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Our Town 

Consistently voted one of the best places to live in the country, we’re proud of our Spa town. Harrogate has many other claims to fame too...host venue for the Eurovision Song Contest, back when we had a chance of winning; the starting point for the 2014 Tour de France; and home to the best little Digidoodle agency!

Here are some other interesting facts about Harrogate, sadly not all the information is 100% accurate, as we could have made some of it up!

  • The Stray

    Harrogate's very own Central Park. The Stray covers over 200 acres of pretty open grassland that surrounds the centre of town and is actually protected by its own Act of Parliament.

    More importantly, it is the location of the Caboodle mutts' lunchtime stroll. Golf, playing a gramophone and releasing a jet-propelled aircraft are all banned so they just tend to run about.

The Stray
Pitcher and Piano
Pitcher & Piano

The Caboodle drinking haunt and our second boardroom, the scene of many a work night out; you will usually catch one of us in the P&P. We can highly recommend the 1986 Blue Nun and Woo Woo fishbowl, and their sausage butty is the best hangover cure ever! If you do pop in for a swift half, sit at Table 20 at your peril.

That's OUR table. And we'd rather you didn't have a bottle of Bud or Becks either... if they run out, Tosh and Karl will probably have a grade A paddy.

Bettys
Bettys
Harrogate legend and magical creator of the most delicious cakes, scones and biscuits in the land. This photo is a typical Harrogate scene - there’s always a queue at Betty’s. 

Everything tastes like heaven and their Fondant Fancies, Yorkshire Fruit Cake and Fat Rascals are to die for… they could even make a Sweat & Toenail Macaroon taste good.

  • Turkish Baths

    Dating back to the 19th century, Harrogate's Turkish Baths is one of only seven remaining in the country and is the most historically authentic with a water slide, dozens of screaming kids, lots of overwieght parents and an abundance of inflatable zoo animals.

Turkish Baths
Royal Pump Room
Royal Pump Room

Built in 1842, the Royal Pump Room is located on top of Europe's strongest sulphur well and is a stone's throw from Karl's warden-controlled flat. Visitors can still sample Harrogate's infamous spa water there which is renowned for its healing properties and general rancidness.

The water actually ran out in 1998 and was replaced with Sunny Delight. No-one seems to have noticed.

Royal Hall
Royal Hall

When it opened in 1903, the Royal Hall attracted the masses and was THE place to be; imagine Wetherspoon's but with less polyester and Strongbow.

Over the years, the theatre has welcomed top international acts such as The Beatles, Elgar, Pam Ayres and the world famous Black Lace as well as our very own clarinettist, Emma.

We is well cultured, innit.

Mother Shiptons Cave
Mother Shiptons Cave

Mother Shipton was a local witch in the 1500s who was born in a cave just outside Harrogate and prophesied many notable events such as the Great Fire of London, Spanish Armada and even the end of the world...

She sounds like a right laugh. In the cave, visitors can experience the mystical wonder of the Petrifying Well which turns items to stone – particularly effective on frown lines and crow's feet. And men's hearts!

Harrogate Library
Harrogate Library

The library is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture, complemented wonderfully by the tramps drinking White Lightning on the benches outside.

Incidentally, author Charles Dickens visited Harrogate in 1858 and noted: "Harrogate is the queerest place with the strangest people in it."

Bit rude, but we can only assume he bumped into Chris Mackenzie.

  • The Viper Rooms

    Usually the end point of any Caboodle night out or at least the last stop before A&E. At Vipers, the shots are good and the floor has minimal stickiness.

The Viper Rooms