Notorious Nidderdale-born killer the subject of new play

A famous Nidderdale killer is to be subject of a new production by Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society in October.

The historical play, entitled ‘Eugene Aram’, will follow the life of one England’s most notorious murderers.

Born in Ramsgill in 1704, Eugene Aram was a self-taught scholar who set up a school in Knaresborough.  Yet, for more than a hundred years, he was better known in England for his crimes.

He was accused of the murder of a Knaresborough shoemaker, tried and convicted in York, and hanged at Tyburn on the Knavesmire.

The story of his life and trial has been written by Nidderdale writer Nevin Ward, whose previous local history plays ‘The Dam Play’ and ‘Gouthwaite Hall’ have been very popular.

Mr Ward said the play won’t be at the playhouse but in a local church:

“We love performing in the playhouse, but while it’s closed for renovation, St Cuthbert’s is the ideal location – the raised central dais in the church lends itself to a large cast play where 20 actors play over 40 characters”.

Nevin Ward is well known for the music he incorporates into his works, and ‘Eugene Aram’  will include several songs, many of them written for the production.

‘Eugene Aram’ will be staged in St Cuthbert’s Church in Pateley Bridge from Tuesday 11 October to Saturday 15 October at 7.30 pm, all tickets costing £9. Tickets are on sale now and bookings will be from the website www.pateleyplayhouse.co.uk

Business Breakfast: Harrogate’s Christmas plans revealed this week

Harrogate Business Improvement District will be joined by representatives from Market Place Europe and Destination Harrogate to share plans for Christmas 2022 to businesses.

Last Christmas saw a change to previous years with the creation of the first Harrogate Christmas Fayre, in the town centre from December 3 to 12. Festivities included a free road train called the Candy Cane Express, a carousel, helter skelter and ferris wheel.

It followed Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to deny a licence to the former market organised by the Harrogate Christmas Market on Montpellier Hill.

The meeting this Thursday is at the Yorkshire Hotel’s Sky Bar at 5.30pm.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“At Thursday’s BID Club, we will be informing businesses what will be happening within the town centre this festive season.

“We will be joined by Destination Harrogate and Market Place Europe, who will update us on this year’s Christmas Fayre, including location and number of stalls.

“This meeting is open to all businesses within the BID area, and will be an opportunity for them to ask questions, and to find out how that can get involved with making Christmas 2022 a festive season to remember.”

To reserve a space email info@harrogatebid.co.uk..

M&S temporarily closes cafe at Harrogate Oatlands 

M&S foodhall (2)

How the food hall will look.

Marks and Spencer has temporarily closed its cafe at its Oatlands food hall in Harrogate.

The company planned to close the cafe for good as part of an expansion of its Leeds Road site, but decided to retain it after a customer petition.

But a smaller, new-look cafe will open when the expanded site is launched.

The rest of the food hall will continue to trade throughout with some areas blocked off while the work is underway.

Store manager David Anderson said:

“We’re delighted to confirm that as part of the upcoming extension and refresh of our Harrogate Oatlands store, customers will be able enjoy a new-look M&S cafe alongside a fresh-market style food hall, offering a bigger range of M&S food products than ever before.

“We expect to complete the works later this year and will keep the local community updated as they progress. We would also like to thank local residents around us for their ongoing support as we work to improve the store.”

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News service suspended for Her Majesty’s funeral

The Stray Ferret will suspend publishing district news today until after the funeral service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

 

Ripon man’s poem to commemorate The Queen and Prince Philip

A Ripon man has composed a poem for the late Queen and her husband Prince Philip.

Amateur poet Peter Moonscion told the Stray Ferret that he was interested in the relationship The Queen had with her husband, Prince Philip:

“I was inspired by the longevity of their relationship and their devotion to each other and when Philip passed away I started thinking about it.

“The poem is trying to look past her title and look at the person – it is not about Queen or Empire.

“I was considering using the title ‘Dutys End’ — in the sense that, now in heaven, she can focus on being herself and on her husband and not being our Queen.

“It was an inspiration that even into their old age couples can still love each other deeply and one has to pass away before the other”.

Mr Moonscion (pictured left) says he generally writes a poem quickly when the thought and mood comes to him and it can take only an hour or so to write.

He has already posted it on social media groups where it was well received:

                           

To sleep

I lay me down at your side.

And comforting, my brow you stroke.

And smiling warmly with such pride.

Heaven’s sense, your eyes evoke.

 

Your lulling scent now brings me peace,

like incense whispers Paradise.

It takes me back onto the Heath.

Where met we in another life.

 

Then as your lids begin to give,

you mouth three words I last you gave.

A tender phrase for which we live

and quiet times like this we save.

 

And while you sleep, I watch you still.

In awe of beauty’s faithfulness.

Though sweeter now as I fulfil

My promise, to the end caress.

 

Your warmth one last time bids me sleep.

A shorter rest than yours my dear.

And so, I pray time may soon reap

the one you leave behind in tears.

 

Now gently, as our eyes are closed

I find your hand and softly tether

two halves of a dream proposed

so long ago amidst the heather.

 

And as we sleep here side by side,

two vessels full dusk leaves behind.

Then floating with life’s ebbing tide,

one vessel empty dawn will find.

 

Goodbye my dear, I love you so

and pray that we’ll soon meet.

Farewell my love I hope you know,

you made my life complete.

Peter Moonscion

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Football reunion seeking Claro League players of years past

A former manager in Harrogate’s Claro League is looking for football players from the late 1970s and early 1980s to take part in a reunion.

Harry Teggin, who managed the Claro Catholic team between 1967 and the 1983/84 season, is organising an event at the Bilton Club on Friday, September 23.

After realising that he had begun only seeing some of his fellow footballers at funerals, he decided a more positive event was needed.

Mr Teggin said:

“I’d had enough of that really. Let’s have one where we’re not saying goodbye.”

He is hoping to reach players from multiple clubs in the Claro League from the period such as Belford, Gluepot and Harrogate Phoenix.

At the time, many teams had formed around pubs or youth clubs.

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The Claro League ended in 2017 after a drop in interest levels in Sunday league football. Only six teams had applied to play in the following season.

Some teams applied to play in West Yorkshire but others were disbanded.

It marked a decline from the 1970s when the league was one of two in the town and had five divisions,

Teams came from as far away as Wetherby and Tadcaster.

‘We’ve always been a close-knit team’

When he started out as manager at Claro Catholic, Mr Teggin said his job mainly involved getting players home from nights out and setting up the pitch on a Sunday morning.

But friendships formed and still endure today. He said:

“We’ve always been a close-knit team and we always had good camaraderie with the other teams.”

Some of the players, Mr Teggin revealed, later went on to play for Harrogate Town.

The former manager urged anyone who was involved to contact him and come to the event.

Column: we have met and observed Charles many times, he will be a worthy King

This column has been written for the Stray Ferret by Dr Terry Bramall CBE. The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation is based in Harrogate and has been for many years one of the UK’s largest donors to the Prince’s Trust.

I first met the Prince of Wales some thirty years ago when he came to Durham to open a small housing estate for the Durham Aged Miners Housing Association. He was charming, interested and engaging and made the occasion very memorable.

Nearly 20 years later when my colleagues and I had sold our company, my wife Liz and I formed our philanthropic foundation. We were determined to make a difference and thought quickest way to get results was to offer change to young people and the best deliverers for that purpose was the Prince’s Trust.

Within 18 months we were one of its biggest supporters.

During the last 15 years we met and observed the King many times. We found out why the Prince’s Trust was so successful. He took an intimate interest in assembling the right people to work with, visiting their offices and meeting the youngsters who join the programmes that they offer. Its impact on the lives of some of our most vulnerable young people has been profound and we have witnessed that. Normally when royalty make visits they don’t spend long in one place. My wife and I visited an annual Trust prize giving one year at the Odeon, Leicester Square. The now King sat on the stage all afternoon, shaking hands and congratulating all the nominees from around the country. This was truly an example of his devotion to his causes and beliefs.

Up to now, he has been, at times, a controversial figure. That is principally because he has been before his time. I think of his bringing quality design to individual housing, housing estates and villages. In farming he was promoting growing our food organically. Behind his ideas, his aim was to improve the health of people and the planet. Today we realise that the controversy arose because he recognised the benefits before the majority and, as Prince of Wales, he could fight for these causes.

As King, of course, he can’t because he now has a constitutional role working much more closely with Parliament.

I know he recognises this and I look forward to him establishing himself and bringing his dedication to service that I have experienced through being associated with the Princes’ Trust.

I know he will be relinquishing his leadership role of the Trust and consequently we will not meet as we have but I believe he will be a very worthy King.

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Changes to Harrogate district bin collections for Queen’s funeral

Changes to bin collections across the Harrogate district have been confirmed for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Harrogate Borough Council has announced that all collections will take place a day later than usual from the day of the funeral which is being marked with a bank holiday on Monday 19 September.

This will affect garden waste, refuse and recycling collections, and all household waste recycling centres will also close on Monday.

The date changes for bin collections are as follows:

Normal collections will then resume on Monday 26 September.

Meanwhile, all council-run leisure centres in the Harrogate district will also close on Monday “to allow the team to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the council said.

Customer services for both the borough council and North Yorkshire County Council will also be unavailable on this day when Harrogate’s Civic Centre will close.

Anyone who needs to get in touch with the borough council in an emergency should call 01423 556300.

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Knaresborough WI celebrates 10th Birthday with cake and tributes to The Queen

One of the largest Women’s Institute groups in the district has celebrated its 10th Anniversary.

Knaresborough WI is the biggest of the town’s seven WI groups and is the only one that meets in the afternoon.

Yesterday it held a tea party to celebrate but also used the event to commemorate the Queen and pay tribute to her. The Queen herself was the longest serving member of the Sandringham WI.

Christine Keane was the first president of the Knaresborough WI back in September 2012:

“There appeared in our local supermarket an advertisement which said the Federation would like to start a new WI in Knaresborough in the afternoon which was quite a new thing as traditionally they’re always in the evening.

I had just retired and I went along to a meeting. There were only 8 of us there and none of us knew anything about how to run one or how they worked.

“Fortunately we grew quite rapidly in that first year and we got better at it as our experience grew.”

Christine said being a part of the WI has given her to much:

“Friendship, love, support and education. I’ve learned so much. There are so many opportunities that you wouldn’t get in any other organisation to do things”

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Over the years the Knaresborough WI grew so large it had to move to its current home of The Hub at St John the Baptist Church.

It now has a membership of 65 and is the second largest in the North Yorkshire West Federation, which is based in Ripon.

Maddy Willmott the current president said:

“Being an afternoon WI we are geared to older members but we take on any age and do have some younger members. We are never short of people and currently we have a waiting list.

We meet, we chat, we drink tea! Tea is the stalwart of the WI. We have a very successful book group, we have a craft group  and a walking group.

“We try to keep up with the times and adapt.”

The Stray Ferret asked both Christine and Maddy who would be their dream WI speaker — the answers …Gyles Brandreth and King Charles III.

Knaresborough WI is one of the largest in the district

 

 

Business Breakfast: district’s pubs decide whether to open for The Queen’s funeral

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

The district’s hospitality businesses are deciding whether or not to open on Monday 19 – the day of Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral.

Alyson Griffiths the manager of the  Prince of Wales in Starbeck told the Stray Ferret that the pub would stay open. The decision was taken by its operators the Craft Union Pub Company yesterday. Ms Griffiths said the idea was to be somewhere for people who lived alone to congregate and watch the service.

The Queen’s Head in Kettlesing said it would close during day but open again at 6pm.

Bettys of Harrogate has said its cafe tearooms will be shut on Monday 19.

The government has designated the day of the funeral as a Bank Holiday but left organisations to decide for themselves if they’ll stay open and give employees a day off . It has said

“The government cannot interfere in existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers. However, we would expect that many workers will be able to take the day off on the bank holiday.

“We also expect employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work.”

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Beauty therapists, The Treatment Rooms in Harrogate are celebrating after winning an award.

The salon on Mayfield Grove won Best Beauty Treatments in the Yorkshire category of the  England’s Business Awards. They now go through to the finals in Birmingham in November.

Celebrating on their Instagram account Alex Smith said:

We couldn’t all be there last night…however I am so proud of my fabulous, talented & hard working team!!

Every one of my team shows so much care & attention to detail with every customer who walks through our door & this goes to show!!

Queen’s coffin drape supplied by royal flag makers in Knaresborough

The “coffin drape” that covers the Queen’s coffin as it journeys through Scotland to Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral this afternoon has been made by a small team of specialist flag makers in Knaresborough.

Flying Colours in Knaresborough has a royal warrant and has been supplying flags to the royal household for more than 15 years.

It’s managing director Andy Ormrod, told the Stray Ferret that because the Queen had died in Scotland a specific drape was used:

“The drape is the Royal Standard for use in Scotland and it is not a flag.  Its has been made with hemmed borders with no clips or ropes so it can’t  be raised on a flag pole.

“The drapes were completed last year — the Royal Family is very organised and work well in advance. “

The drape is 12 ft by 6 ft in dimension and made of heavy ceremonial flag fabric — a mix of polyester and polyester cotton.

Each drape takes up to 50 hours of work and is made by one person in the 18-strong team so there is a consistency of stitch work.

Mr Ormrod said his team was immensely proud of its work but there is a muted atmosphere in the workshop

“It’s incredibly strange. We’ve had Brexit, then covid, then we lost Boris and Liz Truss was with the Queen one day and then this. It’s gut wrenching and we are bitterly sad.

“But then everyone around the world is looking at the wonderful work she’s done.

“We have the best royal family and it’s amazing watching all the protocol. We’re very proud to be involved.”

Tomorrow the coffin will leave Scotland for England and the drape will be changed to the Royal Standard of HM The Queen.

The Scottish standard that sits on the top left and bottom right of the Royal Standard is for use in Scotland.

The Royal Standard for HM The Queen has the three lions on the top left and bottom right.

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