Heaton Fold Garden Centre, a hidden gem selling real Christmas trees

And nothing beats a real Christmas tree, the choosing of it and of course seeing a garden centre all dressed up for the festive season.

We visited Heaton Fold Garden Centre, a real hidden gem, with a popular cafe, where homegrown Christmas trees are being sold.

The council run garden centre is extra special too as it supports adults with learning difficulties by offering them valuable experience.

The garden centre is now offering British-grown Christmas trees for locals, sourced from a farm in Scotland - including the 16-foot Christmas tree that will be adorning Bolton Market this year.

Every Christmas, the garden centre sells about 300 Christmas trees, ranging in cost from £36 for a four-foot tree to £120 for a nine-foot tree.

The nine-foot tree is the largest commercial tree available at Heaton Fold, but not the biggest overall.

The staff wrap the Christmas trees by slotting them trough a metal drum with wrapping tied to one end (Image: PHIL TAYLOR ARPS)

Manager Craig Brayshaw said: "The British-grown trees are better quality as well - better soil in Scotland.

"They have mass-production farms in Germany, for example, but they're mainly for supermarkets."

Heaton Fold Garden Centre has been operating for 30 years - originally set up by Bolton Council as a municipal compound to grow plants for local parks.

Craig Bradshaw helped turn the garden centre into a commercial enterprise (Image: PHIL TAYLOR ARPS)

They eventually combined the park system with local adult care social services as a way to offer the adults in question a way to gain work experience.

The garden centre was eventually made a commercial enterprise with the help of Mr Brayshaw, as the increased revenues were necessary to support the adults.

Heaton Fold currently is currently supporting around 50 adults with learning difficulties - ten different people a day, five days a week.

Trees are packed and stored in the garden centre ready for sale (Image: PHIL TAYLOR ARPS)

Mr Brayshaw said: "They absolutely love it.

"Some of them have been here nearly thirty years.

"In and out, have a cup of tea - we only work with what they can manage."

Heaton Fold Garden Centre supports 50 adults with learning difficulties - ten a day, five days a week (Image: PHIL TAYLOR ARPS)

The largest was a massive 16-foot tree, worth around £500, that Heaton Fold sold to Bolton Council to use at its Christmas market.

Mr Brayshaw said: "That one's a special order.

"We have to get a crane to lift it!"

As well as a garden centre, Heaton Fold is home to a café - Claude's Café - selling a range of delicious food and drink, from Tapas and Sangria in the summer, to Christmas Dinner and Mulled wine in the Winter.

The gift shop at Heaton Fold Garden Centre (Image: PHIL TAYLOR ARPS)

The café is named for former resident cat Claude, who passed away in 2022 after spending over 10 years at Heaton Fold.

Oscar is the Fold's current cat, with the title of 'official on-site Mouse Catcher'.

Snow-white Oscar has another distinctive feature - 'heterochromia' - where one eye is a different colour from the other, his right eye being blue and his left green.

And on December 14 the garden centre will be home to its popular Artisan market, for people to pick up early Christmas gifts and more from 10am to 3pm.