Trentham Gardens (Stoke-on-Trent)

I am a local to Trentham Gardens, one of Stoke on Trents not so many attractions, which has changed so much now it is barely recognisable. A bit of history = now a serpentine park, designed by Lancelot Brown in 1759, with a nineteenth century terrace garden. The house has been demolished and the Trentham Gardens is now a public park. Sir Charles Barry designed an Italian garden beside the lake in 1840. His design has been simplified, but survives. In 2004 the gardens were restored and re-opened under the name Trentham Leisure. There are overpriced shops, a garden centre, overpriced restaurants and a hotel. It used to be a free beautiful open park with a rich ...  Read the complete review

Overall we didn't enjoy our day out at Trentham Gardens. It's very much a family place, young kids especially. Our main problem was disabled access -- the shale/shingle path was almost impossible to get around with a wheelchair, and features a couple of steep declines/inclines. I almost lost control of the chair at times. Other irritations include pricey and just unpleasant food at the garden centre (tough meat, tiny soft drinks sizes, warm and stale sandwich). Few of the shops sell anything you want or will find useful. "Riverside Restaurant" is a shack that sells pre-packaged sandwiches. Italian Tearoom needed sweeping. Ice cream stall shut at 4pm, leaving many annoyed people. All a bit of an effort and too money-grabbing. Give this place a miss. There are nicer places to visit in that part of Staffs.

Very disappointed, I have been visiting Trentham Gardens a few times a year and enjoying a good day-out. This year there is a charge for admission onto the lakeside walk, which previously has been free, the charge is £7 which is expensive for a 3 mile walk. This admission does include entrance into the italian gardens, which the last time was only about £5 on its own, once its been seen, there is no need to return. The large white 'tent' infront of the chaple ruins the view.

Roy

Overpriced rubbish on sale in the main building which is the 'Garden Centre' If you want to pay £100 or more for a piece of wood tacked onto a metal base then be my guest. Had dinner in the 'Italian Restaurant' received a small lasagne which was just slop in a bowl that has been microwaved, it made me feel sick. Oh and they put a small salad with it. I had a better lasagne ready meal from Asda 2 days after eating here, it was tastier and a lot bigger. Oh, and the staff all run around the centre like headless chickens with their walkie talkies on the highest volume possible - weird !! A complete rip off day out - Avoid ...  Read the complete review

Me and my boyfriend have “date Wednesdays” – every Weds we take it in turns to take the other on a date. This week it was my turn. I heard about Trentham Gardens on the internet and it sounded like a good place for a day out, and so off we went. Trentham gardens are just to the south of Stoke on Trent. It’s apparently easy to get to by car, rail or bus. We got the 101 bus from Newcastle-under-Lyme and it only took about 10/15 minutes. We arrived at the ‘estate’ just before 10am, as everything opens at 10am. There are seasonal variations to opening times, so I’d check out their website before you decide to go ...  Read the complete review