There’s lots to love about vintage clothing. Where retro clothing imitates fashion from past eras, vintage is the real deal. Its authentic, original nature is part of the appeal, with fans often referring to the quality and sometimes even craftsmanship that is without comparison in similar modern pieces.  

Vintage clothing — items more than 20 years old — is popular for other reasons, too. Each piece is a rare find and has its own distinctive style. It offers the chance to buy designer brands at a more affordable price. Fans love the cultural eras that vintage clothing represents and the stories it can tell. Compared to mass-produced clothing, it feels personal and unique. 

Vintage clothing, along with pre-loved and charity shop pieces, is also part of a wider retail trend in secondhand clothing, driven in part by a more eco-conscious, sustainable approach to fashion that recycles and reuses pieces. It’s in direct contrast to the ‘fast fashion’, disposable ethos of cheap, high-street clothing.

Data analytics and consulting company GlobalData predicts that the UK’s clothes resale market will be worth £7.2bn by 2026, a rise of 39 per cent from 2023. 

Some of the vintage clothing for sale in Harrogate.

‘An interesting place to shop’

In Harrogate, fans of vintage clothing are in for a treat. With three well-established shops and a recently-opened fourth, there are vintage pieces that appeal to all tastes and styles.

You’ll find high-end clothing harking back to the days of the Swinging 60s and the Roaring 20s. Quirky pieces that were probably even niche for their time. Beautiful hand-embroidered dresses and ballgowns. And streetwear from the 90s and 00s – decades that, to many Harrogate residents, seem like only yesterday. 

“For the size of Harrogate, we do very well for vintage,” says Steve Elvidge, owner of Space, which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary in the centre of Harrogate. 

When Space launched in 2009, the shopping opportunities for fans of vintage clothing were limited, if non-existent. Steve said:  

“When we came to Harrogate, there wasn’t anything like us. There wasn’t much alternative culture of the kind that you find in university places such as Leeds. We offered an interesting place to shop where people could find cool, unique clothing.” 

From the start, Steve wanted to appeal to as many people as possible, setting up Space as a collection of 12 units run by independent sellers with their own individual focus, as it remains today. Between them, they offer a wide range of vintage and retro clothing, furniture and homeware. He said: 

“We’ve now got designer vintage clothing for the more traditional end of the market but we also have American sportswear and original 60s and 70s items. We get a lot of regulars who live here, as well as visitors and tourists.

“The appeal of vintage has definitely grown over the last decade. People want to buy one-off pieces that you are not going to see on anybody else. And I think there’s a greater awareness of sustainability and a move away from cheap, disposable clothing.”

‘Unique, original pieces’

Cathy Smith had a unit in Space during its early days, before opening her own premises on Cold Bath Road in 2010. Since then, she has seen a growing interest in vintage and pre-loved clothing, and agrees that Harrogate has a nice mix of shops catering for all styles and tastes. 

Her boutique, Catherine Smith Vintage, has gained a strong reputation mainly through word of mouth, and welcomes regular customers both from the local area and from London. Cathy said: 

“I’m one of the few people who sells high-end genuine, rare vintage as well as high-end, pre-loved modern pieces. I have clothing, jewellery and accessories from designers such as Chanel, Hermes and Dior. The chances are that I’ll have the rare pieces you’d normally only get in London or specialist shops.” 

Clothes at Catherine Smith Vintage Boutique.

Among Cathy’s personal vintage favourites are 1920s flapper dresses, Chanel jewellery, and the Art Deco period and its later influence on 1970s designer brands such as Biba and Ossie Clark. But the range in her boutique can go back as far as the Victorian period, and she also tries to curate a vintage collection that reflects current catwalk trends.

She has recently been looking at pieces by Jean Paul Gaultier and Tom Ford for Gucci and YSL, because “the 1990s has been having a real revival.” She said: 

“My range appeals most to people who want to put unique, original pieces into a modern wardrobe. I have customers who are looking for something specific and are real vintage connoisseurs, while others just pop in for a browse.” 

Clothes with a tale to tell

It’s the story behind vintage clothing that appeals to Maggie Ballinger, of Circa on Westmoreland Street. A former history teacher with an interest in fashion, Maggie loves finding pieces with a tale to tell – like the fabulous, vividly-coloured ballgown worn in 1964 by a contestant on the original Come Dancing television show. 

Maggie remembers watching the programme as a teenager and being captivated by the dresses, so when one was offered to her, she couldn’t resist and gave it pride of place in the shop. She said: 

“It had three petticoats underneath so it stuck out. It was painted in beautiful colours, which surprised me as the show at that time was televised in black and white and I always think of the dresses as light blues and greys. And it was absolutely tiny! The lady that bought it was going to put it on a mannequin in her bedroom so she could look at it, like a piece of art.” 

Maggie Ballinger at Circa

Circa launched in May 2012 and sells vintage clothing as well as modern, more unusual pieces. Maggie expanded the range after lockdown to include homeware and small items of furniture. As with the ballgown, Maggie tends to stock clothing that appeals to her or that she thinks her regular customers will like. Despite finding the stories behind vintage pieces fascinating, she thinks most of her customers are attracted by their distinctive quality. She said: 

“It’s very rare that something doesn’t sell. Some of my customers are into a certain era and really know their stuff. The 1980s seems like yesterday to me, but it’s now vintage and really appeals to my younger customers.” 

The new vintage

It’s the 80s – as well as the 90s and 00s – that are the focus for Anton and Victoria Webster, the new kids on Harrogate’s vintage block. Their colourful, vibrant shop, Karma Co, on Cold Bath Road, is bursting with streetwear that, as their website says, reflects ‘Fresh Prince flair to grunge goddess vibes’.   

The business launched just four months ago and Anton said feedback had been “amazing”. He’s been pleasantly surprised at the mixed demographic of his customers, and has even welcomed a few ‘proper’ celebrities, although he won’t say who. He said:  

“People love what we are doing, and that means a lot to me. I love to see people’s reactions when they find something they remember from years ago or have not seen before. We get some customers who are really clued up on vintage streetwear, but others who just like it because it’s casual but it’s got the style.”  

Anton Webster outside Karma Co.

A former student of Harrogate Art College, Anton has worked in vintage fashion for 20 years and thinks it appeals to people looking for something that no one else has. Younger customers are also keen on re-using and recycling clothes, and one of Karma’s aims is sustainable fashion that eliminates waste, such as their range of remade items.  

Quality is also a big factor, with heavier threads than you’d find today and types of wool that are no longer available. He said:  

“The classic sportswear brands like Adidas and Nike are really popular. We love getting rare and limited editions in. We currently have an original 80s Adidas sweatshirt which was only released in Asia and is in perfect condition. I’ve never seen another one like it. People would love to wear it, but I’m tempted to frame it!”

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Read more:

• Vintage clothing store to open in Harrogate
• Artist completes mural on Harrogate’s Cold Bath Road

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Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.

Every Saturday Yemi writes on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food and shares cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Great food and fine-dining are rarely associated with garden centre cafés, but Paradise Food at Daleside Nurseries in Killinghall bucks the trend and blows the notion out of the water.

This is a café serving dishes that are as classically inspired as it gets, from silky velouté and emulsions to perfectly cooked dishes and amazing garnishes.

My first dining experience there was the Friday night dinner, which comprises of a seasonal set menu.

Booking is required as they have a pre-determined number of covers. It is perfect for an intimate dinner with a loved one, a group of friends or family. The set menu costs £120 per person with drinks available on request.

Every dish came out looking elegant and, better still, tasted amazing.

To start

We were welcomed with four types of dainty complimentary amuse-bouche to wake up the tastebuds.

My favourites were the smoked haddock – which was light, crunchy and golden – and the carrot and nigella seed strudel. It was fragrant, delicate and delicious.

The quail dish

I ordered the quail dish starter.

It consisted of a succulent stuff quail leg, which was juicy and tender. The sharp soy sauce gave a saltiness and tang that matched the rest of the dish well. I didn’t need a lot of the sauce as it was packed full of flavour.

Main course

For main, I had the turbot with gnocchi, roast parsnip and sea herbs.

The fish was exceptionally cooked, and all the accompaniments were perfectly done, with the vegetables having the right bite and flavour to them.

There was a quenelle of spinach and porcini which was delicious, but I found it a bit too strong when eaten on its own. Adding some to each bite of fish was lovely and really complimented it.

The turbot and gnocchi main.

Dessert

For dessert, I ordered the blood orange and thin shelled chocolate tart, which came with a nut brittle that I would happily buy in a bag!

I had food envy when I saw the venison main and the rhubarb dessert, which had the cutest madeleines I’ve ever seen. My friends said they were delicious.

All the elements I tasted were stunning.

The venison.

Lunch menu

To write a complete piece on Paradise Café, I decided to go back for their lunch time menu, which didn’t disappoint.

I had a three-course meal comprising of a starter of Yorkshire duck press, with confit orange and orange gel served with brioche, a sharp mustard aioli and sugared pistachios.

The main was a perfectly cooked cod that glistened and gently flaked away, topped with herbs and a sauce vierge-like dressing, with a silky smooth velouté that perfectly rounded off the dish.

The crispy chips, hispi cabbage, tender artichokes, with a tangy and delicate lemony dressing, and the rest of the sea vegetables married well together.

It was a simply delightful dish.

The cod

I finished my meal with the layered coffee and walnut cake served with some whipped cream. The cake was strong on the walnut flavour but light on the coffee note. The thin coffee icing layer delivered the coffee flavour that I was missing.

This cake would be enjoyed by those with a sweet tooth; I found the icing between the cake layers too much, so I needed the whipped cream to balance it out.

The cost of the three-course meal came to £52.50, which is great value considering the dishes.

Paradise Café is the place to go if you want delicious fine-dining food in a natural, relaxed and comfortable environment, tended to by a professional and attentive front of house team.

Read more:

• Yemi’s Food Stories: Cooking with students at Harrogate Ladies’ College
• Yemi’s Food Stories: Foods for better mental wellbeing
• Yemi’s Food Stories: My review of new Harrogate fine-dining restaurant Rhubarb

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town.  You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com. 

When I read the synopsis for Blue Beard, I was intrigued but, truthfully, none the wiser as to what to expect. I knew that, with celebrated, visionary theatre-maker Emma Rice at the helm, it would be something a little unconventional.

Rice’s reimagining is indeed off-the-wall; eccentric, creative, chaotic and hypnotic, Blue Beard is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Based on a 17th-century French fairy tale, we meet the eponymous villain: serial husband Blue Beard (Tristan Sturrock), a smarmy, suited magician, who, rather fittingly for the bloodshed to come, woos his future bride, Lucky (Robyn Sinclair), by sawing her in half on stage.

Once married, the pair run off to live in Blue Beard’s mansion with rooms aplenty, all of which Lucky is free to roam, apart from one: a secret forbidden chamber. When he leaves home on business, Lucky is given strict instructions by Blue Beard not to enter, but (of course) curiosity gets the better of her. Unlocking the secret door, she witnesses a scene of horror: the lifeless, bloodied bodies of her new spouse’s many former wives. What will she do next?

Left to right, Stephanie Hockley, Robyn Sinclair, Patrycja Kujawska. Credit: Steve Tanner

This review comes with a warning: the play is bonkers. But it’s bonkers done to perfection. Trust me – ride the wave and you’ll reap the rewards. The production is rich and overflowing with invention and imagination.

The stage becomes a hallucinatory, fantastical, out-of-time universe with dangling glitter balls, Tarantino-style slo-mo fight scenes, magic tricks, acrobatics and cabaret. Choreography is slick. Set and costume become integral, essential story-telling tools, as does Stu Barker’s sublime score.

A multi-talented cast of actor-musicians gives its very all, including narration by a straight-talking, foul-mouthed Mother Superior figure (Katy Owen) which only heightens the play’s eccentricity. Everything has a place and a purpose, including a more subdued, modern-day subplot intertwined with the main narrative.

Now for the best bit, and why, even if you begin soul-searching in the first 15 minutes or so of the play, wondering what on earth you are watching, you’ll be glad you stayed the course.

The mood shifts. The flashy flamboyance and hectic hedonism of the first act recedes. Having retreated into fantasy, we crash-land in the stark present, and it is at this point that the production reveals its true purpose and power.

Mirabell Gremaud and Tristan Sturrock. Credit: Steve Tanner

I don’t want to give too much away; the play lives on its denouement. The finale, a quietly powerful and desperately urgent commentary on violence against women, is so expertly juxtaposed with the mayhem that came before that the effect is spine-tingling. It’s a real gut-punch.

The production looks back on the “grief of centuries” for women, and how it continues today. The raw, heartfelt exclamation of one female character at the end says it all: “I should be able to walk home alone”.

Blue Beard is at York Theatre Royal until Saturday 9 March.

Read more:

• Review: Oh What a Lovely War brings songs and satire to Harrogate Theatre 
• Review: The Woman in Black haunts York’s Grand Opera House 

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has urged people to back the long-running bid to improve the River Nidd as it enters a key period.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has opened a consultation on 27 applications for bathing water status, including one for the Nidd at the Lido in Knaresborough.

If successful, the Environment Agency will be obliged to undertake measures to improve water quality at the Lido, which would impact the rest of the river,

Conservative MP Mr Jones, who has led the campaign, submitted the bid to Defra in September.

More than 30 farming groups, parish and town councils, businesses and environmental groups have supported it.

They include Lido landowner Frank Maguire, the chief executive of Yorkshire Water, nearby Conservative MPs, nearby businesses including Blenkhorn’s Boats and the Watermill Cafe and parish councils representing Pateley Bridge, Birstwirth, Bewerley, Little Ribston, Scotton and Lingerfield, Hampsthwaite, Kirk Hammerton and Moor Monkton.

Mr Jones (left) and Knaresborough Lido owner Frank Maguire.

Mr Jones said

“It is good that our bid for bathing water status has reached the next stage.  We need to demonstrate strong support for the bid and so I encourage residents and businesses to take part.

“If we achieve bathing water status that means the Environment Agency will put in place plans to address water quality problems at the Lido which will have benefits up and downstream from the site.”

He said Yorkshire Water had already committed £180 million to reduce the operation of storm overflows in addition to £147 million already committed in its business plan, and added that according to the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, water run-off from farmland is the biggest Nidd pollution factor.

Mr Jones said:

“I know that local people are behind the bathing water bid but we need to show Defra that this is the case and we need to do so right now because of the tight deadline for this consultation.

“The site is ideal. There are plenty of local facilities on site, the landowner is supporting the case and the site is well-used recreationally. The consultation is short and if you need more information about the bid it is available online.  We only have until March 10 to give our views so we need to act quickly.”

Details on how to take part in the consultation are here.

Main image: a photo from Mr Jones’ Defra submission showing people at the Lido in June last year.

Read more:

• Environment secretary ‘impressed’ by River Nidd bathing water bid
• Rivers Nidd and Ure named among UK’s most polluted rivers
• Tories and Lib Dems clash over River Nidd water quality

Plans have been revealed to create a major new community sports facility in the Harrogate district.

Boroughbridge Sports Village would include a games field, a one kilometre running track, a 100 metre sprint track and a multi-use games areas for team sports such as five-a-side football and netball.

The 10-acre site would also host a gym, functional strength and CrossFit centre, health food café as well as a community meeting room and nature reserve.

The scheme is a joint venture between Boroughbridge gym Absolute Fitness, which is owned by former World’s Strongest Man competitor Darren Sadler, and Boroughbridge Town Council.

They have created a charity called Boroughbridge Sports Village to develop the project, which would be built on land between Aldborough Cemetery and Boroughbridge allotments on Chapel Hill,  near to Aldborough Gate.

Residents are being invited to complete a phase one consultation form to gather views before a planning application is submitted.

The consultation document says the sports village would “enhance the quality of life for residents of Boroughbridge and neighbouring communities”, adding:

“It is intended that this proposed development will increase the number of people participating in physical activity, contributing to improved health and well-being of local residents and act as a central hub for the community to come together.”

You can complete the consultation form here.

Read more:

• The pub entrepreneur putting Boroughbridge on the map
• Two new shops set to open in Boroughbridge next month

The government has awarded £380 million of reallocated HS2 funding to improve transport in North Yorkshire.

The seven-year funding, from April 2025 to 2032, has been hailed by ministers as the “first fully devolved transport budget of its kind targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas”.

It will be spent on schemes such as new roads, filling in potholes, tackling congestion, increasing the number of EV chargepoints and improving public transport.

The new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will be overseen by whoever is elected mayor on May 2, will decide how to spend it.

The £380 million awarded to North Yorkshire represents the lion’s share of an overall £950 million package to the Yorkshire and the Humber region announced today.

The Department for Transport said in a statement the deal was on average at least nine times more than local authorities received through the local integrated transport block, which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the funds would “deliver a new era of transport connectivity” and help to level up the country.

He added:

“Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing nearly £1 billion directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across Yorkshire and the Humber, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matters most to them – this is levelling up in action.

“This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pounds of funding we’ve already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country.”

‘Truly game-changing’

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the investment would deliver an unprecedented long term funding uplift across the region over seven years.and give local authorities long-term certainty to invest in “transformative and ambitious transport improvements” from next year.

Mr Harper said:

“Today’s £947 million investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across Yorkshire and the Humber, and is only possible because this government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.”

The money is from the DfT’s Local Transport Fund, which compensates the north and Midlands for the decision to scrap the northern leg if the high speed rail route HS2. It is also specifically for communities in the north and Midlands outside city regions – who already receive City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements.

The South and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities already benefit from £1.4 billion of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements from 2022-2027.

Today’s DfT statement said the investment “demonstrates our commitment to reinvest all of the £19.8 billion from the northern leg of HS2 in the north”.

Lord Patrick McLoughlin, chair of Transport for the North, said:

“We welcome this funding for our local transport areas as a sign of progress towards transforming the north to a more inclusive, sustainable and better-connected region. By having greater clarity on the funding that’s available, and consolidating funding streams, it helps remove inertia and accelerates delivery on the ground.”

Sums awarded

* Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Read more:

• Skills and transport: What does the Harrogate district need from the new combined authority?
• Council pledges further action after ‘shocking’ repair of Knaresborough road

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter is in response to an article about Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, being awarded a pay rise.

Who sanctioned Richard Flinton’s pay rise?

He was already on a near £200,000 salary and is now to be awarded nearly another £6,000 – can’t he survive on what he already gets?

It is rather ironic when others are struggling with the cost of living and expecting a 5% rise in council tax.

Lenny Redmond, Harrogate

Keane Duncan should ‘increase his quest to 365 days’

This letter is in response to Keane Duncan’s 100-day campervan trip around North Yorkshire.

The best thing Mr Duncan can do is to increase his campervan quest for mayorship to 365 days a year.

Hopefully, that will keep him out of the way from making anymore huge mistakes such as the Harrogate Station Gateway project that he pursued, which fortunately didn’t come to fruition after wasting £2 million of public funds.

Gordon Lund, Sawley

Read more:

• Readers’ Letters: Hookstone Woods being turned into a ‘light-polluted’ disco
• Readers’ Letters: ‘It suddenly clicks – you’re not alone’, says Andy’s Man Club member

Yorkshire Water will face ‘many complaints’ over reservoir parking charges

This article is in response to the parking charges recently imposed at reservoirs in the Harrogate district.

For background, my partner and I are well into our 70s. I have poor eyesight and can’t drive, and she has chronic arthritis and a limited walking range. We absolutely love walking around the Washburn Valley reservoirs, it’s flat and it’s most beautiful for mental uplift, so it’s a trip we do quite regularly from our home in Ilkley.

On January 18, I saw an article in The Stray Ferret about the car parking charges being introduced at the reservoir car parks from the following Monday. Despite my having a blue badge parking permit, I have to apply for a special permit to use it under the new scheme. That, in itself, is indicative of the problems which are going to arise for Yorkshire Water.

I immediately went on the website, completed the form, and applied for my special permit. But three weeks later, and still no sign of any acknowledgement from the parking company. 

Nevertheless, last week we decided to venture up to the reservoir and pay our £1 charge; it goes against the grain but needs must.

To our dismay we first of all found that the registration number has to be typed into the ticket machine, but the keyboard is far too small both for me to see to use it, and for my partner to use it with her arthritic fingers — if nothing else that is surely against the spirit of the disability discrimination legislation. And in any case the machines don’t take cash, only card: not anticipating this we had not brought a card with us, but I’m very reluctant to use one anyway in such circumstances.

So we drove back home, unable to take our much anticipated exercise because of our disabilities. How Ironic!

Imposing parking charges and the way they are collected is a dreadful situation for a renowned beauty spot, and the income likely to be generated is very low.

Yorkshire Water is going to be faced with a great many complaints, especially when the parking company starts dishing out the massive fines for inadvertent breaches of their ridiculous regulations.

A very sad situation indeed, and extremely bad public relations.

Steve Broadbent, Ilkley

One of Harrogate’s best known pubs is to reopen tomorrow after a £300,000 refurbishment.

The Woodlands on Wetherby Road has been closed for about six weeks for work to take place.

The Stray Ferret visited today for a glimpse of the new-look venue, which is owned by Star Pubs & Bars and managed by Paul Caunt and Matthew Carr.

The two men have been in the trade for 30 years and previously worked for Mr Carr’s father, who had the lease of the pub for many years.

Paul Caunt (left) and Matthew Carr display the plans before the refurbishment.

The yellow exterior has a new grey-blue look as well as fresh signs. The interior has also been repainted and although the layout is unaltered the red carpets have been replaced by wooden and tiled flooring to accentuate the more modern feel.

Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars said last month it planned to “transform it into the best family-friendly community and sports pub in the area”.

The dining area.

The new pool table.

Mr Caunt said the sports feel is one of the most noticeable changes. Besides showing live sport, The Woodlands has a new pool table. It will also host twice-weekly quizzes.

The pub will open from noon to 11pm daily and serve food from noon until 8pm except on Sundays, when the kitchen will close at 5pm.

The bar

The Woodlands can seat 50 people for food. Its new menu includes pub classics and a two for £16 deal on weekdays. New beers include Beavertown and Heineken Silver.

Mr Caunt said:

“It’s an opportunity to put the pub back on the map.

“We hope to attract a younger clientele while keeping existing customers. We get a lot of people visiting when anything is on at the Great Yorkshire Showground and we are also close to Harrogate Town’s ground.”

Star Pubs & Bars owns 2,400 pubs, most of which are leased to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Read more:

• £300,000 upgrade of The Woodlands in Harrogate to begin next week
• The pub entrepreneur putting Boroughbridge on the map

The Reform UK parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough has backed Independent Keith Tordoff to be Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

Mr Tordoff, from Pateley Bridge, is the sole Independent candidate standing for election on May 2.

Reform UK is not fielding a candidate but Richard Brown, who will stand for the party in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the general election, has given his support to Mr Tordoff and suggested the alliance could extend beyond May. He said:

“My focus is on becoming the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, so working strategically with Keith would be beneficial, not just to both us, but the whole region”.

“Having spoken to Keith, I have got to know about him and what he believes in. Working with him now, and going forward would be very useful.

“I think people want to see the country come together. They also want parties to work together, where there is common thinking, to give focus on delivering for the people.”

Mr Tordoff said:

“While I am not affiliated to a political party as an independent, I do of course need to work with other parties going forward.

“It is certainly true that many are watching the development of Reform UK, some welcoming the possibility of change and others still unsure — Reform UK does though, have the potential to change UK politics fundamentally and in my opinion for the better.

“I share their views that there needs to be fundamental change to how politics operates in this country.”

In a statement today announcing the news, both men highlighted concerns about the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme, which has recently been scaled back after North Yorkshire Council admitted its initial plans were legally flawed.

Mr Tordoff said it “has been fraught with problems from day one, and now we have a project that is proceeding with little focus over the benefits”.

He added:

“Fundamentally it’s an example of a mismanaged project, without a clear set of objectives, and it seems to divide the community, but North Yorkshire Council are pushing ahead regardless.”

Mr Brown described the gateway as a “fiasco”, adding:

“I think we need to develop a better understanding of how the Station Gateway project has gone wrong for Harrogate, and what that means for the project going forward.

“It will give important learning for similar projects that come under the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. We need to do much better than we have done, or are doing.”

Whoever is elected mayor will oversee a new combined authority, and a multi-million budget in areas such as housing, transport and the police and fire services.

Read more:

• Mayoral candidate calls for review of Harrogate fire service cuts
• Lib Dems chose Swinton Park owner to stand for North Yorks mayor
• Tory mayoral candidate to spend 100 days in campervan

Harrogate Civic Society and Historic England have supported plans to convert the former Harrogate Debenhams building into shops and 34 flats.

Debenhams closed on Parliament Street in 2021 after the company went into administration.

Wetherby developer Stirling Prescient initially applied to demolish the building and build 50 flats but withdrew these plans in May 2022 after widespread opposition.

But Harrogate Civic Society and the non-departmental public body Historic England, who were among those objecting, have backed latest proposals submitted to North Yorkshire Council in November last year.

The new application is to convert the first floor into 34 flats and use the ground floor and basement as a ‘flexible commercial space’ or a ‘drinking establishment’.

It also proposes erecting a rooftop extension, the removal and replacement of canopies, shopfronts and the slate roof, and re-cladding the part of the building with a 1960s facade. The plans also include a secure cycle store and seven car parking spaces.

Stirling Prescient has said the development would “provide a high quality and vibrant new residential development” as well as “a new focal point along Parliament Street”.

The civic society submission to council as part of the consultation process says it is pleased demolition is no longer being proposed, adding:

“We are content with the currently proposed uses of the building and are keen to see it returned to beneficial use and retain its positive place in the conservation area

“Loss of the existing façade of the 1960s building next to the Westminster Arcade will not be mourned, likewise the ugly canopy that does the conservation area no favours.

“Overall, we are very pleased to see this proposal for re-use of the building and look forward to it making a positive contribution to the conservation area and the vitality of the town.”

Debenhams on Parliament Street closed in January 2021.

Suzanne Lilley, inspector of historic buildings and areas at Historic England, said in its consultation submission the site at 22-30 Parliament Street “forms part of an iconic commercial street-scene”, adding:

“The proposals have benefited from pre-application engagement with Historic England and we now welcome the approach taken by the applicant.

“There is an exciting opportunity here for a positive restoration and conversion scheme which enables these buildings to be appreciated and enjoyed by the public.”

You can view details of the application on North Yorkshire Council’s planning portal here, entering the reference number ZC23/03273/FULMAJ.

Read more:

• Plan to demolish Harrogate Debenhams withdrawn
• Plans submitted to convert Harrogate Debenhams into 34 flats