John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate woman jailed for 10 weeks

A woman from Harrogate has been jailed for 10 weeks for failing to comply with a community order.

Claire Read, 28, of Fairfax Avenue, admitted the offence when she appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Friday.

Read received a suspended sentence, which included a community order, on September 23 last year.

As part of this, she was required to attend an appointment on February 15 but failed to do so.

Court documents say Read was jailed for ‘wilful and persistent failure to comply with the requirements of a community order’.

The documents added her guilty plea was taken into account when the sentence was imposed.

Odeon packed for 90-minute archive film of Harrogate district

A 90-minute programme of archive footage of the Harrogate district has once again packed out the Odeon.

Two extra screenings were fully booked yesterday after tickets for September’s original viewings were also snapped up.

It means almost 1,000 people have watched the curated footage now.

The programme, which features clips held at the Yorkshire Film Archive in York, was commissioned by Harrogate’s Civic Society and FIlm Society.

It shows Harrogate and Knaresborough celebrating coronations in 1937 and 1953, the opening of the Odeon Cinema and Dustin Hoffman in Harrogate during filming of the 1979 film Agatha.

1970s fashion, Harrogate style

It also features the Harrogate Spa in 1930s, local railways in 1962, including the Ripon line that closed six years later, Knaresborough’s zoo and aquarium in 1968, the Knaresborough bed race in 1977, Disability Action Yorkshire, the Harrogate flower show and the Great Yorkshire Show, including a visit by the Queen in 1957.

Some of the highlights are available through the Yorkshire Film Archive website.

Harrogate district criminals could apologise to victims rather than go to court

Criminals could meet their victims to apologise rather than go to court under a new restorative justice agreement in North Yorkshire.

The Community Remedy document aims to give victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a greater say in how oﬀenders should be held account.

The updated document was agreed by Chief Constable Lisa Winward and Zoë Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, after a six-week public consultation.

It lists actions that can be carried out without court proceedings by criminals who admit their wrongdoing.

The options include bringing victims and criminals together “in a safe and supported way” to allow greater understanding of each other.

Other options include criminals giving verbal or written apologies or signing acceptable behaviour contracts in which they pledge to improve their behaviour.

Those guilty of offences could also engage in reparations by repairing or paying for damage caused or litter picking, or agree to attend anger management programmes or mediation.

Ms Metcalfe urged victims to “carefully consider using the options so that offending can be addressed and community safety restored”, adding:

“Community Remedy provides a vital opportunity for victims to be consulted and input on the outcome and resolution to an anti-social behaviour offence.”

“The local options provide victims with the opportunity to ensure justice and reparation for an offence, as well as an important opportunity for perpetrators to learn about the impact of the offence and change their behaviour in the future, without being criminalised through court proceedings.”

Chief Constable Winward said Community Remedy “can be a more meaningful resolution to some victims and perpetrators than other criminal justice outcomes and can be more effective in keeping people safe and feeling safe”. She added:

“Anyone who has been a victim of a crime or anti-social behaviour will inevitably feel the impact of that event in some way.

“In some cases, just being able to share how it made them feel with a perpetrator or for a perpetrator to reflect on their actions and offer to put things right can be extremely powerful in the healing process and allow people to move on.”

Community Remedy will only be used when criminals admit their offence and both parties agree to take part.

Harrogate Cricket Club launches £75,000 nets appeal

Harrogate Cricket Club has launched a £75,000 fundraising appeal to buy four cricket nets.

The nets would enable the club, which has four senior teams, 150 junior players and walking cricket for over-55s, to practise using some of the best facilities in the district.

It currently has only two overused nets in poor condition at its St George’s Road ground.

The crowdfunder campaign therefore initially aims to raise £30,000 and would make the new facilities open to the wider community.

The club has found donors willing to match fund that amount so the £30,000 target would generate £60,000. A further £15,000 may be required as the cost of the new nets could be as high as £75,000.

The existing nets were damaged in a recent storm.

The crowdfunding page said:

“We want to be able to provide some of the best cricket facilities in the north of England. But we’re currently falling well short of where we want to be.

“We only have two nets for hundreds of players and they are really old and tired. We have constant issues with net congestion, i.e. too many players and not enough nets and this significantly impacts our players’ ability to practise and develop.”

The nets will, according to the club, “allow each cricketer to develop at their own pace, with enough ‘net time’ to discover their strengths and work on their confidence”.

The first team plays in the Yorkshire Premier League and is coached by former Yorkshire player Matt Pillans.

Female cricket has boomed in recent years and the club’s girls section now has three teams across three age groups.

A club graphic showing how the new nets would look.

The appeal adds:

“There is a real lack of quality net facilities in North Yorkshire. We believe we can build an outstanding facility that will serve our players, their families, and the broader cricketing community for years to come.”

You can support the campaign here.

Leeds Bradford Airport begins flights to Porto and Perpignan

Leeds Bradford Airport has begun flights to Porto in Portugal and Perpignan in France.

The first flights ever to these destinations from Leeds Bradford took to the skies yesterday.

The airport has a record 80 destinations on its schedule for 2023/2024.

The Perpignan route is handy for rugby league fans as the Catalan Dragons’ stadium is a six-minute drive from Perpignan Airport.

Porto has become a popular city break for holidaymakers due to its culture and gastronomy in a coastal setting.

Flights to Perpignan and Porto will operate until the end of October this year.

Nicola McMullen, aviation director at Leeds Bradford Airport, said:

“These new routes have already sold incredibly well and we’re sure that both routes will continue to be popular alongside our wider schedule throughout the year.”

12 local schools raise £6,000 at concert in Harrogate

Twelve primary schools raised about £6,000 for cancer care by performing a charity concert at the Royal Hall in Harrogate.

A total of 258 pupils took to the stage for the sold out concert, which has been held annually since 2015 except for covid.

Sarah Bassitt, who will retire as headteacher of Killinghall Church of England Primary School at the end of the year, was the main organiser of the event.

Funds raised from Friday’s show will go to the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre at Harrogate District Hospital, which provides cancer treatment.

Ms Bassitt said the raffle raised about £1,000 and the overall tally was expected to exceed £6,000.

“This will mean that over the time that we have been doing the concert we will have raised over £25,000 for local charities.

“It was an amazing evening that was highly appreciated and praised by parents.”

The show included choirs, a wind band, a ukulele group, recorders and dancers.

The finale saw all the children on stage together sing two songs conducted by Helen Potter

Schools taking part were:

Admiral Long and Birstwith CE Primary Schools

Bishop Monkton CE Primary School

Dacre Braithwaite CE Primary School

Hampsthwaite CE Primary School

The Federation of Kettlesing, Felliscliffe, Beckwithshaw & Ripley

Killinghall CE Primary School

The Upper Nidderdale Federation of Schools

Business Breakfast: Lawyer retires after 30 years in Harrogate

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

LCF Law held a party at Piccolino in Harrogate to say farewell to partner Tim Axe, who will retire at Easter after 30 years as a lawyer in Harrogate.

Planning specialist Mr Axe is a partner in the law firm, which has offices in The Exchange building on Station Parade in Harrogate as well as in Leeds, Bradford and Ilkley.

Managing partner Simon Stell paid tribute to Mr Axe, who plans to go travelling with his wife in a camper van.

Harrogate finance firm appoints new commercial officer

A Harrogate financial firm has hired a new chief commercial officer.

Dan Baines has joined Tower Street Finance and has been tasked with spearheading the firm’s growth in the probate lending sector.

Dan Baines, new chief commercial officer at Tower Street Finance.

Mr Baines is widely credited as being a driving force behind Age Partnership’s rise to market leadership in the equity release sector and was also a founding director of award-winning equity release provider, Pure Retirement.

He said:

“I’m delighted to be joining the team at Tower Street and look forward to helping this exciting market to reach its potential.

“As was the case with the equity release sector some 15 years ago, I see in the probate-lending market an innovative product set that can significantly improve the lives of customers.

“Probate lending is already the fastest-growing UK consumer credit market, and this is despite consumer awareness still being low.”

Robert Husband, chief executive officer of Tower Street Finance, added:

“We are thrilled to have Dan come on board at this exciting time in our development.

“We have already experienced significant growth and made good strides towards building this new and innovative sector. Dan brings a wealth of experience which will help us to continue this journey.”

Pateley parking permits reduced to £10 a year

Pateley Bridge’s annual parking permits will go on sale on April 1 at the reduced price of £10.

The permit, which is available to residents and non-residents, enables free parking for two hours at the town’s council-run Southlands and Nidd Walk car parks.

The permit cost £12 last year and also included parking at Nidderdale Showground.

But that arrangement ended in December when NIdderdale Agricultural Society, which owns the showground, ended a 21-year lease agreement with Harrogate Borough Council to operate the car park and appointed a private company instead.

The issue caused bad feeling as people who had bought the annual permit in good faith were shocked to discover before it had expired that they were liable for charges at the showground.

The 2023/24 permits, which cover two vehicles, will go on sale at Nidderdale Plus on Station Square on April 1.

Pateley town councillor Mike Holt said the permit was tremendous value, adding:

“The council was bitterly disappointed with the parking situation which occurred at the showground and has been in negotiation with Harrogate Borough Council.

“We are pleased to announce that through these negotiations, the parking permits will still be valid at Southlands and Nidd Walk for £10.”

Cllr Holt said the council received an allocation of 600 permits each year and usually sold 300 to 400 on the day they went on sale and the majority of the rest afterwards.

Volunteers needed to help disabled children ride ponies

A charity that helps children with disabilities enjoy the thrill of riding ponies is appealing for volunteers.

Riding for the Disabled Association enables children from four specialist schools in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon areas to ride each week.

But each child requires three volunteers to supervise and some children are missing out because of a shortage of helpers.

The charity is therefore hosting an open session on April 25 to allow people to see what’s involved.

It seeks people aged over 16 to give three hours of time on Tuesdays, particularly in the afternoon, during term times.

Experience with horses and children is not essential and training is provided. Sessions take place at Harrogate Riding Centre at Burn Bridge.

Children can only ride if they have three people supervising.

Shona Crichton, principal at The Forest School, Knaresborough, said:

“For some of our children at The Forest School, the experience of being on a pony is transformational. We see children as young as five who have incredibly complex physical and or learning needs overjoyed at the freedom of movement they can’t achieve on the ground.

“Positive mood changes, confidence, social development and building core strength are other vital benefits. We are really grateful to the Riding for Disabled volunteers who give their time to make this happen”.

Margaret Flannery, who has been volunteering for four years, said:

“I love it. Where else can I get my steps in for the day whatever the weather as we’re in an indoor arena, have a laugh with a great bunch of people, do something different to my normal routine and see what a difference I’m making to the children.

“We really need more volunteers to join us though if we are to keep the sessions running so I hope we can recruit some more much needed volunteers as I’d really miss it if we couldn’t keep going”.

About 10 volunteers are wanted. To find out more, contact Jane on 07786980195 or visit here.

Harrogate’s Olympic hopeful from a famous sporting family

Harrogate is home to one of Britain’s most famous sporting dynasties — the Mills family.

Dad Danny played football for England and Leeds and while his 19-year-old son Stanley is forging a career with Everton, 23-year-old son George is making a name as an international middle distance runner.

George was 1,500 metre British champion in 2020 and has realistic ambitions of representing the UK at the World Championships in Budapest this year and at the Olympics in Paris next year.

Like most international athletes he lives a nomadic life, spending winter training in South Africa and then alternating between there, Leipzig in Germany and St Moritz in Switzerland during the summer race season.

Training in St Moritz

But his roots are firmly in Harrogate, having lived in the town for most of his childhood when he attended Ashville College, Brackenfield School and St Aidan’s Church of England High School. His youngest brother is still at St Aidan’s. George says:

“St Aidan’s is where I got properly into running. I was in Year 7 and I went to a lunchtime cross-country club every week. I started doing local school races and joined Harrogate Harriers when I was 12 or 13 where I had my first proper coach.”

Under Jo Day’s guidance at Harrogate Harriers, he improved rapidly and became under-18 European 800 metres champion at the age of 17 by running a remarkable 1 minute 48.36 seconds.

Jo recalls:

“Everything I asked George to do he did. I had to pull the reins in on him at times because he wanted to work so hard.

“He was incredibly focused. If you are going to do something in the Mills family, you do it 110%!”

George Mills and Jo Day Harrogate Harriers

George in a Harrogate Harriers shirt with coach Jo Day

In September 2017 George moved to Brighton to attend university and transferred to Brighton Phoenix, the club 1980 Olympic 800 metres champion Steve Ovett ran for. But injuries kept him off the track for three frustrating years.

He bounced back in 2020 to win British indoor and outdoor titles at 1,500 metres — the distance he now focuses on.

But international athletics is a brutal and unforgiving sport. His senior British debut at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade last year turned into an “absolute disaster” when he thought he’d recovered from a bug only to fade to seventh in his heat.

He was then tripped in his second senior international appearance at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul this month.

George, however, doesn’t dwell on these disappointments. He says:

“You learn to roll with it. There’s always setbacks in sport. It’s how you deal with them that counts.”

Instead he is focusing on doing everything he can to have the best chance of success in the 18-month run-up to the Olympics. And we mean everything: he runs up to 180 kilometres a week in training, which even by the standards of the Mills family, where everybody exercises at least five times a week, is extreme. He jokes:

“They think I’m a bit of a weirdo because it’s so time consuming.”

Parental support

His parents are, however, totally behind him and occasionally watch him race. George, who is now a member of On Athletics Club Europe’s elite team of young runners, says:

“Having a dad from a high level sporting background was positive. He taught me about discipline and training — how I have to eat, sleep and train right and recover right. Being a professional sportsman is a 24/7 thing.”

Running may have usurped football but the bond remains strong. He grew up kicking a ball and admits he was “an absolute glory hunter as a kid” who supported Chelsea but now just supports his brother, who made his Everton debut last year.

George runs up to 180km a week

Athletes may be the financial poor relations to footballers but the route to the top is every bit as hard.

British middle distance is currently the strongest it’s been since the 1980s golden era of Ovett, Coe and Cram so even qualifying for major championships is tough.

George, however, is up for the challenge of being an Olympian in 2024.

“The level is incredible at the moment but if I said to you ‘I don’t believe I will make it’, I would be lying. It’s my sole focus. Paris next year is the big goal. But it’s way easier said than done.”

One thing is for sure, he won’t shirk the challenge.

“I’m very much a believer in mindset and the people you surround yourself with. Success breeds success.”

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Harrogate finance firm appoints new commercial officer

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Parental support