The small town of Thirsk is not exactly what you would call a burgeoning metropolis. With a meager population that doesn't even top five thousand citizens nobody will mistake Thirsk for Birmingham any time soon. All the same, appearances can be deceiving and Thirsk, despite its diminutive size, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in North Yorkshire and beyond thanks to the vast array of entertaining diversions to be found in the town.
One of the most popular aspects of Thirsk is without a doubt the famed Thirsk Racecourse. This thoroughbred horse racetrack is one of the most lauded of its kind and the one mile and two furlong track regularly brings the best trainers jockeys into town in order to train and compete. The track as it is now has been in use since 1923 which is admirable in and of itself but the earlier course just under the new track has been raced on for hundreds and hundreds of years on end.
For those not interested in horseracing per se, the beloved North York Moors are also very close to Thirsk and many of the visitors who flock to the town each year come with the purpose of exploring these majestic landscapes. Though it is considered a National Park the North York Moors are home to over twenty thousand residents and Thirsk generally is considered to be a part of the Moors' enormous five hundred plus square mile radius. The heather gables that make up the better part of the Moors are phenomenally beautiful but there is any number of geological wonders that draw people to the area. The gorgeous, jutting crags that can be found nearly everywhere are but one example of the magic found in the area. These rocks date back to the Jurassic period and have seen millions of years of history pass before the concept of mankind was even a thought in the back of a monkey's mind.
This isn't to say that Thirsk itself is devoid of beauty, though; on the contrary, Thirsk has more wonders to offer than simply a counter-clockwise racecourse and chief among these gorgeous sights is the famed medieval market square. Every week the town is transported back to the days when open air markets were the thrill of every man, woman, and child and the view of the St. Mary's Church, built in the 1400s, adds even more splendor to the spectacle. There are also of course more modern amenities to be found in the town as well, though, and these include the famed Ritz Cinema on Westgate. This free cinema is fully operated by volunteers and it is one of Britain's oldest cinemas still in existence. Seeing a classic movie in a classic movie house is a hard thing to top and the atmosphere of the town seems similarly bent on bestowing both wonder and nostalgia at the same time. Anybody in the mood for an experience that is both brand new and timeless would do well to pay a visit to the quaint little heaven in North Yorkshire known as Thirsk.
| 
+44 (0)1845 577310
+44 (0)1845 577342
