Royal Hall Proms returns to Harrogate next month

A Last Night of the Proms charity concert at Harrogate’s Royal Hall next month will pay tribute to the Queen and celebrate the new King.

The concert, which will feature the world famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band and acclaimed violinist Kate Chruscicka, will take place on October 7.

The event is being organised by the Harrogate fundraising team at end of life care charity Marie Curie following the success of the first proms in 2019, which raised more than £20,000.

Royal Hall Proms

The group is now hoping to recreate “the magic” of the event following a break as result of the pandemic.

Chair of the group, David Beswick, said:

“The team are determined to ensure the concert will deliver a ‘last night concert’ to remember.

“We know the Queen was a music lover and at major ceremonial and celebratory events, the sound of brass and marching band music was a fundamental component.

“We’re delighted to have Grimethorpe Colliery Band at the event. They are the most famous name in the world of brass band music. They will lead the celebration of the Queen’s life, and wish our new monarch, King Charles III, a long and successful reign.”

Read more:

Before his accession to the throne, King Charles was a patron of Marie Curie.

Mr Beswick added:

“He has opened hospices and hosted many fundraising events for the charity, including joining people across the UK as part of our National Day of Reflection.

“For many of us, it will be our first opportunity to join in the singing of God Save our Gracious King.”

The event starts at 7pm and will feature classic Last Night of the Proms staples, such as Royal Britannia and Jerusalem.

Last Night of the Proms Marie Curie

Senior community fundraiser Gemma Hewitt said:

“I’m thrilled to have the proms event back after such a difficult time for everyone over the past two years.

“Now with the sad death of the Queen, this hopefully will bring us all together to celebrate her, and our wonderful community spirit – with singing and flag waving, you will be sure to leave with a smile on your face.”

All money raised from the event will support Marie Curie, which provides nursing and hospice care for people with any terminal illness.

Tickets start from £20, and can be booked from the Royal Hall website, in person or on the phone on 01423 502116.

 

Louis Vuitton shoes donated to Harrogate charity shop feature in national campaign

A pair of Louis Vuitton shoes donated to Harrogate’s Oxfam shop have appeared in a national campaign to promote secondhand shopping.

Television presenter Miquita Oliver was tasked with giving her mum and grandma a charity shop makeover for an article in The Guardian.

Worn by her grandma, the shoes, priced at £225, are vintage size 7 blue mules from Louis Vuitton of Paris.

They are described as ‘quality leather with the LV embossed in leather’.

The newspaper feature promotes Secondhand September. Now in its fourth year, Oxfam’s annual campaign challenges shoppers to buy only secondhand clothes for a month. It is aimed at promoting sustainability as “fast fashion” continues to dominate the high street.

According to Oxfam, when a new pair of jeans is made, an estimated 16.2kg of CO2 is emitted – the equivalent of driving more than 58 miles in a car.

Thanks to Harrogate’s affluence, volunteers at the Harrogate charity shop, on Montpellier Parade, describe opening every box or bag as a bit like Christmas.

Online shop manager Frances Wood said:

“We get really excited when it’s worth a lot of money. That’s part of the joy of it. You open a bag and you don’t know what it’s going to be. You name it, we get it in here.”

Approximately £29 million is raised each year from selling clothes in Oxfam shops. Designer clothing is a major stream of revenue for the charity and also helps to support sustainability.

While you can find some of it on the shop rails, the more expensive items tend to go on Oxfam’s online store, which lists the location where the piece has been donated.

Read more:

The site currently includes a Prada dress, priced at £180, Christian Dior boots, which are £800, and a gold necklace, listed at £1,200 – all donated in Harrogate.

James Smith, Oxfam Harrogate’s bookshop manager, said:

“While we also have a lot in the shop, the prices you can get online are much higher. It’s a big money maker.”

James Smith with a Prada dress and Christian Dior boots, donated to Harrogate’s Oxfam shop.

And it doesn’t stop at clothing, with designer homeware and rare books also donated.

Mr Smith said:

“We get amazing things in here. We sold a designer purse for £1,000. Every week something goes on the website for hundreds of pounds.

“A couple of years ago we had a set of art journals from Paris from 1930, which went for £2,000.”

Oxfam Harrogate is looking for volunteers to help list items online. Call the shop on 01423 565497 or email oxfamshopf0609@oxfam.org.uk to get involved.

Harrogate fundraiser’s decade of collecting for Marie Curie after help with father’s care

A Harrogate fundraiser has dedicated the past decade collecting for Marie Curie after the charity’s nurses helped her to care for her father.

When her dad was diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago, Tracey D’Alessandro-Rixon was bringing up three small children, aged five months, seven and nine.

Marie Curie’s nurses stepped in and supported her during evenings, which allowed her time to look after her young family and get some rest.

She said:

“I had very young kids. My husband worked away and they gave me a lot of support on evenings so I could get some sleep.

“Dad had dementia and would want to play football at 10pm at night. The nurses were just amazing. One of them used to make me a cake each week as well.

“Marie Curie nurses are an amazing breed.”

Ms D’Alessandro-Rixon is now a registered volunteer for Marie Curie and member of the Harrogate fundraising group.

Read more:

Since her father’s death, both she and her children have helped to raise thousands for the charity.

She said:

“My children used to do daffodil weeks with me and have continued to do it for quite a few years. Especially my son, because it is his way of doing his thing for his granddad. It left quite a hole in his life when his granddad died. He wanted to help others to get some help. He likes to do it every year.”

Ms D’Alessandro-Rixon said Marie Curie provided a very important service.

She said:

“I couldn’t have looked after my dad like I did if I hadn’t had that help. As he had Alzheimer’s, for me it was the wrong thing to stick him in respite.

“Because of their help, I was able to keep him at home which was really important for my dad. It was a place where he felt happy.”

Fundraiser

The Marie Curie Brain Game is returning to Yorkshire for a fourth time on Thursday, January 26 and for the first time in Harrogate in the newly refurbished Majestic Hotel & Spa.

Guests will be treated to a drinks reception before enjoying a gourmet three-course dinner. The celebrity-hosted quiz will run throughout the evening and guests will also have the opportunity to bid for exclusive lots in the live and silent auctions, and win prizes in the grand raffle.

This black-tie event invites companies from across Yorkshire to come and enjoy an evening of brain-teasing entertainment and battle it out in the ultimate corporate quiz to be crowned Yorkshire Brain Game champions.

To book a table, click here.

Red telephone box in Knaresborough transformed into tourist information hub

A red telephone box in Knaresborough Market Place has been transformed into a tourist information hub.

Knaresborough Business Collective signed the lease on one of the three traditional K6 phone boxes this week.

It is aimed at being more easily accessible than the town’s existing tourist information centre, which is located in the Courthouse Museum.

And to help it stand out, it has been covered in pink flowers by Louise Ford, from 4 Seasons florist.

The business group, which was formed to encourage more people into town to spend money in local shops, requested the lease earlier this year.

Natalie Horner, one of the founders of the Knaresborough Business Collective, said:

“We have been putting on a lot of events and noticed that advertising to tourists was difficult, as the current tourist information office is not easy to locate and is only open infrequent hours and days.

“For a tourist town like Knaresborough, we thought it would be great to have something local and central that is open all day everyday to display local event information and flyers, posters and leaflets for local attractions and what to do, where to stay and where to eat etc.

“We are hoping this will be a welcome addition to Knaresborough Market Place.

“Lou, from 4 Seasons florist, has decorated it to draw some more attention to it and we are working on shelving for inside as we speak.”

Read More:

Florist Ms Ford, who completed the floral display this week, said there was even a family link with Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect who designed the red telephone box.

She said:

“He’s actually a very distant relative of mine. I wonder if he’d approve of this one being adorned by my flowers?”

Knaresborough Business Collective is now calling for any flyers for events or tourist attractions to be dropped off at Sid Horner & Son, on Finkle Street, or the Crystal Buddha, on High Street, so they can be put on display.

Frustration over delays to new Harrogate steakhouse

The team behind a steakhouse which was set to move into an empty Harrogate restaurant almost six months ago, have spoken of their frustration over the delay.

Last November, Tomahawk Steakhouse revealed it was planning to move into the former Solita Food Hall. 

It was set to open in April, but the unit on Parliament Street, which was also formerly Jamie’s Italian, has remained empty.

A spokesman for Tomahawk told the Stray Ferret:

“At the moment Tomahawk are tied up with legalities that have unfortunately been completely out of our control.

“We were all prepared and ready to go, but with liquidators from the previous owners comes a lot of red tape. We have had to sit on the sidelines whilst it gets thrashed out between the relevant parties.

“It is a shame because we would love to get going with everything and get open, but it’s completely out of our hands.

“So if the people of Harrogate are wondering what is going on with the venue, we are in exactly the same boat.

“We are, however, hoping this will draw to a close very soon and are waiting for information due to come our way anytime over the next few days.”

The steakhouse had initially planned to move into the empty Bistrot Pierre unit on Cheltenham Parade in January, before deciding to change its location to Solita Food Hall’s space.

Instead Samsons brasserie and bar moved into the Cheltenham Parade site in March. However it is currently shut “for essential works”, according to a spokesperson for the restaurant.

Tomahawk Steakhouse has restaurants in a number of locations, including Chester, York and Newcastle.

Read more:

 

Fashion retailer Jules B set to open new Harrogate store tomorrow

Luxury fashion retailer Jules B is set to open a new store in Harrogate tomorrow.

The boutique, which will be in the former Jaeger unit on Cambridge Crescent, will sell womenswear.

The retailer offers collections by designers including Oska, Holland Cooper, NU London, Rag and Bone and Barbour International.

Owners Julian Blades and his wife, Rhona, opened their first womenswear store in Jesmond in 1984.

Read more:

Mr Blades said its brands “will be perfect for the sophisticated customer demographic in Harrogate and surrounding areas”.

He added:

“After years of planning to find the perfect location, our newest and biggest store in Harrogate is an inspiring womenswear shopping destination that covers two fantastic floors.

“We knew the time was right when the old Jaeger unit became available as it perfectly suits the Jules B aesthetic.”

An official launch event will take place on September 22.

First edition Harry Potter worth thousands found in donated bag of books at Harrogate charity shop

A Harry Potter book is set to fetch thousands at auction after it was found in a carrier bag of children’s books at a Harrogate charity shop.

The rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was donated to the Oxfam bookshop on Oxford Street this summer.

The shop’s manager, James Smith, said they received a number of Harry Potter books every week.

However, he had a feeling this one was different.

He said:

“It just came in a carrier bag of kids books. It’s in good condition, but it’s not shiny and new.

“A child has clearly read it and enjoyed it and then perhaps grown up and left home and told their parents to donate it to a charity shop without realising its value.”

Working his way through a ‘checklist’ of identifying features that mark it out as a first edition, Mr Smith said he was shaking when he was able to tick them all off.

The main characteristics of a 1997 first edition first issue are a print line that reads 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and the crediting of “Joanne Rowling”, not JK.

Mr Smith added:

“On the back of the book the word ‘philosopher’s’ is misspelled in the title.

“On page 53 there is a list of school supplies Harry needs for Hogwarts. The item ‘1 wand’ is listed twice by mistake.

“When you open the first page, usually the Hogwarts crest is there. This one didn’t have it. That is what made me realise there is something different about this one. This is when you have to have eyes in the back of your head. We are always looking as we regularly get amazing things donated in Harrogate.

“When I opened the next page and saw the print line, I thought ‘oh my goodness we’ve got one’. It makes me quiver, just thinking about it.

“When I started looking at prices, there are some going for £10,000.”

The book is waiting to be catalogued at Tennants auctioneers, in Leyburn.

It has yet to be valued, but it has been given an estimation of around £3,000. It is expected to go under the hammer in November.

Read More:

 

‘I was so very lucky to have met her’: Former director of Great Yorkshire Show pays tribute to the Queen

The former director of the Great Yorkshire Show, Bill Cowling, has paid tribute to the Queen who he chaperoned during her last visit in 2008.

Mr Cowling, who is also a retired Deputy Lieutenant of North YorkshireDeputy , said her death was a “tremendous shock” and it felt like losing a family member.

He described the Queen’s visit to the showground in Harrogate as one of the highlights of his career.

He recalled talking to her in the back of a Range Rover and enjoying lunch with her at the president’s pavilion.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I was so very lucky to have met her. To think I sat and talked to her over an extended period of time was a huge honour. It’s something I shall remember forever.

“Her ability to put me at my ease – and everybody else she met – was an amazing thing. She was such a consummate professional at what she was doing.”

Read more:

Mr Cowling said not only was the Queen a lover of animals, but she also had a great appreciation of agriculture and rural life.

He said:

“She knew what she was looking at in the way of horses, but also cattle and sheep. She had a huge interest in all the exhibitors and their livelihoods.”

The Queen unveiling a plaque to commemorate the start of work on the Regional Agricultural Centre in 2008.

Mr Cowling said, like the rest of the nation, he will now start coming to terms with the change.

He said:

“There’s no doubt a change has happened. But I’m confident King Charles III will make a splendid King. Again at the show, I was privileged to have met him a few times and his interest and empathy with rural life is the same.”

Police searching for missing Harrogate 73-year-old woman find a body

Police searching for missing Harrogate woman Judith Holliday have found a body near the railway at North Rigton.

Although formal identification has not yet taken place, the 73-year-old’s family have been informed and are being supported.

Due to the location of the body, British Transport Police is leading the investigation and will establish circumstances surrounding the death.

Rail and road closures have been in place following the report, which was made just after 12.20pm today.

Police say one lane of the A658 at North Rigton has now reopened, however officers remain at the scene.

Ms Holliday left her care home on Harcourt Road in Harrogate at 10.32am two weeks ago today on Saturday, August 27. She was then captured on CCTV at Harrogate bus station and later in Library Gardens at 10.43am.

Read more:

It is believed she then caught a bus out of Harrogate and then flagged down a member of the public and asked for a lift to North Rigton, where the last confirmed sighting took place.

Police used a drone to search for Ms Holliday in large open areas around North Rigton and Lindley Wood Reservoir.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret last week, her niece Lucinda Edwards appealed for her safe return and praised the response of the community.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“We thank everyone who has supported the missing person inquiry.

“Our thoughts are with Judith’s family.”

Bells ring out across the district once more as Charles III proclaimed King

Bells are ringing out once more across the Harrogate district today to formally proclaim King Charles III as the new sovereign.

This time it is a celebratory peal to mark the King’s ascension to the throne.

The Reverend Judith Clark, assistant curate on placement at St Peter’s, Harrogate, said:

“When the bells ring out today they will be unmuffled for the proclamation of King Charles III.”

After today, bells will then be muffled again until the day of the Queen’s funeral.

Churches remain open today for tributes, reflection and mourning.

Special services in commemoration of the Queen are also taking place across the district, including at St Peter’s Church, St John’s, Knaresborough, and Ripon Cathedral.