A one night trip to Thirsk (Yorkshire)

I am slowly working my way round the Wetherspoon's hotels. They are a great budget chain, in that they are always in historic buildings, and are of a quality and class well beyond their budget point.

One of the little quirks is you get a key card cover with a sketch drawing of that individual hotel.

At each place I have stayed so far they have been cheaper than the corresponding Premier Inn (or, if available, Travelodge)

I had to go to York two years ago in July to an awards ceremony and had to travel from Cumbria to York on the overnight bus via London, because all the hotels in York (even the Premier Inns) were way beyond budget- over £100 even for a Premier Inn.

While I don't know what the price was in July two years ago, I paid £53.10 for this stay, which I think was a steal.

I got a room overlooking the Market Square. And, for breakfast, I patronised one of the local cafes in the Market Square.

Much of the charm of the pub has, as usual, been kept, with several little corners to eat/drink in.

So far I have stayed at Wetherspoons in Inverness, Barrow-in-Furness, Birmingham, Doncaster, March (for Cambridge), Bridgend (for Cardiff), Ruthin (North Wales), Thirsk and Wigan (for Liverpool or Manchester, or in my case for Lytham and the same annual awards ceremony which moves round the North of England, year on year).
All are unique, but the knock out ones for me have been at March (in an old cinema, a stunning conversion, and my room was a huge room in the adjacent former Middle Levels waterways office), and in Birmingham. The Briar Rose in Birmingham is an amazing conversion job, beautifully celebrating it's past as the home of Edward Burnes-Jones (of the Arts and Crafts Movement)

I wish I had known of this one in Thirsk two years ago.

As I sit here glancing over at my James Herriot books in the bookcase while reading your report, I just know Thirsk is a must stop for when we get to Yorkshire! Thank you for sharing the information about the hotels Weatherspoons run as well. I’m going to be checking those out in the future. I love staying at little inns if they are affordable, clean and well run.

So glad you were able to have some time to celebrate your late father’s and your birthday in such a special way. I would love to hear of the meaningful connection to Thirsk or Alf Wight. (Maybe in PM if it goes against the RS forum guidelines or is too personal to share publicly).

Aside from the cheap HOHO price, was the experience one you would recommend? I always feel those buses are so out of place aesthetically in such an old and historic city. Not that I wouldn’t take one, it is just they look a bit bizarre and intrusive. Maybe if they used the Heritage bus types like we rode in the Cotswolds my eyes would be more accepting. :)

Another thank you for sharing about the Weatherspoons hotels, I love old, well maintained buildings so that intrigued me. And just lovely you could mark the occasion of both you & your late father's birthdays.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks for the trip report, Stuart. I was in Thirsk, as you know, in 2024 and regretted that I didn't get to see much of it. Although I did see the Alf Wight Museum there, and really enjoyed it. I also remember suddenly finding myself going the wrong way down a one-way street. In my defense, I could see no signs. Luckily it was a short street. One car was very annoyed about it, though, and honked at me quite loudly.

And I also appreciate the tip about Weatherspoons hotels. I'll have to check them out for my trip next year in September. Thanks and happy belated birthday!

Actually the HoHo in York is one I would recommend. For me it was outstanding business because when I was there for the awards the event was at York racecourse. On non race days the racecourse is not as easy to reach as you might expect- not exactly hard, but not as good a service as one might think would run.

To me it gave a good introduction (wrong word in my case, but if I was pretending I had never been to York before) to the wider York City, and that's hard to admit to as I am naturally sceptical of such things, and have been to York many times.

The most frequent bus service to the racecourse on non race days is actually the HoHo. I'd never thought twice about the HoHo but if I hadn't had a pre-booked bus ticket that day, I would have used it then, having gone to Rowntree Park first and seeing two HoHo's pass me while I waited for my service bus.

That was when I looked at the route and thought what a good route it was.

The thing is that to me York is not predominantly the historic place most tourists go there for. It is Chocolate Town (from the competing Chocolate factories it used to have), and also a University City with a thriving student population.

Also I hoped to get to Chester before their HoHo ended for the year, as at the end of season they had a £4 seniors offer to just stay on for the hour's ride. Unfortunately I couldn't make it work among competing priorities. I've also been arguing with myself for weeks whether to do the Liverpool HoHo.

It was actually a very hard choice to make as I could either do the HoHo or go to the Bar Convent where they had a special exhibition (which looked very interesting indeed) about The Gunpowder Plot (and Guy Fawkes), or the 3rd option was a new self guided walk around places in the city associated with Guy Fawkes.

I'm happy with my choice, whether or not it was the 'right one'. The Bar Convent or the walk is what I would have expected sensible, normal me to do. I guess.

Infrequently it is OK to be a normal tourist.

Thanks for the York Report! We too, enjoy staying in historic buildings. The last one we stayed in was in Bonner's Ferry Idaho which was a retired red brick 2 story school house. Our room was the History Class. They had added new ensuite full bath with grab bars and a low wall tub, which was swell for me because I could use it easily with a hip replacement. We had booked it beacuse it said elevator, but it did not go to the 2nd floor where our room was the last available. Luckily for me the height of the steps was very small since it was for elementary school kids! It was now owned by Mormons; house rules were no smoking or drinking...which was OK by us. The Breakfast was Fabulous! We also got to use a Card Discount. The Panhandle part of Idaho is quite scenic with several large lakes. This next year we are going to circle the Olympic Peninsula where there are several National Park adjacent historic Lodges. Happy Travels!