Cost of delayed Harrogate Hydro refurbishment increases by £1m

Harrogate Borough Council has revealed the cost of Harrogate Hydro‘s delayed refurbishment has increased by about £1 million to about £12.8 million.

The Stray Ferret reported this month the reopening of the leisure facility, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back until summer next year.

The council said this was due to discovering “some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place”.

In a press release today, the council gave a breakdown of the additional costs, which will be met by taxpayers. They are:

The refurbished Hydro will include a pool, new diving structure, 400 square metre fitness suite, sauna and steam suite and new reception and café, as well as a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

The existing gas boilers have been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, along with new metering and energy monitoring and control systems, which are expected to halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.

Harrogate Hydro is among the facilities which will be run by the new leisure company.

How the Hydro used to look.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at the council-controlled Brimhams Active, said:

“At a time when some local authorities across the country are reviewing their investments in leisure facilities, we remain committed to ensuring people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.

“By carrying out this additional work now, while the facility is closed, we can ensure the building is fit for purpose and can conform to the latest legislation and building regulations.

“And at a time of increasing energy costs, we are helping to offset this by making the leisure centre as energy-efficient as possible. And thanks to a government grant of some £1.8million, it will be able to utilise renewal energy.”

The council added the new leisure and wellness centre In Knaresborough was on target to open at the end next summer.

It will provide a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

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No normal service on Harrogate and Knaresborough trains until January 9

Rail operator Northern has warned of ongoing disruption until January 9.

The company, which operates the Leeds to York line that passes through Harrogate and Knaresborough, has published a calendar highlighting its travel guidance to customers over Christmas and the New Year.

It shows the next day of normal service is not for another 21 days.

Northern has blamed the situation predominantly on the RMT union, even though it only has strikes planned from January 3 to 7. However, an RMT national overtime ban from December 18 to January 2 has also affected services.

The union has accused the government of interfering in negotiations with Network Rail to reach a settlement on jobs, pay and conditions.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:

“The main cause of the disruption remains industrial action by the RMT union and we can only apologise to our customers for the inconvenience it will cause to their journeys.”

Northern’s new timetable came into effect just before this extended period of disruption, so it is advising customers to use the new Check My Timetable feature on its website to see the changes specific to their local station.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.

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Emotional farewell to remarkable Nidderdale lollipop woman Mary Fisher

Pupils past and present turned out in force to bid a fond farewell to North Yorkshire’s longest serving lollipop woman.

Mary Fisher has helped generations of schoolchildren cross the busy Pateley Bridge to Harrogate road outside Summerbridge Community Primary School since 1975. After 47 years and about 18,000 shifts, she retired on Friday.

Mary’s final patrol took longer than usual as dozens of children and adults turned out to cross the road and give her a hug.

At the school, children lined up to say thank you and give three cheers to the woman who has done so much to serve the community.

Mary Fisher

One of many hugs for Mary on her last day. Pic: Nevin Ward

Nevin Ward, a former chair of governors at Summerbridge school and near-neighbour of Mary, said Mary never forgot a child’s birthday and always gave them a small present. he added:

“She’s one of those lovely, selfless people who believes in being kind.”

An online fundraising campaign, set up to raise £100 to buy Mary a present, generated about £1,600.

A vacancy for a lollipop person now exists.

Mary Fisher

Friday’s emotional farewell at the school. Pic: Nevin Ward

Mary and her late husband Jim, who was a chimney sweep and volunteer firefighter, came to North Yorkshire in 1954 and moved to Summerbridge two years later.

They had four children, who all went to Summerbridge school and Mary developed an attachment to the school that eventually saw her become a lollipop woman.

Two years ago, when she celebrated her milestone of 45 years, she said:

“I love being outside and active as well. I have to be out and about rather than sat inside. Not a day goes by where I think I don’t want to get up today and do it.”

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Ex-Ripon Grammar pupil discovers oldest map of stars

A former pupil of Ripon Grammar School has discovered the oldest known map of the stars hidden in an ancient manuscript.

Dr Peter Williams, who left the school in 1989, is a leading biblical historian at the University of Cambridge.

He made the discovery while researching a Bible manuscript belonging to the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. Dr Williams said:

The ancient parchment, which came from a monastery in Egypt, is a palimpsest – a manuscript with text which had been rubbed out and new writing placed on top. Dr Williams explained:

“In the early Middle Ages when papyrus had become scarce and the invention of paper in the west was still centuries away, there was a huge shortage of writing material.

“Consequently, if you found an old manuscript in a script or language you didn’t use you would probably rub it out to put new writing on top.

“Now modern imaging techniques are enabling us to read faint text that was rubbed out over a millennium ago, sometimes even if all the ink has been removed.”

The text underneath turned out to come from around the sixth century AD, with the text on top from the ninth.

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Dr Williams had set his teams of summer interns at the Tyndale House research institute he leads the task of trying to decipher just what had been rubbed out 10 years ago and one student, Jamie Klair, discovered some of it was about astronomy.

But it was during last year’s covid lockdown, as Dr Williams was studying a page which his teams of scholars hadn’t managed to crack, that he realised he was seeing star co-ordinates, which turned out to be of the constellation Corona Borealis.

He discovered it was a fragment from the 2,100-year-old catalogue of the stars by the Greek astronomer and founder of trigonometry Hipparchus, a much noted chart of celestial bodies which was thought to be lost to the ages.

They are the earliest star coordinates preserved in any manuscript. The resulting paper co-authored by Dr Williams and published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, said:

“Hipparchus’s lost Star Catalogue is famous in the history of science as the earliest known attempt to record accurate co-ordinates of many celestial objects observable with the naked eye,”

“This new evidence is the most authoritative to date and allows major progress in the reconstruction of Hipparchus’s Star Catalogue.”

The fragment has enlightened our understanding of ancient astronomy, which appears to have been a remarkably accurate discipline, with Hipparchus’s measurements correct to within one degree of the stars’ actual positions. Some 300 years later, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy wrote his Almagest, the oldest star catalogue known to historians before this discovery.

Dr Peter Williams

Dr Peter Williams during his Ripon Grammar days

Dr Williams studied Greek, Latin and music at A-level at Ripon, where he was deputy head boy.

He went on to read classics and Hebrew at Cambridge, and now combines his love of old languages with research on the Bible.

Having studied for an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge, apart from a brief residency as senior lecturer in theology at the University of Aberdeen, Dr Williams has remained at the University of Cambridge, where he is an affiliated lecturer in the faculty of divinity, since leaving Ripon.

Firefighters rescue family trapped on black ice in Nidderdale

Volunteer firefighters from Lofthouse rescued a family whose car was stuck on black ice last night.

The on-call firefighters were called to the notoriously steep Trapping Hill just outside the village at 6.50pm last night, on the final day of the recent freeze.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log said:the car “had become immobile on black ice” and the family had been informed it would take six hours for a recovery vehicle to attend. It added:

“Firefighters walked two adults and one child into the safety of Lofthouse village.”

The incident log also noted that fire crews do not recover vehicles.

Temperatures have risen sharply today after more than a week of sub-zero conditions.

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Resident taken to hospital after house fire near Masham

A resident was taken to hospital last night after a house fire between Masham and Ripon.

Fire spread from the fireplace at the home in Mowbray Terace, West Tanfield, prompting firefighters from Ripon and Bedale to rush to the scene at 6.09pm.

It was the fourth incident attended by Ripon fiefighters yesterday. They also dealt with a garage fire, chimney fire and water leak.

North Yorkshire Fore and Rescue Service’s incident log said:

“The fire had spread from the fireplace and was extinguished using one hose reel jet, small tools and a positive pressure fan to ventilate.

“The occupant of the property was also taken to hospital with smoke inhalation.”

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Coneythorpe pub owner criticises lengthy roadworks as pub set to close

The owner of a Coneythorpe pub has criticised a set of month long roadworks as the “final kick we didn’t need”.

The Tiger Inn will close for five weeks in the new year while utility company Power On installs power cables for a new development park comprising industrial and commercial units in the area.

The scheme is expected to last six months and involve five weeks of road closures, starting on January 9, in Flaxby and Coneythorpe.

It is the latest disruption to hit the pub, which has already struggled through covid and a fire in November 2020.

Barbara Gill, who owns the Tiger Inn, said the pub was already dealing with the cost of living crisis – which has seen its energy bills increase to more than £4,000.

She said:

“These road works are the final kick we didn’t need.”

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Ms. Gill told The Stray Ferret that pubs have had to learn how to cope with these national crises such as the pandemic and the now cost-of-living crisis.

She said:

“They’ve had to adapt rapidly.”

Ms Gill added that staff at The Tiger inn will receive full pay to support them while the pub is closed.

However, businesses in the area including the Tiger Inn have not been compensated for the road works.

‘Extensive consultation’

Power On said in a statement it had conducted “extensive consultation” to minimise disruption.

Work will start on York Road in Flaxby and continue onto Shortsill Lane and Moor Lane. It will take place from January 9 to 28 before recommencing on February 22 until March 14.

The company said in a statement that it was “committed to delivering essential works whilst ensuring minimal disruption to local residence and the community”. It added:

“We have been able to avoid further closures by allowing traffic to flow subject to reduced weight limits.  Alternative transport for schools will be provided by North Yorkshire County Council.

“We have been working with the local parish council who have assisted in coordinating the works.  Road closure signs will include alternate routes to any local businesses affected with advanced warning signs posted in late December.

“The works are to be completed during the winter months, to minimise impact.  At the request of the Tiger Inn and the parish council, it was agreed that work will be suspended during potentially busier periods such as Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, and Easter weekend.”

Ms. Gill is hopeful the pub will be able to get back on its feet with the support of their loyal customers around Mother’s Day.

She added:

“We need people to support us when we reopen.”

The Tiger Inn is planning to reopen on February 10.

Firefighters from Ripon, Harrogate and Masham called to garage fire

Firefighters from Ripon, Harrogate and Masham extinguished a fire in a garage on Dallamires Lane in Ripon today.

The garage, which contained one vehicle, is attached to a house. The extent of the damage is unknown.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s incident log said the alert came at 2.22pm. It added:

“Crews extinguished the fire using two breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet and a thermal imaging camera. The cause of the fire is yet to be established by fire investigation officers.”

It was the Ripon crew’s third call-out of the day. At 11.53am, city firefighters were summoned to a chimney fire on High Street in Markington. The incident log said:

“The fire was confined to the chimney and extinguished by the home owner prior to the fire service’s arrival. Crews carried out a thorough check for hot spots and gave advice to the home owner.”

At 7.59am,  a crew from Ripon responded to a report of water leaking at a home on Harrogate Road. The incident log said:

“Crews isolated the water leak in the loft and turned off the water to the property. Advice was given to a responsible person.”

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Suspended sentence for man with knife in Harrogate town centre

A man has received a four-month suspended prison sentence for possessing a knife in Harrogate town centre.

Michael Smith, 32, admitted the offence when he appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (December 15).

Smith, of Harewood Road, Jennyfields, was charged with having the knife on Cambridge Road on November 8.

His sentence was suspended for 24 months.

Magistrates ordered him to carry out 180 hours of supervised unpaid work within the next 12 months.

Smith was also ordered to pay £114 to victim services and £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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Stump Cross owners in last push to raise £130,000 target by Christmas Day

A crowdfunding campaign offering people the chance to win a flat in Pateley Bridge is set to end on Christmas Day.

Lisa Bowerman and her fiancé Nick launched their competition through Crowdfunder 20 months ago and hope to reach their £130,000 target by the time it closes at midday on December 25.

At the time of going to press, it had generated £103,000.

The campaign aims to raise enough money to install new lighting at Stump Cross Caverns. The current lights have been in place since 1948.

Ms Bowerman said this would not only “preserve and protect the cave” but also be more sustainable and environmentally friendly because the system would use less energy. The lights will only come on if there are people in the cave. Ms Bowerman also said that the new system would minimise algae growth.

Tickets to win Ms Bowerman’s one-bedroom apartment on Pateley Bridge High Street cost £10.

Inside the apartment located on a high street in Pateley Bridge

An image of the flat.

Ms Bowerman said:

“Once the winner is announced they can pick up the keys there and then.”

She explained there would need to be discussions with solicitors to change the property into the winner’s name, but after that it’s theirs.

The couple have held multiple fundraisers to draw attention to the campaign, including their 105-hour sleepover in the caves that took place in October 2021.

Lisa and Nick have also been taking part in a 105-day bike challenge to raise money for the campaign. The number of days relates to Geoff Workman, who lived in the cavern for 105 days on his own in 1963.

More recently, they held another sleepover in the cave, where they took 12 people down with them from 9pm to 9am.

Ms Bowerman said:

“It was full within hours of launching the idea.”

However, of the 12 that Ms Bowerman took down, only eight lasted the full 12 hours because of the cold and damp.

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In the lead up to the closing date, Ms Bowerman has been doing “everything she can” to get the message out there, including updating social media platforms including TikTok “every waking minute” to try to reach as many people as possible.

Lisa and Nick want to improve the cave lighting.

Stump Cross Caverns has awarded free meals in the cafe and cinema to the public as part of their marketing drive.

Ms Bowerman said that when the lights are being fitted, the caves will close for a period of time.

If the campaign does not reach its target of £130,00 by midday on Christmas day then the supporters will receive a full refund and the campaign will be declared unsuccessful.

Click here to visit the Crowdfunder page.