Thirsk market fills the cobbled square outside our door every Monday and Saturday, and from now to Christmas it is a good place to start a present list. We are at 87 Market Place, on the square itself, so the plan below starts and ends at our door.
Shop the morning, book afternoon tea for half past twelve or later, and leave the heavy bags in the car until after the cake.
A morning of shopping round the square
The market sets up across the square on Monday and Saturday mornings, with produce, plants, household goods and clothing. It is a working market, so it suits the stocking-filler end of the list.
Two minutes across the square, up Kirkgate, Kristina's is a family-run gift shop at 3a that buys Fairtrade, UK-made, recycled and personalised stock. Ask about personalising early in the day, since anything made up for you takes time.
For the browsing sort, eight charity shops sit within a minute or two of the square, six of them on Market Place itself. An hour does the whole circuit.
Little Bird Made brings its artisan market, makers selling their own work, to the square for three days, Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November, and again on Sunday 20 December, from 10am to 3pm. Christmas in and around Thirsk has the rest of the season's markets and fairs.
Booking afternoon tea from your phone
The booking page works on a phone as well as it does on a computer, so you can book from the sofa the night before, as long as it is 24 hours before your time. Choose a date, a half hour and how many of you there are. Any half hour from 12 to 3 is bookable, or 12 to 2 on Sundays, and the calendar runs sixty days ahead.
The 24 hours is there because the kitchen bakes for the tables it knows about. We confirm by email, and you pay in the cafe on the day. Online bookings take two to six people. For seven or more, ring 01845 523869.
On a shopping Saturday, book. Saturday is our busiest day of the week, about half of all our trade comes between 11 and 2, and the room has 24 seats.
If plans change, we ask for 72 hours' notice to cancel.
What is on the stand
Usually four kinds of sandwich: smoked salmon with Longley Farm soft cheese, Yorkshire ham and piccalilli, Yorkshire cheese and apricot chutney, and pastrami with coleslaw. Then a scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream, three of the day's homemade cakes, and unlimited hot drinks, iced teas and iced coffees. The menu has the current price, which is 24.9 a head at the time of writing.
How much food it is
A 12:30 booking stands in for lunch. A 2:30 one is the late lunch and the cake in one sitting, so skip the mid-morning bacon roll.
Ask and we will box up what you cannot finish. Allow about an hour; the table is yours for as long as you want it.
Gluten free and other swaps
Afternoon tea can be made without gluten-containing ingredients with at least 24 hours' notice, in a kitchen that handles flour every morning. Ask about vegan cakes and swapped fillings when you book. The dietary page sets out what we can and cannot do, and if an allergy is serious, ring us before you book.
Afternoon tea as a present
If the present list includes someone who would rather sit down than unwrap something, a gift voucher covers it. They come in 25, 50, 75 and 100 and are valid for 12 months, and a 50 covers afternoon tea for two at today's price. For now, order one by ringing 01845 523869 or through the gift vouchers page. To use one for afternoon tea, ring when you book so we can note its code.
Booking
Pick a date and a half hour on the booking page, at least 24 hours ahead.
