It might only be mid-September but a popular garden centre in the North East is already feeling festive
13:07, 21 Sep 2026Updated 14:18, 21 Sep 2026
Christmas has arrived at Clay’s(Image: Facebook/Clay’s)
It’s a place loads of us will have fond childhood memories of, whether it be from going to see Santa or wandering around looking at all the decorated trees and Christmas has officially arrived at Clay’s garden centre with the opening of its dedicated festive section. And it’s only just the beginning as more accessories are set to arrive in the coming weeks.
While we could be accused of jumping the gun by writing quite a bit of Christmas content over the summer, which felt particularly weird when we were basking in temperatures hovering around the 30 degree mark; now approaching the end of September and the Great North Run is done and dusted for another year, it’s definitely more acceptable to write about things involving the C word.
And what could be more festive than going to a local garden centre to get some decor inspiration. Clay’s near Washington is one of those garden centres that everyone knows about and many people will have gone as child and then years later with their own children, to carry on family traditions. There is no denying that Clay’s, like many other centres throughout the region, like to make a lot of effort when it comes to Christmas and they’ve made an early start for 2026, by hitting the ground running with this year’s festive display.
READ MORE: North East farm shop that people ‘travel from miles around’ for to host its own Christmas fayre
Sharing a few photos of some of the decorations on Facebook, they wrote: ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Our Christmas selection is looking so magical already! So much time, love and hard work goes into creating our Christmas display every single year, and we’re so excited to finally have it open for you all to enjoy!’
Clay’s also declared that they ‘weren’t finished yet,’ adding: There’s still lots more to come, with plenty of exciting new arrivals and magical finishing touches still to be added! Why not pop in, have a browse and see what’s just arrived? You never know what festive treasures you might find!’
It took no time at all for over 300 comments to quickly come in on Clays’ post, with one excited shopper replying: ‘My favourite place to have a look around each year, and ignore those saying its too early!!! Its never too early’ and another, in firm agreement, writing: ‘Looking forward to visiting. I love a Clays Christmas. It’s never to early for us.’
We have a dedicated newsletter for What’s On news and reviews. It’s free and you can sign up to receive it here. It will keep you up to date with all the latest updates on food, drink, entertainment and events in and around the North East.
ChronicleLive has created a dedicated WhatsApp community for What’s On news and updates. You can join this WhatsApp community here. It will keep you up to date with things to do around the North East and breaking gig announcements, sent directly to your phone.
Comments are closed.