Firefighters rescue baby locked in car in Ripon

Firefighters from Ripon rescued a baby that was locked inside a car in the city yesterday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report for last night said firefighters were called to Rotary Way at 6pm.

Rotary Way is a short distance from Ripon Fire Station’s site on Stonebridgegate and is the location of St Michael’s Retail Park, which includes M&S Simply Food.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are not revealed in detail.

The incident log added:

“Crews used small tools also with the assistance of a civilian mechanic at the scene.

“The baby was left in the hands of parents, advice given.”

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Council has failed cyclists in Harrogate, says campaigner

A cycling campaigner has described North Yorkshire Council‘s attempts to improve cycling around the Otley Road area of Harrogate as a “failed project”.

The council announced 10 schemes yesterday costing £585,000 to relieve congestion and improve safety in west Harrogate.

Malcolm Margolis, a member of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said the funding provided by government in 2017 included provision for a cycleway from Cardale Park to the Prince of Wales roundabout in Harrogate.

This has now been abandoned, along with other recent cycling initiatives proposed or trialled by the council.

Mr Margolis said:

“This failed project, it should be noted, was the brainchild of the county council, not of cycling campaigners.

“Six years later almost all the cycling elements have been removed.

“This is hugely disappointing, and adds to the council’s failure to deliver funded cycle schemes on Victoria Avenue, the A59 near Knaresborough and Oatlands Drive, and the removal of the successful modal filters on Beech Grove.”

The £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway also looks set to be abandoned after the council admitted it failed to hold a public inquiry before issuing traffic regulation orders.

The council has proposed spending £100,000 to upgrade Nursery Lane for cyclists.

The new proposals include new pedestrian crossings, traffic light upgrades and bus shelter upgrades.

But there is little specifically for cyclists besides a £100,000 upgrade of the no through road Nursery Lane, which is accessed off Otley Road.

A report to councillors about this scheme said it would “investigate the potential of a cycle track order and associated infrastructure works to the surface”. But it adds “third party land would be required”.

New 20mph zone welcomed

But Mr Margolis joined other campaigners in welcoming the proposed 20mph zone covering streets in Pannal Ash and Oatlands.

The zone includes seven schools: Harrogate Grammar School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Rossett School, Ashville College, St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Oatlands Junior School and Oatlands Infants School.

Mr Margolis said this would “make the roads safer for everyone”

Hazel Peacock hands the road safety petition to Elizabeth Jackson of North Yorkshire Council

Hazel Peacock handing the road safety petition to Elizabeth Jackson of North Yorkshire Council in May.

Hazel Peacock, Dr Vicki Evans, Dr Jenny Marks and Ruth Lily, who represent the groups Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign and Pannal Ash Safe Streets, said they were “delighted” the council had committed to delivering the proposals they put forward.

In a statement, they said:

“This is a brilliant response to the calls for safer streets by the local community, schools, education leaders and local cross party councillors, who have been fully supportive of the campaigns in recent years.

“These changes will not only improve safety, but will make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of the whole community, access to walking and cycling and the environment.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Cllr Keane Duncan and North Yorkshire Council staff on the delivery and specifics of the plan, to ensure the best possible outcomes for children, young people and the local community.”

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Ripon school ‘heartbroken’ over death of six-year-old pupil

A Ripon school has said it is “heartbroken” over the death of six-year-old pupil Ihor Bartienieva in a three-vehicle crash last weekend.

Ihor and his mother Daria Bartienieva, 35, and Daria’s step-daughter, Anastasiia Bartienieva, 15, were killed in a collision that involved a double decker bus.

All three were from Ukraine and living in Ripon.

Police are still appealing for witnesses to the incident, which happened on the A61 between South Stainley and Ripley at about 2.20pm on Sunday.

The Federation of Holy Trinity Schools has issued a statement which said staff and pupils “were heartbroken to learn of the tragic death” of infant school pupil Ihor on their return to school this week. It added:

“Ihor joined our year 1 class after arriving from Ukraine with his mum and sister and he soon became a popular member of the Trinity community.

“Ihor had boundless energy and enthusiasm; pupils were drawn to his chatty, charismatic character.”

Tracey Calland-Booke, Ihor’s year 1 class teacher, said:

“Ihor will be remembered by his classmates as a funny, chatty little boy who was loved by us all. We were all in awe of this little spark of joy who really brought something special to our class.”

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Executive headteacher Sue Sanderson said:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Ihor’s family and friends. This devastating event has affected everyone within our community, and we are all now attempting to come to terms with our loss together.

“Staff and pupils have visited the poignant reflection space created by Holy Trinity Church to light a candle, say a prayer and share our happy memories of such a special little boy and his family. We will continue to seek support and comfort in our church and school community.”

£20,000 raised for surviving Liza

A fundraising appeal has now raised more than £20,000 for Daria’s sole remaining daughter, Liza, who was not involved in the collision.

Business have been rallying round to support the cause, with the city’s Black Swan pub on Westgate holding a fundraising event on Saturday.

The event, which starts at 2.30pm, will include live music by Freddie Clearly and a raffle. Further details are here.

Harrogate’s Rachel Daly nominated for world’s top player

Harrogate-born England player Rachel Daly is one of 30 nominees on the shortlist for the world’s best female footballer.

Daly and fellow England stars Millie Bright, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway are among those in the running for the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Daly finished top scorer in the WSL last season to win the Golden Boot and was named PFA women’s Players’ Player of the Year. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland took the men’s award.

Now the former Rossett School student, who started her career at Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club, could be named the continent’s number one.

Daly, who has 447,000 followers on Instagram and 91,000 on Twitter, posted on social media to say it was a “phenomenal honour” to be nominated.

https://twitter.com/RachelDaly3/status/1699471120116662330?s=20

Daly’s recent awards also include winning Euro 22 with England Lionesses and being runners-up in this year’s World Cup.

But North Yorkshire Council still shows no sign of bestowing a civic honour on the homegrown superstar.

A petition, launched by Killinghall Nomads with the backing of the Stray Ferret, is due to be discussed by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in November after meeting the required threshold of signatories.

But the council’s ruling executive, which is 80% male, has said only the matter will be discussed at an unspecified time as part of a wider policy on recognising local people.

The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon was named after the local Olympic diving champion.

But so far the council has not  shown any inclination to do the same for Daly in Harrogate — or come up with a similar accolade.

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Landmark Harrogate road safety and transport package unveiled

New speed limits will be introduced outside a series of schools in Harrogate under plans for North Yorkshire’s largest ever 20mph zone.

North Yorkshire Council today unveiled proposals for an extensive 20mph zone covering streets across the Pannal Ash and Oatlands areas of the town.

The proposed area for the new zone includes a total of seven schools in Harrogate.

These are Harrogate Grammar School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Rossett School, Ashville College, St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Oatlands Junior School and Oatlands Infants School.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“This is the most significant 20mph zone the council has ever introduced.

“Our plan will see 20mph limits introduced outside seven more schools and on nearby residential streets, meaning thousands of children can enjoy safer journeys every day.

“This landmark proposal is testament to the collective determination of schools, families and councillors to respond to public concerns and deliver ambitious action. It sets a positive example and leads the way for communities across North Yorkshire.”

A proposed £585,000 package of sustainable transport measures for the west of Harrogate has also been announced today.

The National Productivity Investment Fund package will be used to deliver parts of the new 20mph zone, as well as upgraded signals at the Cold Bath Road/Otley Road/Arthurs Avenue junction.

Western Primary School on Cold Bath Road

A crossing will be installed outside Western Primary School on Cold Bath Road.

There will also be improvements to bus stops along Otley Road, the crossing outside Falcon Chiropractic on Cold Bath Road, and a new crossing will be installed outside Western Primary School on Cold Bath Road.

Improvements will be made to cycle route signing, the crossing between Green Lane public right of way and Ashville College, and there will be new cycle parking and public realm improvements on Cold Bath Road. Nursery Lane will be upgraded to allow cyclists to use as an off-road leisure route.

Cllr Duncan said:

“We halted unpopular plans for phase two of the Otley Road cycleway to develop an alternative package of measures.

“This decision means we are now able to invest in signal improvements, new crossings, cycling improvements and new bus stops instead.

“This alternative package will be of immense and lasting benefit to all road users – motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and bus passengers.”

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Oatlands Junior School starts scheme

The first School Street initiative started today at Oatlands Junior School, whereby Beechwood Grove is closed to traffic at pick-up and drop-off times to create a safer environment and encourage more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school.

The pilot has been implemented for an experimental 18-month period to allow for its impact to be monitored and assessed. A decision will then be made whether to make the scheme permanent once a review has been carried out.

Members of the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee will be asked to provide feedback on the proposed 20mph and transport package at a meeting on Thursday, September 14.

The plans will then be considered for approval by Cllr Duncan, with the aim of implementing the measures early next year.

National pet retailer to open Harrogate store this month

Nationwide pet retailer Jollyes is to open a store in Harrogate this month as part of expansion plans.

The store, which will be situated at Hookstone Park, near Morrisons, will open on September 29 and employ 10 people. It will include a grooming spa called the Jolly Groomer.

Jollyes was founded in 1971 and employs more than 1,000 staff at 93 sites, many of which run community clinics offering vaccinations.

The company plans to open 10 more stores by the middle of 2024, taking its total number of sites to 103.

Inside Jollyes. Pic: Professional Images/@ProfImages

News of the Harrogate venture was included in a trading update today that revealed the company recorded sales of £33.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 — 34% higher than the £25.3m figure for last year’s first quarter.

Growth was partly fuelled by an increase in sign-ups to the firm’s pet club, which rewards customers for sales.

Chief executive Joe Wykes said:

“Our performance in our opening quarter of this financial year underlines the effectiveness of the strategy we’ve put in place – delivering exceptional value to our customers, powered by the most knowledgeable colleagues in the industry.”

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Memorial stone unveiled in honour of murdered Harrogate police officer

A memorial stone was unveiled this morning in honour of Harrogate police officer David Haigh, who was murdered on duty in 1982.

Father-of-three PC Haigh, 29, was shot by Barry Prudom at Norwood Edge car park in Stainburn Forest.

Prudom went on the run and killed two more people before turning the gun on himself 17 days later after Britain’s biggest ever manhunt, which involved 4,000 police officers.

PC David Haigh was just 29 when he was murdered.

Family members, who return to the site annually to lay a wreath, told the Stray Ferret last year they were in discussions with the Police Memorial Trust, a charity that erects memorials to British police officers killed in the line of duty.

Those discussions finally bore fruit today and numerous relatives, including PC Haigh’s widow Annette Jakes, children, grandchildren and brother, attended the ceremony. Many still live locally.

Geraldine Winner, the widow of film-maker Michael Winner, unveiled the stone at the spot where PC Haigh is believed to have fallen.

Mr Winner founded the Police Memorial Trust, which has now created 57 memorials to officers killed in the line of duty.

Family and representatives of North Yorkshire Police and the Police Memorial Trust at today’s ceremony.

A 58th is due to be unveiled tomorrow in honour of sergeant David Winter, 31, who was shot during the search for PC Haigh’s killer.

North Yorkshire Police representatives, including chief superintendent Catherine Clarke, were also in attendance.

Ms Jakes told the Stray Ferret the memorial “has been a long time coming” but she was delighted PC Haigh’s sacrifice had now been formally recognised.

Youngest son Richard Haigh said:

“I’m really pleased that after all these years we finally have somewhere where we can come and reflect and think about dad.

“It’s somewhere for everyone to see what he sacrificed — how he went to work and never came home.”

A QR code on the memorial stone takes phone users to a page on the Police Memorial Trust website that gives information about PC Haigh.

The memorial stone is situated where PC Haigh lost his life.

You can watch a video of the stone being unveiled on our Facebook page here.

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Historic Harrogate jewellers to host Egyptology exhibition

One of Harrogate’s most famous shops is to host an Egyptology exhibition that highlights its links to Tutankhamun.

Ogden of Harrogate‘s Egyptomania exhibition, which opens on Thursday, celebrates 130 years of the family jewellers and the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

James R Ogden, who founded the business in 1893, travelled widely to obtain jewels and the exhibition features his artefacts and letters.

When Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb, he invited Ogden to the Valley of the Kings to value and weigh the gold, including Tutankhamun’s coffin.

The Harrogate jeweller was one of the first people in over 3,000 years to enter the tomb.

JR Ogden, who founded the family jewellers.

Ogden of Harrogate, which is based on James Street, is now run by JR Ogden’s great, great grandsons Robert and Ben Ogden.

Robert Ogden said:

“The history of our business is our cornerstone and we have recently been cataloguing our archive, where we have a vast collection of JR Ogden’s memorabilia, including a remarkable collection of 10,000 lantern slides of his travels to Tutankhamun’s tomb, and artefacts from his expeditions to Ur, Babylon, Palestine, Syria, and Assyria.

“There are also hundreds of letters that are fascinating glimpses of the key characters of that time, and their explorations.”

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JR Ogden knew Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon, Max Mallowan (Agatha Christie’s second husband) and worked particularly closely with the archaeologists Leonard and Katharine Woolley.

Some of these artefacts and letters will be on display for the first time.

The exhibition also includes previously unseen letters of Katharine Woolley, a pioneering female archaeologist, that are of particular interest, as on her death she asked that all her personal documents be destroyed.

Yvonne Nightingale, general manager at Ogden of Harrogate, with some letters from the exhibition. Pic: Lorne Campbell. Guzelian

Ogden made many replicas of the artefacts found at Tutankhamun and Ur and donated them to the British Museum.

The exhibition provides an insight into the social and political context in which archaeology was practiced at that time. JR Ogden collected hundreds of newspaper clippings about archaeological digs, some of which will also be on display.

Egyptology runs at Ogden of Harrogate on James Street, Harrogate, from September 7 to 21.

Harrogate ‘rat run’ to return as road set to reopen

A Harrogate road often used as a cut-through by vehicles is set to reopen to through traffic this autumn.

A 12-month traffic order has blocked traffic at the bridge where Kingsley Road meets Bogs Lane since November last year.

The route was previously used by some vehicles to avoid congestion on the main A59 Knaresborough Road, as well as by locals.

The traffic order was issued to enable developer Redrow to carry out work at its 133-home Kingsley Manor development.

Kingsley Road - Bogs Lane bridge

The bridge that divides Bogs Lane and Kingsley Road is to re-open to vehicles.

North Yorkshire Council  wanted to make the closure permanent but has been unable to do so and the roads will reopen to through traffic when the 12-month order lapses on November 3.

A council email sent to interested parties said it needed to construct a turning area on Bogs Lane “as a prerequisite to any road closure”.

The email, which is attributed to a ‘development management team’ rather than any named individual, added:

“We have been negotiating with this third party landowner for over 18 months and despite protracted correspondence, there has been no conclusion to the enquiry.

“The local highway authority is now at the stage where we must proceed with an alternative option to create a safe pedestrian environment on Bogs Lane as the temporary road closure expires in November and the occupation of dwellings on the Redrow site will begin shortly after.”

The council now wants to install a pedestrian route between the proposed Redrow site entrance on Bogs Lane and the garage to the east of the railway bridge.

The email added:

“The proposal would create a notional 1.5 metre wide footway on the northern side of the road, which would be slightly narrower over short sections in some places due to physical site constraints.

“This option would require the road to be realigned slightly to the south and reinforced in places in order to retain its current minimal width of 4.8m.

“Discussions are already underway with Network Rail with regards to the proposed footway crossing the bridge deck, as this bridge is a Network Rail asset for which permissions would be required to undertake works.”

The email added the council is talking to Redrow about amending 2017 documents that obliged the developer to construct a footway.

‘The infamous Kingsley rat run will reappear’

Some people welcomed the road closure for making the Kingsley area quieter; others said it added time to their journeys and the detours only increased pollution.

Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley on the council, was among those who supported a permanent closure. He said:

“I do see the point, which I understand many of the consultees made, regarding keeping Bogs Lane open to emergency vehicles, which would benefit residents on both sides of the bridge.

“I’m really pleased that, at long last, Bogs Lane is going to get a decent footway, hopefully prior to November 4th, when the Redrow Road Closure expires.

“My main worry is that the infamous Kingsley rat run will reappear when the road re-opens, but I understand traffic lights and traffic calming measures on both sides of the bridge and around the new junction will not make the road any quicker for motorists than using Knaresborough Road.”

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Candles to be lit in Ripon for children and mother killed in crash

A Ripon church will open today to let people say prayers and light candles for a mother and her two children killed in a car crash on Sunday.

Holy Trinity Church will welcome staff, parents and children from nearby Holy Trinity School and anyone else who knew those who died.

The church said in a post online:

“A space has been created where people can sit quietly, light a candle and write in a condolence book.

“There will be someone available to pray with you if you would like this.

“If you do come please keep quiet at this sensitive time.”

Police said yesterday three people died in a three-vehicle crash that involved a double decker bus on the A61 Ripon Road near South Stainley at 2.20pm on Sunday.

It was the second fatal collision on the road between Ripon and Harrogate on consecutive weekends.

The church said the victims, who have not been named yet by police, were three members of a Ukrainian family living in Ripon.

It said the mother was aged 35 and had lost her husband in February this year.

Her 15-year-old daughter, who had only been in the country for five weeks, and her six-year-old son also died, the church added.

It urged people to pray for the sole remaining daughter and her family abroad.

A fundraising page for the girl has already raised more than £5,000. You can donate here.

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