Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate’s Nelson Inn on the lookout for recruits ahead of grand reopening

This article is sponsored by Brunning & Price.

When the opportunity to inject a new lease of life into an historic Harrogate pub arose, Sam Aston jumped at the chance.

The new manager has moved to the town from the Isle of Wight with her six-year-old Bouvier des Flanders dog, Bear.

She will be leading a new team at the 18th century Nelson Inn pub, near Hampsthwaite, which is set to reopen in November.

Sam brings with her a wealth of experience, having been in hospitality her whole life, and she is “chomping at the bit” to get open.

She said:

“I am so excited to take up my new role in this beautiful, historic inn, which dates back to 1776.

“Customers can expect a warm welcome, good cask beers, freshly cooked food, delicious and affordable wine and a good shelf of malt whiskies and gins. A gluten-free menu will also be available.

“I love to try to new food and local beers and gins and I can’t wait until we launch our fantastic new menu.

“I also really enjoy walking with Bear in the countryside, so the location of the inn is perfect as there are so many lovely walks to explore in the area.

“I’m really looking forward to opening in November.”

New pub manager at the Nelson Inn, Sam, with her dog Bear.

The Nelson Inn, just off Skipton Road, was first built in 1776 and was a private house until the early 19th century.

It was given its name following Nelson’s victory during the Battle of Trafalgar.

It has been taken over by Brunning and Price, which has a portfolio of 80 pub restaurants, including the Highwayman in Kirkby Lonsdale and the Bull at Broughton.

A major restoration and refurbishment of the inn is currently underway.

Join the team

The Nelson is now looking for staff to join Sam and the team, with a range of exciting opportunities available.

They include roles in management, as well as chefs, front of house, cleaners and gardeners.

Part time and flexible hours are available and full training will be offered.

Brunning and Price will be hosting recruitment days at Killinghall Village Hall on Thursday, October 13 and Friday, October 14.

A further open day will be held on October 20.

For more information on the recruitment day and jobs available, email recruitment@brunningandprice.co.uk.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district traffic update

Train passengers in the Harrogate district will be hit by disruption to services this weekend.

Northern and LNER services face strike action tomorrow, which will see no services operate to Leeds and York.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Traffic is moving as normal during rush hour on Wetherby Road, Knaresborough Road and Skipton Road this morning.

However, the A59 York Road, between Station Road and the A658 at Goldsborough, remains closed overnight until October 6.

The closure will be in place between 8pm and 5am while North Yorkshire County Council carries out resurfacing work.

A diversion will be in place via Knaresborough, Ferrensby, Minskip to Boroughbridge.

As previously reported, a main road out of Pateley Bridge will be closed for six weeks as repairs are carried out at Fellbeck bridge on the B6265.

Signs for a diversion and a temporary crossing over the river for pedestrians and cyclists are in place.

Trains and buses

No Northern and LNER trains will run from Harrogate and Knaresborough to York and Leeds tomorrow due to strike action.

Commuters will face further industrial action on Wednesday (October 5) and next Saturday (October 8) which may affect services from Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Northern, which operates the services, has urged passengers not to travel on strike days.

The company has also urged people to check for disruption before they travel on Sunday (October 2) as some services may still be affected.

The strike action comes as rail passengers have also been warned to expect disruption on Harrogate’s LNER services from October 1 until October 9.

Major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail will affect many services on the LNER route during this period.

Today, Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting no cancellations on its services this morning.

You can find out more on the disruption to services here.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district traffic update

Commuters should be aware of upcoming rail strikes in the Harrogate district which will see no trains run on Saturday.

Meanwhile, planned roadworks remain in place across the district which may cause delays for drivers.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Traffic is moving as normal during rush hour on Wetherby Road, Knaresborough Road and Skipton Road this morning.

However, temporary traffic lights remain in place on the A661 Harrogate Road between Harrogate and Spofforth, which may cause delays for drivers heading towards Wetherby.

Northern Gas Networks are carrying out maintenance work on the route. The lights will be in place until September 30.

The A59 York Road, between Station Road and the A658 at Goldsborough, will be closed overnight until October 6.

The closure will be in place between 8pm and 5am while North Yorkshire County Council carries out resurfacing work.

A diversion will be in place via Knaresborough, Ferrensby, Minskip to Boroughbridge.

As previously reported, a main road out of Pateley Bridge will be closed for six weeks as repairs are carried out at Fellbeck bridge on the B6265.

Signs for a diversion and a temporary crossing over the river for pedestrians and cyclists are in place.

Northern Gas Networks has implemented a road closure on Montpellier Road until September 30 as part of maintenance work.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

However, no Northern trains will run from Harrogate and Knaresborough to York and Leeds on Saturday due to strike action.

Commuters will face further industrial action on Wednesday (October 5) and next Saturday (October 8) which may affect services from Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Northern, which operates the services, has urged passengers not to travel on strike days.

The strike action comes as rail passengers have also been warned to expect disruption on Harrogate’s LNER services from October 1 until October 9.

Major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail will affect many services on the LNER route during this period.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on its 36 service this morning.

You can find out more on the disruption to services here.

Business Breakfast: Harrogate district hotels win national awards

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.

Two hotels in the Harrogate district have won national awards.

Grantley Hall in Ripon won hotel of the year for 2022/23 at the AA Hotel and Hospitality Awards.

Meanwhile, Swinton Estate near Masham won the sustainable award at the ceremony, which was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Iain Shelton, chief executive at Swinton, said:

“We are delighted to be recognised for the work we are doing and look forward with working with the AA over the next 12 months in championing sustainability and launching their new initiatives.”

Harrogate firm awarded £762,522 for heat pump project

A Harrogate company has been awarded £762,522 of government funding to carry out a project to make heat pumps cheaper.

GenGame, which is based at Hornbeam Park, has outlined a scheme to use data from smart meters to help optimise the running of a heat pump in a household energy system.

The project comes as part of funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A total of 24 projects in England and Scotland have won funding in the second round of the Heat Pump Ready programme.

Lord Callanan, business and energy minister, said:

“In light of rising global gas and oil prices, getting low-carbon heating technology into homes is a priority for this government as it will help households ditch the costly fossil fuels that are driving up bills.

“Heat pumps are a proven, reliable technology that uses cheaper renewable energy produced in the UK.”

Missing man from Harrogate district found safe

A missing man from the Harrogate district has been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal this afternoon for information to find the man, who was last seen leaving his home on Tuesday this week.

But the force reported tonight that the man had been traced.

We have therefore updated this article and removed the man’s name and photo.

Some good news!

The 40 year old man from the Harrogate area has been found safe and well.

Thank you for your support with the appeal. pic.twitter.com/7YlsbsISE7

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) September 28, 2022

Yorkshire Water gives £70 account payments to low-income households

Yorkshire Water is to give low-income households in the Harrogate district £70 payments to help with the cost of living crisis.

The company announced today it will automatically award the payment to customers on its social tariffs.

It comes as people across the district has seen energy bills increase and the price of goods and services hike with inflation.

Yorkshire Water said that up to 45,000 people will receive an automatic discount on their bills. However, it also estimates that a further 200,000 could be eligible for support.

Angie Markham–Nock, customer support manager at Yorkshire Water, said:

“We know a lot of customers are worried about money at the moment and we’re seeing more people than ever benefit from our financial support schemes. We hope this £70 payment will provide some relief to households across Yorkshire this year.

“We don’t want our customers to worry about paying their next bill – our financial support schemes are there to help and can provide some relief to those who need it.”

The company has urged people who may be eligible for a discount to get in touch. You can find out more information on the support on water bills here.

Harrogate estate agents sees renewed interest in self-build homes

This story is sponsored by Linley & Simpson.

A Harrogate estate agency has seen renewed interest in the number of people looking to follow the European trend and build their own home.

The new homes department at Linley & Simpson believes there is a growing appetite in the community to take advantage of this approach amid the cost of living crisis.

As a result, it has launched a new research project to pinpoint how big the interest is.

On the continent, around one-in-three homes are self or custom build – yet in England, the figure is less than 10%.

In Harrogate district, even fewer are following this trend with government statistics showing that just 95 planning permissions for serviced plots have been granted since ministers launched the Right to Build initiative in 2016.

The legislation was designed to address concerns about affordability, and make it easier for people who wanted to build or commission their own home.

David Waddington, director of new homes at Linley & Simpson, said the cost benefits of self-build, coupled with a greater choice of prime plots coming to the market across Harrogate district, has recently increased the appeal of buying and building a personalised home in this way.

He said:

“According to the National Custom and Self Build Association, England has the lowest proportion of self-build homes in the developed world.

“There are big differences in the popularity of self-build across the UK but we believe there is a growing appetite for the concept across the Harrogate district.

“Our aim is to try to identify the size of this hidden demand.

“Much of the interest is location driven – demand for property in Harrogate is high enough for people to choose this route in order to get their dream home in the right place.

“It’s also being spurred on by cost of living pressures and rising inflation as there are significant stamp duty savings with self-build, as you are only buying the value of the land and not a complete house.

“Plots are usually available in rural, semi-rural and suburban areas so there’s no shortage of choice. And roads, sewers and services will already be connected so it’s a real turnkey solution, ready for immediate use.”

Many neighbouring areas have seen far greater numbers of self-build projects – Hambleton, for example, has had 124 in the same timescale while further afield, Cherwell in Oxfordshire reports almost 6,000.

In 2021, more than 12,000 people joined the Right to Build registers, which helps aspiring custom and self-builders find plots – a year-on-year increase of 31%.

If you’re interested in self-build homes and want to find out more, contact Lucy Collinge at Linley and Simpson on lucy.collinge@linleyandsimpson.co.uk or call 01423 540054.

Harrogate hospital plans new £14m operating theatres

Harrogate District Hospital is planning a £14 million project to create two new operating theatres in an effort to tackle waiting times for treatment.

The scheme would see two additional operating theatres, two procedure rooms and a 12-bed ward for patients who require extended stays in care built on the site.

The hospital currently has six operating theatres, including general and emergency surgery.

Officials at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said the move would help to increase capacity for operations and reduce waiting times for both planned and emergency surgery.

The project forms part of a national funding scheme to help hospitals tackle long waiting lists.

A spokesperson for the hospital trust told the Stray Ferret:

“The number of theatres currently at our trust/Harrogate District Hospital limits the number of operations we can undertake on a weekly basis.

“Additional theatres will enable us to treat more patients each week, which will reduce waits for both planned and emergency operations.”

The trust added that the project will also help to “future proof” the hospital for a growth in population and changes in demographic in the district.

The scheme has been submitted to senior NHS officials and is currently being reviewed.

Trust officials said they expected a response on grant funding within the next four weeks. However, the project would also require planning permission before it goes ahead.

25,500 patients waiting

It comes as Harrogate hospital is currently tackling a long waiting list for patients awaiting treatment.

According to the trust’s own board papers, there were 25,564 patients waiting for an operation at the end of August.

Of that number, 1,297 had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

While the overall number of patients waiting is down by 65 on July, it is an increase of 3,396 on the same time last year.

In a report to the board, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive at the trust, said:

“We have had a difficult summer and we are now moving towards winter knowing that the current level of acute pressures and community services workload are already significant.

“Combined with the need to reduce our elective care backlog, the challenges that we are managing are significant.”

Masham Michelin restaurant sold to Tate Modern chef

A fine dining restaurant in Masham has been sold to a former head chef at the Tate Modern in London.

Vennell’s, which is based in a Grade-II listed Georgian building on Silver Street, has featured in the Michelin guide, the Good Food guide and the AA Restaurant Guide for the last 14 years.

It was opened in 2005 by by Jon and Laura Vennell and has recently been renovated.

After confirming their decision to sell the property, the couple said in a statement it was “time to pursue our next adventure”.

Now, it has been sold for an undisclosed fee to experienced chef, Jon Atashroo, who is relocating to Yorkshire with his wife Arlette.

Vennell's in Masham

Mr Atashroo has rebranded the restaurant as Where There’s Smoke. It opened on July 7.

David Cash, director in Christie & Co’s hospitality team, which handled the sale, said:

“It is a pleasure to have acted for Jon and Laura in the sale of their business and family home. We always discussed that the most likely buyer would be a couple who could step in to Jon and Laura’s shoes and make the business their own.

“We are still seeing lots of demand for hospitality businesses, particularly where the property is freehold.”

Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district traffic update

Traffic is moving as normal on the Harrogate district’s roads his morning.

But, drivers are urged to plan journeys ahead amid roadworks on some main routes in the district.