Despite being a proud Lancastrian, I always enjoy visiting Yorkshire towns as they quite often have a rustic charm to them. In 2016 we made a visit to Ripon racecourse which has a long history dating back to 1660 and they were quite literally forerunners by having the historic first ever occurrence of a ‘ladies only’ race as early as 1723. It is an ongoing travesty that is has taken another three centuries since then to even reach any modicum of equality in this regard.
The pleasant setting at Ripon Racecourse generates the moniker as Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse, and we stayed nearby at the Black A Moor Inn which was literally five minutes’ walk away down a country road. We visited on St George’s Day where they rather quaintly had a separate turnstile and free access to anyone called George, if you could provide evidence of your name. It was a shame that we didn’t have Uncle George in tow on this trip!
Ripon Racecourse. Image Credit the strayferret.co.uk
They had Theakstons beer on draught which is a good thing in my book and there was also traditional music with a set by the Wetherby Silver Band who have been performing since 1878, not with the same band members! It was a taxi ride into the town centre, and we found a couple of decent pubs to dethaw from the bracing winds outside and I recall the FA Cup semi-final between Everton and Manchester United was showing on a small TV in the corner.
We subsequently ended up in a rather average quality eatery, which was unusual as we always generally found a decent restaurant when away on these trips, quite often a curry house.
In that regard when we visited Catterick races, we stayed in the nearby town of Catterick Garrison and had some tea in the Asha Tandoori, which I would quantify as a hugely traditional venue. This sparked a thought as what criteria constituted a perfect old fashioned Indian restaurant and I have identified five key elements evolved since my first experience of Preston’s ‘Curry 1/16th Mile’ down on Church Street back in the 1980’s!
The first is fine food and drink, including ice cold Cobra, which is a ‘Shay’ Given! The second is traditional bhangra music to tap your feet to and the third is a slopey floor and the dangerous vertigo inducing stairs, an example of this is in the Shahzaad Tandoori in Preston. The fourth is food being served on a trolley in true Mrs Overall style and the fifth is the most important of them all in that at the culmination of the meal you are served After Eights with no substitutes accepted!
Ten miles down the A61 from Ripon lies Thirsk where we visited the races in the summer of 2022, complete with a stay in one of the requisite quirky B&B’s you always find in these small towns! They have been racing there since 1612 and it is a lovely homely old market town with many green areas on the outskirts and the course is within easy walking distance from town. They are the home of the World of James Herriot Museum and are also within a 20-minute commute of direct trains on to York.
Thirsk Market Square. Image Credit reddit.com
At a bandstand at Thirsk Racecourse, we saw a chap called Aidan undertake a short set between races. We completed the day by visiting a couple of hostelries around the Market Square and then had a fine meal at Hung Moey Chinese restaurant to complete the evening.