There is no shortage of concern about the state of the River Nidd, as a busy public meeting in Knaresborough demonstrated this week.

About 70 people turned up at Gracious Street Methodist Church on Tuesday to listen to academics, anglers, environmentalists and politicians and to find out how they could get involved in the attempt to achieve bathing water status.

Just two rivers in England — the Wharfe in Ilkley and Wolvercote Mill Stream in Oxfordshire — currently have bathing water status, which obliges the Environment Agency to put plans in place to monitor and protect the water.

Nidd Action Group has been set up to coordinate the initiative.

James McKay, a Knaresborough resident and manager of the Water-Wiser centre at the University of Leeds, told the Stray Ferret at last week’s meeting Nidd sampling had begun and the campaign had the funds and expertise to achieve its goal.

Mr McKay said the group needed to demonstrate enough people used the river recreationally for the campaign to be successful.

James McKay speaking at the meeting

He said the process of achieving bathing water status wasn’t easy but “it’s the only thing we can do to make a real difference to water companies”.

Mr McKay said water companies were obliged in 2023 to update their water resource management plans for the next five years and the goal was to achieve bathing water status by then. He added:

“If we succeed it won’t have an immediate effect. The first thing that would happen is Yorkshire Water would have to do its own sampling. But over the next couple of years it could start to make a big difference.”

Untreated sewage

Although Knaresborough Lido is the focus of the campaign, if bathing water status is achieved it would bring improvements to the upper reaches of the 56-mile Nidd, including around Pateley Bridge, which flow into the Lido.

Alan Paterson addressing the meeting 

Alan Paterson, of Nidd Action Group, told the meeting the three main causes of river pollution were sewage, agricultural contaminants and urban run-off. He said the first two were the main issues affecting the Nidd.

In 2021, Yorkshire Water pumped untreated sewage from 81 locations into the River Nidd 2,552 times – for 18,346 hours, or 764 days.

Mr Paterson said Yorkshire Water’s plans to clean-up the Nidd were “good but would take far too long” and bathing water status would oblige it to act sooner.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has led on the campaign to achieve bathing water status and has been looking for volunteers to undertake surveys before he can submit an application. He has also raised the matter in Parliament.

Mr Jones wasn’t at the meeting but Stephen Culpin, a member of his office, was. Mr Culpin said afterwards the intention was to finalise and submit the application by the end of October.

Mr Jones (left) with Frank Maguire, the owner of Knareborough Lido.

The government’s record on sewage discharge has been fiercely debated. Mr Paterson said declining funding to key regulators such as the Environment Agency suggested ministers did not take the issue that seriously but he added that although the action group was “entirely apolitical”, Mr Jones deserved praise for his efforts.

“If he gets some brownie points then fair play to him because we need that bathing water status to improve the quality of water Yorkshire Water is discharging. I’d be deliriously happy if my MP, Julian Smith (the Conservative for Skipton and Ripon) got involved but he hasn’t.”

Mr Paterson added “rivers should be safe and clean to play and bathe in — it’s a right, not a privilege” and people attending the meeting were encouraged to volunteer by undertaking roles such as counting river users.

Wild swimming

Numerous groups attended the meeting but some river users, such as wild swimmers and kayakers, weren’t and some felt the campaign still needed joining-up more.

But the turnout and enthusiasm generated widespread optimism that people might soon be able to swim in the Nidd without a high risk of falling ill, as happened last summer.

Tuesday’s meeting at Gracious Street Methodist Church

Shan Oakes, a Knaresborough town councillor and member of Harrogate and District Green Party said:

“It was a hugely successful event and I feel confident that more like it will follow, bringing the community together to try to stop the pollution and bring back life to our lovely river.”

Yorkshire Water ‘keen to work in partnership’

Two days after the meeting, councillors on North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee questioned a representative of Yorkshire Water as the issue of bathing water status was aired again.

Monika Slater, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park, told the meeting Leeds University researchers were now taking Nidd samples monthly and this would increase to fortnightly in May.

But she added the samples had so far discovered the harmful bacteria E. coli was at “concerningly high” levels.

Bilton Conservation Society is also sampling at Oak Beck, which empties in the Nidd at Bilton.

Sarah Robinson, from the corporate affairs team at Yorkshire Water, told the meeting:

“There are lots of influences on bathing water quality. It isn’t just about our assets — in some ways that would be easier because we could control that. “

The big issue for the Nidd, Ms Robinson added, was going to be agriculture, such as chemical run-off caused by farmers’ sprays. Dogs running in water also had “a massive impact”, she added. But she said the company was “very keen to work in partnership” to address problems.

The next six months will determine whether the good intentions, and the disparate interests, can be harnessed to achieve real change for the Nidd.

A Knaresborough man has been jailed for 12 weeks after admitting theft.

Frankie Gilmour, 33, of Nora Avenue, pleaded guilty to stealing a bag worth £99.99 from TK Maxx in Harrogate when he appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The offence, on February 20, came while Gilmour was serving a suspended eight-week jail sentence issued two weeks earlier.

Magistrates imposed a four-week jail sentence as well as the eight weeks he was sentenced to previously.

Court documents said he was jailed because of his “flagrant disregard for court orders” and “because the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s record of previous offending”.

He was also fined £154.

Read more:

• Collapsed Harrogate firm Amvoc set to enter administration
• Schoolboy aims to clean up in aid of Knaresborough rescue centre

It started with a few mates from Knaresborough riding a dozen tractors around Tan Hill in 2012.

It is now one of the biggest annual events in the Harrogate district, involving almost 400 vehicles and thousands of well wishers along a 25-mile route.

How did the Knaresborough tractor run become such a beast?

Ramsgill sheep farmer Steve Brown, chairman of the tractor run committee, ponders the question a week after the event’s latest success, which saw 374 vehicles convoy around Harrogate, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge last Sunday to raise more than £23,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance. He says:

“I think it’s a lot to do with the cause. If you work in a rural setting you don’t know when you might need an air ambulance. It’s a cause close to the heart.”

Advertising the cause. Pic: Rachael Fawcett Photography

That might explain why farmers and other rural workers get involved, but why do so many people line the route all around Nidderdale? Steven says:

“Where else can you see 400 tractors in a line? I think it’s that simplicity. Plus it keeps the kids occupied for a couple of hours and it doesn’t cost anything.”

Whatever the reasons, the tractor run has become as much a part of local life as the Great Yorkshire Show, the Knaresborough Bed Race and Harrogate pantomime.

How it started

A family photo of Mike Spink

The fun nature of the event belies its sad foundations.

Mike Spink, a member of Knaresborough Young Famers who took part in the early tractor runs, died in a road accident in 2017 after moving to New Zealand six months earlier. Steven recalls:

“Mike was a dairy farmer and a very big believer in the air ambulance. When he died we got together and thought ‘why don’t we make it a bigger event and raise money in his memory?'”.

So what until then had been a bit of fun on tractors around Tan Hill and Whitby each year suddenly became a more serious affair.

Credit: Rachael Fawcett Photography

Eighty tractors took part in the first event in memory of Mike and next year 134 lined-up. Soon the tractor run had outgrown Knaresborough and the start had to be moved to the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate to accommodate all the vehicles.

Read more:

• Knaresborough tractor run raises £23,000
• Scammers fail to spoil another successful Knaresborough tractor run

This year’s total was 10 fewer than last year’s record 384 and Steven thinks the total has plateaued between 350 to 400. But the tractor run never fails to surprise.

Passing Knaresborough House. Credit: Rachael Fawcett Photography

Not all the surprises are pleasant. This year’s decision to introduce a free livestream, which enabled people to see where the first and last tractors were so they knew when the convoy would be passing, attracted scammers who cloned the tractor run website and urged people to give their bank details. One person lost £1,500 before the ruse was spotted.

There’s also the constant issue of safety, which has put such a big insurance risk on Knaresborough Young Farmers that the committee is increasingly running it as a standalone event. Steven says:

“I always think of the most idiotic thing that can happen and work back from that. We do the best we can —that’s all we can do. Fortunately we’ve never had a major incident but you can never be lackadaisical. Safety is paramount.”

The committee meets about 10 times a year to plan for the event, and its first get-together to discuss the 2024 gathering was due to take place yesterday.

Steven says a “colossal amount” of work goes into planning and trying to work out the best route. The template doesn’t change much but there are always minor improvements and things to consider. Last year the food ran out at lunchtime in Pateley Bridge.

These children brought their own tractor to watch the start at the showground.

But it all comes together gloriously each spring: excited children jump up and down and cheer and even gnarly old farmers get a tingle as they parade like rock stars down Pateley Bridge High Street or through Markington, tooting their horns to large crowds.

It’s seven hours of pure tractor power with a touch of theatre set against the glorious Nidderdale backdrop and there is nothing like it. Whether it’s the biggest tractor run is debatable but few would dispute it’s the best. Steven says:

“We are led to believe it’s the biggest tractor run in the country. Some have more tractors but they don’t do a run like ours, they just go a few miles down the road.”

You can still donate to the air ambulance on behalf of the tractor run here.

Passing through Hampsthwaite. Credit: Rachael Fawcett Photography

An insolvency firm has been appointed to handle the process of placing failed Harrogate firm Amvoc into administration.

Staff at the telemarketing firm were left shocked on Tuesday night when they received a late night email from chief executive Damian Brockway saying “all our offices are closed with effect from tonight”. It went on to blame “covid debts”.

Law firm Aticus Law has now been contacted by 145 former employees as it investigates the circumstances of the company’s collapse and concerns around how the redundancy process was managed, as well as whether ex-staff are eligible to claim for compensation.

Gareth Lewis, director of Leeds firm Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency, said today it was handling the administration process.

He said:

“I can confirm that following the directors’ decision to make all employees redundant on Tuesday evening, this firm was engaged on Wednesday to assist with the process of placing the company into administration.

“It is anticipated that the company will be placed into administration in the coming days, and we are now collating all financial and employee information to enable us to perform our duties.

“We have contacted former employees through our agents IPERA, who will assist employees with the process of making their claims through the government’s Redundancy Payments Service”.

Founded in Dacre

Mr Brockway set up Amvoc, the trading name of A Marketing Vocation Ltd, from a small office in Dacre in 2010. It sold telemarketing services, initially in the legal sector, and grew rapidly, moving first to Pateley Bridge and then to large offices at New York Mills near Summerbridge. 

It opened a new head office on Cardale Park in Harrogate in 2015, a facility in Leeds in 2018 and an office in Manchester in 2022.  It also had plans to expand to London.

Amvoc’s clients included BP, Barclays, Virgin Media, Leeds Beckett University, and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. 

Its website said it employed 450 staff but the Stray Ferret believes the figure at the time the company collapsed was under 300.

Read more:

• Law firm to represent about 100 staff at failed Harrogate firm
• Hundreds of job losses as Harrogate company goes under

We again attempted to contact Mr Brockway today. An immediate emailed response said:

The government is to spend more than £1 million showing the coronation on big screens across the country — but the Harrogate district is not included.

Ministers revealed today a dozen sites in Yorkshire and Humber will get big screens to show the coronation of the King and the Queen Consort on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. Not a single one is in North Yorkshire.

The closest one to the Harrogate district will be at Millennium Square in Leeds.

Although the selection of Leeds and other major cities, including Sheffield, Bradford and Hull, is not unexpected, some smaller places such as Dewsbury and Halifax are on the list while the likes of Harrogate and Ripon are not.

The decision to choose five places in West Yorkshire — Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Leeds — and not a single one in North Yorkshire, England’s largest county, may raise eyebrows particularly as many of the places chosen are close to each other.

Read more:

• Fees waived for Harrogate district street parties to mark coronation
• Your memories of how the district celebrated the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced the locations today.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

The Coronation will be a magical moment that brings people together to celebrate the best of Britain over a special weekend in May.

These big screens, in major locations in towns and cities in the four nations of the UK, will make it easier for everyone to take part and have a memorable experience to mark this exciting and historic event.

Big screens location in Yorkshire and Humber

• City Hall, Hull
• Trinity Market, Hull
• City Park, Bradford
• Piece Hall, Halifax
• St Peter’s Parish Church, Huddersfield
• Dewsbury Library, Dewsbury
• Millennium Square, Leeds
• Pontefract Castle, Wakefield
• Peace Gardens, Sheffield
• The Glass Works, Barnsley

A BAFTA-nominated investigations journalist who lives in Harrogate has published his first novel.

Peter Woolrich, who along with his wife Tracey used to run Cold Bath Deli on Cold Bath Road, spent 12 years working on A Corroded Soul.

The novel is based on his own life as it tells the story of a 50-year-old journalist with questionable character traits who evaluates himself after his mother’s death.

Mr Woolrich said:

“During my career I had guns, knives and a samurai sword pulled on me. I’ve worked for national newspapers, magazines and television.

“In writing my book, you might say I’ve turned the spotlight on myself rather than criminals.”

Peter Woolrich

The novel is set in a fictional village similar to the one Mr Woolrich grew up in and is the first in a planned trilogy.

A Corroded Soul is available in bookshops and can be viewed/ordered here.

The book launch, which is open to everyone, is being held upstairs at North Bar in Harrogate at 7pm on April 6.

Read more:

• Free entry to Harrogate district attractions starts tomorrow
• Value of Harrogate district tourism up by £31m, new figures reveal

Several Harrogate district attractions will be offering free entry in the days ahead as part of National Lottery Open Week.

The lottery has raised more than £47 billion for good causes since it started in 1994. To thank players, it runs an annual week in which organisations it has funded are invited to provide free entry and special offers.

This year’s open week begins tomorrow (Saturday) and ends on March 26.

The following offers in the Harrogate district apply to anyone who presents a National Lottery ticket or scratchcard, digital or physical.

For the terms and conditions click here, and check the venue listings for dates, times and other terms and conditions. You can search for events here.

• Fountains Abbey near Ripon — free entry from March 18 to 26
• Nidderdale Museum in Pateley Bridge — free entry tomorrow (Saturday)
• Beningbrough Hall — free entry tomorrow and Sunday and from March 22 to 26
• Ripon Museum Trust — free entry for a family or group of up to six people at its workhouse, prison and police and courthouse museums in Ripon on March 25
• Harewood House — £5 entry tomorrow and Sunday

Read more:

• Value of Harrogate district tourism up by £31m, new figures reveal
• Ripon residents get free entry to city museums on Saturday

Visitors to the Harrogate district are staying longer and spending more than they were pre-pandemic, according to new statistics.

However, the number of visitors over the same 2019 to 2022 timeframe fell by 650,000 from 6.47 million to 5.82 million.

Destination Harrogate, the Harrogate Borough Council tourism organisation, said today visitors contributed £637 million to the local economy last year, compared with £606 million three years previously.

The organisation also said the average length of stay increased from 2019 to 3.5 days, compared with 3.3 days three years previously. This is despite the fact the UCI Road World Championships took place in Harrogate in 2019, leading to high hotel occupancy rates in September that year.

John McGivern, destination events manager at Destination Harrogate said it was “fantastic news for our local businesses and residents”, adding:

“The fact that people are staying longer and spending more aligns directly with our objectives of a sustainable tourism model, attracting more revenue into the local economy, whilst minimising the impact on the environment.

“Together with our partners, with whom we share this achievement, we can celebrate the significant impact that our visitors are making on our local economy and can we look forward to further successes going forward.”

The figures are based on a tourism economic impact modelling process called STEAM that uses local supply-side data and visitor survey data. More information on the Harrogate district data is here.

Destination Harrogate aims to grow the visitor economy to £836.7 million by 2030, however its future is unclear after Harrogate Borough Council is abolished to make way for the new North Yorkshire Council in two weeks’ time.

Rudding Park Spa. Pic: Charlotte Gale

Cllr Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at Harrogate Borough Council, applauded Destination Harrogate for “boosting the economic impact of visits to the area”. He added:

“Harrogate’s visitor economy is the largest driver of the local economy second only to the property sector, and its value cannot be underestimated.

“With such a positive set of results we can look forward to a prosperous future for Harrogate as a major tourism destination within North Yorkshire.”

Since its launch a year ago, Destination Harrogate has delivered activities including a health and wellbeing campaign under the Visit Harrogate brand to attract higher spending visitors to stay longer for healthy breaks, Harrogate Christmas Fayre; events on the Stray marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee and the return of Harrogate Carnival.

Read more:

• Law firm to represent about 100 staff at failed Harrogate firm
• Bid begins to create new North Yorkshire tourism body

Almost 100 staff at failed Harrogate telemarketing company Amvoc are to take legal action over the way redundancies were managed.

The Stray Ferret revealed yesterday up to 450 people received an email at about 10pm on Tuesday night from chief executive Damian Brockway informing them the firm had ceased with immediate effect.

Mr Brockway said the company had entered administration and blamed “covid debts”.

Based at Cardale Park in Harrogate, Amvoc also has offices in Leeds and Manchester.

Within hours of the news breaking, employment law firm Aticus Law said it had been contacted by 91 people affected.

The firm said it was now in the early stages of investigating the circumstances of the company’s collapse and concerns around how the redundancy process was managed.

It was also looking into whether ex-employees were eligible to claim for a protective award claim against the company.

Aticus said if its clients were able to successfully pursue a claim, those involved would receive up to eight weeks’ worth of pay in compensation, with a cap of £571 per week.

The Manchester-based firm is currently representing over 130 ex-employees to bring a protective award claim against Made.com which entered into administration last year, around a dozen former employees of FlyBe, and more than 50 staff who lost their jobs when BritishVolt collapsed earlier this year.

Edward Judge, a founding partner at Aticus Law said:

“We have now been contacted by 91 individuals who say that they have been affected by job losses following the recent collapse of Amvoc.

“We are in the early stages of investigating those claims, and advising our clients on their options.”

“As is always the case with protective award claims, the individuals who have reached out to us for advice regarding their rights are understandably very anxious and concerned about what the future has in store for them.”

A protective award is compensation awarded by an employment tribunal if an employer fails in its duties.

Mr Judge added:

“The protective award is a vital safety net for so many families in fast-paced redundancy situations that often leave them with no source of income and absolutely no notice.

“However, many people don’t realise that you can only get a protective award payment if you are included as part of the claim and are listed as part of the Schedule of Claimants attached to the tribunal judgment.”

Read more:

• Hundreds of job losses as Harrogate company goes under
• Harrogate Turkish Baths bans nude bathers

Mr Brockway’s email to staff, seen by the Stray Ferret, said: 

“We have appointed administrators with immediate effect who will now be responsible for paying wages this week and all outstanding bonuses.

“I am gutted. Words fail me.

“Unfortunately our covid debts were too high and repayments not high enough. We have been issued with immediate request to pay all outstanding within seven days which is impossible.

“I cannot tell you how upset this makes me.”

Rail workers and teachers will be on strike in the Harrogate district today as part of the latest wave of industrial action.

More than 400,000 workers in various sectors took part in strikes yesterday in the biggest day of industrial action since unrest began last year.

They included the first of two planned teachers’ strikes by members of the National Education Union. Picket lines are expected to form outside schools in the district again today.

Today also sees RMT members at 14 train operators, including Northern, stage the first of four planned 24-hour strikes. The next one is due on Saturday.

Northern, whose services include those passing through Harrogate and Knaresborough, will run an amended strike timetable on the affected days, with a 12-hour operation on selected routes from 7am to 7pm.

Northern’s guide to services in the days ahead.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, urged customers to check before they travel.

Ms Williams said:

“We’re expecting the skeleton services we can run to be very busy – so customers should plan ahead and check before they travel.

“Given the reduced timetable only runs until 7pm, I’m very keen to stress that people should check their ‘last train home’ on those dates – so that customers don’t find themselves stranded at the wrong end of the line as a result of this action by the RMT.”

Junior doctors staged a picket line on Wetherby Road near Harrogate District Hospital on Monday as part of a 72-hour strike that finished yesterday.

Read more:

• Junior doctors begin strike at Harrogate District Hospital
• Hundreds of job losses as Harrogate company goes under