I read with interest and total agreement your article Old York, New York (October 19). During the summer, my friend and I made the life-changing decision to move our small craft-fair business into retail premises.

We would dearly love to have opened in York, but found the rents and business rates totally

prohibitive.

We have a unique product to sell in children's name plaques which we make and paint ourselves, having even ventured into on-line selling via our web-site.

We spent time looking at various York-based premises, but even when tucked away in lesser known streets, we could not afford them with our limited start-up capital.

Totally determined, we had to look further afield, and eventually settled on a small shop in Tadcaster. We have only been open a month but feel we have already made our mark on the place, and rely heavily on the good people of Tadcaster to spread the word about the gifts, cards and collectables in Chrysalis.

We have had to display a lot more than our own hand-made goods, which does detract a bit from our crafting origins, but we are determined to make a go of it.

Tadcaster may be smaller than York, but it is full of character and has been very welcoming to us so far... plus parking is free, a bonus we hope that will encourage people to come and see us once they know we're there.

We won't give up on York though... one day, who knows?

Linda Wilkinson,

Chrysalis,

Bridge Street,

Tadcaster.

Updated: 08:33 Saturday, October 29, 2005