A popular Cheshire garden centre has been hailed as a perfect spot to visit during the Bank Holiday weekend for its miniature railway and tearoom.
Brookside Garden Centre, located in Poynton, has been a mainstay of the area for more than half a century now and is a popular visiting spot for those looking for garden essentials, green inspiration, and the opportunity to walk around and peruse what’s on offer.
For young families, one of the main attractions of the garden centre is its miniature railway. The Brookside Miniature Railway, which is open from 10.30am to 4pm Thursday to Sunday each week and on Bank Holidays, has been running since 1984 and is run by volunteers and local enthusiasts, reports the MEN.
The train ride, which costs £2.50 per person, is over half a mile long and takes in the garden centre and a number of scenic attractions, including a ‘fairy wood’, a Motive Power Depot, and also goes past the garden centre’s restaurant, offering a perfect opportunity to wave to diners.
The Brookside Miniature Railway has been running since 1984 and is run by volunteers and local enthusiasts(Image: MEN)
Reviews online have been particularly favourable of the attraction, with one person hailing it as a ‘great experience’. Another person said: “A cute little train to occupy the family for a little while. All in the garden centre so it made a nice little morning once we’d explored. It’s clear the people looking after the railway care about it and there are lots of little things to see on the way round.”
One other reviewer commented: “Excellent for kids and all the family. The volunteers that run the place are spot on. The train runs round the garden centre.” Another commented: “It is run by people who really like to make this railway fun. It’s not a little run down a straight track. The train goes all around the garden centre and there are little tunnels.”
The Miniature Railway costs £2.50 a person and takes in a journey through the garden centre via the likes of a ‘Fairy Wood'(Image: Brookside Miniature Railway)
The restaurant, open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sunday, serves a range of breakfast, lunch, deli dishes and main courses across a ‘regionally-inspired menu’. Dishes on offer include a hot roast beef ciabatta, hand-battered fish-and-chips, a vegan Buddha Bowl, and a Gammon Ham and Cheddar Cheese toasted sandwich.
The 220-cover restaurant and café also serves a number of specials, as well as cakes, pastries and other treats. On TripAdvisor, people have praised its ‘feast’ of a breakfast, and its ‘delicious and homely’ menu.
The 220-cover restaurant and café serves a range of delicious cakes and traybakes(Image: Brookside Garden Centre)
In addition, the garden centre, which is run by the Klondyke and Strikes Garden Centres group, is also home to a fish shop, offering the chance to purchase fish for aquariums and ponds, as well as a model railway shop.
Outside of the Bank Holiday weekend, the garden centre has a number of events coming up, including the Keeling’s Family Vintage Fun Fair, which will take place from May 23 and 25. It will feature a range of traditional fairground games and rides, with ride tokens starting from £2.50 each.
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