Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the third of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 7: Royal Baths

With my unlimited budget and full planning control, my next vision involves the Royal Baths, and let me explain immediately that contrary to what some might guess, my vision does not consist of restoring the building as a working Spa, as I am not convinced the market for such an amenity exists in Harrogate today outside small, private luxury hotels.

The Royal Baths should remain at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area.

Instead, I see the Royal Baths building as being at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area, and consequently, I would leave the bars and restaurants in the 1897 building intact. As for the former Lounge Hall, I would restore this as Harrogate’s ‘town’s hall’, or an assembly space for use by local groups, Mayor makings, school prize days, fashion shows, or simply as a place of assembly with refreshments still being available, but on a far reduced scale to the present situation.

It was, in my opinion, very wrong of Harrogate Borough Council to have disposed of the lease of this complex for such a long period when the place was built using public money for the whole community. But let that pass, as the centre-piece of my vision for the Royal Baths is outside the former Lounge Hall.

When the council allowed the block of flats known as “Royal Baths 2” to be built, it ensured it had an underground car park, yet for the adjoining site between the former Fountain Court and the road at Montpellier Gardens, it approved its conversion into a surface car park! This was a gross waste of one of the most valuable building sites in Harrogate. And to add to the bad decision, it allowed the lovely Fountain Court to be torn down in an act that provided for a mere nine cars. I would construct an underground car park here, and restore the Fountain Court, but giving it a glazed roof, so that it could be used throughout the year.

Fountain Court 2001: Walker-Neesam Archive

But my most ambitious work would be between the restored Fountain Court and Montpellier Gardens, where on the site of the long demolished New Montpellier Pump Room I would build a four-storeyed replica of an old Harrogate coaching inn, complete with galleried courtyard, which would be filled with whatever catering, accommodation and entertainment facilities the market was judged to require. It would need to be attractive and picturesque, to draw as many visitors as possible, and would be a major enhancement for the Montpellier and Royal Parade Quarters.

Vision 8: Prospect Square

The large urban space bounded by Cambridge and Prospect Crescents, St. Peter’s Church, the Yorkshire Hotel, and – across the busy road – the old Pier Head, certainly has as good a claim as any to be regarded as the heart of Harrogate.

Pier head lavatories and terrace: Pic: Walker-Neesam Archive

As its last makeover came from the experimental pedestrian zones of the 1970s and 1980s, with little subsequent change, it makes a good candidate for the last of my series of visions for the future.

The first thing I would do, if I had unlimited funding and full planning control, would be to re-open the suites of underground lavatories at what is facetiously called Pier Head, which the council built on the Stray after the passing of the 1893 Harrogate Corporation Act. The location, opposite the junction of Prospect Place, James Street, Cambridge Street, Parliament Street and Montpellier Hill was perhaps the best site in the town for such an amenity. As this location was within 75 yards of Hopewell House (now Bettys) the 1893 Act required that it be built underground.

To comply with this requirement, the corporation removed soil from the crown of Montpellier Hill, built the lavatories, and covered them with the excavated soil, thus giving the impression of subterranean construction. Work does not seem to have begun until 1896, and progressed slowly, in that the brick structure was not ready to receive its disguising “ornamental rockery” until January 1897, when the council discussed tenders. On June 2, an advertisement appeared for male and female applicants who would be required to work from 9.00am to 9.00pm each day, including Sundays, at a wage of twenty shillings a week for the man and fifteen shillings a week for the woman.

These wonderfully constructed public lavatories remained in use for nearly a century, until the council, still reeling from the lamentable mishandling of the Conference Centre affair, took the frankly stupid decision to close them to “save money”. The power and water were disconnected, and the entrances filled in with soil. I am sure that 95% of the present council has no idea they are there. Given the wonderfully convenient location of the Pier Head lavatories, it would be sensible to restore and properly staff them, and this would be my first goal for this location.

Prospect Square

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• Council accused of ‘trophy investment’ for £9m purchase of Harrogate’s Royal Baths
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For the rest, I would close the short length of road in front of Cambridge Crescent, to link the central war memorial to the Crescent, and I would pay for a facsimile of Samson Fox’s sensational Water Gas candelabra. This was built by Fox as a demonstration piece for his water gas plant. It consisted of a “gigantic lamp of four tiers of branches, each branch have 12 double branch light, making a total of 48 brilliant lights”.

The Water Gas experiment was a great success, with Parliament Street lit to great effect, so much so that by autumn, the press reported visitors were coming from far and wide to see how the Mayor of Harrogate “had bottled the sun”. Despite the overwhelming brilliance of the Fox Water Gas candelabra, its energy consumption was enormous, so its modern use would have to be minimal. I would also floodlight the whole of Prospect Square and the War Memorial as – hopefully – an attraction for residents and visitors alike.

Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the second of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 4: A radical blueprint for Station Square

If I had unlimited financial resources and full planning powers, plus the power for compulsory acquisition, I would buy the tower block next to the railway station and demolish it. I would also demolish the single storey shoe box that passes for a railway station, and realise David Cullearn’s vision that the architect of the Victoria Centre once outlined to me. David Cullearn of Cullearn and Phillips, Architects, was the author of the design for the Victoria Centre that won the maximum public support when the designs were exhibited in the Lounge Hall around 1989.

He once told me that his dream would be to repeat the curved frontage of the Victoria Centre on the other side of Station Parade, where the Palladian design would be continued as far as Station Bridge. This would provide the eastern boundary of Station Square with a magnificent stone-faced architectural framework, that would surely overwhelm all visitors arriving by rail and bus.

The Victoria Centre when it opened in 1992. Photo copyright: Walker-Neesam Archive

At the Victoria Centre, I would reverse the alterations of 1999, and restore the surrounding walk way, the top floor’s open air balcony, and the original set of atria which allowed sunlight to flood down to all floor levels. The arid plaza outside would be re-integrated into the Station Square gardens and filled with flower beds, grass and trees, so that visitors could see that Harrogate was indeed a town of flowers, grass and trees.

As for the former railway goods station, hidden away behind the ugly brick wall of the 1938 bus station, a feature of old Harrogate that I suspect is known only to a few people, I would convert this already roofed structure into a permanent market, whose location next to the bus and railway stations could not be improved. The Victorian brickwork would be revealed, and the repaired building would become a valuable amenity.

Oh yes – I nearly forgot. I would restore Station Square’s underground public lavatories!

Queen Victoria monument. Pic: Walker Neesam archive

Vision 5: Cambridge Street

Cambridge Street could do with smartening up and were I to be given unlimited financial resources and total planning control, I would smarten it up in the following manner.

Cambridge Street today — in need of smartening up.

First, I would set up a Cambridge Street retailers group charged with co-operating over such things as improving paving, lighting, planting, seating and above all, signage. I would introduce an element of uniformity by re-erecting the Victorian lamp posts so cavalierly removed and use them as a base for floral columns of flower baskets. The ugly and over-sized plate glass windows would be replaced by windows more in harmony with the buildings in which they are located, with well designed signage.\

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• Gallery: Eye-catching mural brings joy to Harrogate street
• Strayside Sunday: ‘tarting up’ Station Parade misses the real problem of Harrogate town centre

More could be made of the little garden at St. Peter’s Church, which would be improved by a set of steps from the pavement, and several benches – all of which would be subject to strict no-alcohol rules!

When the first market went up in flames in 1937, the lovely clock tower survived, but alas, it fell victim to the demolition mania of the age, and the intact structure was torn down. It was one of Speyhawk’s proposals to rebuild the clock tower as part of its Victoria Gardens project, which unfortunately was never realised, so I would rebuild the clock tower at the eastern extremity of Cambridge Street to provide it with a “point de view” that would not only hide the ugly and jarring brick wall of the old Bus Station, but would add once again a very useful time-piece to Cambridge Street.

Cambridge Street, 1998, with the old clock tower

And as I’m at it, I would repeat some of the above processes in Oxford Street, Parliament Street and James Street, the last of which would have all the disfiguring coats of paint removed from its stone frontages, with both sides provided with ornamental metal and glass canopies over the pavements, so that shoppers would have all-weather protection throughout the year.

Vision 6: Library Gardens and Princes Square

With my mythical unlimited financial resources and total planning control, my next vision would probably be contentious, but nevertheless remains my vision. I would swap Library Gardens for Princes Square, as was the original intention of the Victoria Park Company. Until 1929, Princes Square was a pleasant and largely residential square filled with gardens and ringed with mature trees. Then, in 1929, the council decided to try to encourage more motorists into the town centre by making it “car friendly”, so to the fury of many of the residents they chopped down the trees, dug out the gardens and turned the central area into a car park.

Princes Square

Today, Princes Square cries out for pedestrianisation, which would still permit traffic to flow along both Raglan and Albert Streets. The square could be provided with grass, flower beds, trees and benches, and would be a great boost for the cafes and restaurants already established there, some of which already set out tables and chairs on the broad pavement. But it could be made so much better, and become a pleasant green oasis only a few yards from James Street.

As for Library Gardens, which were sold to the council in 1885, when it accepted a generous offer from the Carter brothers to convey 4,532 square yards of land at the junction of Victoria Avenue and Station Parade, on the strict understanding that the land would only ever be used to build a Town Hall for Harrogate. This obligation has never been honoured by successive councils, although a start was made in 1907 with the opening of the public library, the first part of Henry Hare’s magnificent plans for a Municipal Palace in full Edwardian baroque, complete with clock tower. Alas, the rest of the superb monumental building was never finished, and its completion is something I would love to do.

Library Gardens

I am appalled by the reduction of democratic control of their own affairs that the people of Harrogate have suffered over the last 70-odd years, and hope that one day the administration of such things as education, highway planning and many more matters will be returned to local people to administer. When that time comes, maybe in 50 or 100 years time, Harrogate’s Municipal Palace will be completed to house them.

In the final part of the series tomorrow, Malcolm looks at ways to improve the Royal Baths and Prospect Square.

Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the first of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 1: Unlocking the potential of Crescent Gardens

Here, I am referring to the gardens themselves, rather that the building that was until recently the home of Harrogate’s administration.

Crescent Gardens consists of the detached portion of Stray outside the Hotel St. George, and the rest of the gardens to the west of the slip road, which so awkwardly divides the council-owned gardens from the Stray. Although this rat-run is popular with motorists trying to avoid the traffic lights, it really should have been grassed over years ago, to create a single civic space at the heart of the spa area.

The centrepiece of my vision for Crescent Gardens is to complete the architectural frame-work of the unfinished building ensemble, which has the Grosvenor Buildings and the Royal Baths to the south, the Royal Hall and Exhibition Hall “M” to the east, the Hotel St. George and the former council offices to the north, and on the western edge – a small block of public lavatories and the disused Shelter of 1910.

Despite several attempts in the Victorian and post-Great War eras to build something handsome and useful on the gardens’ western edge, nothing was ever achieved. The site has tremendous potential, and the loss of a small strip of the gardens for a new building could easily be compensated by grassing over that awkward slip road and adding it to the main gardens.

Crescent Gardens

Although this land is owned by the council, it lacks the vision and business sense to grasp the development potential. I would commission an eminent, classically-based architect, to design a three or four-storey building on the western edge of Crescent Gardens to contain either offices or apartments in the upper floors and very high quality shops and restaurants on the ground floor.

Built of solid stone, and with elevations to harmonise with the other buildings around the gardens, the development would breathe new life into the heart of the spa area, and complete the architectural framework of this most important locality. The ground level would be fronted with a classical colonnade to protect pedestrians, and the first floor would have as its centre piece a large restaurant with a spacious terrace overlooking the gardens.

I would erect a splendid fountain at the centre of the gardens, consisting of a series of circular bowls of diminishing size to create an attractive water feature symbolic of the town whose old motto was Arx Celebris Fontibus (a citadel famous for its springs).

As for the pretty but under-used Shelter, I would move it 180 degrees on to the grassed area to the north of the Mercer Gallery for use by the gallery to display sculpture or the Park Drag.

Perhaps the new North Yorkshire Council will see the sense in doing something creative with the under-used asset that is the western edge of Crescent Gardens.

Vision 2: Replace the ‘piecemeal bungling’ of the Island site

This is the site bounded by Ripon Road, King’s Road and Springfield Avenue, excluding the land and buildings of the Hotel Majestic.

An aerial view of the Island site. Pic courtesy of Simon Kent.

The development of this key site for the economic prosperity of Harrogate was undertaken with a series of coherent master plans, until 1958, when these were junked in favour of amateurish, piece-meal bungling, which was so incompetent that the subsequent buildings had neither adequate road access nor a single floor level.

My vision for the island site is that I would demolish everything apart from the Royal Hall and the Convention Centre, and rebuild in the following manner to a master plan that ensured vehicular deliveries occurred away from the public highways and footpaths; that all ground floor areas other than that of the Royal Hall were of the same level; with an external architecture that harmonised and enhanced Harrogate’s historic monumental buildings; and, with green open space at its heart as an amenity for visitors and residents and to serve as the centre piece of a leisure and retail complex.

Malcolm would keep the Royal Hall but suggests a complete rethink for much of the land behind it. Photograph: Flickr, Tony Hisgett

Before embarking on my expenditure, I would undertake or commission fastidious research to establish the economic future on which the conference and exhibition business is based, possibly by such a reliable company as Mintel. If such research showed that these activities were likely to continue into the post-covid world, I would include the appropriate facilities in the development specification. If not, I would drop them.

Whatever the result, I would ensure that the new development was targeted at residents and general visitors, with an emphasis on leisure, entertainment, and retailing. After all, this is the heart of the town, and if I could change history, I would have shifted the whole damn development to the Great Yorkshire Showground and kept intact the old railway link that once crossed the site.

As for the new buildings, they would be built over a large underground vehicle park, above which several new structures would frame an open garden accessible to them all. Some of these new buildings would be dedicated to exhibition use, if the demand for this can be demonstrated. Others would contain such leisure amenities as bowling alleys, a trampoline facility, shops, cafes, and office space.

On the important site at the junction of Ripon and King’s Roads, I would reconstruct the most important monumental building ever erected in Harrogate, the Spa Rooms, with a stone facade including the main entrance of six Doric columns with a proper entablature, and the great Georgian internal saloon with its vaulted ceiling, musicians gallery and chandeliers. This would be used to contain a luxury restaurant, and also through its link, a break-out space for the neighbouring Royal Hall. I would also restore the little garden in front of the Royal Hall, long lost under a sea of tar, and replant the chopped down beech trees at the pavement junction of King’s and Ripon Roads.

Vision 3: Create stunning fountains on Prospect Place

Perhaps the most important entrance to the heart of the town is Prospect Place, as it is flanked by an imposing architectural backdrop and also by that wonderful symbol of Harrogate, the Stray.

Culminating at the War Memorial, from which Harrogate’s principal shopping streets radiate, it might be thought that the locality was beyond improvement, but given unlimited funding, I would add something so spectacular as to make visitors arriving at the town’s centre gasp with wonderment.

Prospect Place. Pic: Walker-Neesam Archive

Prospect Place between James Street and Victoria Avenue was at one time fronted by the individual gardens of the private or commercial properties to the east, all of which were converted into the present gardens after the Second World War, Harrogate Borough Council being responsible for their maintenance – a task they perform with great skill.

Here, I would introduce at least four multi-bowled cascade fountains to advertise Harrogate as the original Spadacrene Anglica — the English spa fountain, which would be illuminated at night, and of such a design as to ensure the minimum side effects from wind. Along the low row of boundary stones, which separate the gardens from the footpath, I would add a long ornamental railing, which would be attractive to the eye and useful in emphasising that pedestrians should remain on the path.

Why should earlier attempts to provide Harrogate with handsome water features always be doomed to failure? When a fountain was placed in Station Square after the Second World War, as part of the council’s plan to improve the town’s appearance, an order came from Emmanuel Shinwell’s Department of Power to turn it off, to save energy. A few years later, the council re-introduced a water feature as part of its reconstruction of Station Square, which was eventually filled in.

When Speyhawk remodelled the area outside the Victoria Quarter in 1992, it incorporated pools and fountains, which a subsequent owner was allowed to remove. The time is well overdue to provide Harrogate with some magnificent water features to celebrate its Spa past.

Tomorrow Malcolm gives his visions for the future of Station Square, Cambridge Street, Library Gardens and Princes Square

This festive history is written for The Stray Ferret by celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam.  

It is often said that much of our modern Christmas was introduced by either Charles Dickens or Prince Albert. For the great majority of Harrogate’s Victorian citizens, Christmas was not only an important religious festival, but a welcome break from the long working week. Then, as now, children played a central role in the Christmas festivities, but it was perhaps the role of the church which was paramount in shaping the form and content of the Victorian Christmas.

Harrogate’s principal shopping streets usually began to take on a seasonal appearance in the first week of December, with their shop windows being packed with desirable consumables of every type, many of which were advertised as “products of the Empire”.

In those days, it was seldom possible to look through a shop window directly into the shop’s interior, as window backs were solid, and lined with racks on which as many goods as possible were crammed. Typical of these were Harrogate’s two most fashionable grocers, Woods,  which occupied premises now filled by Ogdens, and Standings, which stood at the corner of James Street and Station Square. Their solid windows prevented natural light from illuminating the interiors, so even on sunny days, light came from gas globes, which often hissed and popped in accompaniment to the whizzing of pneumatic tubes which sent receipts and change to customers on every floor.

Cambridge Street 1905

Woods and Standings were patronised by Harrogate’s wealthier customers, whereas the majority did their Christmas Shopping at the old Market at the end of Cambridge Street,  where the Market’s external shops were festooned with festive poultry – chickens, ducks, and above all, geese, which were the centre-piece of Christmas in 1900, which was Queen Victoria’s last Christmas. Turkey was not unknown, but still rather a rarity. In the days before home freezing was available, people usually left their shopping for festive foods until the latest possible moment.

Children’s toys could be had from specialist shops in Lowther Arcade, which linked Cambridge and Oxford Streets, the Market, and shops in town centre streets. The better quality toys came from Germany, particularly Nuremberg, which specialised in mechanical toys of tin and wood.

Harrogate’s Churches vied with one another to provide Christmas-themed concerts, with such pieces as “Messiah” and  “Elijah” being regulars. The main celebration of Christmas day naturally included plenty of recitals of Christmas Carols, but music from a much older tradition came with the Harrogate Waits, who not only performed old Christmas pieces in the town centre, but also in the more modest surroundings of Smithy Hill, New Park, Tower and Union Streets. Secular entertainments included the performance of “Marianna” at the new Grand Opera House, which had opened in January 1900

Original Harrogate Christmas Waits  

Perhaps the most spectacular Christmas festivities could be found at the newly opened Hotel Majestic, one of whose guests during December 1900 was Winston Churchill, another being Samson Fox and his family, who stayed there during the rebuilding of Grove House. For the majority of Harrogate people, the new century seemed to offer unparalleled opportunity, and the Christmas of 1900 seems to have been celebrated with great enthusiasm.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Malcolm

Majestic kitchen staff with mascot bulldog!

This festive history is written for The Stray Ferret by celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam.  

The Council’s recent statement that they are to improve conditions at the Valley Gardens Sun Pavilion and its associated buildings, is welcome news.

Following the magnificent achievement of having saved the Sun Pavilion from demolition in the 1990’s, the Friends of Valley Gardens, with the full co-operation of the Council, enjoyed the sight of the re-furbished building being opened by the Queen in 1998. At that time, Council Leader, George Crowther, assured the Friends that they could rely on the Council to look after the Sun Pavilion, and to finish the job by restoring the Sun Colonnade and two Sun Parlours.

Unfortunately, these were ideals that later administrations were unable to achieve, apart from removing the glass roof of the colonnade, and also the windows and doors of the two Sun Parlours – the net result being that these structures were exposed to the weather, with deterioration setting in.

The Sun Colonnade and Pavilions, 1936

As walking and exercise were long recognised an essential part of the Harrogate “cure”, along with an understanding that weather conditions often discouraged visitors from walking very far, many Harrogate buildings incorporated glazed spaces where people could walk and be protected from the rain, cold and wind, which sometimes makes outdoor walking a trial. The encircling “ambulatories” at the Royal Hall, the Royal Bath’s Wintergardens, and the Wintergardens at the Old Swan are all examples of this trend. Consequently, when the Sun Pavilion was planned for Valley Gardens, a long covered walk was added to link the new Sun Pavilion with the Royal Pump Room to the east, and the Royal Bath Hospital to the north. After the new buildings were opened in 1933, they soon became a highly popular attraction.

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Night time illuminations, 1938

Recent news that improvements are to be made are indeed welcome, as they open up exciting possibilities for the future. With a rain-proofed roof, the Sun Colonnade would be a good location for special fairs and markets such as the Art Market or Christmas Market, without damaging the grass or flower beds of Valley Gardens. Perhaps Harrogate International Festivals, or other local Festivals, could find the refurbished locality ideal for their needs.

The two Sun Parlours are more problematic, but surely – at this location – offer potential for private sector involvement, such as for hire by a children’s creche, a flower and seed shop for the Royal Horticultural Gardens, a venue for youth interest, etc. etc. To make the area safer by night, it would be good if the dud lights along the Elgar walk could be replaced, for unless I am wrong, this path seems completely blacked out at night.

As to the immediate future, I suggest that what Harrogate needs to steer it successfully through the next few years is strong leadership, with a bold vision allied to good business sense. This is desperately needed, and it may well be that the future use of these Valley Gardens buildings will be as good a test of resolve and ability as any.

Malcolm Neesam.

This article is written for the Stray Ferret by the celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam. 

Please believe me when I say it gives me no pleasure to bemoan the neglect of Harrogate’s monuments. But when so many people tell me they visit Harrogate to see the town’s buildings and green spaces, it seems foolish to allow some of the area’s most significant structures to appear so shabby. A recent letter of mine about the weed-choked dome of the Tewit Well on south Stray produced a flood of messages of support, all seemingly from people who have Harrogate’s best interests at heart.

The Tewit Well was where modern Harrogate began, following William Slingsby’s 1571 discovery of the mineral qualities of the waters. Before this time, Harrogate was nothing more than a hamlet within the great Royal Forest, but after 1571, Harrogate grew into the sizeable and fully urbanised resort it is today. When Dr. Timothy Bright referred in c.1598 to Harrogate having the “Spadacrene Anglica”, or English Spa, it was the first recorded use of the “Spa” noun in the English language, making Harrogate the first “Spa” in the country. When Dr. Deane wrote his 1626 book on Harrogate’s Spa, he used Timothy Bright’s description “Spadacrene Anglica” as its title

The present “temple” was built in 1808 by Thomas Chippindale as an open cover for Low Harrogate’s old Sulphur Well, and was moved to its present location in 1842, when the Royal Pump Room was built. The open columns of the Chippindale’s temple were then filled in with masonry, to better protect visitors and also the well’s attendant. The historic structure was chosen in 1955 as the subject for a plaque, carved by the National Association of Master Monumental Masons, to mark their conference in Harrogate. The exquisitely carved plaque was fixed to the Tewit Well and unveiled by Mayor Robert Riley on Wednesday September 18, 1955. Two years later, the outside pump was stolen, which introduced a period of neglect, and by 1971, exactly 400 years after Slingsby’s discovery, the neglected Tewit Well was very nearly demolished.

Mayor Riley at Tewit Well, September 1955

But thanks to public protest, and the opposition of the recently established Harrogate Society, the Tewit Well was saved, and in 1973, restoration occurred, the original dome of English Oak and lead being replaced by plastic, which if not authentic, at least followed the design of the original. It was during this restoration that the encircling masonry walling was removed, which restored the original appearance of the 1808 “temple”, but also occasioned the removal of the 1955 stone plaque, which was dumped on the floor of the Royal Baths’ basement, where it probably remains to this day.

Thanks to the Harrogate Society, a new plaque was erected on the restored Tewit Well in 1975, to mark European Architectural Heritage Year, which was this author’s first Harrogate plaque text. It is still there, although as my opening remarks show, the weed-infested building is hardly a good advertisement for Harrogate’s care of its historic monuments.

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When council neglect nearly brought about the demolition of the Sun Pavilion in the 1980’s, it was the public who saved the building, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Anne Smith and the Friends of Valley Gardens. At the time, the wonderful public response was accompanied by the feeling that the council could be relied upon to restore the Sun Colonnade, but this has never happened, and the exposed wooden roof is now decaying. What should be a well-used public exhibition space is instead open to the worst effects of rain, snow and ice. With its roof restored, the Sun Colonnade would be a perfect home for the Christmas Market and other public exhibitions.

Why, oh why, must it be me, and those who are like minded, who have to repeatedly express their dissatisfaction with the slovenly attitude of the authorities towards maintaining Harrogate’s attractions.

Did you know that the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Malcolm to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate? The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to the Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa and a walk through the Commercial Heart of Harrogate. Why not take a walk back in time and learn about Harrogate’s glorious past.. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here.

This week the National Reserve Working Men’s Club closed on East Parade after more than 100 years. It’s prompted celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam to look back at the birth and growth of Working Men’s Clubs in the district. 

Harrogate’s first known club for working men was set up shortly after the 1841 Harrogate Improvement Act, which stimulated the town’s urbanisation, which in turn attracted numbers of working men to the town. 

This club does not seem to have thrived, as the press for November 9, 1867 reported “…On Wednesday evening last, a grand amateur concert was given by members of the funds for liquidating the debt remaining on the late Working Men’s Club…”  However, attitudes appear to have changed by the end of the century, and between 1899 and 1913 no fewer than eight working mens clubs sprang into existence in a remarkable burst of enthusiasm.

The first seems to have been the Oatlands Working Men’s Club, which first met on 16 October 1899 in Oatlands Board School, before moving into Florence House in Hookstone Road. By the 1960’s it had a membership of 420 men and 110 women. Then, a year later in 1900, Starbeck Working Men’s Club was founded, which had a high number of railway workers in its membership, which by the middle of the century had reached 1,250, including ladies. In 1901, the High Harrogate Working Men’s Club opened in a local public house before moving into no.5 Devonshire Place, and by the middle of the century, it had 682 members, including 200 women.

Step forward two years to 1903, when Trades Hall opened in Westmoreland Street, originally founded for members of Trade Unions only. By the middle of the century, this Club had a total of over 400 members, and the spacious building was thoroughly renovated a couple of years ago.

High Harrogate Working Men’s Club 1911

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There is some uncertainty as to the founding date for the Londesborough Club, one source stating it was founded in 1911 as the Legion of Frontiersmen Club, the premises of which were in the Westminster Arcade, before the move to 19 and 12 Bower Road was made in c.1914. Another version has the club founded by workers at the Royal Baths. The name Londesborough was adopted in 1916, and at one time, only people whose fathers had been members were allowed to join.

Oatland’s Working Men’s Club 1967

The next working men’s club to be established was the Harlow Hill Working Men’s Club, which opened in 1912. Finally, April 12 1913 saw four detachments of the Harrogate Battalion of the National Reserve marching to East Parade for the opening of the National Reserve Club at 29 East Parade, the closure of which has just been announced. In its day, this Club had many distinguished members, such as Prince Christopher of Greece, and it would be fascinating to examine any archive the Club may possess. In this same year of 1913, the impressively Gothic building of 1868, located in Skipton Road, became home to Bilton Working Men’s Club, an institution which like so many of the above, continues to thrive.

In my short account of these clubs, I have ignored such special organisations at the political clubs, or the Home Guard Club, which are equally deserving of examination. The greatest change with all these clubs over the last century must be the increasing participation of ladies in their membership, which in some cases began earlier than some might have guessed.

Did you know that the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Malcolm to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate? The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to the Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa and a walk through the Commercial Heart of Harrogate. Why not take a walk back in time and learn about Harrogate’s glorious past. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here. 

This history column is written for the Stray Ferret by celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam. 

Park Drags came into regular use during the 1860s, and were large coaches drawn by a team of horses, which had provision on the roof for additional seating. Popular at sporting events, as passengers were guaranteed a good view, Park Drags were once a common site on Britain’s highways. Privately owned ones were usually held by the wealthiest class of society, as with the example pictured above, owned in the mid-nineteenth century by His Grace, the Duke of Beaufort.

In 1872, a business partnership between two local men, George Mackay and John Fowler, led to their opening a carriage works on York Place, now occupied by Kwik Fit. The business  manufactured several types of carriage, including Park Drags, although none were thought to have survived. In 1988, the Curator of Harrogate Museum learned that following the recent re-organisation of local government, Kirklees Council wanted to dispose of a Park Drag which had come into the possession of Huddersfield Museum in 1947.

Harrogate’s Curator then asked George Fowler, a Friend of Harrogate Museums, if he would examine the Park Drag. Mr. Fowler’s amazement may be imagined after he discovered evidence that showed the Park Drag had been made in Harrogate in c.1873 by his ancestor, John Fowler, and George Mackay, of the York Place partnership. It was then that Harrogate’s Museum decided the Park Drag should be acquired for the town where it originated.

By September 1988, the Park Drag was in temporary store in a Ripon warehouse off Low Mill Road, but thanks to the generous offer of Kwik Fit, it was taken to their York Place premises for more local storage, pending restoration. An appeal organised with the help of the Friends of Harrogate District Museum, raised some money, but not enough to cover the £6,000 cost of full restoration, so the vehicle had to remain in the York Place premises of Kwik Fit.

The unrestored Park Drag was exhibited at the 1991 Great Yorkshire Show, with the Friends of Harrogate District Museums in attendance, when the public donated towards the restoration fund, and the following year, George Fowler received a quotation of £6,000 to have the Drag restored professionally. It was always the intention of the Friends to finish the restoration to road worthy status, so that the Drag could be used on official occasions by the Mayor or other VIP guests, some possibly in connection with the District’s conference and exhibition trade.

In October 1991, Harrogate Council’s Department of Technical Services drew up plans for the Park Drag to be exhibited in the glazed shelter in Crescent Gardens, at which time the Drag’s post-restoration value was estimated to be £30,000. The shelter required the fitting of new glass doors , with an internal plinth and screen to display and protect the Drag, but the scheme was never really promoted, and fell through.

After having generously accommodated the Park Drag for ten years, Kwik Fit found that they needed to have it stored elsewhere, so the Museum’s Department had it removed. This was ten years after Harrogate had acquired the Drag from Huddersfield.

Then, in 2000, Harrogate Museum secured further funding from the Science Museum’s Prism Fund, and the Yorkshire Museums Council. This enabled the Park Drag to be taken to expert vehicle restorers David A.C. *Royce and Co. of Staindrop, near Darlington, who began the exacting task of restoration to road worthy status. Even before this restoration was completed, the Friends of the Museum were told by the Curator that on completion of the work of restoration, the Park Drag would be given a permanent home in Harrogate.

Work of restoration was completed in 2002, but as no home had yet been found in Harrogate, the Park Drag had to be stored at displayed at the Skopos Motor Museum at Batley.  After some time,  the Batley Museum asked Harrogate to remove their Park Drag, as the space was needed for other displays. Consequently, the Drag was moved to a secure depot in the south of England, where – subject to annual insurance and storage fees – it has since remained, despite the energetic attempts of one Mayor to have it returned in 2012, and this writer’s failed attempt to have it displayed at Harrogate Railway Station.

The restored Harrogate Park Drag

The problem with the Park Drag is that its size and weight present difficulties when attempts are made to provide it with a local home. Personally, I think that in view of the proposed developments at the Harrogate Convention Centre, Crescent Gardens, or the Gateway Project in Station Square, one of these sites could be ideal. Bearing in mind that it was restored to road-worthy condition, it could be used by the Mayor or in special parades through the District, when it would feature as a unique local artefact. Imagine what an impact it would make if one of the writers at the Crime Writers Festival were to roll up at the Swan in the horse drawn Park Drag! The publicity possibilities are endless.

It is now thirty-three years since Harrogate acquired the Park Drag, and in view of all the public donations and grant aid collected for its restoration, to say nothing of the insurance and storage costs, it is about time that it was put on public display. I am therefore delighted to report that steps are underway to do exactly this, although the final resting place of this rare and fascinating object have yet to be decided.

Where do Stray Ferret readers think would be the best place to display it securely?

Read More:

• Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s gas-powered buses
• Malcolm Neesam History:  The hey day of Harrogate’s cinemas

This history is written for The Stray Ferret by celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam. 

This week sees the 70th anniversary of the establishment in Harrogate of a permanent site for the Great Yorkshire Show. Since its premiere in 1838 at Fulford, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society had held its annual show at various locations in Yorkshire, including Harrogate, when its invariable location was on the Stray.

First Hound Show in Yorkshire 1859  Photograph: Yorkshire Agricultural Society

On one occasion, in July 1873, a special track was laid across the south Stray to assist the Great Yorkshire Show.

According to the press:

“Special railway constructed on south Stray in connection with Great Yorkshire Show. Line reaches Stray over Paley land before crossing Stray near the highest of the two bridges before curving round to opposite Prince of Wales Hotel where it reaches a block composed of tons of ballast timber.

“About the centre of the rails a large landing stage has been erected. Up to this landing stage a double line of railway has been laid, about 320 feet long. From the landing stage to the block two and three sets of rails are laid; whilst there is a small line at either end for shunting and other purposes…

“Now it is completed – and probably today the first load of implements will run along. The siding is about equidistant from Leeds Road and the show yard. Therefore everything will have to be carted the short distance from the landing stage to the show yard, which, we apprehend, will be entered at a gate on the west side.”

In the event, the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate was a huge success and the turnstile receipts for 38,491 people being over 3,000 more than any previous show. But it is well that nobody has tried subsequently to build a railway line across the south Stray.

The event returned to Harrogate in July 1926 and the Royal Show followed in June 1929, when it was attended by the Duke of York, later King George VI.

Great Yorkshire Show 1937  Photograph: Yorkshire Agricultural Society

By the middle of the 20th century, the show’s governors felt it was time to have grounds of their own, and in June 1949 they wrote to Harrogate Borough Council to say that they wanted to make the “Hookstone site” their permanent showground.

In making this approach, it was clear that the Yorkshire Agricultural Society was seeking the help of the corporation in acquiring the land. The council had already set up a special sub-committee to consider the terms on which the society’s application might be recommended to the Finance Committee.

The council welcomed this application with open arms, as it would bring an important attraction to Harrogate on an annual rather than a sporadic basis, and also took the Stray out of the matter, where opposition to any enclosure had become an embarrassment.

As well as an agreement with the council, the society had to acquire land from Hookstone Wood owned by a Mr Otty. In October 1950 the town clerk advised the Finance Committee that agreements had been reached both with the corporation and with Mr Otty.

Things then progressed with some speed, as the society intended to hold its 1951 show at the new permanent site. At the 1951 AGM, the show director, Sir John Dunnington-Jefferson, announced that there had been increases in all sections of the show, following the news of the permanent site of 200 acres.

Great Yorkshire Show, 1953 Photograph: Yorkshire Agricultural Society

Access to the site would be through a 21ft carriageway at the southern boundary, which Harrogate Corporation, at its own expense, would continue through Hookstone Wood. This demonstrated the corporation’s enthusiasm for the project.

When the 1951 Great Yorkshire Show opened at its permanent Harrogate site on July 10 1951, the three-day event attracted 63,900 visitors and entrance fees of £20,000.

Another aspect of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s move was that it, together with Hornbeam Park and the privately owned Rudding Estate, acted as a much-needed barrier to the expansion of housing estates to the south of the town.

This year’s Great Yorkshire Show starts on Tuesday – the Stray Ferret will be covering the event every day as well as bringing you comprehensive travel updates from 6.30am.  

Our thanks to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society for the fabulous archive photographs in this history.  

Read More: 

• Great Yorkshire Show to go ahead
• Malcolm Neesam history: Harrogate’s gas-powered buses

Before the Second World War, Harrogate Corporation ran many of the amenities that were considered essential for the regular life of the municipality, including education, electricity, water and highways, but the provision of transport was left with the private sector. The story of Harrogate’s early bus services has been brilliantly told by Trevor Leach in his meticulously researched book Twopenny Single to Starbeck, published in 2000.

In 1898, local businessman Charles H Burgess came to an agreement with another operator, Ernest Hepper of Crown Hotel Mews, and businessman A E Wynn, who ran the Cairn Hydro, to set up the new Harrogate Carriage Company. After acquiring a second-hand horse bus in June 1898, and four additional horses, the business took off. Double-decker motor buses were reported as being on Harrogate’s streets in 1905 and steam bus services were introduced in 1906 by a Mr A H Marshall of 25 Leeds Road, whose Clarkson “Chelmsford” steam-powered bus began to run on November 29 1906. A full account of these proceedings may be found in Mr Leach’s book.

Harrogate Corporation had, in 1902, toyed with the idea of obtaining powers to enable it to construct an electric tram system of its own, one suggestion being that a central tram station could be built on the garden of the Prospect (now the Yorkshire) Hotel, where the War Memorial now stands. This would have provided stops right around the commercial heart of the town, which would have enabled the Corporation to ban all private vehicular traffic from the centre of Harrogate. There were, however, strong objections to a tram system, which was considered to be noisy and too redolent of Blackpool, so the proposals were dropped, to the advantage of the private bus companies.

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• Malcolm Neesam History: The heyday of Harrogate’s cinemas
• Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s once lively street theatre scene

By 1914, the Harrogate Road Car Company was running not only local motor buses, but also motor “chars-a-bang” tours around Yorkshire beauty spots, which were popular with visitors. The outbreak of the First World War on August 4 1914 forced changes on the Company, and many of the motor chars-a-bang were impressed by the War Office for conversion to military use.

Fuel supply was a further problem for the Company. The so-called Clarkson Steamer Buses were abandoned in 1916, and in 1917, the Company came to an agreement with the Harrogate Gas Company to supply town gas for four of its McCurd buses. The gas was stored in huge bags that were fastened to the roof with ropes. Re-filling points were provided in Station Parade, at Queen Victoria’s monument, Victoria Avenue, Starbeck and New Park. Gas meters were set into the pavement, and could be connected to the converted buses by means of pipes.

The huge, gas-filled bags must have made the vehicles very unstable, and they could not be driven into their garages when inflated. Mr Leach’s book relates that on more than one occasion it was the driver’s misfortune to see his gas bag blowing across the Stray when high wind broke the securing ropes! The accompanying photograph shows one of Harrogate’s gas buses outside the Victoria Park Methodist Church in Station Parade, which today is the site of the Everyman Cinema.

In writing this piece for the Stray Ferret, Malcolm Neesam would like to acknowledge the original research of Trevor Leach.