Boroughbridge Hightimers return with Cinderella pantomime

The Boroughbridge Hightimers are returning to the stage next month to put on its long-awaited pantomime, Cinderella.

The amateur dramatic society has been waiting to put on the show since before the pandemic and is now ready for the curtain to rise.

The group, set up 30 years ago, are busy rehearsing for their return at the end of November.

The group currently has 40 members aged 8-80 years old but chairman, Marlo Lomas, said more members were always welcome to help out behind stage, front of house or even take to the stage.

The show will be performed at Coronation Hall, Boroughbridge November 25-27 and again December 2-4.

Mr Lomas said:

“It has been very hard for us all in the society. We were always watching the news waiting to hear the good news that we could go back on the stage. We had lots of performances planned for last year but as time went on they were delayed several times.

“Cinderella, is the first performance back after lockdown it’s an extra special one. The whole cast and backstage crew have worked so hard to ensure that the production is great for all the audience.”

The junior cast in Bugsy Malone.

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Just before lockdown the group had its junior production of Bugsy Malone. Mr Lomas said it was a great success and the junior cast will return with Grease next June.

In March, the Hightimers will be performing a comedy thriller called Play Prepare to Meet Thy Tomb.

To book tickets for the pantomime, click here.

To check out other performances such as these, take a look at our What’s On page.

120 marathons in 120 days: Harrogate man completes epic trek

A Harrogate man crossed the finish line today after completing a mammoth challenge of 120 marathons in 120 days.

Graham Wilson, a retired police constable, found well-earned relief at Harrogate sports bar The Den after 3,180 miles.

Before setting off, Graham had raised more than £40,000 for 15 charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, British Heart Foundation, Saint Michael’s Hospice and Harrogate Homeless Project.

He hopes to reach his goal of £50,000.

Speaking after he crossed the line, he said:

“I’m emotional, it’s been three years of hard work and training and it’s just sort of come to an end suddenly. We’ve had a terrific journey all over the UK and the welcome in Harrogate was just amazing.”

Check out our Facebook live to see him crossing the line.

Graham Wilson and his wife Marion

Graham has walked 26 miles every day for four months, with his wife Marion and dog Tilly supporting him from the sidelines.

The pandemic delayed his challenge by 15 months and meant he couldn’t stick to his original plan of including marathons in Europe.

He added:

“I retired from the police and needed something to do. We’ve always been in to long-distance walking so we set a map of where we wanted to go.

“Initially we should have been going to Europe for 44 days and doing extra but we couldn’t. We made the best of a bad situation and came up with a plan.

“The first and last was always going to be in Harrogate.”

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Graham was a police officer for nearly 30 years and raised funds for charities before retiring.

Bex Moorhouse, a former colleague and Harrogate police officer, who was there to support him today, said:

“We all just feel super proud of him. He’s just so humble, to speak to him about what he’s done it’s just like he hasn’t done anything but it’s huge. This morning he was smiley Graham as usual and we are all just super proud of him for keeping going.

“He’s said some mornings Marion has had to kick him out of bed but he’s doing it for the charities and that’s keeping him going.”

To donate to the challenge click here.

Harrogate district covid rate continues to decline

A further 127 coronavirus cases have been reported in the Harrogate district today, amid signs the infection rate may have peaked.

The district’s seven-day rate remains at 667 cases per 100,000, which remains the highest in the county but is below the 739 of a week ago.

The district with the second highest rate in North Yorkshire is Ryedale, at 607.

The North Yorkshire average is 535 and the England rate stands at 482.

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This week, schools in the district were encouraged to reintroduce face masks and postpone some activities after the district’s sharp rise in covid cases was linked to young people.

Horticap holds open weekend as part of climate festival

Harrogate charity Horticap is holding open days today and tomorrow to encourage children and families to learn how to protect their local environment.

The open days are part of the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition climate action festival, which is being held in the run up to the UN climate change festival COP26 in Glasgow.

Horticap, a charity-run nursery on Otley Road that provides horticulture training for people with disabilities, is hosting stands by charities and businesses.

The weekend aims to get people involved in environmental efforts and highlight the importance of recycling and protecting local green spaces.

The event is being staged by Horticap and Pinewoods Conservation Group.

Lucy Hind, from Pinewoods Conservation Group, organised rock painting for children and gave information to people on how they can use the green space around them.

She said:

“Horticap come into the Pinewoods a lot to do work for us so we wanted to make sure we were supporting this.

“This weekend is about getting children involved and educating them and getting children out and about.”

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Other exhibitors include Harrogate District Biodiversity Action Group, Essential Needs and Cone Exhange.

Donated scrap

Chris Powell, community champion at Cone Exchange, talked about the Bettys and Taylors community project in Starbeck, which turns donated scrap into usable products and crafts.

Chris Powell with the items made from business waste group’s workshop

“We reuse lots of different business waste and we work to repurpose that with adults with disabilities. We work with the students’ skills to create a product, it could be something as simple as craft items or decorative items out of plastic lids from local takeaways.

“The aim is to get everyone involved and reduce business waste.”

Mr Powell said he was at the event to make people aware of the project and to raise some money for charities with their products.

Phil Airey, operations manager at Horticap, said:

“I just want to promote everybody here and encourage people to get involved in projects locally. So come along!”

The stands will be back open tomorrow 10-4pm.

Horticap’s greenhouse

Business owners walk out of Knaresborough chamber meeting over rejected BID

A group of Knaresborough businesses walked out of this week’s chamber meeting after tensions rose over the rejected BID.

Last week businesses in the town voted narrowly to reject forming a BID. The outcome caused a wave of acrimonious allegations about the process from both sides.

Outgoing chamber president, Steve Teggin who was pro-BID, wrote a letter accusing a small number of business of influencing votes which led to its rejection.

At Wednesday’s meeting these businesses strongly rejected claims they had changed the minds of voters.

One business owner who was there reported that around 16 people walked out with another saying it felt “very divided”.

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Peter Lacey, membership secretary of the chamber, said:

“Time was spent talking about future opportunities but recent history like the BID was also brought up. There were some heated exchanges and towards the end there was a group of people that left.

“We need to move on from that there is a future for chamber to talk about. We need to move forward.”

The chamber had earlier discussed filling vacancies on its senior board. There are five vacant positions after Mr Teggin and Bill Taylor – secretary and treasurer of the chamber – stepped down.

The vacant positions are; president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and social secretary.

The positions weren’t filled on the night as chamber rules state people must be nominated to take on the roles. Instructions on how to nominate will be sent out next week.

He said the 80-member strong chamber is looking ahead to working with the town’s businesses on future projects.

Kelly Teggin, chamber member and business owner, said:

“I am looking forward to new people joining chamber and we had some great idea’s at the AGM that will make Chamber more up to date. New leaders and new members will bring a new beginnings.”

Harrogate hospital staff shortages delay schools vaccine programme

The rollout of covid jabs to 12 to 15-year-old pupils in Harrogate schools has been delayed, amid fears they now won’t happen until February.

The government initially said all children in that age group would be offered jabs by half-term, which starts this weekend.

Harrogate’s Ashville College issued a statement today saying vaccinations were due to be supplied and administered by the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust childhood immunisations team on school premises.

The independent day and boarding school added:

“Ashville College can confirm there is unfortunately a delay to the roll-out of the 12 to 15-year-old covid vaccinations.

“The college has notified parents of this and will re-organise vaccinations on-site as soon as supplies allow. In the meantime, we have advised parents of pupils aged 12 to 15 to arrange their own vaccination at a drop-in clinic via the NHS website page, ‘Book or manage your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination’.”

The college, which was unable to give an estimated start date, blamed the situation on vaccine shortages.

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But a spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said this was incorrect. They added:

“Whilst our covid vaccination programme for children aged between 12 and 15 is operating across North Yorkshire and areas in the North East, current staffing capacity has impacted on how soon we can visit some schools.

“We are continuing to develop our timetables and have given all schools a provisional date as to when we will be visiting and will notify them at least one week before our planned visit. Consent packs will be sent to families one week prior to the session. If the opportunity arises, we will look at bringing forward these dates so that we can undertake vaccinations sooner.

“We welcome the recent announcement that parents will now be able to check the NHS National Booking System to see if they can book a covid vaccination for their child at a convenient location, such as a vaccination centre.

“The booking service provides an additional choice alongside the school immunisation programme so that children can be vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Two parents, who asked not to be named, have contacted the Stray Ferret today saying they have been told by their children’s schools that vaccines won’t be given now until February.

One parent said the Harrogate district’s vaccination programme was lagging five months behind other parts of the country.

“Why are we so far behind given that Harrogate is a hotspot for covid cases at the moment? How many young people will unnecessarily develop long covid as a result of these delays?

The district’s covid rate was 727 per 100,000 people yesterday — the highest in the county.

Harrogate army college ‘outstanding’ in new Ofsted report

Harrogate Army Foundation College has been rated outstanding in a new Ofsted report.

The army college’s result was released alongside 13 other centres, all inspected under a new framework.

The college, on Penny Pot Lane, Killinghall is the only basic training establishment for 16-19 year olds in the British Army.

The Ofsted report praised the college for its “very good training .. immaculate facilities”.

It also gave positive feedback on its safeguarding saying the college investigated incidents throughly and made necessary improvements.

In recent years the college had been in the spotlight following bullying and assault complaints by soldiers and their families. In 2018, the Guardian revealed college staff were accused of 50 cases of assaulting or mistreating teenage recruits between 2014 and 2017.

This week’s report said recruits said “there is no bullying at college” and believed staff would deal with any incidents that arise.

Areas for improvement

A common reason for recruits leaving training was down to not understanding the demands of the army. Ofsted said the college needs to give accurate information.

It also pointed out the recruits’ poor diet, adding that the soldiers should be taught the importance of healthy eating.

Persistent weaknesses across the 14 sites in resources, infrastructure, accommodation and improvement planning were found.

Ofsted said the same problems had been identified for the past two decades. The inspecting body has called on the MoD to put measures in place to prevent repeating failures.

Read more:

New vision for the college

A new Commanding Officer was employed in July 2020, Lt Col Simon Farebrother MC, with a new vision for the college.

The report added his ethos of “emotional and psychological safety, inclusion and teamwork is firmly embedded” within the college.

He said:

“I’m absolutely delighted, the grade reflects the hard work of my military, civilian and contractor staff at all levels. I’m enormously proud of them, continuing to deliver throughout an extraordinarily challenging period.

“The junior soldiers depart with valuable qualifications, a bunch of new friends and walk into a brilliant career, full of opportunity.”

The inspection was carried out in May 2021.

Christmas late-night shopping returns to Boroughbridge

Christmas is coming to Boroughbridge with an evening of late-night shopping, Christmas tree lights and Santa on a sleigh.

On December 1st shops will stay open until 8pm as people visit the town to watch the lights switch on.

The lights on the Christmas tree on Hall Square – at the bottom of the high street – will be switched on by Radio York’s Georgey Spanswick and the Mayor, Pat Taylor.

Organisers Boroughbridge Chamber of Trade said businesses were eager for it to return after last year’s covid cancellation. For many, it’s the best night for trade across the year.

It’s not just shops getting involved, the Boroughbridge Lions have organised for Santa and his sleigh to be there as well as street stalls and choir performances.

Chamber president, Derek Hufton, said the town is usually “crawling” with visitors and is hoping for similar levels this year:

“Following last year’s cancellation there’s a great enthusiasm building for this year’s event.

“The community spirit in Boroughbridge is very strong and the late-night Christmas shopping event is not just about local businesses but also very much about the community gathering and enjoying a great festive evening.”

Read more:

The official switch on begins at 5.30pm.

The shops will also be taking part in a window display competition, to be judged on the night.

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning, it’s nearly Friday! I’m back for the final time this week to help make your journey as smooth as possible.

Keep checking our blog every 30 minutes for full updates on the roads and public transport. I’ll let you know about any delays, traffic hotspots or roadworks.

You can get in touch if you spot anything, and it’s safe, on 01423 276197.

The morning blogs are brought to you by The HACS Group.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me. Leah will be taking care of you tomorrow morning. Have a great day.

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Traffic hotspots:

Traffic is building here:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

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8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic hotspots:

Traffic is building here:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

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8am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic hotspots:

Traffic is building here:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

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7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

No traffic hotspots just yet but traffic is building slowly in its usual spots around Harrogate town centre.Are you stuck in traffic or spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are still looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. If it’s any different for you then give me a call and let me know.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Are you stuck in traffic or spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

 

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and happy Wednesday. It’s Suzannah with you again this morning with updates every 30 minutes to help make your journey smooth.

Sometimes my travel systems don’t pick everything up so if you spot something or get stuck if traffic, and it’s safe, please give me a call on 01423 276197.

The morning blogs are brought to you by The HACS Group.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me today, I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Have a lovely day.

Roads

Traffic hotspots:

Traffic is building:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic hotspots:

Traffic is building:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic is building:

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

 

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are getting a little busier but only in the usual spots, no hotspots just yet. If you spot something give me a call on 01423 276197.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads remain quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. If you spot something give me a call on 01423 276197.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses