Lets move to Tadcaster, north Yorkshire | Property
Let’s move to Tadcaster, north Yorkshire
This article is more than 8 years oldThis friendly little market town is dominated by the Sam Smith’s brewery
What’s going for it? If Yorkshire appeals but you find Leeds too urban and sprawling, and York too touristy and twee, then squint between the two on a map and you’ll find Tadcaster, a small market town not making much fuss. If you head there, you won’t need to look for it so much as sniff it out, since Tad has been dominated by its brewing industry for, ooh, about 800 years, thanks to the limestone water. As a result, the town may smell a little fruity, but it’s actually quite pleasant: the Sam Smith’s brewery (not to be confused with the pop star) still employs a cooper, a signwriter and an ostler, its shire horses making local deliveries five days a week. If this sort of thing was happening anywhere near London, they’d be spaffing on about their artisan values in a chunky hipster typeface and hoiking up their prices. As it’s the friendly people of Tad doing what they’ve always done, they just get on with it. The town sits astride the river Wharfe, is surrounded by fields, and is in a very flat bit of Yorkshire, so kids can ride their bikes for hours as if PlayStations never happened. Perhaps.
The case against Compared with more majestic small Yorkshire towns, Tad can feel a bit drab.
Well connected? Driving is excellent, as the A1 and M1 both pass nearby, while the A64 neatly joins Tadcaster to York and Leeds. Leeds Bradford airport is a 45-minute drive. Tadcaster no longer has a station, but nearby Ulleskelf and Church Fenton do, with trains to Leeds, York and Sheffield. Buses to York and Leeds.
Schools Primaries: St Joseph’s Catholic and Riverside are both “good”, says Ofsted; Tadcaster East “requires improvement”. Secondary: Tadcaster Grammar is “good”.
Hang out at... Sapori di Napoli on Westgate for good Italian food, or the Tea Lounge for tea and sandwiches (unbelievably, you have to book).
Where to buy Station Road is a leafy area seconds from the centre, while on the other side of the river are more modern estates. It’s all a bit cheaper than York. Large detached houses in neighbouring villages, £380,000-£450,000. Detacheds in town, £200,000-£380,000. Bungalows, £165,000-£325,000. Semis: £150,000-£270,000. Flats: £80,000-£235,000. Rentals: two- to three-bed house, £600-£800pcm. Flats, £425-£550pcm.
Bargain of the week 18th-century, Grade II-listed house, with planning permission for two more houses in its enormous garden, £550,000 with rentonandparr.co.uk.
From the streets
Dan Cruces “Tadcaster community swimming pool is beautiful, and the staff are all volunteers.”
Gillian Lodge “Great place to live and bring up children, low crime rate. Two great butchers.”
Caroline Anderson “Lovely walks along the river, under the 1840s viaduct that never actually became a railway.”
Live in Tadcaster? Join the debate below.
Do you live in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. Have a favourite haunt or pet hate? If so, please email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 24 November.
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