Concerns have again been raised about the safety of pedestrian crossings at what has been described as Knaresborough’s “most dangerous junction”.

Former town councillor James Monaghan first raised the issue of drivers ignoring red lights at the four-way junction where York Place, High Street, Gracious Street and Park Row meet in 2017 – and he now says the problem is “as bad as ever”.

He said:

“On a daily basis cars and vans drive through the green man when pedestrians should be able to cross safely.

“This is dangerous enough, but on a crossing used by hundreds of school children daily it is an accident waiting to happen.

“With all the new houses that have been built across the district and the associated cars, congestion has only got worse and it needs to be addressed for everyone’s safety and convenience.”

Mr Monaghan said the problem has not been tackled by North Yorkshire County Council, which changed the traffic lights four years ago to allow more time for the junction to clear before pedestrians are invited to cross.

The county council said the detection system failed “a few months ago,” but has now been fixed with works being completed last week.

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Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at the county council, said:

“We know of the concerns around the pedestrian stage of the signal cycle at the junction of High Street and Gracious Street.

“The signals team will continue to monitor the effective operation of the signal equipment and timing.”

Ms Burnham also said it was the responsibility of motorists to ensure they follow the rules of the road. She said:

“We do all we can to ensure this junction operates as effectively as possible, but we also ask drivers who use this junction to respect all road users and the traffic light systems in place, ensuring they are driving safely in accordance with the local conditions.”

The Liberal Democrats would win Harrogate and Knaresborough if a general election was held tomorrow, according to polling firm YouGov.

The company has published modelling based on 64 ‘blue wall’ Conservative-Liberal Democrat battleground seats.

The seats were chosen because they were won by the Conservatives at the 2019 general election but the Liberal Democrats received above 20% of the vote.

YouGov predicts the Conservatives would retain 38 seats, the Liberal Democrats would win 24 and Labour would win two.

Among those forecast to fall is Andrew Jones’ seat, which he won with a majority of 9,675 in 2019, relegating the Liberal Democrats to second.

YouGov predicts the Liberal Democrats would get 43% of the vote in Harrogate and Knaresborough, compared with 39% for the Conservatives and 9% for Labour.

It comes days after Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey pledged to make Harrogate and Knaresborough a target seat during a visit to Harrogate.

The polling says the Conservatives would also lose seats belonging to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and former leadership contender Jeremy Hunt to the Liberal Democrats.

The company said in a statement:

“Although constituencies would fall to the Liberal Democrats all across the country, including Harrogate and Knaresborough in the north and South Cambridgeshire in the east, perhaps the most striking losses come in the south west, where we estimate that the Conservative vote share is down by over 16 points on 2019.

“Many more Conservative seats are close to being flipped: no fewer than 11 of the 38 predicted holds would be retained by a margin of less than five points. “

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The only Con-Lib Dem battlegrounds region where Labour have increased their vote share on 2019 is in London, where they are up by three points.

In all other regions their vote share in these battleground seats is down – despite Labour’s vote intention being around six to nine points higher than the 32% they managed at the last election.

Harrogate Spring Water is to hold a public consultation event next week for its plans to expand in the Pinewoods.

The company announced today it would stage the event at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel from 4pm to 7pm on July 13.

Local residents are invited to attend and find out more about the proposals and to share their views.

The event takes place in the Byron suite of the hotel on Crown Place in Harrogate town centre.

Since 2017, Harrogate Spring Water has had outline planning permission to expand its production facilities on its site on Harlow Moor Road.

The company is now putting together a ‘reserved matters’ application which will detail how the new building will look and how the surrounding area will be landscaped.

The controversial plan would involve felling trees in a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

Next week’s is part of a series of consultation meetings with the local community and stakeholder groups allowing people to have their say on the design and landscaping of the proposed extension and surrounding land.

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A final application will then go on public display before being submitted to the council.

Richard Hall, managing director of Harrogate Spring Water, said:

“As we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, it is important that we listen to the local community.

“That’s why we would encourage people to engage with us on this process by coming along to the meeting on July 13, to give us the benefit of their views and to help shape the future of the company.”

Anyone who cannot come along on the day can have their say via a dedicated webpage here.

Environmental campaigners held a demonstration in Valley Gardens at the weekend to raise awareness of the threat to Harrogate’s Rotary Wood.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, has revived 2017 plans to fell trees in Rotary Woods so it can expand its bottling plant.

The company’s plans would involve removing a smaller area of woodland than it proposed in a failed planning application last year.

But campaigners are still concerned about the loss of trees in part of the Pinewoods that was planted by children in 2005 to help tackle climate change.

Harrogate forest school teacher Sarah Gibbs donned her tree costume to join fellow activists during Saturday’s four-hour gathering, which aimed to tell people about Rotary Wood and the company’s expansion plans. She said:

“This issue has really touched my heart. I’m a born and bred Harrogate girl as well as a teacher and knowing children planted this wood to tackle climate change, to say it’s OK to destroy it would send out a terrible message.

“Surely after lockdown we are more aware of the value of green space to the environment and to mental health.”

Rebecca Maunder, who also took part in the protest, said:

“The aim today is to raise awareness that this is on the agenda again. A lot of people still don’t realise it is.

“Harrogate Spring Water wants to have a consultation with local people so they need to be informed about what’s going on.”

Graham Dixon, who was also present, said:

“The best way to get people to care about what’s happening is to come out and tell them.”

‘Net biodiversity gain’

Harrogate Spring Water has said it wants to achieve “net biodiversity gain” for the site, carry out a compensatory tree planting scheme and will make the remaining part of Rotary Wood more accessible to the public.

It is currently consulting on its plans before submitting a formal reserved matters planning application to Harrogate Borough Council. It says the expansion would create 30 jobs.

Richard Hall, managing director at Harrogate Spring Water, said previously:

“We have a shared interest in driving prosperity for the town and creating a sustainable future for a key business that takes the Harrogate name around the UK and the world, and we hope that this process will allow us to come to a resolution which addresses people’s concerns and the town’s aspirations.”

Police have said that a missing Harrogate man has been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police issued a statement and picture of the missing man last night.

It said:

“We’re extremely concerned for his welfare, and asking anyone who sees him or knows where he is to get in touch straight away.

“Extensive searches are underway to locate him, including with the NPAS police helicopter.”

Police said later last night that the man had been found safe.

We have subsequently amended our article by removing his personal details.

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The men’s and women’s course records were both broken at today’s Run Harrogate 10k.

A total of 486 adults took part in the event, which was organised by Harrogate Harriers. Another 70 children participated in an inaugural kids’ fun run.

Winner Cal Mills, representing Leeds City AC, set a new men’s record of 33 minutes and 13 seconds to finish 32 seconds ahead of Harrogate Harriers’ Jack Kelly.

Emily Gibbins, of Ilkley Harriers, obliterated the female record by more than four minutes in winning in a time of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Harrogate Harriers won both the men’s and women’s team events.

Struggling up the ‘Crimple killer’ in the final kilometre of the race.

The race, which was sponsored by Knaresborough renewable energy firm Harmony Energy, started and finished at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.and took runners around Crimple Valley.

Entrants enjoyed mercifully cool conditions over the multi-terrain course, which finished with the notorious uphill Crimple killer last kilometre.

In line with many running events this year, entries were down on last year. full results are available here.

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The death of Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam this week prompted a German friend of his, Benedict Hess, to contact us about their 50-year friendship. Here are his words.

With great sadness, I learned this week about Malcolm’s death. It’s exactly 50 years this summer since he paid his first visit to Munich.

His and my parents became friends some years earlier when they met by chance on holiday in Italy and my dad came up with the idea of Malcolm coming to Munich to stay with us for a couple if weeks.

Although my brother and I were considerably younger than Malcolm — he was 26, my brother was 10 and I was only eight — we were fascinated by this young man who spoke good German, and we became lifelong friends.

Over the next decades, we saw each other on several occasions, either in Harrogate or Munich.

Benedict (left) and Malcolm (third left) with friends in Munich in 1983: Pic by Benedict Hess

My grandparents owned a little holiday home on the Côte d’Azur, where my family spent many happy summers in the seventies and eighties, and Malcolm joined us there.

In retrospect, I always thought that Malcolm was a little suspicious of all those French people there, although he really admired the beautiful landscape. He was a Yorkshireman through and through, as he also was a true Englishman, both of which I truly admired.

I remember one day marvelling over a wooden model of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the V&A Museum, I believe. When I said that much of its architecture reminded me of classic Italian buildings, his response was rather indignant, he said: “We’re in the north. Who needs Italy?” It was then and there that I realised how proud Malcolm was of Great Britain’s rich history.

1972 Olympics in Munich

When he first came to Munich in the summer of 1972, the city was right in the middle of the Olympic Games. I remember us three, Malcolm, Daniel and myself, strolling through the city and the Olympic Park for hours and days on end. The sun shone every day and though I was only eight at the time, I clearly saw and felt that those days were very, very special.

But I also remember clearly those fateful hours when terrorists assaulted Israel’s Olympic team. My parents, Malcolm, Daniel and I were glued to the TV until late on September 5. And then two helicopters, flying very low, passed over our house on the way to Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, where, as the world was about to learn, everything ended in total disaster. Terrible memories and I know that Malcom also never forgot.

In 1988, as a young adult, I decided to go to England alone, after we went there as a family in the jubilee spring of 1977 (I have many happy memories from our stays in London and Harrogate from that). Malcolm and I agreed to meet in London for a few days before traveling to Harrogate.

Malcolm in London in 1988. Pic by Benedict Hess

He asked me if there was anything in particular I would like to do and I said that I really would like to see a musical. And we went to a musical, 42nd Street, starring a barely 19-year-old Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead. But that was not all, because Malcolm also purchased tickets for the Proms, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park and for a comedy at The Swan Theatre in Stratford- upon-Avon. Malcolm was a generous man, a thoughtful and kind man who did everything to make you feel welcome and comfortable.

The year before last, we resumed the habit of telephoning and emailing regularly again and that was how I learned about his illness. And, although I knew, I am in a state of shock right now. My thoughts are with Malcolm and also with Tom and Jamie, his nephews.

I didn’t mean to write so much but I simply got carried away by so many fond memories of a man I knew for 50 years and who is now gone forever. But not in the minds of so many people who will always remember him.

It is very consoling to know that Malcolm Neesam was widely loved and regarded and that he will never be forgotten in Harrogate. Never ever. Neither will he be here in Munich. He will be sorely missed. And always be remembered with the deepest affection.

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Hundreds of people visited Harrogate fire station today for an open day.

Children got the chance to sit in the fire engines and watch demonstrations while parents were able to receive advice on fire prevention.

There was also the chance to sit in police vehicles.

The station, on Skipton Road, has 40 firefighters operating on four watches.

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A Ripon Grammar School student with a talent for translation has won a first prize in a prestigious University of Oxford languages competition which attracted 14,000 entrants from all over the UK.

In addition to sixth form student Anna Cope scooping the national title for her skilful German translation in the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators, Year 10 student Jack Wright won the regional award for his outstanding Italian translation.

Both entered the advanced level of the competition, aimed at A-level students.

Anna, 16, who is studying biology, chemistry and German at A-level and taking evening classes in Russian, said she was absolutely delighted to hear she’d initially won the regional competition.

She said:

“I’d have been happy getting a commendation. But to hear I’d actually won the national for the best German translation for level 4 was quite mind-blowing.”

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The gifted linguist, who aims to take a gap year after sixth form to learn a new language and experience a new culture before applying for universities abroad, including in Greece and Korea, to study psychology, law or modern languages, said she found the translation challenging.

She added:

“The hardest part was wording it in a way the writer would have spoken it. It’s hard to decide whether something is descriptive or analytical when it’s in another language and you may be struggling to understand the entirety of the text.

“I had to use synonyms to replace words that simply wouldn’t make sense in English such as switching ‘with stopped breath’ to ‘with bated breath’.”

Meanwhile, Year 10 pupil Jack, who was born in Italy but now lives outside Ripon, was delighted to receive the North-East regional prize: “I speak, read and write in Italian, and so when I saw the competition I thought, ‘Why not?’.

The 15-year-old, who plans to pursue a career as a 3D designer, had to translate an extract of an Italian novel.

He said:

“It was OK for the most of it but had a few metaphors which required some thinking to translate into English. I gained some confidence in my abilities from the competition, especially when I found out that I’d won the regional, it came as a surprise.”

Eight RGS students in total entered the competition, which is inspired by the life and work of Anthea Bell, one of the finest and most influential literary translators of the 20th and 21st centuries, and judged by a team of 36 undergraduates and professional translators.

There are two indisputable facts about Pateley Bridge: 1 It’s beautiful. 2 It’s hilly. Which makes it the perfect challenge for running.

Trouble is, if you want to avoid the roads and get the authentic Nidderdale cross-country experience you risk getting lost or being garrotted by a low hanging branch.

So the formation of a new trail running group called Pateley Runners presents the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

Trail running, as opposed to road running, is about being close to nature rather than pounding tarmac.

The group, set up by keen runner Si Lawson, is an informal community of runners like the Early Bird Run Crew, which organises regular free jogs around Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Si promised the group would be inclusive and friendly and, better still, free.

Passing former lead mines.

About 25 of us turned up at the bandstand in Pateley at 7pm for the inaugural Tuesday night run. A good proportion were what is generously described in running circles as ‘veterans’.

There is no way out of Pateley that doesn’t involve hills but few are as tough as the climb to Greenhow Hill, the highest place in the Harrogate district, with reputedly the highest parish church in England.

So the first stretch, which began along dungy sheep fields and quiet lanes, opened the lungs but the pace was gentle. It was certainly easier than cycling to Greenhow and there was not an engine to be heard.

Si and two friends took it in turns to lead and bring up the rear and every so often they stopped to regroup. Nobody was left to run alone and we chatted as we jogged.

The notorious Nidderdale microclimate led to a brief downpour but nobody minded. By then we had hit our stride and the whole point of the exercise is to feel alive in nature.

The route we followed.

We passed lead mines, cattle grids and caravan parks before finally heading back down to the river in the muggy damp twilight, brushing off flies, which sparked talk about the best way to repel them. Marmite, garlic and Avon cream were all mentioned.

Stopping to regroup.

We saw Scouts throwing axes in a field before being summoned by the sound of church bells back to the bandstand in the recreation ground at Pateley.

We had covered about six miles in a glorious hour of friendly and relaxed running. It’s hard not to feel happy when you’re in the heart of such countryside but being part of the group enhanced the experience. Si is knowledgeable and welcoming — little wonder the group already has 100 followers on Facebook.

Pateley Runners meets on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday but anyone is welcome to arrange their own runs and invite others.

More details are available here.

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