Ripon firm Farmison & Co has begun hiring staff as it prepares to start trading again.

Employees at the premium meat retailer were made redundant when Farmison entered administration on April 6.

But a consortium led by former Asda chief executive Andy Clarke and Chilli Marketing founder Gareth Whittle acquired the company from the administrators on Monday.

Mr Clarke, who has been appointed executive chairman, told the Stray Ferret yesterday everything was moving “very quickly” and he hoped trading would recommence in weeks rather than months.

He said the new company had so far hired five staff, who all previously worked for Farmison.

They include Michelle Kennedy, who as chief operating officer will be in charge of day-to-day operations, commercial director Andy Cavanna and finance manager Liam Duggan.

Mr Clarke said Farmison employed almost 100 people at its peak and the ambition was to get back to that number but right now he could not give a precise figure on how many roles will be created. He said:

“A recruitment drive is underway and we have started contacting some old colleagues.

“I think it was a good business that ran itself out of petrol. Basically the cost base was too high.

“Fundamentally the model was good.”

Look out for a fuller interview with Mr Clarke this weekend.

Read more:

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A church near Harrogate has saved itself a £20,000 repair bill for its clock — by using a can of duck oil.

Nidd Church spent £1,500 trying in vain to fix its erratic tower clock but it kept stopping after a day or two.

It was finally quoted £20,000 for the clock to be dismantled and taken to a workshop in Derby for repair.

The church feared the prohibitive cost spelled the end for the two train flatbed clock made by Potts of Leeds, which was installed as a prestige item to show Nidd’s importance in 1880.

The church, photographed by Jane Page

But Knaresborough man Martin Lightfoot, a former engineering lecturer who along with his wife Sue take monthly Mattins services at Nidd, wasn’t convinced.

He reckoned the difficult to reach pulleys needed oiling and volunteered to do the job himself.

A conventional 12ft ladder would not negotiate the tight spiral steps from the ground so Martin volunteered to go up to the clock level, above the pulleys, lie on his front and drip some duck oil through the floorboards and beams onto the pulleys.

The clock was installed in 1880.

Martin said:

“The clock mechanism looked OK but I was suspicious of the pulleys. They looked very dry.

“The clock seems OK now. I’m just hoping that it keeps going.”

The grade two listed Church of St Paul and St Margaret, which is adjacent to Nidd Hall, dates back to 1866.

David Andrews, treasurer, lay reader and organist at the church, said:

“For five weeks now the clock has run and kept good time. For how long we can’t tell, but it’s doing better than ever before.”

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A Ripon man has been jailed for attacking three police officers at Harrogate Police Station.

Benjamin Donnelly, 36, admitted the offences when he appeared before magistrates in York yesterday.

He was jailed for 16 weeks because of the seriousness of the offences and his previous record.

Donnelly, of Somerset Row, pleaded guilty to assaulting the officers on Friday last week.

He also admitted assaulting a custody worker at the police station on Beckwith Head Road and was fined £300.

Following the case, a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said:

“Assaults against police officers, staff and other emergency services will never be tolerated. We have a robust process in place for investigating offences and bringing those responsible to justice.

“If you assault an emergency services worker, you will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law, which will frequently end in a prison sentence. That’s how serious this offence is.”

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A Knaresborough doctor is one of only four UK people to have won an international placement in the United States.

Dr Joe Tay has been selected for a Harkness fellowship in health care policy and practice by the US-based Commonwealth Fund in 2023.

The fund, which was established in New York in 1918, aims to promote a high quality, affordable health care system for everyone.

Its fellowships provide opportunities for medical professionals committed to advancing health care policy and practice to spend a year in America.

Dr Tay, who currently works as the clinical director of Forward Leeds, the city’s alcohol and drug service, said:

“This is an incredible privilege for me, made possible partly due to the amazing work that Forward Leeds as an organisation undertakes in supporting people with their alcohol and drugs issues.

“I’m looking forward to learning and bringing back insights and experiences helpful to Yorkshire, and hopefully opportunities for national and international cooperation as well.”

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• Mark Hunter wins contest to be Knaresborough’s next town crier

The Northern Lights have turned the sky in the Harrogate district purple and green again.

The astral phenomenon, which is caused by the interaction of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere, has been visible for the last two nights

Bathers took to Swinsty reservoir on Sunday as part of a mass trespass aimed at promoting the right to swim in UK open waters.

It is illegal to swim in Yorkshire Water-owned reservoirs, including Swinsty.

The company and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service issued a joint plea on Friday urging people not to enter reservoirs on safety grounds.

Yorkshire Water estimates 277 accidental drownings occurred in 2021, of which five were in North Yorkshire. Eighty-two percent of the 277 fatalities occurred inland, at reservoirs, lakes and rivers.

Ramblers take part in an annual gathering at Kinder in Derbyshire to mark the 1932 protest that established the right to roam.

But swimmers have taken to the United Utilities-owned Kinder reservoir to exercise “the uncontested right to swim in open water” as part of the protest in the last three years following the boom in wild swimming

Swinsty on Sunday. Pic: Len Downes 

Sunday’s gathering at Swinsty in the Washburn Valley took place on the same day as the Kinder trespass.

Kate Rew, founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society, told the Stray Ferret:

“We were there and we communicated to our members about it — but no one organised it, it was a happening.”

Pic: Len Downes

Alastair Harvey, lead countryside and woodland advisor at Yorkshire Water, said last week: 

“It is vital those visiting our sites stay out of the water, no matter how tempting it may appear. Cold water shock, undercurrents and operating machinery all pose dangers to people deciding to enter the water.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said in a statement:

“Reservoirs can be extremely dangerous and swimming in them can soon become serious, or even fatal – even if you are a strong swimmer.”

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Mark Hunter has won a contest to become Knaresborough’s next town crier.

In a ‘cry-off’ with two other entrants described by organisers as “almost too close to call”, Mr Hunter was selected to succeed Roger Hewitt.

The competition took place during Knaresborough Community Festival on Saturday, which celebrated the town’s many community organisations.

Organised by the Knaresborough & District Chamber, which manages the town crier position, the event saw competitors give renditions of Mr Hewitt’s pre-prepared cry and their own original contributions.

Retiring town crier Roger Hewitt introduces the second round of the competition. Pic: Charlotte-Gale

Mr Hewitt and fellow judges Cllr Kathryn Davies, Mayor of Knaresborough and chamber executive member Charlotte Gale selected Mr Hunter to be the town’s next town crier and the other two candidates — Leigh Hudson and Andrew Richards — to serve as deputies.

Knaresborough-born and bred Mr Hunter has sung in the choir at St John’s Church and is the church’s current director of music.

He is also a keen amateur naturalist and wildlife photographer.

Ms Gale said:

“We’re delighted to invite Mark to be Knaresborough’s next town crier.

“It was a fantastic competition and we’d like to thank all our contestants for the huge effort they put into it and for their entertaining performances on the day. It certainly made the role of judging a tough one.

“We will be very sad to see Roger go and we’d like to pay tribute to eight years of outstanding service, but we are also looking forward to a new chapter and the continuation of this historic role in Knaresborough.”

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Mayor of Knaresborough Kathryn Davies added:

“Records show there has been a town crier in Knaresborough since the early 1600s, although the tradition probably dates back to earlier times.

“In those days the town crier used to be called the bell man. Literacy amongst the general populace would have been low and the bell man fulfilled an important role in delivering news to local townsfolk.

“Although literacy rates are now much improved, the popularity of the role means that Knaresborough Town Council, Knaresborough and District Chamber and the people of Knaresborough are keen to maintain this important tradition for the town.”

Main pic: Charlotte Gale, Leigh Hudson, Mark Hunter, Roger Hewitt, Mayor Kathryn Davies and Andrew Richards (entrant)

North Yorkshire Police have arrested a man following a wanted person appeal in Harrogate.

The force issued a statement saying Darren Atkinson, 37, was wanted in relation to a harassment offence. It added:

“Officers believe he may in the Harrogate area.

“Despite several enquiries they have not yet been able to located him.”

Anyone with information can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 1 and speak to the force control room. Quote reference 12230057307.

You can also report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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One of the most spectacular properties in the Harrogate district has gone on the market for £8 million.

Studley Royal House is situated in the National Trust-owned Studley Royal deer park, with views across the park and beyond to Ripon Cathedral.

The park, which extends to about 800 acres, was modelled by Capability Brown and is part of the only UNESCO world heritage site in Yorkshire.

The house is in the deer park. Pic: Savills

Located close to Fountains Abbey, the grade two listed house has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and six reception rooms. The main bedroom has two en-suite bathrooms.

The house was originally the stables for the Aislabie family’s mansion on the Studley Royal estate. It was occupied by Queen Ethelburga’s College during the war.

The dining room. Pic: Savills

Crispin Holborow, of agents Savills, said:

“Studley Royal is a beautiful Palladian country house which lives up to its grade II* classification.

“It sits within a World Heritage site, giving it complete protection as well as the opportunity to enjoy Studley Royal Park without the burden of management.

“It is the perfect house for entertaining and requires minimum looking after.”

The drawing room. Pic: Savills

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The National Education Union is to hold a rally in Harrogate on Thursday as part of a day of national strike action.

Teachers are due to strike on Thursday this week and Tuesday next week as part of their ongoing pay dispute with the government.

The action has been called after 98% of NEU members rejected the government’s latest pay offer.

Thursday’s rally by Britain’s largest teachers union will be held at Cambridge Crescent between 11am and noon and will include guest speakers from unions and the education sector.

Gary McVeigh-Kaye (pictured above), North Yorkshire branch secretary for the NEU, said:

“The government’s recent offer was an insult and in no way represented a serious negotiated settlement.

“Offering our members a 4.3% pay increase, whilst inflation is still over 10%, does not even begin to address the real terms pay cut of 24% most teachers have experienced under 13 years of Tory government.

“To add insult to injury, this pay increase was expected to be taken from already stretched school budgets.”

Mr McVeigh said the NEU had attracted 60,000 new members since its January strike ballot and called on the government to engage in “serious negotiations”.

Picket lines have been formed outside many schools in the Harrogate district on strike days.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has urged teachers to “get back to the classroom” and said a  4.5 per cent average pay rise would see the starting salary for a new teacher rise to £30,000.

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