John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Poll predicts Tory general election wipeout in Harrogate district

An opinion poll has indicated the Conservatives are in course to lose all three seats that include the former Harrogate district at the next general election.

The MRP poll of 15,029 adults by Survation, commissioned for the Sunday Times, showed that if an election were held now the number of Tory MPs would be reduced from 348 to 98. Labour would win 468 seats and have a huge overall majority of 142.

The seat projection forecasts that the Conservative casualties would include Andrew Jones, who has represented Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010, and Julian Smith, who has been the Skipton and Ripon MP since the same year.

It also predicts Labour will win the newly created Wetherby and Easingwold constituency, which includes towns and villages such as Boroughbridge, Ouseburn, Marston Moor, Spofforth and Huby.

The poll, which was conducted between March 8 and 22, predicts Mr Jones’ vote will fall from 53% at the 2019 election to 31%, with the Liberal Democrats’ winning with 36% and Labour third with 24%. Reform would be a distant fourth on 7% and the Greens would get just 2%.

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“This is now the latest in a series of polls and seat projections that clearly show the Liberal Democrats are in clear contention to win back Harrogate and Knaresborough from the Conservatives.

“Even Electoral Calculus, which was one of the few remaining sources predicting a Conservative hold, is now suggesting local residents will be turning their backs on the incumbent Conservative MP.”

Electoral Calculus says the Lib Dems have a 63% chance of taking Harrogate and Knaresborough. It puts the Conservatives’ chances of retaining the seat at 27% and Labour’s odds of winning at 9%.

Ripon result on a knife edge?

According to Survation, Labour would win an extremely close contest in Skipton and Ripon, with 36.66% compared with the Tories’ 36.08%. The Liberal Democrats would finish third, with 11%, just ahead of Reform on 10%.

Labour has yet to select a candidate to stand against Mr Smith in this constituency.

Survation also predicts a close call in Wetherby and Easingwold. It says Labour has a 39% chance of winning compared with 38% for the Conservatives and 10% for the Lib Dems. Reform is given a 7% chance.

Campaigners’ Yorkshire Declaration on 50th anniversary of Ridings abolition

Grassroots campaigners have marked the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the historic Ridings of Yorkshire by calling for the establishment of a regional assembly with budgetary control and tax-raising powers.

One hundred “citizens of the ancient kingdom and cultural province of Yorkshire” have signed a declaration pressing for “real devolution” for the 4,596sq mile area, which will be proclaimed on (Monday) April 1.

The Yorkshire Declaration comes more than five years after the government rejected the One Yorkshire single devolution bid, which had been backed by 18 out of the region’s 20 local councils, with Sheffield and Rotherham opting for a separate South Yorkshire solution.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said the plan did “not meet our devolution criteria”.

Before his retirement in 2020, Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said he counted the failure to deliver One Yorkshire amongst his greatest disappointments, warning the region’s economy would suffer if a more co-ordinated approach to policy-making was not agreed.

Speaking last week, Dr Sentamu said Conservative ministers Robert Jenrick and Jake Berry had told him they feared One Yorkshire, with an economy bigger than Scotland or the Netherlands, would lead to a republic being established.

Responding to the campaign, Dr Sentamu said as someone named Yorkshireman of the Year in 2007, he was sympathetic towards its aims and a regional government similar to that in London.

He said:

“How come London has a mayor with authority to do this or to do that, I know it’s the capital city, but believe it or not York was one of the greatest cities in England.

“Any structure which is going to deliver more for the people of Yorkshire than at present arrangements has got to be supported.”

Signatories to the document, which accuses successive governments of “neglect, asset stripping and mismanagement” of Yorkshire, include no politicians and instead range from a former Yorkshire Water boss, a knighted former civil servant and a professor of archaeology to a poet and an orchestra conductor.

However, the Yorkshire Declaration urges every resident of the region to support the campaign to ensure that devolution for Yorkshire is a key commitment in manifestos of politicians in the coming General Election.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, numerous council leaders across Yorkshire as well as Yorkshire-based peers were reticent to comment about the campaign ahead of its launch.

The campaigners claim the region has been treated by London-centred monarchs, landed aristocrats and political leaders “as little more than a colonial outpost, whose resources and people are there to be exploited for personal enrichment”.

Despite the establishment of four mayoralties in Yorkshire, the declaration states how differences in community wealth, personal well-being and career opportunities between southern England and those in the North have been allowed to become ever wider in recent years.

The document also points towards studies showing how local government has over the last decade been systematically starved of funding, with 95 per cent of UK tax revenues now being “seized by central government” and 75 per cent of expenditure controlled by Whitehall and Westminster.

The declaration highlights how London has, since 2000, had its own directly elected assembly of 25 members, while in Yorkshire saw the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber Region closed by the coalition government in 2012 as a so-called austerity measure.

The declaration states:

“We believe that only through a strong and effective system of regional governance, as established in other more economically successful European countries, can Yorkshire fulfil its true potential.

“The French, Germans, Austrians and Swiss with their Régions Métropoles, Länder and Cantons, all trust their regions to lead the way, enabling people to come together and take control of their own destinies.

“Yorkshire is a proud and beautiful part of Northern England, with its own distinctive history, magnificent landscape, rich culture, ancient Anglo-Viking dialect of English and a gifted, creative workforce.”

Dr Simon Duffy, who runs the Sheffield-based think tank Citizen Network which has published the declaration, said countries with strong democracies and strong economies ensured power is distributed fairly.

He said:

“The extreme concentration of power and money in London has been disastrous for Yorkshire and for the North of England and unless there is urgent reform things will get even worse very quickly.”

Bid to send 100 cards to Harrogate RAF veteran on 100th birthday

A campaign is underway for a Harrogate RAF veteran to receive 100 cards on his 100th birthday.

Stanley Clarke joined the RAF as a 16-year-old electrical fitter appliance in 1940.

He volunteered for Commando training in 1942 then spent the war in North Africa and Europe. He retired in 1979.

A Facebook page about the RAF with 23,000 followers is now trying to make his milestone birthday special.

It says Stan is “alive and well living in care home in Harrogate”, adding:

“Stan is 100 years old on April 6th and we’re hoping to fill his care home with cards.

“Please take a couple of minutes of your day and write a card, or go to Moonpig and help make this great man’s day.

“Let’s get Stan over 100 cards.”

It urges people to send cards to: Gp Capt Stan Clarke, Harcourt Gardens Care Home, Harcourt Road, Harrogate HG1 5NL.

Drone image shows progress on Harrogate Tesco

A drone photograph has given an indication of how the new Tesco supermarket in Harrogate is shaping up.

Drone photographer Colin Corker captured the image over the New Park area of the town.

It shows work on the access road off Skipton Road is well underway.

The supermarket’s footprint is also visible on land to the back of Electric Avenue, which also connects to Skipton Road.

The former gasworks site at the junction of Skipton Road and Ripon Road is to the east.

To the north is Oak Beck Retail Park, where Aldi has a store.

Tesco received planning permission in February last year to build a store, petrol station and a 209-space car park on the site of the former gas works at the junction of Skipton Road and King’s Road.

You can see more of Mr Corker’s images here.

Readers’ Letters: The ‘scruffy’ state of Harrogate makes me ashamed of my town

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 follows an incident on Harrogate’s Parliament Street on Wednesday, during which three teenagers threw bottles from an upper level window onto the street.

Your story about the throwing of bottles onto Parliament Street includes a picture of the buildings on that part of the street, and they just serve to demonstrate how scruffy much of Harrogate is these days.

It makes me ashamed of my town.

Many of the windows appear to be broken, the paintwork is in a dire state, and I’ve no doubt the insides are equally scruffy and weather worn. This is a prime street in what is supposed to be a smart town – doesn’t anybody care?!

Harrogate doesn’t really have individual fine buildings; it is the collective period ambience which gives the style to which the much-needed visitors and shoppers will come. We must make sure that it is kept up to scratch.

How do we make the owners of properties smarten them up? Who do we vote for who will lead the change?

Chris Graville, Harrogate

Housing developments, Kex Gill and local flooding

This letter is in response to several ongoing topics, including plans for new housing developments and the new mayor.

Almost every day the Stray Ferret tells us the council have approved plans to build more houses.

Our hamlets and villages have all now been turned into towns and the green fields can never be recovered. The loss of trees and the damage to wildlife is unforgiveable.

The ‘new town’ on York Road has been advertising for some months “£30,000 of savings”, to me this says they are not selling, so why are the council doing everything in their power to force through these permissions? Nobody ever votes in favour and all the votes are against.

We are a tiny island with limited resources and all this unrestrained building will end in disaster.

Flooding is getting more regular and more severe. Could the fact that 1,000’s of acres of green field sites have been concreted over to build new houses have anything to do with it. As there is no longer any natural drainage where do the authorities think this water is going to go?

In addition, the new mayor: outdated, no longer required and a waste of money. £2.2 million to find a mayor and then £80,000 a year + all the expenses to maintain. What useful purpose does this position provide? Surely this money could be better spent elsewhere.

Malcolm Hodgekinson, Bilton

Lack of information on Kex Gill is ‘outrageous’

This letter follows the ongoing A59 at Kex Gill saga. The road closed more than two months ago. The Stray Ferret reported on Thursday that the road is expected to be closed until the end of June.

Having read the reporting of closure of the A59 in the Kex Gill area, Mr. Alistair Young’s honest comments came as breath of fresh air. The environmental comments which are said to have come from an official could have been written by J. K. Rowling.

It appears to be clear that the public consultation documents haven’t been read and the geological survey hasn’t been observed.

I can’t believe that the effects of a little drop of rain in these conditions wouldn’t have been calculated. To be awarded £115,000 of council tax money to repair an avoidable damaged road clearly needs an independent investigation. It’s about time these so-called knowledgeable officials listened to people like Mr. Young and read documents which they requested.

I live just outside of Harrogate area and travel the A59 every week. Like so many other people we are suffering the inconvenience. The council have been very inconsiderate to local people.

The lack of information has been outrageous.

Interestingly the repairs may begin after Easter, two months after the closure. Ironically that coincides with the new financial year.

Keith Norris, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Woman rescued from side of road at 2am in Harrogate

Firefighters rescued a woman from the side of the road in Harrogate in the early hours of this morning.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s overnight incident report said the woman was “believed to have collapsed at the side of the road”.

It said a crew from Harrogate located her at 2.01am, adding:

“Crews liaised with the female and assisted her to walk to the nearby hospital. The female was left in the care of hospital staff.”

It was part of a busy night for local firefighters. At half past midnight, an appliance from Harrogate responded to a report of water flooding through a light fitting at a house on Starbeck High Street.

The incident report said:

“Crews found the source of the water was an overflowing bath. Crews isolated the water and electrics to the affected lighting circuits and advice was given to the occupier.”

At 3.10am, firefighters were called to Whiteway Head, off Bland’s Hill in Knaresborough, to make the road safe after a two-vehicle car crash.

The incident report said:

“Crews checked vehicles with a thermal imaging camera and left in care of police.”

The auction house where Mouseman sits alongside Ikea

For some of us, auction houses are regarded as niche and expensive, the kind of places you might look for a unique piece of vintage jewellery, antique furniture or a collector’s item.

But what is perhaps less well known is that alongside these higher-end auctioneers are auction houses that offer more affordable and everyday pieces.

Thompson’s Auctioneers in Killinghall is one such place. While the odd piece of furniture goes for over £1,000 – and a sideboard 12 years ago went for £8,000 – the average is about £80 to £100. Well-known names such as Mouseman and Ercol pop up now and again, but the saleroom is largely made up of reasonably-priced furniture, household and garden items, and gold and silver jewellery.

Lots in Thompson’s auctions, held every Friday, usually carry estimates of between £20 and £800.

And not all of it is vintage or antique. Ikea rugs and Emma Bridgewater bowls sit alongside Victorian necklaces and 1960s drop leaf tables. There are collections and trays of assorted jewellery, glassware and coins, and even some white goods. Each weekly sale opens up a new Aladdin’s Cave, and you never know what you might find there.

Ercol and Vanson

It’s this element of discovery that is one of the things Thompson’s director Kate Higgins loves about her job. As well as leading the auctions, she spends her week sifting through items at house clearances and valuations. She said:

“It’s exciting. I love it, I like going to look at a job. I’ve been to house clearances where you can barely get through the front door and you have to go through all of it but it’s worth it because of what you might come across.”

Among the pieces that Kate occasionally finds and sells are pieces by the famous Kilburn furniture maker Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson and the ‘Yorkshire Critters’ group of makers who were inspired by him. A Beaverman oak table and six chairs went for £1,500 a couple of weeks ago, while a Mouseman ashtray and set of nested tables was in the most recent sale. Kate said:

“They are quite desirable. We get quite a lot of 1960s teak furniture which is very popular. People are paying decent prices for that. We’ve had a nice Ercol blond elm table and four chairs for £380 and a Vanson teak sideboard for £300.”

Changing times

The auction house was started in 1989 by Brian Thompson. Kate has been at Thompson’s for 25 years and when Brian retired in 2012, she and another employee, Colin Evans, bought the business. Kate had started doing the auctions a few years before after remarking to Brian how easy it looked, to which he had answered, ‘Get up and do it then.’ She did, and found she loved it.

Thompson's Auctioneers auction house in Killinghall

Kate Higgins, director of Thompson’s Auctioneers.

But times have changed. Since Thompson’s were forced to take their auctions online during the pandemic and it’s stayed that way, Kate now finds herself leading the sale by “staring at a computer and talking to myself. It’s not quite the same but you have to move with the times”.

But she recognises the benefits that being online brings in reaching a wider audience and enabling more lots to be sold. Each week, about 500 lots are listed in the auction, and it takes around four hours to get through them all. Bids can come from far and wide, and items are shipped anywhere as long as the customer pays for the costs. Kate said:

“Ninety-nine percent of people have been absolutely fine with us being totally online, even the older generation. There’s still the chance for buyers to view the lots between 3pm and 7pm on Thursdays, and people can drop off and collect items on Saturdays and Mondays. But most people are happy to buy from the website without viewing the piece in person.

“We were shut for a year during the pandemic, and it took a while to get going again. We are actually selling more now than we were pre-covid. We are so busy that we are looking for more staff to help collect furniture – there’s currently a four-week waiting time for us to collect items from sellers.”

Period drama props

Among their customers are regulars that come in for a browse every week, while others visit for specific items. She’s seen an increase in customers looking for affordable household goods while others are after a little project. They even have two or three TV companies looking for authentic props to use in period dramas.

While the trend for ‘shabby chic’ has died down and people are no longer looking for cheap furniture to paint, original pieces that can be restored and reupholstered are in demand. Kate said people will go away and research items and are happy to buy them with faults such as woodworm or damage if it’s the kind of thing they are looking for. And the popularity of items can also change as fashions come and go. She said:

“At the moment antiques are not very popular because nobody wants dark mahogany anymore, they want the lighter colours such as beech, ash and elm. Years ago, people would collect pieces of crockery and display them in cabinets but they don’t do that any more. People are buying second-hand furniture and watching what they spend.”

Yemi’s Food Stories: Easter baking with cupboard staples

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 area’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.

Easter season is here which means it’s time to make a mess and bake with the little ones, from hot cross buns to no bake creations.

Many of us have a bit more time on our hands and often need to entertain adults and children during the holidays. You might find yourself wondering what to cook or bake during the school holidays or when you have guests without having to go to the supermarket.

I love looking through my cupboard and fridge to see what is available there. Ingredients that I usually can always find include canned pineapple chunks – I use Del Monte – oats, flour, butter, sugar, almond flour, chocolate chunks and coconut milk.

With these staples, I can create my favourite drinks or bake some goodies from cookies to cakes.

Here is a recipe using ingredients that most of us should have at home. It’s cheap, cheerful and delicious – costing only 56p per serving, the recipe will be enough for 16 servings and ready in just over an hour.

Pineapple white chocolate cake with salted brown sugar glaze

Preparation: 20 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Before baking

Ingredients:

Cake:

200g unsalted butter
200g golden caster or granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
200g ground almonds
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g white chocolate chips
1 x 435g tin pineapple chunks in juice, drained (reserve the juice)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Salted brown sugar glaze:

Reserved juice from 435g tin of pineapple chunks s in juice
2 tbsp light brown sugar
¼ tsp sea salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170c and line a round, 20cm-diameter loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
Cut the butter into chunks and place in a large bowl with the sugar. Whisk with an electric whisk (or in a stand mixer) until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).
Add in the vanilla extract, then whisk again whilst adding in the eggs, one at a time.
Fold in the ground almonds, flour and baking powder.
Stir in the white chocolate chips then spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Level the mixture with the back of a spoon.

After baking

Arrange the drained pineapple chunks on top of the cake and push in very slightly.
Place the cake in the oven to cook for 35-40 minutes – until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
While the cake is in the oven, make the salted brown sugar glaze. Pour the reserved pineapple juice from the drained pineapple into a small saucepan.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for 8-10 minutes until reduced by half and slightly thickened.
Add the brown sugar and stir together until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the salt.
Turn off the heat and leave to cool to room temperature. It will thicken further as it cools.
When the cake is done, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
Remove from the tin and remove the baking parchment. Brush or drizzle the salted brown sugar glaze on top (you can warm the glaze back up if it’s thickened too much).

Read more:

The auction house where Mouseman sits alongside Ikea

For some of us, auction houses are regarded as niche and expensive, the kind of places you might look for a unique piece of vintage jewellery, antique furniture or a collector’s item.

But what is perhaps less well known is that alongside these higher-end auctioneers are auction houses that offer more affordable and everyday pieces.

Lots in Thompson’s auctions, held every Friday, usually carry estimates of between £20 and £800.

Ercol and Vanson

“It’s exciting. I love it, I like going to look at a job. I’ve been to house clearances where you can barely get through the front door and you have to go through all of it but it’s worth it because of what you might come across.”

“They are quite desirable. We get quite a lot of 1960s teak furniture which is very popular. People are paying decent prices for that. We’ve had a nice Ercol blond elm table and four chairs for £380 and a Vanson teak sideboard for £300.”

Changing times

Kate Higgins, director of Thompson’s Auctioneers.

“Ninety-nine percent of people have been absolutely fine with us being totally online, even the older generation. There’s still the chance for buyers to view the lots between 3pm and 7pm on Thursdays, and people can drop off and collect items on Saturdays and Mondays. But most people are happy to buy from the website without viewing the piece in person.

“We were shut for a year during the pandemic, and it took a while to get going again. We are actually selling more now than we were pre-covid. We are so busy that we are looking for more staff to help collect furniture – there’s currently a four-week waiting time for us to collect items from sellers.”

Period drama props

“At the moment antiques are not very popular because nobody wants dark mahogany anymore, they want the lighter colours such as beech, ash and elm. Years ago, people would collect pieces of crockery and display them in cabinets but they don’t do that any more. People are buying second-hand furniture and watching what they spend.”

Editor’s Pick of the Week: Bettys Easter egg, sewage and new offices

Easter is a time to ponder the big questions in life, such as: what happens to the giant egg in the window of Bettys in Harrogate?

Reporter Lauren Ryan has been tracking down the answer. Look for her article on Sunday.

The Stray Ferret is now a stone’s throw from Bettys — we moved into our new office on Cambridge Crescent on Monday. I may have a claim for the best view from office in Harrogate. It’ll look even better if the sun ever comes out.

Talking of throwing things, my Wednesday morning routine was abruptly cut short this week when I heard Harrogate’s Parliament Street was closed die to a police incident.

I hotfooted it to the scene in time to find a shocking number of broken windows in the buildings above shops. The ages of the boys arrested was even more hard to believe.

Some of the smashed windows on Parliament Street.

Political shenanigans are hotting up in a year of elections of ever-increasing magnitude: there’s the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone council by-election in April, the North Yorkshire mayor election in May and a general election further down the track.

The Lib Dems were reported to the police this week when their by-election candidate sent out a leaflet falsely claiming the Green Party wasn’t standing. Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, wrote to Lib Dem leader Ed Davey claiming the local Lib Dems had “totally gone rogue”, which drew a sharp retort that he was “out of touch”.

The political wrangling continued when the Environment Agency released its latest data about sewage discharges, which made unpleasant reading for those of us living close to the Nidd and Ure, i.e. everyone in the former Harrogate district.

Mr Jones and his Lib Dem rival Tom Gordon had vastly different takes on the results.

Politics is a dirty business — and with elections looming, it’s only likely get murkier.