Harrogate manager Simon Weaver named Manager of the Month

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver has been named SkyBet League Two Manager of the Month for January.

Weaver guided his side into the promotion race with 10 points from four unbeaten matches.

He said:

“I think this award should go to the whole management team. Everyone does contribute so much to the cause, the staff, the players, we are all here together.”

Weaver has guided his side up the table.

Danny Wilson who chairs the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month judging panel, said:

“Four unbeaten games in January and 10 points returned is a fantastic run considering the injury list Simon has had to deal with.

“With the momentum gaining pace, Harrogate find themselves on the brink of the play off places with some very exciting fixtures coming up.”

Celebrating with Town colleagues.

Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman described Town as “the form team in League One and Simon Weaver deserves a lot of credit”.

He added:

“They are now in the chase for a play-off position and have hit their stride at the perfect time.”

The Sulphurites started the season 100/30 favourites for relegation but are now 33/1 to be promoted and 7/1 to make the play offs.

They entertain Colchester United this weekend at the EnviroVent Stadium on Wetherby Road.

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Grassroots funding awarded to Harrogate football clubs

Four football clubs in the Harrogate district have been awarded grants from the government as part of the Multi-Sport Grassroots Fund.

The fund will award £93 million in 2023-24 to more than 1,100 projects around the country.

In total the Harrogate district was awarded £5,077 between the four clubs, with all of them applying for goalpost funding. 

Applicants could apply for a range of facilities including football turf, floodlights, pavilions, goalposts, changing rooms and improving sports access.

The Harrogate district clubs which were successful in securing grassroots funding were: 

The aim of the funding was to increase participation in sport amongst underrepresented groups and target communities most in need. 

Currently, the focus within underrepresented groups is to increase the involvement of women and girls, disabled players and those in deprived areas. 

The government funding is partnered with investments from the English FA and the Premier League. 

Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith, said:

“This is great news for these local clubs. 

“The government is making a real investment in grassroots sports as we make significant progress towards meeting our ambitious target of 3.5 million more people active by 2030.”

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Harrogate’s Ashville College to end boarding next year

Harrogate‘s Ashville College is to phase out boarding by next year as part of a major new masterplan.

The fee-paying school said the masterplan would see “the biggest investment in its academic and sporting facilities in its history”.

But it will also result in the end of boarding after almost 150 years as Ashville begins a new era exclusively for day pupils, who currently account for more than 90 per cent of its intake.

Chair of governors Jamie Search described the decision as “sensible — and inevitable”.

He added:

“Decisions we have taken about boarding will allow us to fulfil our aim of becoming the school of first choice for those parents in the Harrogate, and the wider Harrogate area, who want independent education for their children aged 2-18.

“In the UK independent sector, boarding education as a concept has been under considerable pressure for some time, exacerbated by the covid pandemic.”

Ashville’s campus

Mr Search added:

“Ashville is a day school with some boarding and is, therefore, very different to a full boarding school.

“Like many similar schools, where boarding is a small and decreasing part of its operation, Ashville has not been immune to these trends. We now have about a third of the number of boarders we had 10 years ago and we occupy only two of our four boarding houses.”

Current Year 10 and lower sixth boarders will be able to complete their current stage of education, whether at GCSE or ‘A’ Level.

Ashville said in a statement it was “working to support families of pupils who currently board by offering one-to-one specialist advice and guidance, including signposting them to alternative boarding schools, before boarding at Ashville ceases in July 2025″.

It added the school was already working with architects and designers on its new vision and would share more details and images next term.

Rhiannon Wilkinson, Ashville head

Rhiannon Wilkinson

Head Rhiannon Wilkinson said in a letter to parents:

“The decision to wind down boarding is made from a position of confidence and it brings us many opportunities as an all-through, co-educational day school.

“We will be able to develop our teaching spaces to accommodate the new styles of teaching and learning and curriculum design which a changing world of work necessitates.”

She added:

“We have plans to develop social and study spaces for our pupils and we are keen to invest further in our sporting facilities.

“We also want to redesign and upgrade a number of other areas across the campus as we further develop a modern learning environment for all our pupils.”

 Founded in 1877, Ashville College caters for boys and girls aged 2-18 years. It consists of Acorns Early Years, and Ashville’s prep school, senior school and sixth form.

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Harrogate Spring Water submits controversial expansion plans

Harrogate Spring Water announced today it has formally submitted plans to expand its bottling plant.

The company wants to fell 450 trees, including some planted by schoolchildren in the 2000s, to develop its site off Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.

Harrogate Spring Water is a major local employer and one of the town’s best known brands. But its bid to remove trees from Rotary Wood to create more plastic bottles has generated national controversy.

The Stray Ferret has been following the issue closely. We published this summary of the long-running saga in November shortly after Harrogate Spring Water said it planned to create a publicly accessible 1,200-tree woodland to offset the loss of trees.

The firm, which is owned by French multinational Danone, held a consultation event later that month, which attracted protestors from the Save Rotary Wood campaign group, which accused the company of greenwash.

Today Harrogate Spring Water said it had submitted plans and “is now working with the authority to progress the proposal”.

The 1,200 saplings would be planted on two acres of land immediately next to Rotary Wood and to the rear of the existing Harrogate Spring Water operations.

Richard Hall

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

“As a business whose success is rooted in the town of Harrogate and its people, it is really important for us to work in partnership with the local community.

“The local community has been very clear in expressing their concern about the potential loss of trees from part of Rotary Wood which an expanded production facility could bring.

“This is why at the heart of our reserved matters application is a new community woodland which will be fully accessible to the public and we hope will become a valued resource for the local community for many years to come.”

Harrogate Spring Water has also pledged to plant 260 trees on the current Rotary Wood site where it aims to expand its production facilities.

Its press release today said “taken together with the new community woodland, this means that any trees in Rotary Wood which are removed as a result of the proposed expansion will be replaced by a ratio of 3:1”.

The release added the company was working alongside forestry experts to identify other locations in Harrogate where an additional 1,500 trees will be planted, further improving the replacement rate.

Harrogate spring water

The company’s headquarters on Harlow Moor Road.

The expansion would help to create more than 50 jobs plus 20 more during construction.

Harrogate Spring Water secured outline planning permission for its expansion in 2017 from Harrogate Borough Council, which means the principle of development has been established.

The reserved matters application put forward now to North Yorkshire Council contains details on the size and design of the expanded production facility as well as information on matters including landscaping.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled 13-person Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee will decide whether to approve the application.

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North Yorkshire fire service buys ‘pre-loved’ fire engines to cut costs

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has started buying “pre-loved fire engines” to replace its decades old appliances as a means of balancing the books.

A meeting of the North Yorkshire and York’s police, fire and crime panel heard yesterday the service was “very close to breaking” due to a lack of government funding.

This was despite charging residents three per cent more next year for fire services and making £540,000 of savings for the second year in succession.

The meeting heard the service, which protects 820,000 residents, had recently replaced part of its 20-year-old fleet with 11-year-old appliances from a fire service that was replacing its equipment with brand new vehicles.

Chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson said the national standard was for all fire appliances to be replaced by their 15th year because after that time it became “incredibly difficult” to replace parts, but North Yorkshire’s relatively low use of appliances meant fire engines faced less wear and tear.

He said:

“Whichever face I turn someone is unhappy about what we’re trying to do here. Everything is being directed towards frontline prevention or appliances and crew.”

Chief financial officer Michael Porter said the service had ordered 16 brand new vehicles, 12 of which would be delivered next year, and it was also in the process of trying to buy another 15 second-hand appliances.

He said:

“The age of those 15 will be in the region of six to seven years old, so that will mean we will have 31 which will be relatively new, that’s about three-quarters of our appliance stock within the service.”

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Panel member and former judge Martin Walker told the meeting he was particularly concerned about the service’s ability to replace its ageing appliances.

He said:

“With the best will in the world, due to financial constraints, having to buy 11-year-old vehicles, however well maintained or well built they are, is a timebomb. Even with small fire engines, which are becoming more of the norm… we are not talking about a small amount of money.”

Mr Porter said even though the fire service had learnt it would receive about £400,000 more from the government than it had been expecting last month, it would face significant financial distress for years to come if the nationally agreed pay rise for firefighters was above three per cent.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe nodded as Mr Porter told the panel:

“It does continue to be exceptionally challenging and tight. The 2.99 per cent proposed increase is below what we expect inflation to be for the financial year and is certainly below what we’re seeing in our cost increases.”

Mrs Metcalfe said she had made “strong representations” to the Home Office about the impact of pay if it went above three per cent and that the government’s funding formula for the service needed reviewing.

She added:

“It’s really innovative practise to be able to buy pre-owned… it’s going to save the service in the long-term millions of pounds. It’s really thinking outside the box as unfortunately we’re not in the position our neighbouring fire services are in.”

New fine dining restaurant opens in Harrogate

A fine dining restaurant has opened in the premises above Sukhothai on Harrogate’s Cheltenham Crescent.

Rhubarb Harrogate serves modern British cuisine under Bradford-born head chef Varun Khanna. Silviu Hasna is the restaurant director.

It offers a tasting menu at £79, a three-course set lunch for £29 and an a la carte menu that includes dishes such as monkfish tail for £29 and venison haunch for £32.

The site has had a chequered recent history. After being occupied by Le Bistrot Pierre for many years. It was briefly Samsons, HG1 Grill and World Bar and most recently The Rooftop.

The latter — a Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar — closed after just two days in August last year.

According to the restaurant’s website, Rhubarb Harrogate is an “understated modern British restaurant, where carefully sourced local ingredients take centre stage” led by “a talented chef with serious culinary heritage”.

It adds:

“Varun provides a dining experience that epitomises quality, sourcing ingredients locally to showcase the very best produce Yorkshire has to offer.”

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‘Warm and welcoming’ Dacre Braithwaite school rated ‘good’ by Ofsted

Dacre Braithwaite Church of England Primary School has been awarded a ‘good’ rating in an Ofsted report. 

Inspectors visited the Nidderdale school in November 2023, and their findings were published on Friday.

The report rated the overall effectiveness of the school as good, but noted that early years provision required some improvement. 

It described the school, which is four miles from Pateley Bridge, as a “warm and welcoming haven set in the Yorkshire Dales.”

The report said:

“It is a friendly, caring school. Pupils enjoy being part of the Dacre Braithwaite ‘family’. They say they are proud to attend here.”

It said children feel safe and behave well and the school is ambitious for pupils’ achievement.

Reading is “given high priority”, staff are “well trained” and “staff and pupils talk about phonics with confidence”.

Three areas of improvement were identified in the report, which said “children are not as well prepared for the next stage in their education as they might be”. Some activities can lack purpose, or are without sufficient challenge to the pupils, inspectors added.

Dacre Braithwaite, which has 84 children, is part of the Leeds Diocesan Learning Trust. 

Headteacher Jo Dobbs said:

“We are very pleased with the results of the report.”

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Car destroyed by fire on Harrogate street

A car was destroyed by fire on a street in Harrogate today.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were called at 11.20am to the vehicle, which was between Silverfields Road and Roseville Avenue, near Granby Corner in Harrogate.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident report, the car was well alight by the time the crews arrived.

The report added:

“The car was destroyed by fire and fire had spread to fencing close by. Crews extinguished the fire using breathing apparatus and a hose reel.”

Pic: Bill Shaw

Earlier at 10am, Harrogate crews were called to a burst boiler in town that had flooded a property and had affected the electrics.

Firefighters isolated the electricity and helped the people at the scene.

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Harrogate man recovers from loss of leg to play international padel tournament 

Harrogate businessman Andrew Simister has recovered from the loss of a leg to take part in an international padel tournament.

Disability Action Yorkshire trustee Andrew teamed up with son Max at the Inclusive Padel Tour competition in Milan last month.

The tour, which involves 60 disabled players across five nationalities, creates tournaments where people with and without disabilities can play together. 

Andrew suffered a broken back in a car accident and had his right leg amputated above the knee in 2022. 

Until the accident, he was a keen sportsman who had taken part in two marathons in New York, played cricket and coached a junior Beckwithshaw Saints football team. 

He was determined and continued to take part in sports after the accident with, as he describes – his “bionic leg”.

Andrew said:

“It was a fantastic weekend. It was incredible to be with so many other players ranging from amputees to wheelchair users.

“It’s the first time I’ve felt part of a community since my accident, and there’s a real sense of family and inclusion.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get out of the group stages this time as the standard was really good.”

Andrew Simister playing padel

Andrew Simister in action

Andrew has exercised as much as possible since recovering from his injuries, and was introduced to padel tennis by friends. 

The Stray Ferret previously reported he was seeking other amputee padel players in June, 2023. He often plays at Harrogate Spa Tennis Club and praised coach Carolyn Rothwell for her advice and encouragement. 

His participation in the event came only months after discovering the existence of the tournament – and then contacting the organiser to become a competitor. 

Andrew is keen to highlight the impact disabilities have on mental as well as physical health. 

He said:

“Lying there, having my leg amputated, thinking my life was over and then accepting what happened and knowing I could recover. My leg had gone. I wasn’t going to die then and I knew it was going to be fine. I liken my situation to having an electric car. The destination is the same, but you have to plan your journey differently.”

“I was a victim of an accident, but I wasn’t going to be a victim.

“Recovery, and I spoke to a lot of people about it, is 20 percent physical and 80 percent mental.”

Andrew plans to travel to all remaining Inclusive Padel Tour tournaments this year with the final competitions taking place in Dubai and Nairobi, as well as continuing advocating for disabled people as part of Disability Action Yorkshire.  

Disability Action Yorkshire, which was established in 1937 and is based in Harrogate, provides services for the disabled to aid them in achieving their aspirations.

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Harrogate gets two new takeaways

Two new food venues are to open in Harrogate.

Pepe’s Piri Piri welcomed its first customers on Knaresborough Road this week while fish and chip shop Portside is preparing to open soon.

The piri piri chicken chain is known for its six different flavours, with options ranging from mango and lime to extremely hot. 

Store manager Rana Hossain said after Thursday’s opening:

“I love the community, the customers were fabulous and polite.

“People seemed excited for Pepe’s coming to Harrogate, and seemed to really like the food.

“I was not expecting the sort of opening we had, to say we had not done much advertising and faced a complicated process in preparing for opening – but I am happy with the team and the nice Harrogate community. 

“We have a big venue and huge variety on the menu.”

Pepe’s in Harrogate

Fish and chip business Portside already has premises in Leeds, Pontefract and South Elmsall. 

The chain offers vegetarian and vegan options, and says it cooks all its fish and chips in vegetable oil. 

Its arrival will increase competition in Starbeck, which already has Bradley’s Fish and Chip shop at 12 High Street, and Drakes on Knaresborough Road. 

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