Location, location, (re)location. There’s a new confidence in this no-nonsense cobbled market town in the Vale of Mowbray, thanks largely to the pandemic relocators fleeing London. The attractions are obvious: the Yorkshire Dales to the west, the North York Moors to the northeast, proximity to the A1, York and Leeds, and direct train services to King’s Cross.
The Channel 5 TV show The Yorkshire Vet may also have helped to put Thirsk on the map in recent years, David Pipes, 54, says. “People might come here because of that, or to the races, and think, ‘What a lovely town’,” says Pipes, who owns the country clothing and shooting apparel shop Humphrey & Tilly with his business partner, Stephen Ranaghan. (The brand is named after Ranaghan’s
