Pubs and restaurants in the Harrogate district have spoken of their frustration at the abrupt move into tier three just hours before their “biggest day of the year”.

Hospitality venues across the district would usually be buzzing with excitement on New Year’s Eve.

But instead most venues are closed, with only takeaways possible.

All the restaurant and cafe owners the Stray Ferret spoke to today agreed with the need for stricter restrictions but insisted more notice should have been given, as they have been left with unused stock.

Simon Cotton, managing director of the HRH Group whose properties include the Fat Badger, White Hart Hotel and the Yorkshire Hotel, said:

“I agree stricter restrictions are needed to get a grip on the virus but giving us such little notice is unacceptable. It’s a kick in the teeth for the biggest day of the year taken away with just a few hours notice.

“Frustration — that would be the word I use to sum up the year.”

Mr Cotton said food would be wasted this weekend as charities are unable to make use of perishable items at such short notice.

Many businesses have been trying to use up stock.

The Smiths Arms in Beckwithshaw posted on Facebook it would donate to the Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity.

The Little Ale House micropub in Harrogate said it would be selling cask and keg beers at reduced prices.

Read more:

• Much-loved Harrogate pub, The Woodlands, is getting a face lift and a new name.
• Christies Bar landlord describes his “horrible” year of covid restrictions.

The Dining Room restaurant in Boroughbridge changed its business model this year by moving to daytime-only trade during the week and saving its fine dining for Friday and Saturday evenings.

The owners will continue with their plans to serve takeaways this evening but said yesterday’s announcement would have a major impact on trade. Co-owner Chris Astley said:

“Luckily we won’t waste stock because we can still go ahead with our takeaways but it doesn’t make the past year easier.

“I am relieved because when you have people turning up, clearly from different households, it is very difficult to manage. We just have to keep going.”

The Dining Room in Boroughbridge will go ahead with its plans to offer takeaway food tonight.

Sarah Williams, runs Scarlett’s Vintage Tea Rooms in Knaresborough, said she was expecting the announcement:

“It’s not unexpected especially when you look at the data. Of course it’s not what you want to do but it is the right thing to do.

“We had a successful summer and have received grants, which mean we are surviving and aren’t in any danger of closing but not everyone has been so lucky.”

A Harrogate not-for-profit organisation is launching the UK’s first meals on wheel loyalty scheme to bring the service into the 21st century.

Harrogate and Ripon Food Angels has been providing meals on wheels since 2012.

A total of 120 people are signed up to receive the daily and weekly meals. A main meal costs £5.20 and £6.40 with a dessert.

Under the loyalty scheme, beginning on January 4, anyone buying 20 meals will receive a free teatime treat.

The treat options include a sandwich, soup and crisps, a slice of cake and a pack of tea bags.

Harrogate and Ripon Food Angels is part of Harrogate Neighbours, a charity that provides services for older people.

Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, said:

“More and more people are having to shield and isolate and perhaps wouldn’t think that a regular hot meal delivery service of this kind is right for them, but we hope that by re-branding it and bringing the service into the 21st century we can appeal to more people in need of this vital service.”

Read more:

• Killinghall care home resident turns 105 this week. 
• Harrogate Neighbours launches scheme to take care of its own.

Harrogate Neighbours has received a number of awards for its meals on wheels service.

The charity aims to improve the lives of older people in Harrogate. Besides delivering meals, it offers a domiciliary service to prevent isolation.

It also operates two sites; Heath Lodge, a residential care home and The Cuttings, an extra care housing scheme.

To inquire about volunteering, click here.

The New Year Honours list has been published tonight and a number of residents in the Harrogate district have been recognised for their services to charity and the community.

OBE

Linda Grace Shears, from Harrogate, has been made an OBE for services to charity in her role as co-founder of the Shears Foundation.

The foundation is a charitable trust that providers grants for projects that develop arts and culture, educational opportunities and the protection of the natural environment, as well as other areas.

Since it was set up in 1996, the trust has awarded £12 million in grants.

Janet Sheriff, from Harrogate, has been made an OBE for services to education in West Yorkshire. Ms Sheriff is headteacher of Prince Henry’s Grammar School in Otley.

Ms Sheriff was appointed headteacher in 2009. She became the first female head in the school’s 400-year history and Leeds’ first BME secondary school headteacher.

Read more:

• Several local residents were awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year. 
• Community comes together to show its support for the Christmas Eve jingle.

BEM 

John Richmond, from Ripon, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to the community in Ripon.

Mr Richmond is well known in the city after becoming the youngest person to be appointed mayor in 1975 at just 39 years old. He has also taken part in the city’s traditional hornblower ceremony.

Mary Chapman, from Great Ouseburn, has also been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ms Chapman founded the charity Nuzzlets, which gives children with special educational needs and life-threatening illnesses the chance to meet animals.

Nuzzlets now hosts about 200 visits each year and supports 4,000 young people. Ms Chapman and her volunteers carry out visits to hospitals, nursing homes and local community groups as well as hosting visits on the farm.

A woman from Pannal has spoken of her flooding ordeal last night when Storm Bella wreaked havoc.

Suzanne Walker, who lives alone in a basement apartment on Leeds Road, had to call North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service when water levels rose to her bedroom window.

It was the second time in three months she has had to call the fire service to pump water away from her rear window and a meter cupboard.

Fortunately there was no major damage but the proximity of the water to an electric switchboard, along with the fact that this has happened before, has left her extremely anxious.

Ms Walker, who is a director of the apartment block management company, Fieldhurst Management Company, dialled 999 shortly after midnight when she noticed the water level rising. She said:

“It’s extremely annoying and frustrating, not to mention stressful, watching dirty water rise to such a level that you know your bed is on the other side of the wall, not to mention electrics too.”

The fire crew arrived to pump the water away. Water had entered the external meter cupboard, which houses the meters of all seven of the apartments in the block.

Similar high water levels were seen on October 3. Photograph: Suzanne Walker.

Since the first flooding incident after heavy rain on October 3, Ms Walker has contacted several organisations to try to find out where the water is coming from. It is thought the water is jetting out of pipes near to the apartment.

She added:

“No one is taking responsibility for the pipes or the land where the jetting company are telling me they think the issue is.

“It makes you anxious and worried every time it rains as we don’t know how high it would reach.

“I’ve lived in Pannal over 30 years and at this property for the last 10 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

Read more:

• Pateley Bridge residents tell us how they had to come together during the February floods.
• Hunsingore receives a red alert for flooding today. 

Ms Walker said she intends to contact Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as councillors at North Yorkshire County Council and Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council seeking help.

Flood warnings remain in place on the River Nidd and River Ure. The government’s flood information service is giving updates on its website.

A further 19 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Harrogate district today.

Today’s figures from Public Health England take the district’s total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 4,176.

The seven-day average rate of infection for the district has risen to 118 per 100,000. But it still remains considerably lower than the national average of 366.

The Harrogate district has the lowest rate of the seven local authority areas in North Yorkshire. The area with the highest rate is Scarborough with 238.

The R number in the Harrogate district has risen to one, which means the spread of the covid virus is no longer shrinking.

Every 10 people infected pass on the virus to another 10.

The total number of coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital remains at 106. This has not risen since December 10.

Read more:

• The Stray Ferret looks back at the effort to build the Harrogate Nightingale.
• Bilton couple amongst the first to receive the covid vaccine at Yorkshire Showground.

A red flooding alert has been issued for the River Nidd at Hunsingore and residents have been told to activate their flood defences.

The government’s flood information service issued a warning at 9.27am this morning as Storm Bella ramps up.

The red alert says “flooding is expected – immediate action is required”.

According to the government site the water level is currently 1.45m but it is expected to rise to 1.8 this morning. The River Nidd levels have continued to climb during the night, with flooding levels in place across the Harrogate district.

The alert suggests low lying roads near the River Nidd may already be flooded and drivers should plan alternative routes.

The government alert says:

“We do not currently have an accurate forecast for the peak level at Hunsingore. However, upstream levels have peaked and are now starting to fall.

“Please plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.

“Please activate any property flood protection products you may have, such as flood barriers and air brick covers and stay away from fast moving water. We are closely monitoring the situation and will update this message in 8 hours or as the situation changes.”

Read more:

• Flooding puts houses in danger in Pannal and Masham.
• It was almost a white Christmas for the Harrogate district. 

Higher upstream in Pateley Bridge, warnings are still in place for upper River Nidd.  

Nationally, 196 flood alerts are in place, along with 115 flood warnings and two severe flood warnings, where there is a risk to life.

The River Nidd in the east of Knaresborough has burst its bank this morning. The area near Vantage Toyota has been badly affected.

A local resident has told the Stray Ferret that nobody has been evacuated yet and the flooding hasn’t reached any of the houses.

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Over the festive period, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

This recipe is designed to use all your odds and ends up from the fridge during this period.  Making a tasty base to load on preserves, meats, salad, grains or anything you wish!  We are calling this a Cheese Stollen, a savoury effort modelled on Bettys‘ simply delicious sweet marzipan stollen which is a treat for me every year. We have made a Stollen from a brioche dough and a basic bun dough. It sounds complicated, but it certainly isn’t as you will see as you read through the recipe.

Stollen is traditionally a fruit bread made from spices and candied fruits and by heritage it is Germany’s answer to Italy’s panettoni. At this time of year there seems to be a muddled variety as far as quality and authenticity is concerned.

Our cheese stollen is a brioche wrapped in a bun dough with a small amount of mixed peel, raisins and cheese.

For the Brioche Dough

• 4x Beaten Eggs
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 15g Dried Yeast
• 450g Strong White Flour
• 6ml Tepid Water
• 75g Gruyere Cheese (or a stronger cheese if preferred)
• Pinch of Salt
• 225g soft unsalted Butter

The ingredients can be halved, but I like to keep a little in the fridge for general use. It is so handy to bring out of the fridge, knead it, shape it and pop it in the oven for that fabulous warm brioche at breakfast.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and let it work for a couple of minutes.

Add the beaten eggs and pour into a mixing bowl.

Add the flour and salt and mix to a stiff dough either by hand or using the dough hook of an electric mixer.

When the mixture is smooth, beat in the butter in small pieces. The finished dough should have a silky appearance.

Place it in an oiled bowl, loosely cover and rest overnight in the fridge.

For the basic bun 

This bun dough is great for donuts and other buns too.

• 450g Strong White Flour
• 40g Caster Sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 35g unsalted Butter
• 1 Egg
• 25g Dried Yeast
• 118ml Tepid Water (don’t be afraid to add a drop more as it is dependant on the quality of the flour.)
• 50g Mixed Peel
• 50g Yellow Sultanas
• 1 x Beaten Egg

Dissolve the yeast in the water at blood temperature.

Sieve the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl.

Rub in the butter and then add the eggs.

Add the yeast and enough water to obtain a soft dough.

Cover and rest the dough for 10 mins.

Knead well until the dough becomes firm and springy.

Place in a bowl dusted with flour and allow to rise until double in size –  this should take approximately 30 mins.

Take the rested brioche out of the fridge and knead with flour, then rest again for 30 mins.

Knead the cheese into the brioche and roll into a sausage.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and egg wash.

Sprinkle over the mixed peel and raisins.

Roll it around your brioche sausage.

With the remaining beaten egg, wash the bun dough.

Place on a baking tray and let it double in size.

Place in a heated oven at 210c and cook for approximately 30 minutes.

When cool, slice and the light cheese brioche with the slight hint of sweetness from the peel and raisins and the crisp bread is simply scrummy!

If you would rather not have the raisins and peel keeping it completely savoury you could use mixed, chopped fresh herbs or a pesto.

If all this is just too much, have a good walk and reward yourself with a lunch or take away at our Paradise Food Wagon, where we will be happy to serve you from Tuesday 29^th December.

Read More: 

• Stray Foodie: Christmas Chocolate Ganache Terrine
• Stray Foodie: Christmas Mince Pies

A couple from Bilton have had the covid vaccine together — a week after their 60th wedding anniversary.

Chris and Joan Jackson, aged 81 and 80, went to the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate shortly before Christmas to receive their vaccination “side by side”.

The couple said the entire process was easy.and they were pleased to see light at the end of the tunnel after months of isolation.

The pair wanted to offer thanks to the medical staff and volunteers at the vaccine centre and said they were doing a “smashing job”.

Chris said:

“It was a very easy process and we were done in 45 minutes. It was managed quite well.

“It was no different to the flu jab.”

Mr Jackson said there were about 40 people in the building and they were well looked after from start to finish.

Read more:

• 100-year-old from Pateley Bridge received her covid vaccine yesterday. 
• Ripon critical care worker urges people to take the vaccine. 

Mr and Mrs Jackson have three children and are sad to miss out on this festive season with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren too.

They planned to treat themselves to a takeaway Christmas dinner from a pub their son owns in Pateley Bridge.

He added:

“We have been isolating for months, not going into town and I’ve only been out to the library once. We’re keeping out of the way until the pandemic dies down.”

Mr Jackson said he hoped the couple would be able to get away in their beloved motorhome when the vaccination programme expands.

The couple already have their booster vaccination booked in January.

Harrogate district residents expecting deliveries over the holiday period are being targeted by fraudsters.

North Yorkshire Police has received 24 reports of the scam since November an dis urging people to be vigilant over the festive season.

The scammers have been sending messages saying delivery slots with parcel delivery firm DPD have been missed. The message includes a link to rearrange a delivery time.

The victim is then asked to pay a small sum to rearrange delivery. If they agree, they often then receive another call purporting to be from their bank alerting them to suspicious activity.

The victim is then asked to transfer their money to an account they believe to be secure, but to which the scammers have access.

The conmen are taking advantage of the popularity of delivery services in the run up to Christmas.

Read more:

• Doorstep scams were on the rise over lockdown. 
• Puppy scammers target Harrogate mum and her disabled daughter. 

Andy Fox, financial abuse safeguarding officer at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“If you receive an email purporting to be from DPD, check the sender. DPD has confirmed genuine emails will only come from the following addresses: dpd.co.uk, dpdlocal.co.uk or dpdgroup.co.uk and that they will never ask you to pay for a redelivery.

“Be very careful before clicking on any links in an email and if you are in any doubt, check the company’s website for details of any known scams. If you have received an email which you’re unsure about, you can report it to report@phising.gov.uk. You can report suspicious text messages by forwarding them to 7726.”

The police have also received reports that the fraudsters have gained enough information over the phone to take out a loan in the victim’s name. This is then transferred to a bank account they control.

The police have encouraged anyone that has been caught out by this scam to contact their bank immediately and report it to the force on 101.

A church in Knaresborough has raised more than a £1,000 for African families after taking a different approach to Christmas this year.

Members of the Gracious Street Methodist Church usually send 20 to 30 cards to each other at Christmas.

But this year, instead of sending cards they made donations to the Methodist relief and development charity All We Can, which supports vulnerable communities.

The congregation raised £1,190, which will allow the charity to buy three wheelchairs for children in Ethiopia, four bikes for children in Uganda for their school journeys and five goats for families in Zimbabwe.

One member of the congregation, Brian Hoare, designed this card, which was was signed by and sent to everyone who donated.

So instead of receiving numerous cards from each other, each congregation member just received the one. The initiative reduced waste and raised money for a good cause.

Sharon Wright, the local All We Can representative and member of the congregation, said:

“We wanted to keep the congregation in touch with each other and help others too.

“This year we’ve really focussed on encouraging our congregation to reach out to others and this card is another way of doing that.”

Read more:

• Boris Johnson has backed a Christmas Eve jungle campaign that started in Harrogate.
• Harrogate’s ‘giraffle’ raised £1,000 for the local food bank.

The church has adapted this year in response to covid. It also introduced a ‘coffee at 11’ scheme to encourage everyone to sit down and ring somebody for a chat.

Sharon said:

“The pandemic has highlighted the desire for community. People don’t want to be alone.”