Ripon Cathedral is preparing for a funeral. The bereaved family wants to hold a lunch for 100 people after the service but finding a location isn’t easy.

The Very Reverend John Dobson, the Dean of Ripon, says:

“There is nowhere in Ripon they can go. Not one venue. So — and this is something we do quite a lot — we are giving the two transepts and the crossing in the cathedral to the family to have the refreshments.

“That is not ideal for a building like Ripon Cathedral that attracts visitors from all over the country.”

The cathedral has proposed a solution: building an annexe on part of nearby Minster Gardens, which would include an 80-seat refectory. The refectory would also cater for bus tours, which stay away because parties have nowhere to congregate on site for a coffee, as well as concert goers.

The annexe, which it is estimated would cost about £8 million, would also include a song school for the cathedral choir, which is drawn from 20 schools. Choristers currently have to get changed in the library, which has to be sealed off.

There would also be a gift shop, freeing up the current cramped shop near the cathedral entrance for trips to the tower. Parts of the 1,350-year-old building currently used for storage would be opened up and, for the first time, visitors would be spared a trip to public toilets when nature calls.

The grade one-listed cathedral may be a source of local pride but Dean John describes the lack of facilities as “an embarrassment”. He says:

“It is an embarrassment for the cathedral and it’s an embarrassment for the city. And I cannot understand why the city is not more ashamed of it. It’s beyond belief.

“When I first came here, I couldn’t fathom it out – how could this be allowed to happen, and what had my predecessors been doing? But one begins to realise it’s not that straightforward.”

‘We are willing to compromise’

The annexe project led by Dean John has proved anything but straightforward.

The scheme is the culmination of a long-term vision that would, according to the cathedral, increase the number of visitors to Ripon from about 100,000 a year to 135,000, providing an economic boost for the entire city.

And yet over the last year opposition has hardened. There are concerns about the impact on trade at established cafés, the loss of public space and, in particular, the felling of 11 trees in Minster Gardens, including one veteran beech. Ripon City Council withdrew support in December; in February, Ripon Civic Society raised concerns, and a recent public meeting called for a referendum. Some 2,100 people have signed a petition opposing the loss of trees.

Ripon Cathedral. Pic: Association of English Cathedrals

The cathedral, which submitted a planning application in December 2022, paused the process in January this year for further consultation in the hope it would bring people together. But there is little sign of that happening. Some opponents have described the consultation as a sham, claiming those behind it are not open to change and and that the events being held at the cathedral should be held on neutral territory.

We put these claims and others to Dean John in an interview this week. He says:

“What is the evidence they have got that this is a sham? What is it about me, what is it about the cathedral, that makes them think this is a sham? Or is that just easy criticism that they don’t have to be held accountable for, that helps to generate a narrative?”

As for the cathedral hosting events, he says:

“We prefer them to come here because they can see the cathedral and the benefit to the cathedral but they can also look at the site that we are proposing to develop and that’s important. If people actually live in Ripon, the least they can do is come and have a look.”

He also denies claims an exhibition about the plans has been deliberately made less visible to stifle scrutiny:

“We’ve been accused of hiding it in a far corner of the cathedral. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s just where we had space to put it and didn’t have to keep putting it up and taking it down.”

He insists the pause is a sincere attempt to talk and compromise.

“If people are saying, ‘the building is too large, I would say to our people, ‘how do we make it smaller? Compromise’. If there is a great concern about the beech tree, I would ask ‘what do we do about that?'”

Dean John says he has “never taken it for granted that we will get planning permission” and “we might end up with nothing”, which would have “grave consequences” for the city.

Losing £250,000 a year 

Leeds-born John Dobson was appointed dean, usually a lifelong position, in 2014 after his predecessor Keith Jukes died. The dean is head of the chapter, which is the cathedral’s governing body. Only 10 men have held the post in Ripon since 1876.

He says the lack of space had been an issue for decades but the cathedral “had more pressing financial needs” when he arrived from Durham:

“People weren’t talking about it publicly at that time because it was important to keep people’s confidence, but actually the cathedral was on a financial precipice.”

The seventh-century cathedral, he says, was losing £250,000 a year and would have closed last year if the scale of losses had continued. Eighteen months of consultation with more than 1,000 people led to the publication of the strategy document Growing God’s Kingdom, which set a new vision for expanding the worshipping community.

The year 2014 also saw the creation of the Diocese of Leeds, with cathedrals in Ripon, Wakefield and Bradford. The three deans agreed to develop specialisms, with Ripon focusing on rural issues. As part of this it holds regular rural forums at which about 30 organisations, including councils, heritage organisations and companies meet to discuss rural issues.

The financial outlook has transformed, Dean John says:

“In 2017 we made a surplus on the operating accounts. That was a big turning point. That showed that this strategy was beginning to work. That had been the first time in 40 years that there had been a surplus.”

Once the financial outlook improved, attention turned to finding more space.

The cathedral submitted two unsuccessful National Lottery applications for £12 million and £10 million for a south-side building. The chapter then changed course and secured pledges of over £4 million from private supporters.

But after three years of discussions, Historic England torpedoed the scheme in 2020 when an officer visited and said it could not support the south-side proposal because of the impact on the view of the main western entrance, described by the historian Pevsner as one of the finest in England. Without the support of Historic England, a non-departmental government body and statutory consultee, there was zero chance of success.

Dean John says:

“It was extremely disappointing. They were around the table with us for three years – never guaranteeing they would give permission at the end of it but in a sense supporting all the steps forward.”

Had Historic England backed the scheme, the south-side building “could have been built by now”, says Dean John.

Instead it turned its attention to Minster Gardens, which part two of the interview will explore tomorrow.

Read more:

• Ripon Cathedral invites civic society to discuss £8m annexe concerns
• Exclusive: Ripon Cathedral ‘pauses’ controversial annexe planning application
• Your chance to experience the sights and sounds of Ripon free of charge

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town.  You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com. 

When I read the synopsis for Blue Beard, I was intrigued but, truthfully, none the wiser as to what to expect. I knew that, with celebrated, visionary theatre-maker Emma Rice at the helm, it would be something a little unconventional.

Rice’s reimagining is indeed off-the-wall; eccentric, creative, chaotic and hypnotic, Blue Beard is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Based on a 17th-century French fairy tale, we meet the eponymous villain: serial husband Blue Beard (Tristan Sturrock), a smarmy, suited magician, who, rather fittingly for the bloodshed to come, woos his future bride, Lucky (Robyn Sinclair), by sawing her in half on stage.

Once married, the pair run off to live in Blue Beard’s mansion with rooms aplenty, all of which Lucky is free to roam, apart from one: a secret forbidden chamber. When he leaves home on business, Lucky is given strict instructions by Blue Beard not to enter, but (of course) curiosity gets the better of her. Unlocking the secret door, she witnesses a scene of horror: the lifeless, bloodied bodies of her new spouse’s many former wives. What will she do next?

Left to right, Stephanie Hockley, Robyn Sinclair, Patrycja Kujawska. Credit: Steve Tanner

This review comes with a warning: the play is bonkers. But it’s bonkers done to perfection. Trust me – ride the wave and you’ll reap the rewards. The production is rich and overflowing with invention and imagination.

The stage becomes a hallucinatory, fantastical, out-of-time universe with dangling glitter balls, Tarantino-style slo-mo fight scenes, magic tricks, acrobatics and cabaret. Choreography is slick. Set and costume become integral, essential story-telling tools, as does Stu Barker’s sublime score.

A multi-talented cast of actor-musicians gives its very all, including narration by a straight-talking, foul-mouthed Mother Superior figure (Katy Owen) which only heightens the play’s eccentricity. Everything has a place and a purpose, including a more subdued, modern-day subplot intertwined with the main narrative.

Now for the best bit, and why, even if you begin soul-searching in the first 15 minutes or so of the play, wondering what on earth you are watching, you’ll be glad you stayed the course.

The mood shifts. The flashy flamboyance and hectic hedonism of the first act recedes. Having retreated into fantasy, we crash-land in the stark present, and it is at this point that the production reveals its true purpose and power.

Mirabell Gremaud and Tristan Sturrock. Credit: Steve Tanner

I don’t want to give too much away; the play lives on its denouement. The finale, a quietly powerful and desperately urgent commentary on violence against women, is so expertly juxtaposed with the mayhem that came before that the effect is spine-tingling. It’s a real gut-punch.

The production looks back on the “grief of centuries” for women, and how it continues today. The raw, heartfelt exclamation of one female character at the end says it all: “I should be able to walk home alone”.

Blue Beard is at York Theatre Royal until Saturday 9 March.

Read more:

• Review: Oh What a Lovely War brings songs and satire to Harrogate Theatre 
• Review: The Woman in Black haunts York’s Grand Opera House 

New lighting is being installed on the driveway to a Harrogate church. 

Ten low level lighting bollards are being placed along the grass at the side of a pavement leading to St John’s Church in Bilton.  

Simon Dowson, rector at St John’s, said: 

“Currently the church drive is badly lit and particularly in winter it is not an inviting approach.

“We hope the new lighting will rectify this and prove to be of considerable public benefit since the footpath is a popular thoroughfare for pedestrians between Bilton Lane and Crab Lane. It will also be of benefit to the many users of the church and church hall.” 

Preparatory work has been carried out this week, creating unsightly holes in the grass that have left nearby residents such as Sarah Shaw, whose home overlooks the church grounds, concerned about the visual impact of the bollards. Ms Shaw said: 

“We had no idea what the holes were for and only found out from a workman on the site earlier this week that bollards with lights were being installed. I can’t imagine why they would put them there. I’m so upset, it will totally ruin the view.” 

But Mr Dowson said the lamps would be hooded and directional to limit the light shining towards the houses on Elm Tree Avenue. He added that a planning application for the work had been submitted and a public notice had been on display on the front of the church for 28 days during January, with no objections received. 

The work is due to start on March 4, weather permitting, and is being paid for through the local authority commuted funds budget set aside for projects that have a public benefit. 

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Read more:

• 1,000 sign petition to protect Bilton’s Knox Lane from housing
• Bilton Grange remains a ‘good’ school, says Ofsted

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Yorkshire-based property company Rushbond PLC has acquired The Exchange in Harrogate.

The 10-storey office building, located above the town’s train station, increases Rushbond’s commercial property portfolio in Harrogate.

The company recently began work to convert the Herald Buildings on Montpellier Parade into flats and shops.

In a press release announcing the news, Rushbond pledged to “undertake a programme of renovations to the building and the few remaining vacant suites – which range between 765sft to 5,300 sq ft – with a focus on upgrading the specification of the interiors and improving energy efficiency”.

It said the acquisition was part of the company’s strategic plan to grow its portfolio of well-located, best in class commercial assets in Yorkshire, having also recently purchased Bank House in Leeds – the former home of the Bank of England.

The Exchange dominates the street scene on Station Parade.

The Exchange, which dominates the town centre skyline, is one few Grade A office developments in the town centre. It is currently home to businesses ranging from software development companies to law firms and architecture practices. There are also two retail units on the ground floor.

Richard Baker, a senior development surveyor at Rushbond, said:

“The Exchange building represents an incredible asset management opportunity for Rushbond.

“There is no better address for businesses wanting to locate in central Harrogate, with stunning views across this beautiful spa town and countryside beyond. The transport links are second to none and there are substantial onsite car and cycle parking provisions.

“We believe the planned programme of works will reinforce The Exchange’s attraction to a range of future occupiers who see the benefits of locating here in one of the most attractive towns to work and live in the UK.”

Rushbond’s other projects include redesigning the Leeds headquarters for Channel 4; Leeds Corn Exchange and Brewery Wharf in Leeds.

Read more:

• Work begins to convert Harrogate’s Herald Buildings into flats and shops
• ‘It’s something different for the town,” says owner of Harrogate’s new Irish pub

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has urged people to back the long-running bid to improve the River Nidd as it enters a key period.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has opened a consultation on 27 applications for bathing water status, including one for the Nidd at the Lido in Knaresborough.

If successful, the Environment Agency will be obliged to undertake measures to improve water quality at the Lido, which would impact the rest of the river,

Conservative MP Mr Jones, who has led the campaign, submitted the bid to Defra in September.

More than 30 farming groups, parish and town councils, businesses and environmental groups have supported it.

They include Lido landowner Frank Maguire, the chief executive of Yorkshire Water, nearby Conservative MPs, nearby businesses including Blenkhorn’s Boats and the Watermill Cafe and parish councils representing Pateley Bridge, Birstwirth, Bewerley, Little Ribston, Scotton and Lingerfield, Hampsthwaite, Kirk Hammerton and Moor Monkton.

Mr Jones (left) and Knaresborough Lido owner Frank Maguire.

Mr Jones said

“It is good that our bid for bathing water status has reached the next stage.  We need to demonstrate strong support for the bid and so I encourage residents and businesses to take part.

“If we achieve bathing water status that means the Environment Agency will put in place plans to address water quality problems at the Lido which will have benefits up and downstream from the site.”

He said Yorkshire Water had already committed £180 million to reduce the operation of storm overflows in addition to £147 million already committed in its business plan, and added that according to the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, water run-off from farmland is the biggest Nidd pollution factor.

Mr Jones said:

“I know that local people are behind the bathing water bid but we need to show Defra that this is the case and we need to do so right now because of the tight deadline for this consultation.

“The site is ideal. There are plenty of local facilities on site, the landowner is supporting the case and the site is well-used recreationally. The consultation is short and if you need more information about the bid it is available online.  We only have until March 10 to give our views so we need to act quickly.”

Details on how to take part in the consultation are here.

Main image: a photo from Mr Jones’ Defra submission showing people at the Lido in June last year.

Read more:

• Environment secretary ‘impressed’ by River Nidd bathing water bid
• Rivers Nidd and Ure named among UK’s most polluted rivers
• Tories and Lib Dems clash over River Nidd water quality

Plans have been revealed to create a major new community sports facility in the Harrogate district.

Boroughbridge Sports Village would include a games field, a one kilometre running track, a 100 metre sprint track and a multi-use games areas for team sports such as five-a-side football and netball.

The 10-acre site would also host a gym, functional strength and CrossFit centre, health food café as well as a community meeting room and nature reserve.

The scheme is a joint venture between Boroughbridge gym Absolute Fitness, which is owned by former World’s Strongest Man competitor Darren Sadler, and Boroughbridge Town Council.

They have created a charity called Boroughbridge Sports Village to develop the project, which would be built on land between Aldborough Cemetery and Boroughbridge allotments on Chapel Hill,  near to Aldborough Gate.

Residents are being invited to complete a phase one consultation form to gather views before a planning application is submitted.

The consultation document says the sports village would “enhance the quality of life for residents of Boroughbridge and neighbouring communities”, adding:

“It is intended that this proposed development will increase the number of people participating in physical activity, contributing to improved health and well-being of local residents and act as a central hub for the community to come together.”

You can complete the consultation form here.

Read more:

• The pub entrepreneur putting Boroughbridge on the map
• Two new shops set to open in Boroughbridge next month

The government has awarded £380 million of reallocated HS2 funding to improve transport in North Yorkshire.

The seven-year funding, from April 2025 to 2032, has been hailed by ministers as the “first fully devolved transport budget of its kind targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas”.

It will be spent on schemes such as new roads, filling in potholes, tackling congestion, increasing the number of EV chargepoints and improving public transport.

The new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will be overseen by whoever is elected mayor on May 2, will decide how to spend it.

The £380 million awarded to North Yorkshire represents the lion’s share of an overall £950 million package to the Yorkshire and the Humber region announced today.

The Department for Transport said in a statement the deal was on average at least nine times more than local authorities received through the local integrated transport block, which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the funds would “deliver a new era of transport connectivity” and help to level up the country.

He added:

“Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing nearly £1 billion directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across Yorkshire and the Humber, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matters most to them – this is levelling up in action.

“This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pounds of funding we’ve already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country.”

‘Truly game-changing’

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the investment would deliver an unprecedented long term funding uplift across the region over seven years.and give local authorities long-term certainty to invest in “transformative and ambitious transport improvements” from next year.

Mr Harper said:

“Today’s £947 million investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across Yorkshire and the Humber, and is only possible because this government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.”

The money is from the DfT’s Local Transport Fund, which compensates the north and Midlands for the decision to scrap the northern leg if the high speed rail route HS2. It is also specifically for communities in the north and Midlands outside city regions – who already receive City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements.

The South and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities already benefit from £1.4 billion of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements from 2022-2027.

Today’s DfT statement said the investment “demonstrates our commitment to reinvest all of the £19.8 billion from the northern leg of HS2 in the north”.

Lord Patrick McLoughlin, chair of Transport for the North, said:

“We welcome this funding for our local transport areas as a sign of progress towards transforming the north to a more inclusive, sustainable and better-connected region. By having greater clarity on the funding that’s available, and consolidating funding streams, it helps remove inertia and accelerates delivery on the ground.”

Sums awarded

* Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Read more:

• Skills and transport: What does the Harrogate district need from the new combined authority?
• Council pledges further action after ‘shocking’ repair of Knaresborough road

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter is in response to an article about Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, being awarded a pay rise.

Who sanctioned Richard Flinton’s pay rise?

He was already on a near £200,000 salary and is now to be awarded nearly another £6,000 – can’t he survive on what he already gets?

It is rather ironic when others are struggling with the cost of living and expecting a 5% rise in council tax.

Lenny Redmond, Harrogate

Keane Duncan should ‘increase his quest to 365 days’

This letter is in response to Keane Duncan’s 100-day campervan trip around North Yorkshire.

The best thing Mr Duncan can do is to increase his campervan quest for mayorship to 365 days a year.

Hopefully, that will keep him out of the way from making anymore huge mistakes such as the Harrogate Station Gateway project that he pursued, which fortunately didn’t come to fruition after wasting £2 million of public funds.

Gordon Lund, Sawley

Read more:

• Readers’ Letters: Hookstone Woods being turned into a ‘light-polluted’ disco
• Readers’ Letters: ‘It suddenly clicks – you’re not alone’, says Andy’s Man Club member

Yorkshire Water will face ‘many complaints’ over reservoir parking charges

This article is in response to the parking charges recently imposed at reservoirs in the Harrogate district.

For background, my partner and I are well into our 70s. I have poor eyesight and can’t drive, and she has chronic arthritis and a limited walking range. We absolutely love walking around the Washburn Valley reservoirs, it’s flat and it’s most beautiful for mental uplift, so it’s a trip we do quite regularly from our home in Ilkley.

On January 18, I saw an article in The Stray Ferret about the car parking charges being introduced at the reservoir car parks from the following Monday. Despite my having a blue badge parking permit, I have to apply for a special permit to use it under the new scheme. That, in itself, is indicative of the problems which are going to arise for Yorkshire Water.

I immediately went on the website, completed the form, and applied for my special permit. But three weeks later, and still no sign of any acknowledgement from the parking company. 

Nevertheless, last week we decided to venture up to the reservoir and pay our £1 charge; it goes against the grain but needs must.

To our dismay we first of all found that the registration number has to be typed into the ticket machine, but the keyboard is far too small both for me to see to use it, and for my partner to use it with her arthritic fingers — if nothing else that is surely against the spirit of the disability discrimination legislation. And in any case the machines don’t take cash, only card: not anticipating this we had not brought a card with us, but I’m very reluctant to use one anyway in such circumstances.

So we drove back home, unable to take our much anticipated exercise because of our disabilities. How Ironic!

Imposing parking charges and the way they are collected is a dreadful situation for a renowned beauty spot, and the income likely to be generated is very low.

Yorkshire Water is going to be faced with a great many complaints, especially when the parking company starts dishing out the massive fines for inadvertent breaches of their ridiculous regulations.

A very sad situation indeed, and extremely bad public relations.

Steve Broadbent, Ilkley

Old wounds between Harrogate and Ripon councillors reopened this week over council tax as North Yorkshire Council agreed proposals to increase its charge by 4.99%.

The increase will result in almost £90 added to the average Band D bill, with senior councillors arguing the rise was crucial to protect frontline services and to keep up with inflation.

But during the debate in Northallerton, the Liberal Democrats suggested an amendment, which was ultimately rejected, that would have seen council tax limited to 3.99% instead.

Councillor Bryn Griffiths, the leader of North Yorkshire Council’s Liberal Democrat group, told councillors that residents should be paying less following an additional £6m government grant.

Cllr Griffiths said this should be used to protect residents from “execessive” tax rises during a cost-of-living crisis.

This led several councillors, including Andrew Williams, an independent who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside for the Conservatives and Independents, to accuse the Liberal Democrats of political posturing.

He referred to a song from the movie Wonka called A World of Your Own”and said:

“It seems this is where the Liberal Democrats reside most of the time”.

Cllr Williams added:

“What we have here is literally a nonsense. It’s an attempt to grab an election leaflet headline and as usual has no substance behind it from the Liberal Democrats.

“What the people of North Yorkshire need are sensible people taking sensible decisions that protect the long-term future of services.”

Cllr Williams’ comments provoked an angry response from Cllr Philip Broadbank, a long-serving councillor who represents Fairfax and Starbeck for the Liberal Democrats. He then accused Cllr Williams of voting to increase Ripon City Council’s council tax precept by 9% at a meeting last month.

Councillors from Harrogate and Ripon would regularly clash on the old Harrogate Borough Council.

Cllr Broadbank said:

“Some points we’ve heard them all before from the same people.”

However, Cllr Williams, who is also the leader of Ripon City Council, did not attend the Ripon budget meeting where the 9% increase was confirmed due to a family bereavement.

He demanded that Cllr Broadbank withdraw his accusation but he refused.

Cllr Williams told the Local Democracy Reporting Service afterwards that he was going to make a complaint.

He added:

“It’s appalling to be accused of something when I wasn’t even there”.

Read more:

• Harrogate BID and council silent on free parking U-turn 
• Bid to make Ripon businesses more disability friendly 

The days are lengthening and spring is coming, which means only one thing – Knaresborough Tractor Run is approaching. Having attended the last two departs, I can say it’s quite a spectacle. Read about it here.

The week has been dominated by the anti-semitism row concerning Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh. We have a feature on the fallout tomorrow morning.

Last September, I joined other journalists at a drenched Nidderdale Showground at a media gathering celebrating the launch of a new event called the Long Course Weekend.

The event, which is sort of based on triathlon, but a similar gathering in Wales attracts thousands of people and is being promoted as a major boost to Nidderdale sports tourism.

But amid less fanfare this week, the council revealed the event had been moved from Pateley Bridge to Masham because of unspecified difficulties with the Nidderdale Showground.

Is the Debenhams building in Harrogate finally set to be revived? Heritage groups that previously objected to demolition indicated this week they were happy with the new plans to convert it to flats and retail units.

One Harrogate building that has been revived is the Woodlands Pub. I went there this week for a sneak peek.  It’s all happening at that junction: a new Asda convenience store is being built and we still await the opening of Starbucks in the former Leon site.

Read more:

• Harrogate serial rapist jailed for 18 years
• Council pledges further action after ‘shocking’ repair of Knaresborough road
• Harrogate Town Council: Lib Dems issue plea to ‘get on with it’