Goldsborough postmaster awarded for 30 years service

Gillian Waller has worked as the Goldsborough Postmaster for 30 years, offering a much-needed service from her front hall.

Ms Waller was awarded the long service award by the Post Office this week.

She took on the branch in 1990 whilst expecting her first child saying it gave her the chance to work from home whilst still meeting new people.

The Goldsborough Post Office was originally set up in Ms Waller’s front hall with a bell so Ms Waller knows when a customer has arrived. She said:

“There were no computers back then and the services were mainly pension books and the odd postal order. When we needed to introduce a computer, we adapted what used to be an old coal shed to accommodate the Post Office.”

“It has meant that I could continue working from home when I had my children and I was able to fit the day around their school.”

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Over the years the Post Office has changed dramatically. The branch now offers banking services, which is popular with the local community as it means customers do not have to travel far for essential services.

Ms Waller now knows many of the regular customers by name. She said she enjoyed being able to help her local community including the elderly to access their banks.

Post Office Area Manager, Dawn Pentry, said:

“We wanted to recognise Gillian long and loyal service to the Goldsborough community. Her Post Office is at the heart of the village.

The Post Office, on Station Road, is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am – 1pm.

Knaresborough men trek 900 miles in wheelchair and on foot to raise £2m

Two Knaresborough men are on day five of an epic 70-day John O’Groats to Lands End challenge.

This is no ordinary challenge because one of the men, Lucas Schofield, aims to complete the route in his wheelchair — which will add miles to the usual 874-mile distance.

Lucas has Friedreich’s Ataxia, a genetic, progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder, but insists it won’t slow him down.

His best friend, Dan Stott, will carry most of the pair’s luggage on his back.

The pair, who aim to complete about 15 miles a day, are no strangers to insane challenges. The pair have been planning this for two years and have found a route suitable for them both.

Lucas will be pushing himself most of the way but when he does need a helping hand Daniel will be there to push him.

The usual challenges of uneven terrain and weather are compounded by the wheelchair, which has meant adjusting the route to avoid the A9 in Scotland and therefore extending the journey to over 900 miles.

Lucas Schofield

Lucas Schofield on route on day three.

Lucas said:

“Our spirits are still high. People are honking their horns and giving us money.

“I was looking for some huge physical feat and this looked like just it. You’ve got to be a bit crazy to do something like this.”

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The pair have set themselves an ambitious fundraising target of £2 million. The money will go to Ataxia UK, Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust and CALM (Campaign against Living Miserably).

They are currently on £5,000 and with over 60 days to go are optimistic of achieving it. You can donate here.

The pair have been offered free hot drinks and asked for pictures on route. After being featured on BBC Look North they’ve even been asked for autographs.

The two men have no plans to slow down — they are already thinking of an even tougher challenge after this one.

 

New pop-up shop offers small businesses chance to trade in Harrogate

Harrogate businesses are being given the opportunity to rent a new pop-up town centre shop for £400 a week.

Property consultants Barker Proudlove have teamed up with The Victoria Centre in Harrogate for the new venture.

Businesses can rent the space for between one and six weeks and the £400 weekly cost includes rent, business rates, water, electricity and furniture.

The rentable pop-up space is in the former phone shop on Cambridge Street on the outside of The Victoria Centre, opposite Cafe Nero.

It gives businesses the chance to showcase their products and find new customers alongside household brands without incurring high long-term fixed costs.

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James White, centre manager at The Victoria Centre, said

“The pop-up shop provides an opportunity for small businesses to showcase their brands, ideas and test the market place on Cambridge Street.

“It offers a short-term commitment which makes trying new business ideas more attractive.”

Barker Proudlove said the site would be suitable for anyone from florists to bakers and artists.

Jess Swain, from Barker Proudlove, said:

“Harrogate has always been a town that we feel has an incredible support system for small businesses.

“Small businesses bring something incredibly exciting to the typical high street and it is great to see many online-based businesses move into a physical space, even if it is for a short period of time.”

The two organisations hope the space, which will be available in September, will attract a stream of independent businesses.

Bilsdale fire: still no news on when TV signal will be restored

Some people in the Harrogate district are still without a TV signal after Tuesday’s fire at the Bilsdale mast near Helmsley.

The fire left about 500,000 homes in the north east without TV and radio signal.

Some TV channels and BBC Radio Tees channels had been restored to homes last night. However, Arqiva, the communications company that operates the mast said it was still unsure when all channels would return.

A statement sent to the Stray Ferret said:

“The task to reinstate all the services that were available is a complex one and we are working hard to get as many services back up as quickly as we can.

“We are assessing all options open to us but the process is a gradual one. We apologise for the inconvenience but ask that you bear with us as our teams work hard to deliver solutions for as many people as possible as quickly and safely as we can.”

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A cordon is still in place sealing off land within 300 metres of the mast whilst engineers ensure the tower is structurally secure.

When this is done, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will return to begin the process of investigating the cause of the fire.

The fire service said:

“At this time there is nothing to suggest that the fire is the result of any criminal activity but this cannot be confirmed until a closer examination has been carried out.”

Eight fire crews tackled the blaze at the 315-metre mast.

Live: Reaction to GCSE results from Harrogate district schools

The anxious wait is over for thousands of GCSE students in the Harrogate district who received their results this morning.

For the second year in a row, the results were based on teacher calculations due to the pandemic.

Our live blog will record all of today’s results as they come in.

Have you or someone you know received their results today? Let us know how it went. Call us on 01423 276197 or email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk with your grades and how you feel.

17.15pm – St Aidan’s headteacher thanks staff and students

Chris Burt, headteacher at St Aidan Church of England High School, Harrogate, thanked staff and students today after “difficult times” during covid.

Mr Burt added that year 11 pupils had shown “excellent attainment and progress”.

He said:

‘These results allow students to progress to the next stage of their educational journey.

“We are extremely proud of them all and are looking forward to welcoming many students back into the Associated Sixth Form in September as well as wishing others well in their new settings.”

4.55pm – Rossett School students “showed resilience” this year, says headteacher

Pupils at Rossett School showed resilience and hard work this year, says headteacher Helen Woodcock.

Students received their GCSE results from the school today. More than a quarter of the grades awarded were at levels 7,8 or 9 with 15% being at the higher end of this measure.

Meanwhile, 82% of students secured grades 9 to 4 in English and a third of grades in economics, sciences, languages, philosophy and ethics and food technology were at 8 or 9.

Ms Woodcock said:

“We are so proud of each and every one of our students for their achievements during this challenging and uncertain year, and their fantastic results are well-deserved.”

14.25pm – Harrogate Ladies College principal: “I’m so proud of every single one of these pupils”

The principal of Harrogate Ladies College said she is proud of every single pupil at the school for their achievements on GCSE results day.

Overall a quarter of all grades at the school were at the highest level of grade 9; 62% were grades 9-7 grades, and 95% were 9 to 4 grades.

Sylvia Brett, principal of the school, said:

“I’m so proud of every single one of these pupils for the resilience and the determination they’ve shown in the face of so much uncertainty.

“They have been tested in ways they couldn’t have imagined and they all deserve to celebrate.”

Among those picking up their results today was Sophie McHugh, who received 10 grade 9s and one grade 8.

She said:

“I’m absolutely delighted with my results, I can’t quite believe it.

“It has been really challenging being in and out of school all the time and then not knowing whether we were going to be sitting exams or not, but I can’t wait to get back into school again in September and start to my A levels and hopefully have the full sixth form experience.”

14.05pm – Adult learners achieve 87% overall grade 9 to 4

Adult learners in North Yorkshire have also been picking up their GCSE results today.

This year, 87.5% of adult learners achieved a grade 9 to 4 overall.

It is the ninth year that North Yorkshire County Council’s Adult Learning and Skills Service has offered a range of GCSE English and maths courses.

In GCSE Maths 96% of learners achieved a grade 9 to 4 and results for GCSE English were very positive with 100% achieving a grade 9 to 4.

Cllr Patrick Mulligan, executive county councillor for education and skills, said:

“Congratulations to all of our adult learners who achieved their goals; it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our students and staff during this very difficult period.

“Our aim is to help adults gain the skills and qualifications they need to be successful in employment. These recent results show it’s never too late to learn and improve your skills to get to where you want to be.”

13.55pm – Boroughbridge students “adapted quickly” to remote learning

The headteacher of Boroughbridge High School has said pupils adapted quickly to remote learning during the covid pandemic and can be proud of their achievements.

Among those pupils who got their GCSE results today were Ella Brophy and Martha Charlton who each achieved eight grade 9s and two grade 8s and Poppy Beasley who achieved seven grade 9s and three grade 8s. All are going on to study A Levels.

Kathryn Stephenson, headteacher of the school, said:

“It has been an absolute pleasure to congratulate students on their excellent achievements and we are very proud of the way in which they have approached the challenges of the last eighteen months, showing great resilience throughout.

“The results also reflect the commitment of the staff team, who have worked tirelessly, and the continued support of our parents, carers and governors.”

13.45pm – Nidderdale High School reports “outstanding achievements” by students

Nidderdale High School has said it is “very proud” of the achievements of its students on GCSE results day.

Students from the school are set to go onto take up A-levels at Harrogate and Ripon sixth forms, sports scholarships, high quality apprenticeships and college places in Harrogate, York and Askham Bryan College.

Among those who were high achieving include Rachael Hattan, who received 11 GCSEs which were all graded 9.

Meanwhile, Grace Pawson, Scarlet Wild, Mollie Wright and Jonathan Levy, are celebrating 36 grades at 7-9 between them.

Kath Jordan, the school’s headteacher, said:

“We are so very proud of all the work and achievements of our students, especially after such a difficult and disrupted year. They have worked with commitment and determination both in school and online during periods of school closure.

“Many of our young people have faced their own unique challenges, with health, family circumstances and facing uncertainty but they have shown strength of character and resilience.

“They and they families should be immensely proud of all they have achieved. Our whole staff team has worked tirelessly to ensure students are all able to progress onto further education and study, and we look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future.”

12.15pm – Queen Mary’s school congratulates “inspiring and industrious” students

Queen Mary’s School, near Topcliffe, has congratulated its students today after 40% of entries achieve the top grade.

Students at Queen Mary’s received their results this morning. 40% of entries were grades 9-8 (A*).

The school also congratulated long-standing pupils Arabella Jaques and Lilian Roberts. The girls have attended the school from 2-years-old and could today leave with top grades.

All the school’s pupils received offers to their first choice sixth forms.

11.20am – Harrogate Grammar School praises student for “exceptional hard work” despite pandemic

Harrogate Grammar School commended its students for their resilience today after “an experience like no other”.

Of all the grades awarded, 40% were at level 7, 8, or 9 (A* and A) with 10% achieving the highest grade of 9.

In addition, 86% of the students secured grades 9 to 4 (A* – C) in both English and maths and 64% obtained grades 9 to 5 (A – B) in both English and maths.

Headteacher Neil Renton said:

“This is a cohort of young people who have had an experience like no other. We celebrate the success of our students today and take great pride in their achievements. The majority of Year 11 students have chosen to progress to our sixth form.

“As today’s GCSE results show, the Harrogate Grammar School class of 2021 have a very bright future ahead of them.”

11am – 97.2% 9-5 (A-B) grades for Ripon Grammar

Ripon Grammar School has congratulated its students for a second time this week but after its Year 11 GCSE results were announced.

More than 70% of all grades awarded were 9-7s (the equivalent of A*-As) with 97% being 9-5 (A-Bs).

It also said that 46% of students collected nine or more grades 9-7(A*-A).

In total 661 9-8 (A*) grades were achieved between the 132 students in the year.

This included two pupils who scored 10 grade 9s and an 8, while seven achieved a clean sweep of 9-8(A*) grades.

Headteacher Mr Jonathan Webb said:

“It is important to stress that we need to see these results in their context.

“We feel our students have undertaken a rigorous and fair process of assessment at RGS and their grades represent an accurate reflection of abilities and efforts. As always, they have worked extremely hard and with great resilience.”

Ripon Grammar student Sam Cann

Ripon Grammar School student Sam Cann, with his GCSE results this morning

 

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning, I hope you’re good this morning. The roads have been a little quieter this week in terms of traffic but numerous roadworks are adding time to people’s journeys.

This blog, brought to you by the HACS Group, brings you live travel updates until 9am.

Please give me a call on 01423 276197 or join our Facebook group ‘Harrogate district traffic and travel’ to give any updates.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me this week. It will be Leah with you bright and early tomorrow.

Have a great day.

The A64 is currently closed in both directions at Tadcaster due to a crane fire.

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8.45am – Full Update 

The A64 is currently closed in both directions at Tadcaster due to a crane fire.

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Traffic is building in these areas:

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8.30am – Full Update 

The A64 is currently closed in both directions at Tadcaster due to a crane fire.

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Traffic is building in these areas:

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8.15am – Full Update 

The A64 is currently closed in both directions at Tadcaster due to a crane fire.

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Traffic is building in these areas:

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8am – Full Update 

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7.30am – Full Update 

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Pockets of traffic are beginning to show on our computer system. Nothing significant just yet.

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7.15am – Full Update 

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It’s picking up out there but no traffic hotspots just yet.

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7am – Full Update 

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It’s slowly starting to pick up out there but no particular areas of traffic just yet.

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6.45am – Full Update 

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The roads are still looking clear this morning. Keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

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6.30am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

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Number of covid patients in Harrogate down to seven

The number of covid patients in North Yorkshire’s hospitals has fallen — with just seven now in Harrogate District Hospital.

A press briefing today heard there are now 109 patients in the four main hospitals serving the county – down from 131 last week.

The latest figure includes six patients in Scarborough, seven in Harrogate, 27 in York and 69 in South Tees.  Harrogate had eight patients last week.

Patient numbers had been climbing steadily since the end of June but did not reach levels seen during previous waves thanks to vaccinations weakening the link between infections and serious illness.

Despite this, Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the wider health and social care sector was still facing “pretty exceptional” pressures.

Speaking at a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, he said:

“The level of demand for both hospital and primary care, as well as community health services and social care, is pretty exceptional at the moment.

“This is not on the scale that we have seen during previous waves of covid but it is still something we are keeping a very close eye on.”

Read more:

Mr Webb also said weekly covid infection rates across the county had now plateaued after falling from record levels last month when the North Yorkshire average peaked at 590 cases per 100,000 people.

The latest figure now stands at 269 – just below the England average of 299. The Harrogate district rate is 289.

Bilsdale fire: Harrogate district homes face indefinite TV problems

Many homes in the Harrogate district are still without a TV signal following yesterday’s Bilsdale transmitter fire.

Freeview TV and FM radio signals in about one million homes in North Yorkshire, Teesside and County Durham were affected and almost 24 hours on it is still not known when the situation will be resolved.

Eight fire crews tackled the blaze at the 315-metre mast near Helmsley yesterday afternoon.

Stray Ferret readers quickly got in touch to report the issue had affected television coverage in the Bilton area of Harrogate as well as in the north of the Harrogate district.

Communications company Arqiva, which operates the transmitter, tweeted today it was still assessing the extent of the damage:

“The fire at our Bilsdale mast site is under control and we can confirm that there were no injuries or casualties. TV and radio services remain off air from the site.

“Our teams are currently mobilising temporary equipment to site however we are unable to provide specific timelines for restoration of any services at this point.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has said it will return to the site today to bring the incident to a “safe conclusion”.

A 300m exclusion zone was put in place around the mast and concerns about its structural integrity were reported.

Read more:

 

Harrogate NHS Trust could take over Northumberland children’s health services

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust could take over the running of health services for young people in Northumberland.

If approved, 95 health visitors and 30 school nurses will transfer from Northumberland County Council to the trust.

A survey on the proposal is available as part of the consultation, which runs until August 15.

Since 2015, local authorities have been responsible for the delivery of health visiting and school nursing services. But Northumberland County Council decided to continue providing the services in partnership with the NHS.

Until now it has done so with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust but the contract between the two organisations ends in September.

The county council has now identified Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust as its preferred provider for a new contract from October.

The council said in a consultation document it wanted the Harrogate trust to take over Northumberland’s services because it had experience in delivering the services to young people in the north east and had shown it was an “engaged and supportive partner”.

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Although, the council’s statutory duties would be handed over to the Harrogate trust, the local authority would still remain ultimately responsible for ensuring they are met.

A separate consultation with staff will take place in the coming months.

The consultation responses will be shared with the county council’s cabinet and the Harrogate trust before a final decision is made.

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and happy Wednesday – we’re halfway through the week! I have another long list of temporary lights for you today as well as the traffic hotspots, of course.

Like I’ve said our computer system can miss things so if you get stuck at some lights or in traffic let me know on social media or call me on 01423 276197.

These blogs, brought to you by The HACS Group, give updates on the road and rail links every 15 minutes.

9am – Full Update 

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8.15am – Full Update 

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8am – Full Update 

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7.45am – Full Update 

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7.30am – Full Update 

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7.15am – Full Update 

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7am – Full Update 

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No traffic hotspots to report just yet but keep checking in.

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6.45am – Full Update 

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The roads are still looking clear so far this morning. But keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

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6.30am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

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