Newsroom, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate International Festivals apologises for lack of diversity

Harrogate International Festivals has issued an apology for not including any female writers of colour in its 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The prestigious four-day festival takes place this month at the Old Swan in Harrogate.

Many leading crime writers, including Pointless star turned best seller Richard Osman, Mick Herron, Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves are due to attend and events take place across the four days.

But the lack of diversity among the line-up attracted criticism, which prompted Harrogate International Festivals’ programming committee to post on Twitter:

“It has been brought to our attention that our 2021 crime writing festival programme contains no female writers of colour. It should not have been necessary for this to be pointed out to us.

“We work hard on diversity at the crime writing festival but, although there have been many unique challenges this year, we got this wrong, and we apologise.

“We will be examining our planning processes, changing our practices — including expanding our programming committee — and working hard to make sure it never happens again in future years.”

The apology prompted writers A A Dhand and Abir Mukherjee, who were invited to this year’s festival, to release a joint statement, which said:

“We are pleased that the concerns raised over this year’s Harrogate festival programme containing no female writers of colour have been recognised and that constructive conversations have taken place resulting in a welcome change in policy for future literary festivals.”

Their statement added that “Harrogate has always been at the forefront of championing new voices, so the commitment to changing practices and widening the diversity of the planning committee is a very welcome step.”

They added they recognised diversity and inclusion were tricky subjects and that problems were not specific just to the Harrogate festival.

The festival’s crime novel of the year award carries a £3,000 prize.

Harrogate group to finally swim English Channel after cancellations

Team ‘SwimyourChannelswim’ is ready to complete its charity relay across the English Channel after three cancellations due to covid and bad weather.

Friends Andrea Stark and Jacqui Hargrave decided to do the relay for charity but needed two more team members. They convinced Jonty Warneken and Richard Powell to join.

Each swimmer has chosen a separate charity to donate support.

Jacqui Hargrave is donating to Saint Michael’s Hospice, Andrea Stark is donating to the Samaritans, Richard Powell has chosen Combat Stress as his charity and Jonty Warneken is donating to Open Country.

After each cancellation a team is required to complete a qualifying exam in 16 degree waters for 2 hours. The team is determined, however, and has re-qualified for the relay after every cancellation.

The team gets ready in Whitby.

Swimming the English Channel requires great stamina, it can take the team 12 to 14 hours to complete the relay.

According to the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation, keeping away from shipping lanes and strong waves can add hours and miles to the relay with the longest recorded time being 29 hours.

Other dangers of swimming across the English Channel include sewerage, changes in weather, strong waves, jellyfish stings and hypothermia.

Jacqui said “my biggest worry is seeing a shadow in the water and being like, ‘what is that!'”

Jonty preparing for the English Channel

Team leader Andrea Stark said how the team came together:

“Jacqui and I committed ourselves to taking on the Channel Challenge before we got any older and bits of us start falling off. We managed to persuade Jonty and Richard to make up a team – it’s now or never!”

Jonty Warneken said why he is donating to Open Country:

On-demand bus service launches around Ripon

North Yorkshire County Council has launched its pilot on-demand bus service called YorBus, allowing travellers to book public transport at times to suit them.

People who live in Ripon, Masham, Bedale and the surrounding villages can use the YorBus app to chose a pick-up and drop-off bus stop and travel within the service area at their leisure.

There is a flat fare: adults will pay £1.20 and children aged five to 17 will pay 65p. Those under five travel for free.

Those living in the blue area can access YorBus to travel around it

The service will run from 6.55am to 6pm during the week and 9am to 6pm at weekends. There is no service on bank holidays.

The app allows the customers to keep track of the bus’s location and gauge how long it will take to arrive.

Customers can download the YorBus mobile phone app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Those who do not have a smart phone can book their public transport over the phone on 01609 780780.

The council has assured those who struggle with mobility that the service will be fully accessible with low floor and ramp access.

This service is going to be regularly reviewed and, if successful, will inform its decision for a wider rollout within the country.

Joint contemporary art exhibition opens in Harrogate

Two titans of contemporary art, Peter King and Peter Wileman, are showing a collection of works in a joint exhibition at Walker Galleries starting this weekend.

The paintings draw on natural landscapes and still life, and while the artists’ approaches vary in degrees of abstraction, each piece is striking. All the art displayed will be on sale and priced individually.

A spokesperson for the Walker Galleries in Harrogate said:

“We felt that the two artists complimented one another. Both artists concentrate on traditional landscape subjects but give them a slightly abstract ‘edge’.

“Both of the artists are already well established at Walker Galleries and there has already been a lot of interest from regular and new clients.”

Peter King: ‘Winter Light, Arran’ £2,800

Contemporary Scottish artist Peter King takes inspiration from the light and landscape of his homeland, evoking nature through texture and free paint.

He was born in Glasgow in 1953 and studied art, specialising in drawing and painting, at the Glasgow Art School under the tutelage of David Donaldson RSA and Duncan Shanks RSA.

Walker Galleries described King’s style as “a range of motifs which he constantly returns to and reinterprets, focusing on aspects of changing moods of light, weather and season”.

Peter King: ‘Autumn Reflections, Arran’ £2,800

On the other hand, Walker Galleries called Peter Wileman‘s more abstract work “vigorous and full of drama”.

He was born in Middlesex in 1946 and has spent 40 years developing his bold, vigorous style to evoke atmosphere and explore the effect of light, winning many awards along the way.

Peter Wileman: ‘The Kiss of Dawn, Bamburgh’ £3,500

Wileman is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the former president and a fellow of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the East Anglian Group of Marine Artists.

The exhibition will be open between 10am and 5.30pm until July 10, and entry is free.

Peter Wileman: ‘Castle Nick, Hadrian’s Wall’ £5,850

Birstwith residents ‘excited’ to welcome visitors into their gardens

Horticultural enthusiasts in Birstwith are opening their beautiful gardens for visitors tomorrow in support of two local charities.

The event will run from 10.30am to 4pm and will include directions to a new community garden that has been created at Birstwith Mill, where the Birstwith Show takes place.

Ruth Fisher, one of the organisers, says visitors can buy a map of the 10 gardens for £5, which doubles up as a ticket, from St James’ Church.

A community garden will be opened at Birstwith Mill, which hosts the Birstwith Show

Ms Fisher said participants were looking forward to welcoming visitors after being stuck inside during lockdown:

“We are really excited to be able to offer this event in the village, and everyone has worked really hard to make sure that their gardens are in the best state they can be!”

Plants grown by the residents themselves will be on sale at the church, alongside a cake stall. All stallholders will be accepting cash only.

All proceeds from the event will be shared between two organisations: Birstwith in Bloom, a voluntary organisation that “promotes responsible care of the environment and horticultural excellence in the town”, and Birstwith Horticultural Society, the charity behind community fundraising for the Birstwith Show.

There will be refreshments at the church and in each of the gardens.

A previous open garden event at Birstwith Hall, in conjunction with the National Garden Scheme, raised £2,000 for Marie Curie.

Harrogate Girl Guides continue push towards fundraising goal

The Girl Guides Association has resumed fundraising for its new site at Birk Crag with a series of forthcoming events.

The foundations of the building have been ready for several months, but funds were short to fit out the inside, and fundraising had to be paused due to the national lockdown.

So far more than £1.5 million has been invested into the site, with £400,000 left to be raised for its completion.

The ambitious site will be open to the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers for weekly meetings and residential trips for members nationwide.

It will have a meeting hall, kitchen and dining room, a campfire area and a residential accommodation to fit 40.

It replaces the old centre in the same spot, which had become dilapidated.

Members of the Girlguiding association have been working hard to raise the last stretch of the money needed, including setting up a bake sale on the first Saturday of every month (excluding August).

On Saturday July 3 there will be a fundraising fete at Burley Avenue Community Centre hosting stalls from The Body Shop, Painting Pots Knaresborough and others, which will all be donating a percentage of profits towards the site.

The sale will also include a raffle, refreshments and a cake stall.

Sam Jennings, division commissioner for the group, said;

“The project has gone on a long time and now we can see a finish point it is getting exciting; everyone just wants to get it finished.”

People can also leave individual donations here.

Knaresborough seven-year-old’s art to be shown in London

A seven-year-old boy from Knaresborough will be having his artwork shown at an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London this summer.

Conor Steward, who attends Aspin Park Academy in the town, won a competition entered by his school to have his drawing shown as part of the Young Artists’ Summer Show.

A panel of artists and arts professionals choose his drawing of a heron from thousands of submissions to join a selection of artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

His drawing of a heron was inspired by his love of wildlife, which has grown over the course of lockdown.

He previously had a drawing of an otter published after winning a competition in a children’s nature magazine.

Conor with his heron drawing, which will be shown at the Royal Academy in London in the summer

Conor said:

“I am so excited and happy about going to London to see my picture on display.”

Conor is allowed to sell his picture for £20 and wants to donate any money raised to Macmillan Cancer Support.

His piece was framed by Andy Grinter, who owns Green Dragon Framing in Knaresborough.

The Young Artists’ Summer Show is open to the public from from July 13 to August 8.

Yorkshire Warrior obstacle challenge to go ahead next month

The annual Yorkshire Warrior obstacle course will go ahead next month despite a delay in lockdown restrictions easing.

The event is due to take place on Sunday July 4 at Ripley Castle, just outside of Harrogate.

It comes for the first time in two years after last year’s event was cancelled due to the covid pandemic.

Anyone is welcome to sign up for the challenge, which involves a 10km race with 30 obstacles and two lake crossings. There is also a 3km junior warrior race for under-15s on the same day.

New for 2021 is a log-carry race in which teams are challenged to carry a 3m timber log around a 5km track.

Participants can buy a ticket on the day for £50, or sign up online for an early-bird discount, and people are encouraged to form teams. The log-carry race fee is £99 per team.

Thirty-one Harrogate schools take part in ‘walk to school day’

Pupils from 31 schools across the Harrogate district ditched their usual method of transport to take part in the ‘walk to school day’ event last Friday.

More than 7,000 pupils in total took part in the Zero Carbon Harrogate (ZCH) initiative, which was aimed at reducing carbon emissions across the district.

Parents and children who travel long distances to school were encouraged to ‘park and stride’ by walking the last mile of their journey or taking public transport instead.

North Stainley Church of England School won the ‘Zero Hero Primary‘ award, with 94% of its pupils taking part.

The event also had the endorsement of Harrogate Borough Council and local MP Andrew Jones, who went to two schools to show his support.

Fiona Jones, ZCH’s event manager, said;

“This is such an important event for our community. Often children do not feel they have a voice when it comes to climate change, but a Walk to School Day is something that empowers children to cut their family’s carbon emissions through their own actions.”

Coppice Valley pupils after their walk to school.

Pupils themselves also spoke to ZCH about their transport habits. Rosie, aged 10, said:

“I normally walk because I think it’s really important not to take unnecessary car journeys, because pollution comes from the exhaust pipes – it pollutes the planet, but it’s also bad for people’s lungs, especially young children’s lungs.”

And Ben, a Year 10 pupil, said:

“I try to cycle or walk to places as much as possible to try and cut down my carbon emissions. It helps you get fitter as well.”

The event was such a success that it will be continued half-termly, with the next due to take place on October 8.

Bettys in Harrogate ranked among UK’s top 20 coffee shops

Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms in Harrogate has been named one of the UK’s 20 best coffee shops, alongside two other Yorkshire venues.

Coffee manufacturer Coffee Friend created the list by looking at all coffee shops with over 100 TripAdvisor reviews, basing the results on how many ‘Excellent’, and ‘Terrible’ rankings they received. Bettys received over 4,000 ‘excellent’ reviews on the site.

Bettys ranked number 20 and may have been hampered by its sheer volume of reviews. It received over 7,000 while only one other coffee shop reached the thousands — this inevitably increased the number of ‘Terrible’ rankings Bettys received.

The tea room and cafe has become a popular tourist spot since its establishment over 100 years ago. The Harrogate branch is its flagship, but there are now six in Yorkshire, including one at Harlow Carr. The cafe at Bettys Stonegate in York closed this year but the shop remains open.

Espresso Yourself in Scarborough and Wheldrakes in York also made the list.

At number one was Bigmoose Coffee Company in Glasgow, a non-profit cafe, which donates all profit to charities.

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