Credit: Freestocks (via Unsplash)
As well as this, some have also admitted to grabbing things like wrapping paper and gift bags, Christmas cards, and decorations too.
Not only that, but as festive food and drink becomes a more common occurrence on shop shelves nationwide, and with many of the UK’s leading supermarket chains having already released their Christmas menu offerings this year, a good chunk of the survey respondents have also owned-up to buying themed snacks with long sell-by dates.
Nearly four-fifths (79%) also say they feel it’s important to support local businesses when doing their shopping for the festive season.
Presents for others were the most-common items already in the basket / Credit: Pxhere | Kerkez (via iStock)
And when it comes to money, among those survey respondents who have started their seasonal spending, it was revealed that they have already spent an average of £94 on gifts, but closer to £110 when taking into account everything else they’ve bought.
Speaking on the survey results, Andrei Ciripitca – who is the Vice President at American Express – called the festive period “an important time for businesses and shoppers alike”.
Daisy Jackson -
22nd December 2022 
