Tom Tate, one of Yorkshire’s most popular and successful horse-racing trainers, is saying farewell to the beloved house where he and his family have lived for the past 36 years, but he isn’t shedding too many tears.
“It’s not because we haven’t loved living here, we absolutely have. But we are only moving a few hundred yards down the road!”
‘Here’ is the handsome Victorian Castle Farmhouse, nestling in the shadow of Hazlewood Castle, midway between York and Leeds. It is the epitome of a beautiful family home, full of memories of a stellar racing career and a rich family life.
Castle Farmhouse, which is now on the market for £1.5 million, effortlessly achieves that perfect balance between a large house, with plenty of rooms and space, and a sense of friendly, lived-in intimacy.
It features four reception rooms, a traditional farmhouse kitchen and breakfast room, a master bedroom with bathroom and dressing room, four further bedrooms, two bathrooms, gardens, included a beautiful walled garden backing on to Hazlewood Castle, and a tennis court. All in all, it covers nearly 2.5 acres.
Tom explained: “This is the perfect home for a young and active family. It’s ideally located half-way between York and Leeds and very close to the Yorkshire’s excellent motorway network. We’ve had so much fun here and we’ve no doubt whoever buys our house will enjoy it as much as we have.”
The Tates moved to the farmhouse from Stainburn, near Otley, in 1989, to develop Tom’s burgeoning training career after he had hung up his reins after 22 seasons as a successful amateur jockey. He will keep the adjacent gallops and continue to train from his new home down the road, the colourfully named Peggy Ellerton Farm.
“We are not really downsizing,” smiled Tom. “Peggy Ellerton has four bedrooms and lots of living space. I think it’s more accurate to say we are re-adjusting our lives as we get older. We’ve been thinking about a move for a few years, but getting planning permission for improvements to our new home has been a long and challenging process.”
“Peggy Ellerton was the place where some of racing’s most famous jockeys used to live. Most of them were hard-living types, hard-drinking types, so our new home has plenty of stories to tell. My wife Hazel, the best thing that ever happened to me, and I will lead a quieter life than those amiable rogues, but we will enjoy ourselves all the same.”.
Tom and Hazel, the sister of legendary trainer Michael Dickinson, who memorably trained the first five horses home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup, met at a hunt ball at the Riley-Smith Hall in Tadcaster in 1969. They married nine months later.
“Hazel and our boys, Richard and James, made Castle Farmhouse a very special place to live. Our five grandchildren love coming here, playing football in the gardens, exploring the house and the grounds. The memories we have of here will live on forever, which is a comfort, as we leave, but more importantly, a joy.”
Leeds-born Tom is very modest about his career as a jockey and a trainer, but he is revered in racing circles in the UK, both as a brilliant practitioner of both disciplines and as a true gentleman. He rode some of the greatest steeplechasers of the last century, such as Silver Buck, Badsworth Boy and Bregawn, and trained high-class horses like Welsh Emperor, Lo Stregone (favourite for the 1997 Grand National), Another Bottle and Ask Tom, winner of the prestigious Tingle Creek steeplechase.
Tom concluded: “I’ve loved every minute of my racing career. We may be saying farewell to Castle Farmhouse, but nothing else is going to change.”
