A van driver was taken to hospital after a serious collision with a lorry on the A1(M) at Allerton Park last night.
The crash happened at junction 47 just before 6pm and led to three-mile tailbacks and lengthy delays.
Firefighters from Knaresborough, Harrogate, Ripon and Tadcaster were summoned to help.
According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log, “a van had impacted the trailer of a HGV and the driver was trapped by the dashboard”.
It added:
“On arrival, crews used cutting equipment, spreaders, rams and a turfer to free the male driver of the van.
“The driver was transported to hospital by road ambulance with a suspected broken femur.”
North Yorkshire Police has not released any information about the incident.
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Floral tribute to King Charles created in Harrogate
A floral tribute to King Charles has been created in Harrogate.
North Yorkshire Council‘s parks team created the eye-catching display on Stray land on Montpellier Hill. It is currently behind railings, which will be removed on Saturday’s coronation day.
The parks team made the royal cypher using a technique called carpet bedding, which involves using plants so compact and tightly knitted that the result looks like a woven carpet. The display will stay in place for 12 months.
Some of the parks team that worked on the display.
A council spokesperson said:
“The display is made up of more than 15,600 plants, including sedum, sempervivum and ajuga, which are all compact plants ideal for this type of display.
“The temporary fencing will be removed first thing on Saturday morning to enable people to enjoy the display fully.”
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Tree that crushed Porsche on Harrogate street is felled
A large tree that damaged a Porsche in Harrogate during recent storms has been felled.
Zenya Dunn, who lives on Granby Road, told the Stray Ferret her partner Michael woke to find his car beneath a large splintered branch during February’s Storm Otto.
Speaking back then, she said it was the second time the Porsche had been struck by falling branches from the tree.
Ms Dunn added her Range Rover, parked nearby, and the house front window had narrowly escaped being damaged by the tree during storms. She said the couple had alerted the council to the danger numerous times.
Zenya Dunn, standing next to her partner’s Porsche in the aftermath of Storm Otto.
North Yorkshire Council has now pruned the tree to little more than a stump.
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Jon Clubb, acting head of parks and environmental services at the council, said:
“Storm Otto caused considerable disruption to parts of North Yorkshire in February. Our parks and grounds maintenance team acted swiftly to remove a large branch on Granby Road which had fallen during the storm.
“Unfortunately, damage to the tree was so severe that it needed removing and the work was recently carried out. We will be carrying out replacement plantings this winter in line with our trees and woodland policy.
The splintered branch being removed in February.
An IT firm has laid off 16 staff in Harrogate.
Techbuyer, which refurbishes IT equipment, said in a statement today the job losses were part of a restructuring.
The company, which was founded by Kevin Towers in Harrogate in 2005, is based on Hornbeam Park and operates sites in the United States, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand.
Chief executive Mr Towers said:
“These decisions have been really hard to make, they have not been taken lightly and have come in the face of market pressures since January. Many other IT businesses, large and small, UK based and global, have had to restructure since then.
“Myself and the management team have explored every angle to avoid this unfortunate situation, but have been left with no alternative but to restructure, including these staff reductions, in order to protect the business moving forwards.”
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The Stray Ferret was alerted to the news by a whistleblower, who criticised the way the company handled the news last week.
Mr Towers said the company had focused heavily on rewarding staff over 18 years, adding:
“As we’ve grown, we have shared our success with very generous companywide bonuses, cost of living crisis bonuses, consistent pay increases, community and charitable donations and more. Unfortunately, during this challenging time, we have had to make some very difficult choices as well.
“I thank everyone for all their hard work at Techbuyer, it is appreciated. To stress the point, decisions like this would not be taken unless absolutely necessary and I wish all those affected all the best for the future.”
Techbuyer, which employs 203 of its 297 global workforce in Harrogate, works with partners, including manufacturers such as HPE, Dell and Lenovo, to promote the environmental, cost and performance benefits of refurbished enterprise IT hardware.
According to its website, it configures over 5,000 servers every year and erases data from more than 12,000 hard drives every month in the UK.
Car crashes into shop in KnaresboroughA driver escaped serious injury today when his car crashed into the front of a shop on Knaresborough High Street.
The Honda mounted the pavement and went into The Clothing Store of Knaresborough early this afternoon.
Dave Lombardi, whose wife Rebecca owns the shop, went to help the passenger and then called the emergency services for help. He said:
“I was in the shop and next thing I knew there was a loud bang and there was a blue Honda in the entrance to the door.
“The driver was quite elderly and thankfully he seemed to be fine.”
The front of the car hit the pillar outside the shop.
Police and ambulance crews attended the scene.
Mr Lombardi said a concrete pillar outside the shop and the car bumper were damaged but the situation could have been far worse.
Only one customer was in the shop at the time and nobody was walking past on the busy High Street at the time of the incident.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:
“We’re at the scene of a collision on Knaresborough High Street, which happened at about 2pm today, when a car collided with a building. There are not believed to have been any injuries.”
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Historic Harrogate house to be auctioned next month
One of the most historic homes in Harrogate is to be auctioned next month.
Pineheath, which was built on Cornwall Road in the 1890s, was formerly the home of Indian shipping magnate Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji and Lady Frainy Bomanji.
But the house, which has a guide price of £3.5 million, has been derelict for many years and is not fit for viewing.
The property, which has planning permission to be converted into 12 flats, will go under the hammer in an online auction on June 8 at 3pm.
The lot includes the adjoining former chauffeur’s cottage, which has been refurbished into a pair of semi-detached coach houses that yield rent of £51,000 a year.
Pineheath. Pic: FSS
A 0.5 acre parcel of land next to the site, believed to be the last undeveloped parcel on the Duchy estate, is being auctioned as a separate lot with a guide price of £1.85 million.
Estate agent FSS, which began advertising the properties and land today, described Pineheath as ‘a truly unique opportunity’.
FSS partner Simon Croft said Pineheath’s private owner was keen for someone to redevelop the site. He added:
“It’s one of the most historic properties in prime Harrogate and it’s a shame that it’s become an eyesore on the street.
“The current owner has had a go with Harrogate planning department and has taken a pragmatic view that he’s probably not going to get anywhere and so he will let someone else take up the baton.
“The main house is derelict and unsafe. There are holes in the roof and the floors have rotted through. Any buyer would have to understand they would have some serious refurbishment work to take on or chance their arm by putting in a fresh planning application.”
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Bank holiday gathering leaves mess in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens
The boating lake in Valley Gardens had to be drained of rubbish this morning after a bank holiday gathering last night.
Gardeners were on site early this morning to clean-up after revellers left so much mess.
Numerous bin bags were filled and removed before the lake was refilled.
Jon Clubb, acting head of parks and environmental services at North Yorkshire Council, said:
“Last night we experienced some antisocial behaviour in Valley Gardens. This morning the gardeners removed rubbish, drained the boating lake and gave the surrounding area a clean. It is now refilled with water.
“This was due to take place tomorrow in anticipation of the three-day event to mark the King’s coronation at the weekend when we hope thousands of people will visit the beautiful gardens.”
Some of the rubbish
Jane Blayney, former chair of the Friends of Valley Gardens, noticed the clean-up operation this morning. She said:
“It was a dreadful mess. Sacks and sacks of rubbish were taken.
“I felt sorry for the gardeners, who are busy enough and were diverted from their preparations for the coronation weekend.”
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Knaresborough’s Forest School ‘requires improvement’, says Ofsted
Knaresborough’s Forest School ‘requires improvement’, Ofsted has said following a recent visit.
The special school, which has 136 pupils aged three to 16, was assessed by government inspectors following a two-day visit in February.
The report, published last week, rates the school ‘good’ for personal development and behaviour and attitudes. But it was graded ‘requires improvement’ for leadership and management and for overall effectiveness.
This was the school’s first Ofsted inspection since it joined the Wellspring Academy Trust in April 2020. It was rated ‘outstanding’ in all areas in its final assessment under local authority control in 2015.
Inspectors this time praised the “caring, nurturing and welcoming environment”, adding “pupils are taught how to stay safe and look after themselves” and “opportunities are provided for pupils to explore their interests such as catering, photography and the environment”.
They said pupils enjoy attending and many parents, carers and students would recommend the school to others. Bullying is rare and “there is mutual respect between pupils and staff in and out of lessons”.
But they added “some lessons are notably more productive and successful than others” and “leaders have more to do to ensure all pupils benefit from purposeful learning opportunities”.
Major recent changes
The report highlights the school has undergone major changes lately. Besides joining a multi-academy trust, it appointed headteacher Shona Crichton in December last year and 40% of teaching and support staff are relatively new. It says:
“There is a positive and optimistic culture throughout school. Staff are enjoying the stability in place, following several changes to the leadership of the school since the previous inspection.
“As a result of these changes, lots of new initiatives are currently being implemented. Some of these projects need time to become embedded and fully successful.”
The report says “the resources and materials that pupils access in lessons are not consistently ambitious” and consequently “some of pupils’ experiences in lessons contribute less well to their learning of the school’s curriculum”.
The Stray Ferret asked the school if it wished to comment but did not receive a response.
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Knaresborough to host series of events on bereavement
Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough is to host a series of events on bereavement, grief and loss.
The church will host an art exhibition featuring work created in response to grief and loss between May 11 and June 16.
Amateur and professional artists have provided illustrations, paintings, poetry, short films and music for the exhibition, which will launch during Dying Matters Awareness Week. The annual week encourages people to talk more openly about death.
The church will then stage further events aimed at people wishing to find out more about support available around death, dying and bereavement.
On May 12, a free drop in between 11am and 2pm will include stalls by Full Circle Funerals, solicitors Grahame Stowe Bateson, bereavement support organisation Just B and Supporting Older People.
The church will then host a ‘music and words’ session on May 19 between 11am and 2pm where Leeds-based charity The Swan Song Project will run a free musical workshop between 11am and 12.30pm and there will be small information stalls by Full Circle Funerals and Just B Bereavement Services.
On May 26, as part of Dementia Action Week, Dementia Forward, Graham Stowe Bateson, Home Instead and Full Circle Funerals will have stalls to support people who would like to talk about living with dementia or how to consider and express your end of life wishes.
Further events on environmentally friendly funerals will be held on June 2 and on support around bereavement and end of life care / planning in younger people on June 9.
For more information about any of these events contact david@fullcirclefunerals.co.uk.
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Hot Seat: Bringing Ripon firm Farmison back to life
Shortly before Christmas, Andy Clarke heard rumours all was not well at Ripon firm Farmison & Co.
Having spent a career in retail, including six years as chief executive of Asda, Mr Clarke was aware of the company’s mission to ‘eat better meat’ and innovative business model, which had attracted clients including Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.
He was approached about getting involved but was busy at the time. He adds:
“The phone went quiet for a while and then there was a bit more noise about the company being in a challenging position. When it went into administration, I decided to look in more detail.”
Farmison entered administration on April 6 — Maundy Thursday. The ensuing Easter drama ended, appropriately, with a resurrection when a consortium spearheaded by Mr Clarke acquired the business from the administrators just over two weeks later.
It prompted a collective sigh of relief in Ripon, where Farmison was one of the city’s largest and most feted employers, with almost 100 staff and numerous awards.
Farmison will stay at Bondgate Green
Some former staff, who lost their jobs when administration happened, are being rehired and new ones are being sought as Farmison prepares to recommence trading within weeks.
What possessed Mr Clarke to get involved as executive chairman? He says:
“I’ve lived in Yorkshire most of my life and I’ve always been keen to support Yorkshire businesses. I’ve a strong affection for local and Yorkshire. I was chair of Leeds Bradford Airport for nearly five years.
“When I saw what I believed to be a great brand at risk of disappearing I felt I had to have a look to see if I could help. At that point I didn’t know what help was. It soon became clear I had to find a partner and invest in it.”
From then, events moved rapidly.
“It became a race to see who was going to rescue the business. In the final throw of the dice, we were given approval by the administrators who felt our bid to take forward the business and protect jobs was the strongest.”
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The four-strong consortium also includes Gareth Whittle, the founder and former managing director of Chilli Marketing. But not Farmison co-founder John Pallagi, who was heavily involved in the race to save the company until the last minute. Mr Clarke says:
“We discussed with John what role he might play. We are still talking to John – there could be a role for him in future. He developed a great brand and his vision to ‘eat better meat’ is what attracted me.”
Mr Clarke says the immediate challenges are to refocus, manage the cost base and stabilise the business to bring it back to growth. No drastic changes to its business model are planned. He says:
“It’s fundamentally a good business that ran out of petrol because the cost base was too high.
“We are primarily a B to C supplier. That’s the primary purpose of the business and I would suggest that will be retained.”
Mr Clarke, who lives in East Yorkshire, says he’s had “brilliant support” from suppliers even though Farmison’s administration left some being owed money. He says:
“It’s sad that these businesses have lost out because of the previous company and the previous management team. We will develop a stronger business together.”
He reaffirmed Farmison’s commitment to its Bondgate Green site in Ripon by saying the consortium has assured the landlord it intends to stay. He says:
“It’s a great site. We are at the heart of the community.”
‘Eat better meat’ is Farmison’s strapline
Mr Clarke, who is also chair of Menzies Distribution and holds other senior roles, will divide his time at Farmison with his other business ventures.
Chief operating officer Michelle Kennedy is in charge of day-to-day operations, supported by commercial director Andy Cavanna and finance manager Liam Duggan.
“I add value through my experience but when it comes down to it it’s about the capability of the team to work together and get this business back to where it’s meant to be.”
Even with his long experience in retail, however, he says the Farmison acquisition has been “quite a journey”.
“I’ve driven the Ripon Road on more occasions than ever before. It’s been great. I’ve loved it. It’s a very exciting business to be involved in and we hope we can make it successful again for Ripon.”