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.

Read more

• Harrogate Food Festival coming to the Stray this weekend
• Ripon Ghost Walk returns for a spooky summer season

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.

Read More

• Former Ripon student to run 48 marathons in 48 days
• Harrogate village playpark unveils much-needed makeover

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 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.

Read more

• Ripon’s Spa Hotel on verge of being sold
• Harrogate’s hospitality sector reacts with disappointment to lockdown delay

A Harrogate man who moved to Thailand has raised nearly £14,000 cycling across the country to aid a struggling elephant home.

Bruce Haxton was born and raised in Harrogate and attended Harrogate Grammar School. He moved to Thailand to run the Tuk Tuk Club adventure travel company eight years ago.

When his business was halted due to the pandemic, he dedicated his time to raising money for a home of elephants he has worked closely with.

Maevang Elephant Home in Mae Wang has been struggling to maintain its eight elephants with no visitors during the pandemic so Bruce set out to raise £16,000 for the home by cycling across Thailand.

He finished his 2,300km journey this month after riding for 18 days in total.

His journey took him through 22 provinces and back, through mountain ranges and rice fields in temperatures of up to 45 degrees celsius.

He also undertook absolutely no training prior to setting off, making his journey even more challenging.

Bruce flying the Harrogate flag in Thailand.

Read more

• Harrogate charity says ‘it’s all about inclusivity’
• Double organ transplant patient walking 850 miles for charity

He was assisted by his friend Mr Noom who runs the elephant home and followed him on his journey in a tuk tuk full of supplies.

So far he is just £2,300 off his fundraising goal, and is still taking donations on his JustGiving page.

Bruce said that his family and friends in Harrogate have continuously supported him and donated from home. He also spoke about what the elephant home means to him;

“I’ve known this group of elephants and the team who look after them ever since we moved to Thailand and have become very attached to them, both the elephants who are just such majestic animals with such distinct personalities and also the team living with and looking after them.

“They are such fantastic, down to earth, hard working people with great love for their elephants being incredibly stoic in their suffering during the economic devastation that covid is having here in Thailand.”

If raised, the £16,000 total will be enough to sustain the elephants and the families looking after them for 3 months.

A Harrogate cyclist has completed a 288-mile charity bike ride in under 24 hours in memory of his aunt.

Simon Gregory embarked on his journey on Friday and raised over £11,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

His journey took him from Harrogate to Southampton. He smashed his 24-hour target, arriving at his destination with over 2 hours to spare.

https://twitter.com/MacmillanYorks/status/1406171644691992579

Simon completed his fundraiser in memory of his aunt, Reverend Ruth Scott, who died from cancer in February 2019.

She was a presenter on BBC Radio 2 show Pause for Thought for 25 years and one of the first female vicars in the country.

She embarked on similar challenges, including cycling from Rome to Jerusalem without any training.

Simon chose the charity Macmillan Cancer Support as it supported his aunt during her illness.

You can still donate here.

A playpark in North Rigton near Harrogate has completed a full revamp after a two-year fundraising project.

The formerly dilapidated park has been remodelled to make it safer and more inclusive for disabled and older children.

Almscliffe Villages Community Association set up a fundraiser two years ago for the project and received major boosts from local organisations to hit its target.

The community garden playpark now has safer flooring, a tyre activity trail and Sculpan activity cube.

Chairman John Hopkins said;

“We didn’t have the money in the bank to simply get on with the job, but the fantastic response to our fundraising campaign from both the local community and our donors has enabled us to create something that we know will be extremely popular with generations of village children.”

Read more

• Councillors increase calls for tidy-up of Ripon cemetery
• Sculpture trail heads to Harrogate’s RHS Harlow Carr

The completion was aided by a £4,200 donation from The Banks Group, a local property developing company that has its own fund to aid community projects.

A grant was also given by The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation, a charity which aids a wide variety of community causes.

The playpark is now open for North Rigton families to enjoy with children of all ages.

Pupils from a Harrogate infant and junior school have written letters to people in care homes to help combat loneliness.

Saltergate Schools partnered with Vida Healthcare to send the letters to care workers and residents in its two Harrogate homes.

Its initiative was a part of Loneliness Awareness Week, which began on Monday and aims to tackle the stigma around loneliness by getting people to talk about their feelings.

The care homes, Vida Grange in Pannal and Vida Hall in Starbeck, were also decorated with butterflies crafted by the students.

James Rycroft, managing director at Vida Healthcare, which specialises in caring for those with dementia, said:

“We are so pleased to have had the support this year from Saltergate Schools to make our staff and residents feel extra special. The butterflies look fantastic and our residents and staff have all been really touched by the handwritten letters.”

Studies have shown that people in care homes are twice as likely to feel lonely as those in the wider community.

Linda Mortimer, headteacher at Saltergate Schools, said:

“Loneliness Awareness Week was the perfect opportunity for us to give back to our local community and educate our children about loneliness.”

“Accepting that we all feel lonely sometimes is an important lesson and learning what we can do to help others and ourselves manage feelings of loneliness is critical.”

The Marmalade Trust hosts the annual Loneliness Awareness Week, which more than 20,000 charities got involved with last year.

Visit its website for information and support.

Young Harrogate musicians will play alongside one of the most famous brass bands in the world at a free concert in Valley Gardens next month.

Tewit Youth Band will join Black Dyke Band at the event at 3pm on July 4.

The event aims to kickstart live performances again after almost 18 months of lockdown.

The concert has been funded by Arts Council England‘s Culture Recovery Fund, which awarded Black Dyke Band a grant to play with a budding group of its choice.

Tewit Youth Band, which is a charity that encourages young people to learn brass and percussion instruments, meets on Wednesday evenings in an old Methodist Chapel in Huby. It has about 100 members.

Many former members have gone on to play for the country’s top brass bands.

It has four groups ranging from ages six to 18 and its senior band will perform at this event.

Colin Gibbs, president of the Tewit Youth Band for 30 years, said:

“We’ve always had a friendly link with the Black Dyke Band, with a couple of our former members going on to join their ranks.

“So when they were given a grant from the Arts Council, they chose to come and do a concert with us, which is very exciting for everyone.”

Black Dyke Band, which is based in Bradford, dates back to 1855 and has included some of the world’s most talented conductors and musicians.

Motorists and businesses face several more weeks of traffic misery in Knaresborough due to an ongoing project to install a full-fibre network.

CityFibre, which is installing gigabit-speed wifi services across the Harrogate district, has been carrying out roadworks at Bond End in Knaresborough.

Temporary traffic lights at the site, which have caused major traffic disruption, are set to continue for the rest of the month.

CityFibre also has a permit to work on Boroughbridge Road and High Street in Knaresborough until the end of June.

It is then due to move to the streets around Ash Tree Road, Whincup Avenue and Park Row for another three to four weeks.

Residents reported last week the works were causing slow traffic on Ripley Road and Boroughbridge Road, causing some to even turn back around. Some have questioned why the work is not being conducted overnight.

Businesses are also unhappy about the impact of the roadworks.

Steve Teggin, chair of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, said;

“The feeling in Knaresborough is appalling right now, there are roadworks everywhere, from blockades to cable laying.

“If this work was being done in Harrogate, it would have been finished long ago.”

£46m project

CityFibre is spending £46m installing full fibre networks in Knaresborough, Harrogate and Ripon, which it says will meet the needs of businesses and residents “for decades to come”.

Kim Johnston, regional partnership director and city manager for HKR at CityFibre, said:

“Digital connectivity has never been more important in Knaresborough, Harrogate and Ripon, as our data consumption grows, the current network infrastructure will become increasingly unfit for purpose.

“We’d like to thank residents for their support and patience while we continue these works, and offer reassurance that this investment aims to deliver long term benefit for all.

“As an essential digital utility, full fibre boosts households and businesses alike, it will not only unlock access to the fastest and most reliable network technology available, for example, it will provide the essential foundations for smart city technologies that make communities safer.”

You can find out more about the full-fibre installation here.

Temporary traffic lights are in place at the junction of York Road, Chain Lane and Wetherby Road as part of other roadworks.

Social distancing cones for pedestrians have also removed parking spaces in the town centre, causing further problems for motorists.

Businesses on Harrogate’s Commercial Street are to host a dog-friendly day a week on Saturday.

The street initiative will see shops put matching water bowls outside to show they are dog-friendly and some local pet-related businesses will run stalls throughout the day.

From 10:30 until 3:30, businesses, including The Harrogate Vet, Peach and Pooch and Miss Mollie’s Rescue will have stalls on the street.

They will offer goods such as dog treats and goodie bags and host competitions for people to take part in.

Read more

• Final volunteer call for cat charity hotel abseil
• Harrogate firefighters rescue baby squirrel from toilet

The event will take place the day after national Take Your Dog to Work Day on June 25.

Commercial Street is home to over 22 independent businesses, with 20 being members of the retailer group that organises community events.

Organisers will soon be placing dog-friendly logos against businesses on its website so people can see the full list of participants.