Asking for a friend! Tell me about Thirsk, Yorkshire

[Helpmehelpmyfriendplease]

Is Thirsk Yorkshire a nice place to live if:

Very newly single
Need a fresh start in a gentle environment (abusive relationship)
Will not be able to afford a car
Have an anxious small dog (hope he will be less anxious away from the abuse)

Thirsk seems to tick a lot of boxes. Small but has a station with under 3hrs to London if ever needed. 24hr vet. Walkable to supermarkets to get groceries. Have I been watching too much James Herriot?

If not Thirsk, where? stable job but only earn 25k a year so thinking up north might be more affordable, with added bonus of being very far from ex. Can be fully remote so it doesn’t matter where. Just needs to be a nice place to restart life with dog. Does this place exist?

Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you!

Beverley is great. Definitely worth consideration. 14 mins by train to Hull, then an hour to Leeds. There are direct London trains from Hull and also from Bev although probably less frequently. Trains up the coast to Scarborough. I understand there's talk of reopening the line to York. The town centre is busy and feels prosperous, and there seem to be things going on. It's very walkable. I have family who have moved over that way and I wish they'd moved to Beverley rather than a village.

That’s the one I spotted @pinkpony88 ! I think it’s very cute! If my DH had to be an enormous arse or popped his clogs, I could see myself living there happily.

taking my rose tinted glasses off, I feel like I don’t see enough radiators in the pictures - just one - and it looks like an electric heater in the bathroom. Dachshunds hate to be cold…

but I did send it to my friend and she said it was cute. (I usually get a lot of valid reasons why something might not be practical , so that was high praise indeed!)

Beverley is very dog friendly. Lots of places to walk with dogs. Lived here for nearly 3 years. It is the best place out of about 10 I have lived in. If you want to know more I am happy to help.

I'd live in Beverley. It's lovely. Lots of shops.

The Westwood is great for exercise and nature.
Has a large council sports centre with pool.
It's a busy and friendly town

I often visit on a Sunday. There's lots open and so many people walk their dogs around the centre.

It always seems very clean too.

Does anyone have any thing to say about all electric heating. Not looking at this flat specifically but wondering what the heating bills would be like.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/168775541

not much to update, she’s still weighing her north vs south options…

Very expensive, up to 30p per kw per hour, so £100 ish per month for one 2kw heater on 6 hours a day.

Thanks. I thought it would be expensive but not that much 😳

I’m guessing cost per month would reduce over summer months but that would be a significant cost!

Hello again. Anyone got any comments/thoughts/suggestions of this?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/167590937

Particularly if it’s on a bus route? Does anyone know the name of the bus company that operates in the area.

Or circling back to Thirsk:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133253501

or

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169667567

both are too big - she absolutely does not need 3 beds, but are the areas ok in terms of being safe, community oriented and easy to access town?

in terms of how she’s doing, for those who asked, it’s two steps forward, one step back. A lot of grief and mixed emotions but I think she’s slowly making some progress.

thanks once again for all your help and input…

Both of the first properties are about 5 to 10 minutes walk into the centre of Thirsk and I’m pretty sure the buses go down e Road there’s a high school at the bottom

They are both in safe neighbourhoods I’d err on the Sowerby side if I had to make a choice

There are lots of community things on in Thirsk - depending on what she was in to (Women’s Institute would be good as a start as they are lovely and welcoming)

if she did decide to move there - PM me and I’d be happy to help (I live about 20 mins away but go regularly)

Someone actually in Thirsk might be able to f
Give accurate information... but that railway line is the East Coast Mainline, and the large white cross you can see on the map is the Airfield. So might be slightly noisy.

Hull and Beverley are served by East Yorkshire buses. https://www.eastyorkshirebuses.co.uk/

The service that runs from Hull to York goes through Beverley and runs every half an hour, it’s a pretty decent service.

I love Beverley, lots of good shops in town with a good market on Saturdays, I don’t live there but often shop and go out on an evening there. There’s a retail park on the way to Hull called Kingswood and for all the bad press Hull used to get, I like it there and there’s decent shops there too.

Airfield is part of Alanbrooke Barracks, it was RAF Topcliffe.
Currently a few helicopters, gliders and Yorkshire Air Ambulance use it.

YAA are moving further out of Thirsk, early next year.

Both of those properties in Thirsk would be ok areas. As pp said, most of Thirsk is fine but personally I would opt for the Sowerby side, lots of new housing there.

West Yorkshire is cheaper than North Yorks, not all built up and still with some nice places to live. Good links to Leeds/Manchester and beyond.

Both of those properties are in good areas OP.

Poppy Drive is on the new Sowerby Gateway estate which is where I live. I can see Poppy Drive from my house. Even though it's new builds there's a good community spirit and it's a nice friendly area.
I love loving here.

School Garth is close by on the older bit of Sowerby, opposite the sports village and next to the high school. The roads there get a bit crazy at school run times but it might not bother your friend if she doesn't drive.

There are sometimes jets and helicopters going over from the air base but it's only occasionally and most people enjoy seeing them.
I live closer to the railway line than Poppy Drive and honestly hardly notice the trains.

There is a new bus service that goes into the town centre every hour, it takes about 5 minutes on the bus or about a 20 minute walk.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169885685#/?channel=RES_LET

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169866224#/?channel=RES_LET

How about these OP if the ones you linked are too big?

William's court is a two minutes walk to the town centre. There's a nice view of Cod Beck and there are Otters and Kingfishers spotted there often.

Long street is a five minute walk. Further down there is a Nisa, a fish shop and an Indian restaurant.
An M&S foodhall is being built on the opposite side of the street.

Thanks all for your input. Such a helpful bunch.

Thanks For the links @RightOnTheEdge we’ve seen those two with the second probably being more suitable for her with her little dog. It’s good to have our “finds” validated.

It’s been a very tough week, but she’s making a little progress.