FEW people more richly deserved to collect a honour at Yorkshire's annual tourism award this week than Ian Ashton.

Thirsk's World of James Herriot won the title of best Small Visitor Attraction at the White Rose Awards in Harrogate on Monday - one better from their highly commended in the same category last year.

Mr Ashton is the attraction's managing director and the man chiefly responsible for rescuing the museum centred on the life and work of this country's most famous vet from oblivion.

Just three years ago, the centre was losing thousands of pounds a month in the care of Hambleton District Council and faced closure.

Mr Ashton, with others, took it into private ownership and made some tough decision to cut costs. It is now firmly in the black and continuing to bring 27,000 visitors a year to the town. That makes it a valuable economic asset for the town.

On a more sentimental note, it also keeps alive the legacy of the ultimate feel-good author whose books still evoke the fondest of memories.

Monday night's celebration, enjoyed with his colleagues from the centre, was just reward for Mr Ashton's vision and hard work.

Miracle getaway

A friend of Spectator's, accustomed over many years to the bottleneck that is Yarm High Street at rush hour, said the most remarkable thing about the audacious raid on the jewellers in the town last week was the time chosen to carry out the heist.

He can't understand how the robbers in an Audi A6 – not the smallest of cars – managed to make a quick getaway – at 5pm.