Our Christmas rag wreath workshop runs on Friday 4 December, from 10am to 12pm, and it leaves the rest of a short December day free in a town that is easy to see on foot. This is that day, planned for two of you, with the clock times written in.
We're at 87 Market Place, and every stop below is a few minutes' walk from our door, so once you have parked you will not need the car again until home time. The Thirsk day planner has walk times and opening hours for all of them.
9:30am, the square
The cafe downstairs is open before the workshop starts at ten, so arrive with time for a coffee first.
Friday is not a market day in Thirsk (those are Monday and Saturday), so the square has no stalls on it.
10am, a wreath each
The workshop is upstairs, led by local maker Helen Shakespeare, who makes rag rugs and rag wreaths from fabric given another use. You knot strips of reused fabric around a wire frame until it is covered, and you take the finished wreath home. The frame, fabric, tools and refreshments are all on the table, so there is nothing to bring. Two hours is the whole session, and there are 12 places.
We have written about why Helen makes her wreaths from old clothes, and how the strips go on, if you want the story before you come.
Helen with one of her finished wreaths.
12:15pm, afternoon tea downstairs
Book two or more places and you can tick a box to add afternoon tea after the workshop, from 12:15, paid in the cafe on the day. The stand usually carries smoked salmon with Longley Farm soft cheese, Yorkshire ham and piccalilli, Yorkshire cheese and apricot chutney, and pastrami and coleslaw, then a sweet scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream and three of the day's homemade cakes. Hot drinks are unlimited, iced tea and iced coffee too. Allow about an hour, and put the wreaths under the table.
Little Bird Made's artisan markets on the square fall on other dates this year, Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November and Sunday 20 December. Those and the rest of the season are in our Christmas round-up.
1:30pm, up Kirkgate
Four minutes up Kirkgate is the World of James Herriot, the real Skeldale House where Alf Wight lived and worked. The museum recommends ninety minutes, and arriving at half past one leaves time for that before it closes; the winter hours and last entry are on that page. The dispensary is the room to slow down in.
If the light holds when you come out, carry on to St Mary's at the top of the street, the fifteenth-century parish church. Its hours are not published, so an open door is a bonus. The churchyard and the tower are worth the walk either way.
If you would rather shop than do a museum: the Old Courthouse on Westgate, five minutes away, has a gallery and a shop of independent artists' work. The shop keeps shorter hours than the gallery, so go straight from tea. After a morning spent with reused fabric, the charity shop trail round the square suits the mood too.
4pm, before dark, and after it
In early December the light goes before four, so plan to be indoors or on your way home by then.
If you are staying into the evening, the Ritz on Westgate is one of Britain's oldest continuously operating cinemas, run by volunteers and five minutes from the square. What is showing that week is on its own website.
Getting here and parking
The Market Place is the closest place to leave a car, and the first hour there is free, which will not cover a day this long. Marage Road and Millgate are both pay and display, three or four minutes from our door. By train, Thirsk station is about a mile and a half west of town at Carlton Miniott, 25 to 30 minutes on foot, and York is roughly twenty minutes away. Trains, buses and parking are set out here.
Save for a spring visit
Thirsk Museum, a few steps from the Herriot museum on Kirkgate, closes for the winter, so leave it for a spring visit. The blue plaque walk and the riverside paths need daylight, and a December afternoon after a long tea leaves too little of it. And if it pours, the museum, the Courthouse and the charity shops are all indoors, and the rainy-day list has more.
Booking the morning
A place on the workshop is 20 per person, and one booking takes up to six. At the time of writing, afternoon tea is 24.9 a head, and the menu has everything else we serve. Book and pay for the wreath workshop here, and your confirmation email comes as soon as the payment goes through. To cancel, ring 01845 523869 by 10am on Tuesday 1 December for a full refund.
