Two people were taken to hospital following a three-vehicle collision on Skipton Road in Harrogate last night.
Harrogate firefighters were alerted at 7.02pm to the incident, which was also attended by police.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says:
“Crews liaised with police on scene and administered initial first aid to occupants whilst awaiting the arrival of ambulance crews.
“Crews stabilised one vehicle to enable the occupant to be assisted out. Occupants of two vehicles transported to hospital via road ambulance. Crews left the incident in the hands of the police to await recovery of the vehicles.”
North Yorkshire Police has not given any details about the incident, which was the second one attended by Harrogate firefighters in little over an hour.
At 5.49pm they were called to Menwith Hill Road to reports of a vehicle fire. The incident log says:
`’Crews extinguished the fire and dampened the vehicle down before isolating the battery and making the vehicle safe. Crews cordoned off the area and left the incident with the police to await recovery.”
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Harrogate showground vaccine staff sign off — for last time?
The Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine centre in Harrogate has closed — possibly for the last time.
The site, which opened on three occasions, has been the largest covid vaccination centre in the Harrogate district.
Staff administered their final inoculations on Wednesday, bringing the total number of jabs in the last phase to about 30,000.
The site was run by Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district. The network also organised vaccines at Ripon Races.
A cake was baked to celebrate the network giving 250,000 jabs in total since the vaccine rollout began in December 2020.
The showground site had to close to facilitate events at the venue, which is owned by Yorkshire Agricultural Society. Booster jabs can still be booked at pharmacies on the NHS website.
It is thought future covid vaccines will be given at GP practices rather than at a mass site like the showground but no decision has been made.
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Men live 10 years longer in Harrogate than Knaresborough, report shows
Men live 10 years longer in Harrogate than Knaresborough, according to a new report.
The North Yorkshire Director of Public Health annual report 2021-22, published today, shows male life expectancy in Harrogate is 85 compared with 75 in Knaresborough.
Women live on average to be 87 in Harrogate and 79 in Knaresborough. In Ripon, men and women live on average to 79 and 84 respectively.
The commentary in the report suggests the difference is down to deprivation. It says:
“Large parts of North Yorkshire have better than average life expectancy when compared with England as a whole. However, there are areas where life expectancy is worse, particularly in Scarborough, but also in parts of Selby, Harrogate and Richmondshire.
“The gap in life expectancy between our most deprived and least deprived wards can be as much as 11 years for men and 10 years for women.
The report says there was a “marked decrease in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 for both England and Yorkshire and Humber”, adding:
“This has improved slightly for 2021, but the longterm impact of the pandemic on mortality is yet to be fully determined.”
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In a section on ‘lessons learned’ the report says the rural nature of North Yorkshire presented challenges responding to covid.
It says:
“For North Yorkshire in particular, we learned to adapt our response to the pandemic to ensure that the rural nature of large parts of the county did not create additional barriers to access covid support.
“For example, we had to adapt the standard covid testing model of having a small number of large testing centres in urban areas to provide multiple mobile options that could travel across the county to rural areas.
“Similar issues were seen with access to vaccination sites; more sites opened up across the county as the pandemic progressed, but additional services eg voluntary transport provision were required to expand access to those unable to travel, and weekend clinics were added to help enable working age population to attend.”
Report author Louise Wallace, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, said in her foreword:
Harrogate’s Windsor House gets new co-working space and cafe“The pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of everyone in North Yorkshire. The ways in which we work, interact, travel, socialise, learn, live, bring new life, experience illness, loss, and death, have all been affected.
“However, there remain parts of our population who experience more than their fair share of the burden of these impacts, with the pandemic only widening pre-existing inequalities across our society.”
A new co-working space, meeting area and café have opened in Harrogate’s Windsor House.
The facilities were created during the second phase of a refurbishment of the imposing building, which overlooks Valley Gardens.
Owned by property firm Boultbee Brooks, Windsor House is home to more than 115 businesses, and includes 75,000 sq ft of flexible workspace.
Harrogate borough mayor, Cllr Victoria Oldham, officially opened the new facilities at an event attended by more than 100 dignitaries.
The refurbishment, which included repairing the leaky roof and installing new furniture, has been overseen by interior design firm and Windsor House tenant RU Creative, which sourced and installed the main focal point — an olive tree.
The new space seats 110 people, who can visit the renovated café, which has been renamed The Pantry at Windsor House. The pantry is run by husband-and-wife Antonio and Jo Nobile.
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The building, formerly the Grand Hotel, is a short walk from the town centre.
Karen Winspear, Boultbee Brooks’ building manager for Windsor House, said:
Motorcyclist seriously injured in Harrogate district crash“After four months of intense work and much anticipation, we are delighted to have opened this beautiful new space for our tenants.
“The grand foyer, which has been returned to its former glory, is a luxurious space for workers to meet clients, to work together, or just relax over a coffee or lunch.
“There is more to come at Windsor House, with plans to open a new yoga studio in the new year.”
A motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious injuries following a collision in the Harrogate district this morning.
North Yorkshire Police attended a two-vehicle collision involving a car and a motorbike on the A59 at Moor Monkton at 5.49am.
According to police, the motorbike was travelling westbound along the road and the car — a white VW — was travelling in the opposite direction when they collided.
Further details of the injuries, or the man’s name, have not been released.
The A59, which is the main road linking Harrogate and York, was closed between Station Road to York Road and Maston Lane to York Road.
A police statement said:
“If you witnessed the incident, have dashcam footage or any other information which could help our investigation, please email: Richard.harrison@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, select option 2 and ask for TC Smith.
“Please quote reference 12220208147.”
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Axing 80 bus services in North Yorkshire would be ‘devastating’, says campaign group
A new campaign group has warned that axing 80 bus services in North Yorkshire would be “devastating”, as fears of a cull grow.
Conservative MP Nigel Adams, whose Selby and Ainsty constituency includes parts of the Harrogate district, told Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday about 80 bus services in North Yorkshire were under threat.
Last week Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, said the county’s bus network was “facing a really grave situation”.
“These cuts would be devastating. Folks might have to get into debt to buy cars, uproot their families to move closer to work, or risk assault walking home with no buses in some areas after 7pm.”
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“The crisis in North Yorkshire’s buses stem from the awful system we use to run them — a patchwork of private companies prevented from integrating their services by competition law. No other European country has such a ridiculous system.“Compare this to networks in local control where the council coordinates services to maximise the public benefits — for instance, the locally controlled networks in London and Jersey are much more efficient with public subsidy and deliver more frequent and reliable services.“If we want to protect our services from cuts, our local leaders must seize the opportunity presented by the new devolution deal to bring buses into local control here too.”
Lane closures and a 50mph speed limit are being introduced to a stretch of the A1 that passes through the Harrogate district.
National Highways is to carry out patching repairs on the southbound carriageway between junction 49 (Dishforth) and junction 51 (Leeming Bar) from Tuesday next week until mid-December.
According to a press release today by National Highways, during full closures a local signed diversion will be in place using the A6055 which runs parallel to the A1.
Access to properties and businesses will be maintained at all times. Those affected will be contacted directly.
National Highways project manager Ted Chamberlain said:
“This work will ensure that we continue to provide our customers with a safe, smooth carriageway. We’ll be working overnight using a combination of full closures and lane closures. This will minimise disruption to the peak traffic flows during the day.
“When lane closures are in place there will be a 50mph speed restriction to protect road users and our workers. We advise drivers to anticipate delays and allow extra time for their journeys.”
National Highways is the government-owned company responsible for maintaining England’s motorways and major A roads.
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New Harrogate music festival in doubt after row with vicar
A new music festival in the Harrogate district faces an uncertain future after the sudden departure of the man who made it happen.
German composer and pianist Thomas Flessenkaemper organised the first Amy Woodforde-Finden Music Festival in Hampsthwaite last month.
The ambitious two-day event, celebrating the work of composer Amy Woodforde-Finden, who is buried in Hampsthwaite’s village church, was a success.
This led to hopes the festival would become an annual event, promoting the work of Amy and other female composers, as well as engaging local artists and schools.
But Mr Flessenkaemper has resigned from his position as director of music for the benefice of Hampsthwaite, Killinghall and Birstwith.
The Stray Ferret understands he did so following a disagreement with Suzy McCarter, the vicar of Hampsthwaite with Felliscliffe, Killinghall and Birstwith.
The Venerable Jonathan Gough, Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, did not respond to questions about a fallout when contacted by the Stray Ferret.
He said Mr Flessenkaemper had taken up a new post at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in Gibraltar, adding:
“The success of the festival was largely due to Mr Flessenkaemper’s inspiration, leadership and commitment.
“Worshippers in the benefice are very grateful to Mr Flessenkaemper for his great contribution to the life of the churches and the villages since his appointment earlier this year.
“They are sad to see him go, but they recognise that a musician of his calibre will need to develop his musical career in a larger setting, and they wish him every success in his new post at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar.
“The Parochial Church Councils will consider future plans for the Amy Woodforde-Finden Music Festival in the New Year.”
Mr Flessenkaemper declined to comment when contacted by the Stray Ferret.
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Rapidly growing Killinghall school praised by Ofsted
Killinghall Church of England Primary School has been rated ‘good’ in its first full Ofsted inspection for 10 years.
The village school has doubled in size from 95 to 183 pupils since its last full inspection in 2012.
Inspectors praised the way it had coped with the challenges presented by rapid growth and said leaders had created “a highly inclusive school community where pupils are valued” and pupils “are happy and feel safe”.
The school was rated ‘good’ in five of the six areas assessed and ‘outstanding’ for early years provision.
The report, published on Tuesday, said:
“Children get off to an excellent start in the early years. Most pupils behave well. They show kindness and consideration for others.
“Bullying is not a problem in the school. Pupils know that they can talk to any of the adults in school if they are worried about something. They are confident that adults will act quickly.”
Leaders, they added, had created “an ambitious curriculum”, staff were described as “skilled” and safeguarding arrangements were found to be “effective”.
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Sarah Bassitt, who has been headteacher for 12 years, said:
“We are really pleased, especially after the challenges presented by covid and flooding to the key stage two classrooms from February to May this year.
“I’m particularly pleased with the early years assessment and the comments saying we are caring and the pupils are happy.”
Areas for improvement
Ofsted identified two areas for improvement: ensuring expectations for pupils’ behaviour “are consistently high across the school” and ensuring “processes for identifying and monitoring pupils with special education needs are consistently strong and that targets are precise”.
Ms Bassitt said the school had already adopted a new plan for pupils with special education needs.
Marion McCormick, co-chair of governors at the school, said:
New Year’s Eve cycle ride in Harrogate to raise money for homeless“We have a great deal of pride in the hard work and commitment that has led to this very good result.
“The report reflects the enthusiasm and high standards that embody all that the school stands for.
“The strength and resilience shown by the headteacher and her team to achieve this following a major flood throughout key stage two deserves huge praise.”
A New Year’s Eve cycle ride is being held around Harrogate to raise money for Harrogate Homeless Project.
Entrants will depart from cycling shop Prologue on Cold Bath Road, Harrogate and take part in either a 35-mile or 55-mile route.
Coffee will be served from 9am and rides leave from 9.30am, with the fastest riders leaving first in groups of 16.
The entry fee is £5 with all the proceeds going to Harrogate Homeless Project.
Victoria Mannakee, director of Harrogate-based event management company Struggle Events, which is organising the event, said:
“Just two £5 entries is enough to provide a hot meal, shower, clothing and laundry facilities for one person. Three entries is enough to get someone off the street for a night.
“Over 100 riders entered last New Year’s Eve. Think what we can do as a cycling collective if every rider simply turned up to Prologue and rode their bikes this New Year’s Eve.”
“It’s a great social atmosphere; Harrogate’s cycling club members, local professional riders, individual riders, triathletes and social cyclists join forces to raise much-needed funds for the Harrogate Homeless Project.”
Many top cyclists, including Olympic champions Jonny and Alistair Brownlee and Tour de France stage winner Tom Pidcock, often take part in Struggle Events’ community rides.
You can enter here or on the day.
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