A ramshackle red phone box in Harrogate has been moved and transformed into a history of the Stray.

The disused phone box on the Stray, just off Otley Road, had fallen into a dilapidated state.

So the Stray Defence Association, which safeguards the 200 acres of parkland against building and encroachment, hired a specialist renovation company to uplift it on March 16.

It was restored to its original bright scarlet and moved to a more prominent town centre spot on West Park Stray, where it stood beneath a white cover for several days.

Two children removed the covers at an unveiling ceremony this afternoon to reveal the new-look phone box with panels displaying the history of Harrogate’s Stray and the Stray Defence Association.

Its old position on the Stray, next to Otley Road, has been restored and reseeded to return it to Stray land.

Stray Defence Association chairman Judy d’Arcy Thompson and committee member Syd Bell

Judy D’Arcy Thompson, chairman of the Stray Defence Association, said:

“It is the Stray Defence Association’s hope that it will become a valued part of the West Park street scene and an intriguing and iconic information source for both local people and visitors to Harrogate.”

Today’s unveiling, which was attended by members of the Stray Defence Association, Harrogate In Bloom and Harrogate Civic Society, coincided with the 90th anniversary of the Stray Defence Association, which was formed on May 12, 1933

Cordelia, 7, and Harry, 5, performed the opening by cutting a ribbon to highlight how children are the future custodians of the Stray.

A Stray Defence Association donor paid for the renovation, which was approved by the Duchy of Lancaster and both Harrogate Borough Council and the new North Yorkshire Council.

The phone box being uplifted

Panels on the restored phone box tell the story of the Stray.

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Turkish Baths Harrogate has permanently banned nude bathing.

The Victorian venue, run by North Yorkshire Council’s leisure company Brimhams Active, operated two weekly single sex clothing-optional sessions until March.

But swimwear was then made compulsory for all sessions following what the council described as a “serious” police complaint.

No further details have been revealed about the incident and North Yorkshire Police today repeated its statement that “enquiries are ongoing”.

However, a regular customer contacted the Stray Ferret yesterday after receiving an email from the baths informing him the ban would remain.

Katie Summersall, Turkish Baths manager, today confirmed the news. She said:

“Brimhams Active’s priority is to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of staff and customers.

“A management decision has been made that swimwear is to be compulsory at all public bathing sessions.”

The customer, who asked not to be named, regularly attended the clothing-optional male sessions, where he said the majority of people found clothes uncomfortable.

He said:

“I suspect there was never any intention to restore the old policy, and — perhaps cynically — wonder if the complaint and investigation contained an element of convenient prefabrication.”

North Yorkshire Council took control of the baths on April 1 when Harrogate Borough Council was abolished.

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A locally-born soprano who has sung internationally will return to the Harrogate district tomorrow night for a concert in Birstwith.

Eleonore Cockerham was born in Harrogate and became a chorister in Knaresborough, when she was also a finalist in the BBC Chorister of the Year competition.

Ms Cockerham, who went on to sing with the Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble Voces8 and is now a freelance musician, will join Tim Harper, assistant director of music and organist at Ripon Cathedral and local chamber choir Voces Seraphorum at St James’ Church.

The choir presents regular concerts throughout the region and is also often invited to sing choral services at cathedrals around the country.

Their programme in Birstwith will include music by Handel, Mozart, Stanford, Dyson and Finzi and the coronation anthem ‘I was glad’ by Hubert Parry.

There will also be some choral music by more contemporary composers such as Paul Mealor and Eric Whitacre and a selection of lighter arrangements.

Tickets are £10 (£5 students) and can be booked by phoning 01423 771734 or 07808 370529. They will also be available on the door.

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• Garden centre near Harrogate to reopen after eight years

Three cherry trees in Harrogate have been vandalised in the latest incident of its kind on the Stray.

Nearby resident Cheryl Flint was upset to notice the snapped branches on the parkland off York Place this morning.

What appears to be a school tie is hanging from a branch opposite one of the damaged trees.

Another snapped branch

Ms Flint said:

“We wait all year for these beautiful trees to bloom — then some idiots think that it is acceptable for the mindless behaviour.”

The rows of cherry trees are a popular attraction on the Stray, particularly in spring when they blossom. But they have become a magnet for vandals.

The latest damage is less severe than that which occurred in August 2021 when eight trees were affected.

In October 2020, a police officer tweeted about a number of trees “destroyed and killed” on York Place Stray.

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A horticultural nursery near Harrogate is to reopen after almost eight years.

Cliff Bank Nursery at North Rigton was run for years by Joe Maiden, who appeared on radio gardening shows for 40 years until his death in 2015.

Ben Preston, who was previously head gardener at York Gate Garden, and NHS worker Laura Kennedy have spent a year restoring the Harrogate Road site, which will re-open on Saturday, May 27.

The nursery will specialise in rare woodland plants, unusual perennials and ornamental grasses as well as offering a yearly selection of hardy annuals.

Mr Preston and Ms Kennedy, both 35, took on the challenge to bring the derelict nursery back to life in March last year.

Ben Preston and Laura Kennedy

They have cleared the overgrown site, installed new polytunnels and created selling space. A derelict glasshouse has also been refurbished.

The couple plan to grow everything at Cliff Bank by propagating from seed, cuttings and divisions.

Mr Preston, who is originally from Boston Spa, worked at gardens across the UK, including Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough, before overseeing the expansion of York Gate Garden as head gardener fro 2017 to 2022. He is also a lecturer at Yorkshire School of Garden Design.

Ms Kennedy has worked in the NHS for nine years.

Mr Preston said:

“We’re really happy to be re-opening the gates at Cliff Bank. It has seen many horticultural chapters over the years and hopefully we’ll be here for many years to come growing unusual plants and providing inspiration and knowledge for gardeners.

“Being a local lad and having a passion for plants, it has been a dream to open our own nursery so close to where I grew up. Our aspiration is to become a popular local nursery with a national reputation for growing interesting and unusual plants here in Yorkshire.’

The greenhouse pre-renovation

The renovated greenhouse

Ms Kennedy added:

“We’ve got huge plans for Cliff Bank and I can’t wait to see them come to fruition, but in the meantime, we look forward to welcoming the gardeners of Leeds and Harrogate over the summer.”

Cliff Bank will open Wednesday to Saturday from 9am to 4:30pm until October.

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A public meeting is being held in Ripon next week to hear views on how to shape a new tourism strategy for North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Council, which came into existence last month, is devising a strategy to boost the county’s multi-million pound tourism industry.

As part of this, the council is staging three free workshops, including one at the Old Deanery in Ripon from 11am to 1pm on Wednesday.

A council press release this week said the events would “gather information and views from key organisations and enterprises involved in the tourism sector to develop the first countywide destination management plan”.

Attendees will be asked about their priorities and aspirations for the tourism industry as well as the strengths, opportunities and challenges being faced by North Yorkshire’s visitor economy.

Newby Hall. Pic: Mervin Straughan

The council’s Conservative leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The opportunity to develop the first county-wide plan to promote tourism is a major milestone for North Yorkshire.

“The views of businesses and organisations involved in tourism will be key to developing the strategy and the future of the industry as a whole.”

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In-person events will also be held in Ripon, Skipton and Scarborough followed by two online sessions from 5.30pm to 7pm on Tuesday, May 23, and then from noon until 1.30pm on Thursday, May 25.

The draft destination management plan is due to be finalised by the end of June, before being presented to councillors the following month.

A bid is then due to be submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in September for North Yorkshire to be home to a Local Visitor Economy Partnership, which would involve both the private and public sectors and would need to follow a new national process to be eligible for support and potential funding from the government.

Tourism in North Yorkshire accounts for 11 per cent of the county’s overall economy and employs 41,200 workers.

The county is home to two National Parks for the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, as well as Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, which is one of only two World Heritage Sites in Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire also has stately homes, including Castle Howard, Kiplin Hall and Newby Hall, as well as 23 English Heritage sites, including Whitby Abbey, Richmond Castle and Rievaulx Abbey, along with the recently acquired Thornborough Henges.

The county also has a wealth of famous food and drink producers responsible for brands including Bettys Café Tea Rooms, Wensleydale Cheese, Harrogate Spring Water and Yorkshire Tea.

Further details of the workshops are available here.

You can complete a 10-minute questionnaire on North Yorkshire’s visitor economy here.

Starbeck Baths is to reopen today — five weeks after it closed due to an “unforeseen mechanical failure”.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the swimming pool said it would welcome customers from 7.30am.

It added:

A London investment firm is in talks to buy Masham’s troubled Black Sheep Brewery, according to media reports today.

The brewery, which employs about 50 staff, said last week it intended to appoint administrators after being hit hard by covid and rising costs.

Sky News reported Breal Capital has emerged as the leading contender to acquire the company, which was founded in 1992 by Paul Theakston.

Sky News said “other bidders remained in contention to acquire the business, and that a deal with Breal was not yet certain”.

It added the brewery asked interested parties to table offers by last Friday, and cited a pre-pack administration as one possible outcome.

Breal Capital is part of Breal Group, which did not respond to the Stray Ferret’s request for comment today.

Charlene Lyons, Black Sheep Brewery’s chief executive, said last week:

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Two large banners advertising covid booster vaccinations have been pulled down and stolen from Pateley Bridge.

The banners were attached to the walls outside Pateley Bridge Pharmacy on the town’s High Street and outside Pateley Bridge and Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road.

Both banners advertised vaccines at the pharmacy, which has been at the forefront of the local covid campaign.

The banner attached to the pharmacy.

North Yorkshire Police today appealed for information about the thefts, which occurred overnight on either Monday or Tuesday last week.

It did not comment on the possible reasons for the theft.

The banner attached to the Memorial Hall.

The banners were bright yellow and measured approximately 1 metre x 2 metres.

Police said:

“Anybody with information about this crime can email bill.hickson@northyorkshire.police.uk, call 101, or report on-line at www.northyorkshire.police.uk. Please quote reference 12230080065.

“Alternatively, information can be passed anonymously via Crimestoppers UK on 0800 555 111 or online at the Crimestoppers website.”

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North Yorkshire Council has proposed constructing a cycle priority crossing in Harrogate.

The £30,000 scheme where Bilton Lane dissects Nidderdale Greenway would give cyclists and pedestrians crossing the road priority over vehicles.

The road would be raised to make the crossing more visible to motorists.

The council has sent letters to Bilton residents to get their views. The letter says there has been an increase in the number of cyclists and pedestrians using the Nidderdale Greenway cycle network. It adds:

“As part of the council’s efforts to improve accessibility and promoting active travel, we are proposing to construct a cycle priority crossing on Bilton Lane at the crossing of Nidderdale Greenway.

“The crossing is designed with a raised table making it more visible to drivers and helping to slow them down. Priority will be given to cyclists and pedestrians to cross safely without having to compete with drivers on the road.

“People with mobility issues such as those using wheelchairs or mobility scooters can cross more easily with the crossing being at the same level as the footway. Apart from improved safety, other benefits include increased accessibility, better health outcomes and environmental benefits.”

The crossing would be 7 metres long, 6.6 metres wide and 75 millimetres high.

Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge on the council, said he supported the idea in principle.

But he added the Bilton Lane speed limit needed to be reduced from 30mph to 20mph and parking arrangements improved so the crossing was more visible to motorists.

Cllr Haslam also called on farmers, who often drive vehicles on Bilton Lane, to be consulted and for the car park next to the greenway and Bilton Lane to be resurfaced.

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