First business set to operate from Harrogate pop-up shop

A Harrogate town centre pop-up shop aimed at showcasing small businesses is set to host its first business from today.

L&N Candles was set up by Bilton-pair Laura Berryman and Natalie White back in 2018 as a side hobby.

It will become the first small business to take advantage of the shop, which has been offered to rent by property consultants Barker Proudlove and Victoria Shopping Centre.

Laura and Natalie started selling candles, bath bombs and wax melts online and while it did well during the covid lockdown, the pair opted to bid for the shop.

Laura said:

“We did well during the pandemic, but we wanted to meet our customers and try to build that base.

“We picked some dates but didn’t realise we would be the first.”

Laura, who works full-time at Covance, and Natalie, a healthcare assistant, hope the week-long stay in the shop on the town’s Cambridge Street will pay off.

Online-only until now, the outlet will be the first time the business partners have operated out of a shop. Long-term, the hope is for L&N Candles to have its own base in the town centre.

Showcasing independent business

Barker Proudlove and Victoria Shopping Centre came up with the idea to rent out the outlet opposite Cafe Nero back in August.

Businesses can rent the space for between one and six weeks and the £400 weekly cost includes rent, business rates, water, electricity and furniture.

Read more:

James White, centre manager at The Victoria Centre, said previously:

“The pop-up shop provides an opportunity for small businesses to showcase their brands, ideas and test the market place on Cambridge Street.

“It offers a short-term commitment which makes trying new business ideas more attractive.”

The two organisations hope the space will attract a stream of independent businesses.

Another 69 covid infections reported in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported 69 covid infections, according to today’s Pubic Health England figures.

The district’s weekly infection rate now stands at 425 per 100,000 people, while the North Yorkshire rate is 362 and the England average stands at 331.

NHS England statistics no longer report deaths from patients who tested positive for covid on a weekend.

Earlier this week, Harrogate District Hospital recorded its sixth covid death in three weeks. It means the death toll at the hospital since March 2020 currently stands at 185.

Read more:

Meanwhile, the hospital is currently treating 11 patients for covid according to the latest government figures,.

Elsewhere, 127,267 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 117,707 have had a second dose.

‘Mindless idiots’ vandalise planters in Harrogate

A Harrogate business organisation has criticised “mindless idiots” for vandalising planters on the town’s Beulah Street.

Business owners on the street arrived this morning to find the planters had been damaged overnight and they had to clear the mess up themselves.

The planters were put in place last year by Harrogate Business Improvement District in an effort to improve the look of the town centre.

Around 20 businesses were given floral displays as part of the project in October. The BID also installed 120 hanging baskets across the town, including Beulah Street.

Read more:

A spokesperson for Harrogate BID told the Stray Ferret that it was now in the process of replacing the planters and working with Harrogate Borough Council to look at CCTV from the street.

They added:

“We are very disappointed by this. This was some mindless idiots who do not care for the town centre. Our remit is to make the town centre good.

“We are not going to be put off by some idiots.”

£20m Transforming Cities contract advertised to push projects forward

A contract worth up to £20 million is being advertised to progress major transport schemes in Yorkshire, including the Harrogate Station Gateway.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which works in partnership with local authorities to improve transport and stimulate economic development, wants to bring in a strategic development partner for its Transforming Cities projects.

The projects include the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme in Harrogate, which could see the town’s James Street pedestrianised and Station Parade reduced to one lane.

The contract seeks to commission a company to provide technical details for all the schemes that are part of the Transforming Cities programme and move them to a full business case stage.

According to the government procurement site, the contract is worth between £5 million and £20 million and would last until October 2023.

Read more:

However, the Stray Ferret understands that, while North Yorkshire councils would have access to the service provided by the contractor, county council officials do not anticipate using it.

The Harrogate Station Gateway project is currently at the design stage and will be subject to further public consultation.

It is one of numerous schemes being funded by a £2.45 billion central government fund to boost cycling and walking in towns and cities.

The Stray Ferret reported in July that work could start on the Harrogate scheme in February 2022.

According to a county council report, construction would start when final approval is received from West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Harrogate district records 84 covid infections

The Harrogate district has reported another 84 covid infections, according to today’s Pubic Health England figures.

The district’s weekly infection rate now stands at 448 per 100,000 people, which is above the North Yorkshire rate of 377 and the England average of 342.

According to the latest figures, Harrogate District Hospital is treating 11 patients for covid.

The hospital has not recorded any covid deaths in the last 24 hours, according to NHS England statistics.

Read more:

It means the number of people at the hospital who have died from covid since March 2020 stands at 185.

Elsewhere, 127,253 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 117,655 have had a second dose.

Thousands still without TV signal, says local electrical firm

Thousands of people in the Harrogate district are still without TV coverage after the Bilsdale transmitter fire, says the owner of a local electrical firm.

Stephen Craggs, managing director of G Craggs Ltd, which has stores in Ripon and Boroughbridge, told the Stray Ferret he was still receiving calls from people unable to get channels on their televisions.

Arqiva, the company which owns the transmitter, said this week its temporary mast at Sutton Bank had restored coverage to many areas, such as Masham and Ripon.

But, Mr Cragg said that was not what customers were telling him.

He said:

“We’re still getting phone calls every two minutes saying ‘I thought the transmitter was fixed?’”

Mr Cragg said the majority of people calling him were elderly who relied on television as a means of company.

G Craggs in Boroughbridge

G Craggs in Boroughbridge

He added that some did not own tablets and had no catch-up television.

Read more:

Following the temporary transmitter being built, a number of district residents told the Stray Ferret that retuning their TVs had brought back some channels but not all.

We are continuing to receive messages from readers saying they are without services. One woman in Ripon told us she would be happy to receive just one channel showing back-to-back repeats of Crossroads.

Many people have been unable to watch TV since the Bilsdale mast caught fire a month ago today.

Mr Cragg criticised Arqiva for appearing to have “no strategy” for dealing with the situation and described the past month as a “fiasco”.

“There is no back-up plan. They are just on one crisis to another.

“Meanwhile, there are thousands of people without TV. Not everybody has a smart TV or tablet.”

In the company’s latest update, Paul Donovan, chief executive of Arqiva, said on Wednesday:

“This morning Freeview television services were restored for over 100,000 more homes in the region.

“However, this is a complex task and there is clearly a lot more to do, so we are working with our partners as quickly and safely as possible. I would like to extend a special thank you to all those people who have been supporting friends and neighbours who may not have access to the internet or other sources of information and entertainment. We will prioritise the most vulnerable people affected.”

Woodfield school taking ‘effective action’ to improve, says Ofsted

Harrogate’s Woodfield Community Primary School is taking “effective action” to improve after being placed under special measures by Ofsted.

Ofsted inspectors rated the Bilton primary school as “inadequate” in January last year.

They found children were not attending school, lessons did not “follow a logical sequence” and there was no strategic plan to allocate funds for disadvantaged pupils.

Inspectors recommended that the school be put in special measures as it was “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education” and added that those responsible for governing the school were not “demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school”.

When a school is placed in special measures it is given an action plan to improve and is inspected regularly by Ofsted to ensure it is improving.

However, officials now say the school is taking action to improve.

Read more:

Ofsted visited the school in June and said staff were working well with management to systemically improve.

It added that parents were positive about the school. All those who responded to an Ofsted online questionnaire would recommend the school to other parents.

Woodfield Community Primary School

Woodfield Community Primary School

Mathew Atkinson, executive headteacher at Woodfield, said: 

“There are many things to celebrate in the report: attendance, SEND, behaviour and the curriculum have all improved and we have clear areas to continue to develop. 

“We are taking the right actions towards the removal of special measures and we are looking forward to another great year at Woodfield.”

Jo Marwood, head of school, said:

“We are proud of the report from Her Majesty’s inspectors and it confirms all the hard work that our students, staff, parents and governors put in to making Woodfield such a great school for our community.

“We would like to say thank you for the dedication of staff, the children, parents and governors and the support we have received from the local community.”

Bus driver assaulted in Knaresborough

A bus driver was assaulted and had beer poured over her by two young women in Knaresborough on a late night service last night.

An eye witness told the Stray Ferret the driver was verbally abused and pushed over by a young woman in an “unprovoked attack”.

Another woman then allegedly poured a bottle of beer on the driver before leaving the bus, which had just left Knaresborough Bus Station at around 10pm, to get a taxi.

The witness, who did not wish to be named, said he was “shocked at what happened”, and that it highlighted the dangers facing frontline public sector workers.

He added police attended and took statements.

Harrogate Bus Company said today it was supporting the driver and cooperating with police over the alleged assault.

Read more:

Driver ‘shaken’

Steve Ottley, general manager at Harrogate Bus Company, said the driver was shaken but was “doing fine”.

He said:

“We can confirm there was an incident involving a colleague last night who was treated despicably by two customers. 

“Our driver is doing fine but was understandably shaken by what happened. 

“We are supporting our driver and doing all we can to assist the police in bring the assailants to justice. Such incidents are mercifully, extremely rare and we take the welfare of our team and customers extremely seriously.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police confirmed officers attended the incident, but added that no arrests had been made and an investigation was ongoing.

They added:

“Anyone with any information who has not yet spoken to the police, should call North Yorkshire Police on 101 and pass information for incident number 12210198766.”

Harrogate hospital reports sixth covid death in three weeks

Harrogate District Hospital has recorded another covid death, according to latest NHS England figures.

The death was reported yesterday and is the sixth at the hospital in three weeks.

It takes the death toll at the hospital since March last year to 185.

Meanwhile, another 126 covid infections have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

Read more: 

The district’s weekly infection rate has now risen to 433 per 100,000 people, while the North Yorkshire rate is 378 and the England average stands at 351.

According to latest weekly figures, Harrogate hospital is treating 11 patients for covid — the same number as a week ago.

Elsewhere, 127,221 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 117,318 have had a second dose.

Rossett school bus ‘chaos’ and ‘shambles’ due to overcrowding

Harrogate parents have spoken of “chaos” and “shambles” on a school bus to Rossett School following changes to the service for the new term.

Students on the S3 bus have been subject to overcrowding and reportedly told to leave the bus for an alternative service.

North Yorkshire County Council, which contracts school buses to private bus companies, announced last week that Harrogate Bus Company‘s 780H, 781H, 782H, 783H, 784H services had been cancelled.

The old routes began in the Jennyfields, Bilton and Woodlands areas of Harrogate. Children were instead advised to take the 6, 52, S3, 8A, 620H and 620H services.

However, parents have told the Stray Ferret that since the changes the number S3 service through Jennyfields has been overcrowded and chaotic.

Read more:

Ann Lambert, a grandparent of a child who attends Rossett, described the service as chaotic and raised concern that children on free bus passes were affected.

She said:

“There was chaos this morning on the bus from Jennyfields.

“The bus was full and children were told to get off by the time they reached the Co-op, so all other stops were driven past.

“Children were told they can also get a service bus, which not only adds time, but does not account for the children who get a free bus pass provided by North Yorkshire County Council, which is for a specified service only.”

‘Shambles this morning’

Harrogate parent Chris Wingate:

“It was a shambles this morning on the Jennyfields to Rossett bus with mass overcrowding and students turned away after only about half the route complete.

“On the way home the bus was also overcrowded with many students concerned and getting off early as they felt too cramped and unsafe.:

In response to the concerns over the S3 service, Michael Leah, assistant director for travel and the environment at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Service S3 is one of a number of commercial local bus services run by The Harrogate Bus Company and we do not financially support it. 

“However, we do buy passes from the company for pupils entitled to free home-to-school transport so they can use the service. The bus company also sell seats to non-entitled pupils where they are available.

“We are aware that the service had an issue with overloading yesterday and we are talking to the bus company about passenger numbers in an effort to resolve the issue quickly. 

“We are not aware that any of our children entitled to free home-to-school passes on the S3 were refused travel today, but we are investigating.”

The Stray Ferret has approached Transdev, which owns the Harrogate Bus Company, for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Council apologises over short notice

Concerns about overcrowding come after parents in Harrogate raised concerns on social media about the lack of notice about the change in service.

Some parents described the changes as confusing and said they should have been announced sooner.

An email seen by the Stray Ferret from the council’s Passenger Transport Department said the authority had experienced delays in the renewal of the contract for the service due to covid and additional work in the procurement process.

It said this left little time to publicise the changes. However, the council added that it had told schools to expect changes to services in September.

The authority said:

“Obviously we apologise for the short notice of these changes and for any inconvenience that it has caused parents and pupils but we are confident that the new service network is efficient and that pupils will soon get used to the changes.”

Has your child been affected by the changes to the school bus service? Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk