Property feature: Tadcaster - a strong community spirit and a great deal more besides

Tadcaster has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late. Or rather, for one reason: the flooding.
Riversmead, Ouston Lane, Tadcaster - £550,000 with Hunters, 01937 588228.Riversmead, Ouston Lane, Tadcaster - £550,000 with Hunters, 01937 588228.
Riversmead, Ouston Lane, Tadcaster - £550,000 with Hunters, 01937 588228.

It was one of the worst-hit of many towns and villages across the North that battled with rising water levels after Storm Eva hit on Christmas Eve, and became the best-known among them when its 300-year-old bridge partially collapsed five days later.

But the response was swift – at least from its 6,000 local residents, whose unbowed spirit was spoken of with no little awe by visiting dignitaries and journalists from less community-minded places.

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And the Government too eventually pledged £3m to restore the bridge and another £300,000 to erect a stop-gap footbridge to reunite the temporarily divided town.

47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.
47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.

The whole episode left observers with two main impressions. Firstly, that something major needs to be done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again – and happily, millions have been earmarked for beefing up flood defences.

Secondly, it showed that Tadcaster is truly a place to be reckoned with.

Sadly, some things were, perhaps understandably, left out of all the reportage. The vast majority of Tadcaster, for example, is in absolutely no danger of flooding.

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Also, community spirit is far from the town’s only asset. Originally named Calcaria by its Roman fouders after its limestone geology, nowadays Tadcaster has high employment, a great range of independent shops, a weekly market, excellent sports facilities, its own secondary school, good road links, and plenty of pubs and restaurants.

47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.
47 Stutton Road, Tadcaster - £425,000 with Maxwell Hodgson, 01937 589388.

Not to mention a pleasant, hoppy aroma periodically gifted by one or more of the town’s three breweries.

If all that makes it sound like a place you’d like to call home – come rain or shine – you may well be interested in one of the following three properties, which are all currently for sale in the town.

Riversmead is a substantial detached house with views from the back across open fields towards the river beyond. The property was designed several years ago to the vendor’s specification and has five bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs and on the ground floor has two reception rooms, snug, utility room, store and two conservatories. There’s also an adjoining garage and carport, as well as large back garden, mostly lawned, with summerhouse and garden stores.

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On the other side of the River Wharfe, 47 Stutton Road is a detached house in a popular residential area. It has four bedrooms, two reception rooms and snug. There’s also a large adjoining garage, part of which has been converted by the current occupiers for use as a utility area, but the whole double garage area could easily be reinstated if desired. Outside, there’s a large back garden with tap, lights and power point, a gravel drive and plenty of off-street parking.

Finally, back on the east side of the river, 67 York Road is a spacious and modern mid-terrace house with no onward chain. Perfect for many first-time buyers, it has an entrance hall, two good-sized reception rooms, extended breakfast kitchen and, upstairs, two bedrooms and a recently fitted modern house bathroom. Outside, there’s a nicely paved backyard which is ideal as an outdoor seating area.