Every week, millions of people watch a family sell old cars from what looks like the prettiest village in England. Then they reach for their phone and type the same question: where exactly is this place? The answer is Thornton-le-Dale in North Yorkshire, and knowing where Bangers and Cash is filmed has turned a quiet village on the edge of the moors into a genuine day out for classic car fans from all over Britain.

Where Bangers and Cash Is Filmed: Quick Facts

Main filming location	Thornton-le-Dale, North Yorkshire
Showroom address	Roxby Garage, Pickering Road, Thornton-le-Dale
Company registered office	Unit 10 Enterprise Way, Thornton Road, Pickering, YO18 7NA
Nearest town	Pickering, about 3 miles west
Setting	Edge of the North York Moors National Park
County	North Yorkshire
On display	Over 100 cars, motorbikes and automobilia
Parking	Car and coach park for 300+ vehicles nearby
Business	Mathewsons Classic Cars Ltd
Producer	Air TV, based in York
First aired	18 April 2019

The Village Itself

Thornton-le-Dale sits about three miles east of Pickering, right on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. It is the kind of village that appears on calendars: a beck running beside the road, stone cottages, and one famous thatched roof that has been photographed more times than anyone can count. It was already a well-loved spot long before a television crew arrived. What has changed is who comes and why. Alongside the walkers and the day trippers, there are now people who have driven three hours specifically to look at old cars.

The Showroom at Roxby Garage

The heart of the operation is the showroom at Roxby Garage on Pickering Road. Inside, more than a hundred cars and motorbikes sit alongside a genuinely impressive collection of automobilia: signs, badges, tools, all the bits and pieces that build up around fifty years in the motor trade. This is where much of the programme is filmed, and it is where the family have based themselves since the move north. If you have only seen it on television, the scale is the thing that surprises people. It is bigger in person than it looks on screen.

Why the Mathewsons Ended Up Here

The family did not start here. Derek Mathewson began trading cars in Bedfordshire in 1970, and for years the business ran from the south. But the family had connections in the north and had spent many holidays in the area, and in 1988 they moved for good. Thornton-le-Dale suited a motor museum perfectly, sitting on a route that brings visitors through to the moors and the coast. The auctions only started in 2011. Our piece on Mathewsons Classic Cars tells the full story of how the business got here.

Can You Actually Visit?

Yes, and plenty of people do. The showroom has become a destination for fans of the show, and the practical proof of that is the parking. There is a car and coach park with space for over three hundred vehicles within a few hundred yards, which is not something a sleepy village normally needs. Coaches. Actual coaches. If you are planning a trip, it is always worth checking the company’s own website first for current opening times and auction dates, because a viewing day and a normal weekday are very different experiences.

What Else Is in the Village

Do not make the mistake of driving in, looking at cars and driving out. Thornton-le-Dale has tea rooms, walks along the beck, and easy access into the North York Moors National Park. Pickering, three miles away, is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which means you can pair a morning of classic cars with an afternoon behind a steam locomotive. For anyone who loves old machinery, that is close to a perfect day. The village handles visitors well, but it is still a village, so patience with parking helps.

Filming Beyond the Showroom

Not every scene happens in Yorkshire. A large part of each episode follows the team out collecting cars, and those trips go all over the country. In Series 13 alone, Charlie Mathewson headed onto the North York Moors for his first solo collection to fetch an Austin van, while he and Paul Mathewson travelled down to Northampton to extract a Daimler Sovereign and a Sunbeam Alpine. Those road trips are half the programme. The showroom is home base, but the stories are scattered across barns and garages nationwide.

Who Makes the Show

The programme is made by Air TV, an independent production company based in York, so even the film crew are local. It first aired on 18 April 2019 on the Yesterday channel, now U&Yesterday, with Toby Foster narrating. Keeping production in Yorkshire matters more than it sounds. The show sounds and feels like the place it is filmed in, which is a large part of why it works. British factual television has learned that authenticity travels further than polish, as Jeremy Clarkson has proved on a farm in the Cotswolds.

Getting There and Planning Your Trip

Thornton-le-Dale sits on the A170 between Pickering and Scarborough, which makes it an easy drive from York, Leeds or the coast. There is no railway station in the village itself, so most people arrive by car or coach. Pickering, three miles west, is the nearest town of any size and has more accommodation. If you are coming a long way, treat it as a full day rather than a quick stop. The village is small, the roads are narrow in places, and rushing rather defeats the point of somewhere this pretty.

Best Time to Visit

Summer weekends are the busiest, because the village attracts moors-and-coast traffic as well as show fans. If you would rather look at the cars in peace, a weekday out of season is far more comfortable. If, on the other hand, you actually want to feel the atmosphere of the programme, an auction viewing day is the thing to aim for, because that is when the place is properly alive. Either way, check the Mathewsons Classic Cars website first. Auction dates move, and turning up on the wrong day is a long drive for nothing.

Why This Village Suits the Show So Well

Part of why Bangers & Cash feels so comfortable to watch is the setting. A stone village on the edge of the moors gives the programme a warmth that an industrial estate never could, and it quietly reinforces the idea of a family business rooted in one place. That sense of place is doing real work. British factual television has learned that where a show is set matters almost as much as who is in it, whether that is Sarah Beeny in the West Country or a Yorkshire auction house on the A170. Location is character.

Meeting the Family on a Visit

A question that comes up constantly: will you actually see the Mathewsons if you visit? Sometimes, yes. It is a working business and the family are usually somewhere on site, particularly around auction days. But it is worth setting expectations sensibly. They are there to do a job, not to meet visitors, and filming schedules mean nobody can promise who will be around on any given day. Treat it as a bonus rather than the reason for the trip. The cars, the automobilia and the village are the attraction, and the third generation like Charlie Mathewson and Jack Mathewson are often the ones on the floor.

Final Thoughts

So the answer to where Bangers & Cash is filmed is a village most people had never heard of ten years ago and now arrive at by the coachload. Thornton-le-Dale gave the Mathewsons a home in 1988, and nearly four decades later the family have handed the village something back. If you go, give yourself a full day. Look at the cars, walk by the beck, and then find the family in our Bangers and Cash cast guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Bangers and Cash filmed?

Mainly in Thornton-le-Dale, North Yorkshire, at the Mathewsons showroom on Pickering Road, about three miles east of Pickering.

Can you visit the Bangers and Cash showroom?

Yes. The showroom is open to visitors and displays over 100 cars and motorbikes. Check the company website for opening times before travelling.

Is there parking at Thornton-le-Dale?

Yes. There is a car and coach park with space for more than 300 vehicles within a few hundred yards of the showroom.

What is the Mathewsons address?

The showroom is at Roxby Garage, Pickering Road, Thornton-le-Dale. The company’s registered office is Unit 10 Enterprise Way, Pickering, YO18 7NA.

Is Bangers and Cash filmed anywhere else?

Yes. Collection trips are filmed across the UK, from the North York Moors to places as far south as Northampton.

Who makes Bangers and Cash?

It is produced by Air TV, an independent company based in York, for the U&Yesterday channel. Toby Foster narrates the series.

Disclaimer: This article is for general information. Opening times, parking and auction dates change, so please check the Mathewsons website before planning a visit. Location details are taken from the company website and published broadcaster information.