Pateley Bridge vaccine centre opens this weekend

A coronavirus vaccination centre will open in Pateley Bridge on Saturday.

Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, which will operate at Pateley Bridge and Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road, has the capacity to give up to 400 inoculations a day.

A technical glitch means the NHS website booking system is not currently offering the Pateley Bridge site as an option when it invites people to book inoculations.

The pharmacy has assured eligible people they can select the site either by dialling 119 or calling them directly on 01423 711329.

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It will be the fourth vaccination site in the Harrogate district, following the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, the racecourse in Ripon and the former Lidl in Knaresborough.

The pharmacy-led site will use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because it is easy to store and transport.

Samin Khan, who runs Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, previously told the Stray Ferret:

“We know that there is a need in rural areas. It took a bit of convincing but NHS England has now given us the go ahead.

“The hall is quite large. When we are up and running we will be able to vaccinate around 400 people a day.

“Pateley Bridge is a real community and it has taken a real community effort to organise.”

Harrogate covid testing centre to close on June 1

Harrogate’s coronavirus testing centre will close at the start of June — as the government prepares to ramp up testing this week.

According to ministers, everyone in England, even those without symptoms, will be able to take a free rapid lateral flow test twice a week from Friday.

Test kits will be available either from various designated sites and pharmacies or through a home ordering service.

If someone returns a positive test, they will then need to take a more accurate PCR test.

Ascent Healthcare on Chain Lane in Knaresborough is the only site currently listed on the NHS England website as a pick-up site for rapid tests in the Harrogate district.

However, Harrogate’s testing site in the car park on Dragon Road, which has the potential to offer the kits and perform PCR tests, will close on June 1.

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The Stray Ferret asked a North Yorkshire coronavirus press briefing today about the closure and plans to find a replacement testing site.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“We have an agreement to keep the site in its current location until June 1. So we are fine to use it in its current form up until that point.

“I guess with the plethora of lateral flow options coming online, including things like the pharmacies, it is likely there will be a lot of other local options.

“It is still fairly early days with the pharmacies so we are kind of waiting to see what the spread is going to be like and whether we will need to encourage more to come in.

“So I think the lateral flow side will be covered by other routes. We are looking across the board at how PCR testing will work from June but there will be other options, including the mobile unit.”

Daily coronavirus statistics

The Harrogate district’s seven-day coronavirus rate remained at 11 infections per 100,000 people today.

The district recorded another six cases, after several days averaging two cases a day.

Harrogate District Hospital, which has six covid patients, has not reported any new coronavirus deaths today.

The last recorded death at the hospital was on March 29.

Free walking tours back with new focus on Harrogate people

Harrogate’s free walking tours are making a comeback with a new focus on the people behind the town.

Free Walking Tour Harrogate will restart on Wednesday next week with a six-person limit per tour. As usual, there will be four tours a day, five days a week.

With a tighter limit on numbers, tour guide Harry Satloka has urged people to book ahead online rather than just turn up to avoid disappointment.

The usual tour will now be accompanied by a new ‘locals tour’, which discusses the lives of Harrogate people.

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It will start in the usual place, at the war memorial, but will take people towards High Harrogate instead of Valley Gardens.

This new tour starts at 4.30pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, including Bank Holidays.

Mr Satloka told the Stray Ferret about his new tour:

“I call it the ‘locals tour for local people’ but, of course, it is open to everyone. It will be more focussed on the people of Harrogate, I want to tell their story.

“Over the years I have found more of these stories but since December I have had the time to figure out a way to show off these amazing people

“It will still be fun but there will be a more sombre element to this tour as it is based around World War One and the Edwardian period.”

The locals tour will tell the story of Walter Ogden, who was the youngest son of Harrogate jeweller James Roberts Ogden.

Walter Ogden was just 19 when he died at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 in charge of a tank nicknamed Harrogate.

His story was only recently discovered during renovations at the Ogden Harrogate store in 2014.

No coronavirus fines despite huge party on the Stray

The police did not hand out any fines when people partied on the Stray last week, it was revealed today.

The easing of lockdown combined with good weather led to large gatherings.

Despite evidence many people broke social distancing rules, North Yorkshire Police told a press briefing today it did not issue any fines.

Under current rules, people can only gather in groups of six. But this was clearly being flouted on Harrogate’s Stray last week.

Police were seen interacting with people on the Stray but did not disperse the crowds.

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Since March 29, when lockdown restrictions eased, North Yorkshire Police has handed out 11 fines. Ten were for indoor gatherings in Scarborough.

Superintendent Mike Walker, coronavirus response lead at North Yorkshire Police, told today’s press briefing of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum:

“No fines were handed out but I do have confidence in our officers and PSCOs that if fines were the proportionate response then they would have been issued.

“So outdoor gatherings are governed by the rule of six or two households. These can take place in public spaces or private gardens with social distancing rules in place.

“There are a number of exceptions that we have to take into consideration, including that two households may comfortably exceed six people and that linked households for care and support only count as one household.

“Clearly the continued ‘four Es’ approach is vital to help our officers and PSCOs determine whether there has been a breach in the regulations.

“But my message to the public as the weather gets better as we saw on the Stray that day, people either plan or spontaneously go to public outdoor spaces.

“If you do go to public outdoor spaces you need to make your assessment when you get there as to whether it is safe for you and your family to be there. So that’s the expectation as that is common sense.”

People gathering on the Stray last week.

Police officers engaged with those breaking social distancing rules on the Stray but were unable to disperse the crowds.

Some residents were left with a sense of deja vu, as the heavily littered scene was almost an exact replica of what happened on the Stray on various occasions last summer.

WATCH: NHS takes down Nightingale hospital in Harrogate

Staff working on behalf of NHS England have dismantled large parts of the former Nightingale hospital in Harrogate, including the oxygen tanks that have loomed over the town for a year.

Construction workers started the job at 4am today, almost a year to the day since the temporary hospital started to take shape.

The stretch of Ripon Road immediately outside the Royal Hall and Harrogate Convention Centre was closed to traffic while cranes operated.

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We understand the CT scanners will also be removed later today.

The NHS confirmed last month it will dismantle all seven of the Nightingale hospitals across the country.

NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, which was the Harrogate Nightingale’s full name, which never treated any coronavirus patients.

But it was used to provide CT scans to non-coronavirus patients.

Cranes in place to remove Nightingale oxygen tanks in Harrogate

Cranes are now in place ready to remove the oxygen tanks from the former Nightingale hospital in Harrogate.

Workers arrived at around 4am this morning to prepare the site and started by removing the concrete blocks.

Ripon Road immediately outside the Royal Hall and Harrogate Convention Centre is now closed to traffic heading towards the town centre. Crescent Road is being used as a diversion.

Construction workers have told the Stray Ferret that the oxygen tanks are set to be removed at around 7am to 8am this morning.

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We also understand that the CT scanners will also be removed from the former Nightingale hospital later today.

The NHS confirmed last month that it will dismantle all seven of the Nightingale hospitals across the country.

NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber never treated coronavirus patients. Staff did use it to provide CT scans to none coronavirus patients.

Crane to remove Harrogate Nightingale oxygen tanks tomorrow

The NHS will remove the oxygen tanks from the former Nightingale hospital in Harrogate tomorrow. It will be an historic moment for the town. The tanks have loomed over Harrogate and overshadowed the Royal Hall for a year.

The Nightingale hospital never treated coronavirus patients. Staff did use it to provide CT scans to none coronavirus patients.

The NHS confirmed last month that it will dismantle all seven of the Nightingale hospitals across the country.

A small section of Ripon Road, immediately outside the Royal Hall, will close at 4am to allow for a crane to remove the tanks. It is unclear how long it will take.

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Meanwhile, local councillors from the West Yorkshire Joint Health Scrutiny Committee are investigating whether lessons could be learned from Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital.

The committee will look into how the hospital would have been staffed and what services would have been affected if it had been needed.

When the oxygen tanks went up last year.

Councillors agreed to start the investigation at the next meeting of the health scrutiny committee on June 22. They will call in NHS officials to give evidence.

The Harrogate Nightingale cost £27 million to set up and served the entire Yorkshire and Humber region,

Harrogate district covid cases stays in single figures

The Harrogate district has recorded just two coronavirus cases in today’s daily figures, according to Public Health England.

It means that the seven day rate in the district remains low at just 15 per 100,000 compared to the England average of 44 per 100,000.

North Yorkshire as a whole has a slightly lower seven day rate than the rest of the country at 36 per 100,000.

So far 7,590 people have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in the district.

Harrogate District Hospital has not recorded any further coronavirus deaths today.

The hospital recorded a death for the first time in 13 days on March 30. Currently the hospital’s death toll is at 178.

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Picnic bench near Pinewoods goes up in flames

A picnic bench in Irongate Field near the Pinewoods in Harrogate went up in flames last night.

Firefighters from Harrogate attended the blaze at 9.30pm last night and used two backpack sprayers to dampen down the area.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has now confirmed it believes the fire was set deliberately.

The person who found the fire said that he found beer bottles around the bench.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“A crew from Harrogate attended a fire in the open, this turned out to be a fire to a picnic bench.

“They used two knapsack sprayers and dampened down the area. The cause is believed deliberate.”

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Harrogate venues double down on outdoor dining

Hotels, restaurants and bars in Harrogate are doubling down on their outdoor dining offering in time for reopening on April 12.

Although hospitality businesses are praying for a great British summer, they are also preparing for rain.

Venues in the Harrogate district had to adapt quickly to covid last year but this year’s roadmap has enabled them to plan to increase their outdoor covered areas based on what they have learned works.

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The West Park Hotel is one of those trying to take full advantage of space, both at the front and back.

As well as using its back courtyard, it is also working with neighbouring shops to bring the pavement in front of the building into use after hours.

In total West Park will have 160 outdoor seats, with many under awnings and marquees.

Cedar Court Hotel Harrogate is bringing back an updated version of its Tipi on the Stray, which will now has removable sides, making it compliant as an outdoor space. It will be able to serve lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

It’s here and we’re taking bookings #Harrogate #Yorkshire … #Podville by ⁦@fatbadgerpub⁩ is taking bookings on a first come first served basis so be quick to secure your spot by calling 01423 505681 now! Full food & drink outdoor #hospitality offering in a unique setting pic.twitter.com/4OjtJJZMyn

— simon cotton (@simoncotton69) March 31, 2021

Instead of last year’s beach, the Fat Badger has now built what it calls “podville” in its rear car park.

Six people are able to book one of 15 pods for £5 an hour Monday to Thursday and £10 an hour Friday to Sunday.