Ripon nursery Busy Bees has retained its ‘good’ rating by Ofsted.
The government inspector said in a report published this week the nursery on Kearsley Road provided a “safe and nurturing environment” where “children are happy, motivated and keen to learn”.
The report said leaders “create an ambitious curriculum that staff follow and implement well” and staff “have high expectations for children’s behaviour”.
It added:
“Children behave well and are kind and considerate to their friends. Staff provide good support to help them understand how to manage their own behaviour.
“For example, they teach children who struggle with their emotions to use deep breathing strategies to help them feel calm.
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However, Ofsted said the nursery’s ample outdoor resources were “not as stimulating as indoors for children to extend their learning through play” and “occasionally, not all parents and carers are fully involved in their children’s learning”.
The inspection, which took place on July 17, was the first since 2019, which also rated the nursery as ‘good’.
Busy Bees is the UK’s largest nursery group, with almost 400 nurseries.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visited the company’s Harrogate nursery this week.
New bar and restaurant to open in Knaresborough todayA new bar and restaurant is due to officially open today in the centre of Knaresborough.
1858 is situated in the former NatWest bank, which closed in 2017, on the High Street. Councillors granted an alcohol licence to applicant Jaime Wilkinson last month.
The venue, which will launch at 5pm, provides lunch and evening meals and Sunday roasts as well as drinks.
It derives its name from the year in which the building was constructed.
The High Street site was formerly occupied by NatWest.
Kim Lancaster, who was manager of the town’s So Bar and Eats before working with Mr Wilkinson at the Drakes fish and chip shops that he owns, will run the venue.
Ms Lancaster told councillors the venue would feature “elegant fine dining” rather than be a “Wetherspoons quick in-and-out” type experience.
She added:
“We want people coming in not just for alcohol but for coffee and lunch. We’re trying to bring back something to Knaresborough that people can’t wait for. People are going to Harrogate [instead]. We’ve spent a lot of money and want to do it right with the right clientele.”
1858 is permitted to sell alcohol from 10am until midnight seven days a week.
Read more:
- Councillors grant licence for ‘elegant’ bar and restaurant in former Knaresborough bank
- New cafe to open in Knaresborough on Friday
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Visual of Harrogate’s first mosque released as £50,000 appeal launched
Harrogate Islamic Association has launched a £50,000 fundraising appeal for the next phase of its scheme to create the district’s first mosque.
It has also published a visual showing how the building on the corner of Tower Street and Belford Road will look once the makeover is completed.
The association bought the dilapidated former Home Guard building in April last year.
It has already undergone extensive repairs to fix the roof and remove asbestos.
The next phase of the project, which is underway, will ensure the building is structurally sound and will focus on stripping the interior and undertaking structural works.
How the building looks now.
In a crowdfunding appeal post, the association said:
“It’s difficult to convey how deteriorated the building interior is, but we’re determined to make it right.”
“This phase will see a removal and replacement of both the ground and first floors, each of which have suffered extensive rot and degradation.
“The floors will be replaced with steel framing and timber infrastructure to match the existing levels. The steel infrastructure will also help brace the existing masonry walls.”
https://twitter.com/HarrogateIA/status/1694010495445897311?s=20
The crowdfunding appeal post said further funds will need to be raised for a final phase, which will involve installing electricity, heating, security and plumbing systems, along with interior walls, doors, and amenities.
The post said the association was minimising disruption by not erecting scaffolding or conducting exterior work during the current phase so traffic and businesses on Tower Street and Belford Road will not be disrupted.
It added:
“Our intent is for this process to be a model that other communities can follow in terms of outreach, management, safety, and engagement with the wider community.”
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Zahed Amanullah, outreach coordinator at the association, said the mosque was likely to open early next year. He added:
“It’s a very old building with a lot of issues so we are moving carefully and methodically. We are not rushing.”
The association published these images showing the state of the building inside.
Burglars break into home in Burn Bridge
Burglars made off with a number of expensive items after breaking into a home in Burn Bridge.
Police in Harrogate today appealed for information about the crime, which took place at a house on Westminster Crescent.
A North Yorkshire Police statement said:
“Between 9:30am on Thursday 17 August and 3pm on Sunday 20 August somebody entered the property and stole a number of high-value items.”
The statement urged anyone who saw anything suspicious or has information about the incident to email Jonathan.Cleary@northyorkshire.police.uk or dial 101, select option 2, and ask for PC Jonathan Cleary.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12230156838.
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Harrogate plant hire company founder David Kitching dies
David Kitching, who founded the Harrogate firm Kitching Plant Hire, has died at the age of 80.
Mr Kitching, who was born in Bridlington and brought up in Pateley Bridge, founded the firm as D&S Kitching with wife Shirley in 1967.
The company began operating out of a small yard and workshop in Darley, where Mr Kiching lived.
It moved to Hookstone Park in Harrogate in the early 1990s but outgrew the premises and moved to its present location, the former Harrogate bus depot on Camwal Road in Starbeck, in the early 2000s.
The firm now employs about 20 staff and has more than 400 machines for hire, including diggers, rollers and cement mixers
The Camwal Road site in Starbeck.
Mr Kitching stepped back from day-to-day involvement with the company a few years ago.
A message on the firm’s Facebook page, posted by Shirley and sons Jason and Matthew, who are both directors of the firm, said:
“A void in our family has been formed which can never be ratified and we will miss him greatly.”.
Mr Kitching’s funeral will be held on September 1 at St James’ Church in Birstwith, It will be followed by a celebration of his life at the Wellington Inn in Darley.
Guests are requested to wear a hint of yellow as a nod to the yellow machinery that contributed so much to Mr Kitching’s life.
As a mark of respect, the business will close on the day of the funeral and reopen on September 4.
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Knaresborough’s Dower House to reopen in 12 days
The Dower House in Knaresborough will open with a new name and a completely fresh look on September 4.
The venue has undergone a major refurbishment since it closed last summer.
The Inn Collection Group, which has bought the venue along with other historic hotels in Ripon and Harrogate, has renamed it the Knaresborough Inn.
The Newcastle-based owners have 32 venues in northern England and north Wales, which are marketed as ‘inns with rooms’ rather than hotels.
The Knaresborough venue will therefore no longer have a spa and gym but it does have an extra nine bedrooms and will focus more on food and drink for local people.
A new portico entrance has been built on the Grade II-listed 15th century building.
New signs have gone up.
Meanwhile. the Ripon Spa Hotel is due to reopen as the Ripon Inn in October. A precise date has not been revealed.
The Harrogate Inn, formerly the St George Hotel, reopened on July 3 after a 152-day refurbishment.
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Council ‘urgently’ considers policy on recognising local people
North Yorkshire Council has said it is urgently considering coming up with a policy that recognises local people;
However, it has no said whether it will rename Harrogate Hydro as the Rachel Daly Leisure and Wellness Centre.
The Hydro is due to reopen on September 4 following a £13.5 million refurbishment as Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.
But Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club is campaigning for it to be named after their former player and England star.
The council-owned leisure centre in Ripon set a precedent when it was renamed after Olympic diving champion Jack Laugher.
Daly, who has 428,000 Instagram followers, was part of England’s Euro 2022 winning team last year. This year she has won the Golden Boot for being the top goalscorer in the Women’s Super League and played in the Women’s World Cup final. She is also on the shortlist for the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.
The former Rossett School pupil has retained close links with Killinghall Nomads, whose ground is close to the Hydro, and even sent a message to the club on the eve of the World Cup final.
Read more:
- Petition launched calling for Harrogate to honour Rachel Daly
- World Cup hero Rachel Daly in line for player of year award
The Stray Ferret is supporting the club’s campaign calling for the council to honour Daly. You can sign the petition here.
North Yorkshire Council leader Carl Les said last week the council “will consider a policy for how we might recognise the achievements of local people”.
We subsequently asked whether the council had any plans to consider naming the Hydro after Daly before it reopens in less than two weeks.
A council spokesman said today:
Emergency workers rescue person trapped after crash in Pannal“We can add to Cllr Les’s statement that we are looking at this matter with some urgency.”
Firefighters and paramedics rescued a person who was trapped following a two-car collision in Pannal today.
The crash happened on the main A61 at about 10.30am.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report said crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough responded to the collision, which involved a Range Rover and a Mazda.
It added:
“Male occupant of Range Rover was not trapped or injured.
“Two occupants in Mazda, one of which was trapped. Released by fire crews under paramedic supervision and taken to hospital with minor back and hip injuries.”
Firefighters made the vehicles safe and left the incident with police.
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Safety audit rules out traffic lights at notorious Killinghall junction
A safety audit at a notorious Killinghall junction has ruled out introducing traffic lights.
North Yorkshire Council, which conducted the audit after a pedestrian was badly injured in February, has also rejected installing a mini-roundabout.
Instead it has recommended repainting the yellow box junction and investigating other measures, such as shortening the length of the Ripon Road bus shelter to create more space for cars going in and out of the Tesco car park.
Councillor Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, updated residents in a recent email.
Cllr Harrison instigated the safety audit after February’s accident heightened longstanding concerns about the Ripon Road and Otley Road junction.
The new Tesco has added another dimension to the issues facing motorists and pedestrians in the centre of the village.
His latest email said the council discovered about 4,600 vehicles exited the B6161 Otley Road junction every 24 hours. of these, 90% turn left to Ripley. A third of the right-turning traffic then go to Tesco.
Cllr Harrison’s email concluded that “we know this junction is not ideal, but working out what to do about it remains a challenge”.
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- Accident reignites calls for traffic lights at ‘horrendous’ Killinghall junction
- Safety audit to be carried out at Killinghall junction
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Villager Tom Beardsell remains in favour of traffic lights. He said:
“I feel a fully smart signalised junction is the most sensible and safe before there is a fatality at this junction.
“There is far too much going on around that junction especially now the Tesco connivence store is in full swing.
“Re-painting the road markings and yellow box area will help initially, but it doesn’t distract from the fact there is limited visibility from the Tesco carpark in both directions especially when a bus is at the stop.”
The Ripon Road entrance to the Tesco car park.
Mr Beardsell added he didn’t see any benefit in widening the Tesco entrance and would prefer to see the bus stop moved elsewhere.
He said:
“I first reported the issues at this junction in late January this year, eight months later we are here and there continues to be incidents. How long will it take to make the solution clear and be implemented?”
Asked by the Stray Ferret what he would like to see done, Cllr Harrison said:
Stunning rainbow over Nidderdale this morning“I would like to see a bypass for Killinghall – that is the only solution to remove all of the issues.”
Nidderdale is known for its fantastic views, which were made even more beautiful this morning when a full rainbow appeared in the sky.
Reader Joyce Liggins captured the optical phenomenon at about 9.30am from her bedroom in Pateley Bridge.
It shows the view looking towards Greenhow Hill — a sight Joyce is familiar with having lived on the same street all her life.
Joyce, who took the photo on an iPad, said:
“If I see something that looks nice, I take a photo of it.”
We love receiving your photos. Don’t forget you can send in your images to letter@thestrayferret.co.uk to be featured in our photo of the week on Sunday.
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