A Visit to Thirsk & Snowfall

Yesterday we decided to pay a visit to Thirsk. When we set off it was quite dull and grey, and by the time we were driving from Dick Hudsons towards Menston it was distinctly foggy! I'd said that if it got any worse we would turn back. Fortunately as we dropped down into Otley the fog had more or less disappeared, but it was still quite grey.

We headed past Rudding Park where I had been playing a wedding only a fortnight ago, and on to the A1. Then on to the A167/A19. By the time we got to Thirsk it was time for something to eat, but sometime previously Dot had decided to bank all her collection of 1p, 2p and 5p coins, so our first port of call was at the Nat West Bank in Thirsk!

You can see the bank to the left of the Market Square Clock Tower

Thirsk Market Square Clock Tower

We called for a meal at the York Tea Rooms, which is the building with the old style gas lamp on the upper floor (to the left on the following photo).

Thirsk is an interesting place, being a long established market town, and having a fair claim to fame with some of its previous inhabitants.

You will no doubt have heard of James Herriot (Alf Wight in real life) the vet who wrote a very successful series of books about the Dales characters he came across during his life as a vet. His surgery is situated in Kirkgate, and is now The World of James Herriot Museum.

I would be surprised if you knew that Nicholas Rhea (real name Peter Walker) is based in Thirsk. He is the ex policeman who wrote many of the Heartbeat books (which became a television series) as well as the amusing series of books about his life and experiences as a country "bobby". He is a prolific writer and uses six psuedonyms!

Did you know that way back in 1755 Thomas Lord was born in Kirkgate. He was the founder of Lord's Cricket Ground in London!

You could possibly have heard of Bill Foggitt the weather forecaster who had weather records going back many years, and used his own country methods to forecast the weather. He was often more accurate than the official weather forecasters!

One of Thirsk's other claims to fame - The Ritz Cinema, now nearly 100 years old!

I would imagine that if you visited Thirsk today you would most likely see it looking like this:

It certainly wasn't a surprise to have snow this morning. It had been forcast on the TV weather last night, and I had also seen it forecast on the BBC weather forecast on the internet.

Snow falling this morning.

One of the surprising things was the size of the snowflakes. Some of them look distinctly like white feathers as they fell.

Public Transport and Holiday Hotspots

As the holiday season is approaching I got to thinking about those people who decide to leave their cars at home and use public transport. We have all been exhorted to do this and cut down on the CO2 emissions. The only problem is that public transport, even in some of the most popular tourist spots a can be a little hit and miss. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

I do voluntary work in a local TIC (Tourist Information Centre) and I regularly get asked about public transport to a place called Malham. It is at this point that my heart sinks, because I know that there are only two buses to Malham during the week. One departs at 07.05 and arrives in Malham at 07.50. It then departs at 08.10. The second bus of the day departs at 15.56 and gets into Malham at 16.35. This second bus immediately returns to its starting place. So you have a choice of getting up early and spending either 20 minutes in Malham, eight and a half hours, or else staying overnight.

During my time with TIC I have seen marked trends in holiday tourism. Film and Television have done much to popularise certain areas. Whilst you may not instantly recognise the church below, I am pretty sure that the pub called "The Woolpack" on the second photograph will tell you that I am talking "Emmerdale."

The "Woolpack", or to give it its real life name, The Commercial, has become the centre of Emmerdale village life. Yet those who come into TIC seeking Emmerdale are often surprised to learn that there is no such place. What they are talking about in reality is a small village, not far from Shipley called Esholt.

Even then, they are more surprised to learn that the Esholt they see on TV is actually a set built in the grounds of Harewood House, not far from Leeds. The reason for this is that when the real village was used, and its location became widely known, coach tours would regularly turn up to visit Esholt. The result was that this played havoc with the filming schedules so YTV paid for an imitation Esholt to be built in the grounds of Harewood House.This is closed to the public, so they have to make do with visiting the real Esholt!

Herriott Country became another tourist hot spot due to the popularity of the books written by James Herriott, the vet who used to work from a surgery in Thirsk. This was followed by an equally popular BBC TV series as well as two films. James' real name was Alf Wight, and in the books he gave fictitious names to all the villages in and around Thirsk where he worked. His Surgery in Thirsk has now become a museum.

The opening shot of a vintage car going through a watersplash seemed to epitomise those happy go lucky far off days.

Heartbeat Country is another tourist hot spot, due to the TV Series. Below is the garage featured in the series.

I suppose part of the popularity of this series was the nostalgia which it evoked. One only has to see the old Ford Anglia which was the police car in the series, and suddenly memories come flooding back.

Going back even further in time was the wonderful BBC TV Series "Last of Summer Wine." This was filmed in and around Holmfirth (not far from Huddersfield.) Once again, crowds of visitors head for Summer Wine Country even after all the time since the series first began.

A cast of wonderfully eccentric characters, with Compo, Foggy and Clegg, as the three aging reprobates, and Nora Batty (she of the wrinkled stockings) always defending her honour against Conmpo! Below is her cottage, and the photo above is what was Sid's Cafe in the series. Both can be found in Holmfirth.

The tourist trade has much to thank the makers of these series for. Thousands of tourists from all over the world still come looking for their favourite locations from their favourite series.