World famous UFC fighter heading to Harrogate

A world famous UFC fighter who wrestled a bear as a child is heading to Harrogate for a charity event.

Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, who has 30 million followers on Instagram, is attending just two events in the UK: one in London and the other in Harrogate.

The Harrogate event will take place at the Harrogate Convention Centre on Sunday, October 3.

Rather than stepping into a ring, the retired fighter will instead talk about his journey from a small village in the mountains of Russia to international fame.

Nurmagomedov is the longest reigning UFC lightweight champion, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021.

With 29 wins and no losses in his mixed martial arts career, he retired undefeated after beating the likes of Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier

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All the money raised from the Harrogate event will go towards Muslim charity SKT Welfare to help orphans around the world.

Tickets for the event range from £25 for a standard ticket to £250 for the front row. However, front row seats have already sold out.

Anyone buying a ticket will be entered into a competition to attend a meet and greet with Nurmagomedov.

 

The Works takes over Harrogate’s former Edinburgh Woollen Mill unit

A new business is to move into the former Edinburgh Woollen Mill unit in Harrogate, a year after it closed.

Discount books and stationery store The Works will make the short trip across the street into the unit, where it is planning to open soon.

The Works has been holding a sale at its current premises on Oxford Street in preparation for the move.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill closed its Harrogate and Ripon stores last October when the clothing company went into administration.

The store was also home to Austin Reed, Country Casuals and Ponden Home Interiors.

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Purepay Retail bought Edinburgh Woollen Mill out of administration in January this year, keeping 296 stores and 2,453 on its books.

The Works is closing its current unit down.

However, the Harrogate and Ripon stores were not rescued. As a result, the large unit at 17-19 Oxford Street has been empty for about 11 months.

It is unclear at this stage exactly when the move will take place. The Stray Ferret approached The Works for more details but were told it was “commercially sensitive.”

Man dressed as giant ovary heads to Harrogate for charity

A man who has become famous for dressing as a giant ovary is heading to Harrogate tomorrow for charity.

Craig McMurrough, who is also known as Mr Ovary, will make his first stop in Harrogate town centre as part of his tour of the north this month.

Mr Ovary has been raising money for charity and awareness of ovarian cancer since he lost his younger sister, Cheryl Earnshaw, to the disease five years ago.

She died just three weeks after her diagnosis.

In the years since Mr Ovary has raised more than £40,000 for cancer charity Ovacome by completing 19 marathons and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

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He hopes his bucket collection in Harrogate will take him a step closer to his £100,000 fundraising target and also raise awareness of the symptoms of the disease.

If you miss him this weekend but would like to donate to the cause then visit his JustGiving page here.

Ovarian cancer symptoms include persistent bloating, eating less and feeling more full, abdominal and pelvic pain and changes to urinary and bowel habits.

Mr McMurrough said:

“It means a lot to me to make a difference in memory of Cheryl.”

“The costume makes quite an impression and will help people remember the symptoms I talk about. People even come up to me in the supermarket to say hello, having met me wearing the ovary costume.

“Now that most people in my neighbourhood will have come across Mr Ovary and the message that a cervical smear test will not pick up the disease, it is a no brainer to take him out onto the road.”

Drivers defy new ‘no parking’ signs on Harrogate Stray

Drivers have already defied the new “no parking” signs on the Stray despite warnings from Harrogate Borough Council that they risk a £100 fine or being towed away.

Within days of the council erecting the signs on Oatlands Drive at a cost of £63, pictures of vehicles parked right next to them have emerged.

The lack of compliance will add to the frustration of cyclists who are blocked from using the cycle lane when vehicles park on the Stray. This usually happens when activities, such as football matches, take place.

One side of Oatlands Drive has double yellow lines but the other side — where cars park — does not.

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We asked the council whether it has fined or towed any vehicles away since putting up the signs but we have not yet received a response.

A council spokeswoman said previously it was working with North Yorkshire County Council to find a “more permanent solution” to the parking problem.

She added that parking on the Stray breached the Stray Act 1985:

“A breach of the act allows the borough council — as custodians of the Stray — to issue a £100 fine to anyone caught parking on the Stray, or to have their vehicle towed away.

“We hope that the signage will make people think twice about parking on Oatlands Drive and allow cyclists to use the cycle path as intended.”

Masham brewery brings back tours after 18 months

A brewery in Masham has started offering tours again, 18 months after coronavirus restrictions forced them to stop.

Black Sheep Brewery has announced the tours will return on Wednesday next week. The last one took place on March 19 last year.

Tours last about an hour and run daily at 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm and 3.30pm. They cost £9.95 for an adult, £8.50 for seniors and students and £4.95 for children.

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The tour starts with a look at the history of the company, including a short video featuring its founders Paul and Rob Theakston.

They left Masham’s other famous brewery, Theakston, to set up Black Sheep.

The guide then takes people to the brewhouse to show how the beer is made before finishing at the bar.

Spaces are limited so Black Sheep advises people to book in advance by calling 01765 680101 or 01765 680100 for large group bookings.

Bid to fell huge 100-year-old Harrogate weeping willow

A 100-year-old weeping willow tree in a garden close to Harrogate town centre could be felled.

The tree, which is in the front driveway of a house on Belford Place, towering over the street, is subject to a tree preservation order.

The home owner has applied to have the tree, which is close to St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, cut down.

A report by arboricultural consultants JAC Limited on behalf of the tree owner says there are “genuine concerns over the condition and risk of the tree in question, due to its close proximity to a school and now
heavily pedestrianised thoroughfare of Belford Place”. It adds:

“The tree is extremely large for its restricted location, and is now considered to be out of
equilibrium with its surroundings and cannot be safely retained in its current form.”

A sonic assessment of the tree found it was “generally decayed” at the base, the report adds.

It recommends it should be removed and an “appropriate tree be planted in its place”.

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Harrogate Borough Council has previously rejected an application to cut down the weeping willow.

The council will now send its own expert to assess the tree before making a decision.

Harrogate Civic Society has said it would like to see “a less drastic solution”.

Henry Pankhurst, a member of the society, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are obviously reluctant to lose trees of such amenity value.

“The sonic test shows only a minor portion of the trunk thickness to be good wood and a large area beginning to decay with the remainder in poorer condition.

“However, we would not like to take this as a definite conclusion that the willow tree should be felled if some other less drastic solution would allow it to survive safely for a reasonable while longer.

“We shall watch for an opinion from the council arboriculturist which would help us to come to a more precise view.”

The Stray Ferret reached out to the homeowner but has yet to receive a reply.

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

A very good morning to you on another cloudy day in Harrogate, it’s Connor with you today bringing you all the latest traffic and travel news.

Ring me on 01423 276197, if it is safe, or get in touch on social media.

Let’s help everyone have a better journey by letting me know so I can add it to the blog, brought to you by the HACS Group.

9am – Full Update 

That is all from me today. I am heading over to the news desk now, hopefully you have found the service helpful this morning. Leah will be back with you tomorrow.

Roads

Our traffic system is currently showing heavy congestion on Skipton Road, Wetherby Road and Knaresborough Road in Harrogate as well as the High Street in Knaresborough

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Our traffic system is currently showing heavy congestion on Skipton Road, Wetherby Road and Knaresborough Road in Harrogate as well as the High Street in Knaresborough

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

Our traffic system is currently showing heavy congestion on Skipton Road and on Otley Road in Harrogate.

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Our traffic system is currently showing heavy congestion on Skipton Road in Harrogate

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning with schools still away for the summer holiday. But, keep an eye on the blog to see how it goes today.

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning with schools still away for the summer holiday. But, keep an eye on the blog to see how it goes today.

Road closures:

Temporary lights

Trains

Buses

Plans to install 1,000 solar panels on roof of Harrogate Convention Centre

Harrogate Borough Council has submitted plans to install 1,077 solar panels on the roofs of several buildings at Harrogate Convention Centre.

The council, which owns the centre, applied for planning permission last week. It’s unclear when the application will be heard or when construction could start.

According to planning documents, the scheme will be fully funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme.

The scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The council has appointed French utility company Engie as contractor for the project.

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How the solar panels will look at the top of the Harrogate Convention Centre.

It follows a similar planning application by the council to install 420 solar panels at the Hydro in Harrogate, which was also funded by the public sector decarbonisation scheme.

At the time the council said that it had “ambitious plans” to make sure its operations and buildings were clean, efficient and had a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

Harrogate man set to launch town’s first ghost walk

A Harrogate man with a love of all things spooky and historical is to launch what he believes to be the town’s first ghost walk.

Paul Forster, who has trained as a magician and actor, hopes to make the experience an unforgettable one with a mixture of storytelling and theatrics.

The plan started before the pandemic and Mr Forster had planned to launch the walk last October. But with coronavirus restrictions in place he decided to push it back another year.

Harrogate Ghost Walk will start on Halloween weekend. After the initial launch, the walk will take place on the first and last Friday of every month.

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The one-hour route will start outside the Royal Pump Room Museum and take in The Alexandra pub, The Crown Hotel and The Harrogate Club.

Tickets are £6 for adults and £4 for children. Walks start at 8.30pm and can cater for 30 people.

Mr Forster told the Stray Ferret:

“It was a shame to not launch last year but I have spent the whole of the coronavirus pandemic researching and gathering as much information as I could.

“Harrogate has some great stories, some are hard to believe. I have got some surprises in there and I don’t want to give anything away but there are some scream factor moments too.”

One of his favourite stories is the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author behind the Sherlock Holmes novels, held a seance at The Harrogate Club.

Harrogate cancer survivor walks 500 miles for charity in a month

A Harrogate woman who battled cancer during the coronavirus pandemic has walked more than 500 miles in a month to raise money for the charities that supported her.

Lucy Hind was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2019 and after months of treatment is on the recovery path.

Now she is feeling better, she has started to take on various challenges to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity.

At the time of publication she has raised £5,435. Her fundraising target is £7,500 and she is likely to achieve it as pledges continue to roll in. You can donate here.

The first major challenge Lucy set herself was a mammoth walk of 500 miles. Most of the walks, at around 16 miles a day, were in Yorkshire but some also took place in Manchester and Scotland.

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Joined by various friends along the way, including Lesley Jepson, she has managed to beat the original 500-mile target and looked set to reach a total of 520 miles on the last day today.

On her final walk in Bramley, near Leeds, with Kirkstall Abbey in her eyeline, Lucy told the Stray Ferret:

“We are walking the last of our walks today. We reached the 500 miles yesterday but we had another day in the month to go so we are out again.

“Before we started we thought it would be really difficult. We may have some blisters and sore limbs but when we are out walking we feel fantastic.

“These charities are so important to so many people. That’s why I want to keep going with these challenges and raise as much money as I can. I plan to finish only in 2024.”