Skipton-in-Craven, Yorkshire,UK

Skipton

Skipton is a Yorkshire market town of 13,500 in the district of Craven, the town is known as "The Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales"; our customers are intelligent, world travelling and careful buyers. The town grew up from the eleventh century as a service provider to Skipton Castle and the hinterland of what was later the Clifford Estates that spread down into Keighley, and upwards into Cumberland.

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a mill development mainly in cotton. Titus Salt wanted to develop his idea of an ideal mill town here, but the lords of the castle would not allow land to be released from their estates for development. So Titus pushed off down stream a dozen miles and created Saltaire near Shipley.

Skipton Today

Today Skipton is a modern town with financial services, principal amongst these is the Skipton Building Society and subsidiaries such as HLM. We have strong agricultural influences from the Skipton Auction Mart and those business that serve the farming community - solicitors, accountants, land agents, feed companies. There are a number of light industrial parks and business centres about the town, though the cotton mills that were so much a part of nineteenth century Skipton have declined dramatically. Skipton is a centre for the regions tourist industry, and is a good shopping centre, having a decent department store, and still having independent shops, like ourselves, that makes comparison shopping a good experience. Visit www.skiptononline.co.uk for the Chamber of Trades website, and www.daelnet.co.uk for a virtual tour of old Skipton photo's or Skipton Web for information.

With excellent schools and hungry employers Skipton has a very low unemployment level. The town has seen house prices rise, and the call for affordable housing is heard here just as much as in the south-east.

Skipton Tourism

The Tourist Information Office is situated on Coach Street, between two large car parks. There is a Charity Car Park most Saturdays from Easter onwards at Skipton Building Society's Bailey Car Park. This is run by the Rotary Club of Skipton. They will I hope recommend our Millennium Walk as an absolute essential part of any visit to Skipton. It takes the visitor to many of the historic locations, and places of interest. There is a paper guide, and we also have Millennium Malcolm to escort visitors on guided walks.

There is a book that gives a taste of the town's history that was brought out for the Millennium, it is called Skipton 2000 and as joint publisher I can recommend it heartily. All the profits are returned to the town to maintain the walk.

Where is Skipton?

Skipton, North Yorkshire is about half way up and half way across a map of Britain, this is the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales. We are just an hours drive from York, Liverpool, The Trafford Centre in Manchester. We are less time from Leeds/Bradford/Kirklees, Harrogate, Preston & Kendal. The towns of Ilkley, Keighley, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe, Settle, Grassington, Otley & Shipley are close by.

The town is very attractive and welcoming. If visiting from afar do add Skipton to your list of places you must visit and do allow yourself time to enjoy the place.

Thomas's Skipton

Please note that we open 5 days a week from Tuesday - Saturday other than for the first three weeks of December, when we trade six days a week Monday to Saturday and the final Sunday before Christmas..

If you can come to Skipton, do, and please visit Thomas's so don't come Mondays! We have more stock than we can think of putting on the web, and our service is personal.

Jewellery benefits from being tried on and making comparisons between pieces. However if you just can't make it, then we strive to make life easy for you.

Make your selection with the confidence of knowing that if you don't like the item for any reason, we will refund the purchase price of the goods, in our 14 day cooling off period, as long as the item is returned in original condition.