StrayArt is a monthly column written by Johnny Messum, Director and Founder of art gallery and centre, Messum’s Wiltshire, London and Harrogate. Johnny’s passion is for contemporary art and sculpture.
Each month he will look at art, exhibitions and events across Yorkshire and sometimes further afield with the aim of guiding and inspiring us.
Considering photography requires a shift in the understanding of what we would ordinarily consider as images. We often think of photography as the pursuit of truth and realism and forget that the process of making photography involves much more creativity than meets the eye.
In fact, as we now know all too well, photographic images do not always speak the truth – certainly that is the case in some of the famous doctored images that have been used to present ‘reality’ in the news agenda.
However, luckily, we are not dealing with those issues today. We are dealing with the question of creativity and originality in the photographic image, and for that we need to start with the maker. That is the artist who is behind the lens.
Often with photography, because we are so caught up in the image, we forget that the person behind the camera is not only capturing the frame in terms of what can be seen, but also creating the composition. Perhaps we should start to think about the different techniques by splitting them first into digital and analogue. Digital has given us one of the greatest creative expansions of photography, so much so that the unique originality of images taken with Polaroid and other analogue techniques was considered dead. In fact, that has proved not to be the case at all. They have resurged and now there is a vibrant and exciting artisan scene using Polaroid and even tintype, which is the earliest form of photography
Gin Bottles, photographed by Tiff Hunter
Tif Hunter is perhaps one of the most extraordinary photographers working today. He not only carved out a career in analogue perfectionism in the advertising photography world of the 1980s and 1990s, but also perfected the historical technique of tintypes, and more recently mastered the art of digital technology to create still lives of exceptional beauty. Their beauty speaks to us most strongly when we think about how his photographic images are so inspiring in their details and composition. It is the sense of time captured which really turns them into an art form that deserve an appreciation of their own.
Once Covid restrictions are lifted, and you find yourselves in Bradford you could step into the National Science and Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography) which is dedicated to the understanding of how photographic images are made.
Tiff Hunter’s tintypes will be on show at Messums Yorkshire in 4-6 James Street, Harrogate from 20 March to 1 May 2021. Paintings of Yorkshire – many of Harrogate – painted outside in January 2021 by Peter Brown, President of the New English Art Club opens on 20 March. www.messumsyorkshire.com. While current restrictions are in place, the next exhibition, In Arcadia by Henry Lamb R.A., will be available online from 4 February to 13 March.
Flood warning in Boroughbridge area after relentless heavy rain
The Environment Agency has issued a flood warning for a caravan park in Boroughbridge this evening. The agency says it is watching levels of the River Ure carefully and warned the Roecliffe Caravan Park area is most at risk.
On its website the agency said drivers should avoid low lying roads close to river:
The flood warning for the River Ure at Roecliffe Caravan Park has been issued. River levels are rising as a result of recent heavy rainfall. Consequently, flooding of property, roads, and farmland is expected imminently, on Saturday 6/2/21. Areas most at risk are Roecliffe Caravan Park. The current river level at Boroughbridge is 13.59m and rising, and the level at Westwick Weir is 1.53m and rising. Further rain and snow is forecast over the next few days which will keep river levels high. We are closely monitoring the situation. Please put your flood plan into action, and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers,
The flood warnings come after relentless rain. A Met Office yellow weather warning for snow and ice continues to be in place for the Harrogate district tonight and tomorrow.
Temperatures are set to fall over the next 24 hours with heavy snow in parts of the UK as the country experiences some of the coldest weather since the “Beast from the East” in 2018. The weather front which has been name Storm Darcy has been dubbed “The Beast from the East 2”.
It may be that the district avoids the worst of the beast which is forecast to be more severe in the south and east of England.
Temperatures though are not expected to rise above zero degrees celsius in the district for much of tomorrow with snow showers expected.
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Continuing snow showers over the next 48 hours and freezing temperatures may mean traffic disruption on Monday morning.
For full information on school closures and traffic disruption make sure you follow the Stray Ferret – we’ll have regular updates from early Monday morning if the storm affects us.
Two further covid deaths at Harrogate District HospitalNHS figures released today show two more patients who tested positive for covid have died at Harrogate District Hospital. Both deaths were reported yesterday. It brings the total number of covid deaths in the district hospital since the pandemic began to 127.
Meanwhile, the daily number of people testing positive for covid in the Harrogate district has risen by 41. So far 6,652 people in the region have tested positive for the virus.
Earlier this week Harrogate Hospital said it was dealing with a record number of covid patients. It has suspended some non-emergency surgeries in an effort to free up bed space and staff to deal with patients.
Latest data from Public Health England shows the Harrogate district has a 7-day case rate (dated up to 28th January) of 173.5 per 100,000.
A further 32 people in the Harrogate district test positive for covidA further 32 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.
It takes the number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 6,353. .
There were no recorded deaths of patients who tested positive for coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital.- the total number since March 2020 stands at 122.
Meanwhile, the seven-day covid rate in the district (latest data up to January 21st) has fallen to 261.8 cases per 100,000 people.
That’s higher than the county-wide rate which is 235.4 and lower than the national average which is 400.6.
Property Gold: Are leasehold properties just modern day slavery?
Property Gold is a monthly column written by independent bespoke property consultant, Alex Goldstein. With over 17 years’ experience, Alex helps his clients to buy and sell residential property in some of the most desirable locations in Yorkshire and beyond.
This week Alex looks at why leasehold property purchases are so controversial.
Leasehold reforms seem to be here, with the Government now intervening and yet again the PLC developers are in the news for all the wrong reasons.
In September, the four largest house builders were investigated after ‘troubling evidence’ was uncovered about how leasehold properties were being sold.
The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) found that some leasehold buyers were being hit with ground rents that doubled every decade, pressurised selling tactics and informing buyers they could buy the freehold for a small sum, only to find out latterly this cost had increased significantly. This left many people in a position of never being able to sell – a modern day slave to leasehold ownership, you might say.
Whilst the Government took action last year against the developers, the ban was not retrospective. This left many stuck in unsellable homes with crippling ground rents. Too little, too late for them unfortunately.
How then has this all come about?
Be under no illusions, the PLC developers are all about money and profit margins. Ethics and morals aside, selling a leasehold house gave a PLC developer more angles to make money.
They could sell the freehold to an investor, who in turn could ratchet up ground rents and the developer doesn’t get their hands dirty. This would provide (up until now) a useful additional income stream and was all legal.
How, then, have people managed to buy such properties and be unaware of the pitfalls? Could it be that some PLC developers had a monetary referral system with a panel of ‘recommended’ conveyancing solicitors, who then overlooked updating buyers on the finer detail?
It’s easy money with limited input required – keep ground rents high for additional income (which also commonly had annual percentage hikes) and charge leaseholders to alter their homes. Combine these with poor building management and these properties become even harder to sell – hence the birth of the ‘fleecehold’ movement.
Now that the Government claim they want to resolve matters, will leaseholders have the opportunity to retrospectively claim their costs back for lease extensions or purchasing the freeholds? Equally, could this now open the floodgates for legal cases against the PLC developers?
What is clear, is that the PLC developers created various angles to squeeze more money out of a deal, meaning higher share prices, happier stockholders and bigger executive salaries.
Whilst the Government have promised that leasehold reforms are coming, there’s no reason to celebrate just yet. All eyes are on the detail, which will do little for those owners who have been already hoodwinked and are now enslaved to their properties. Thank your lucky stars you have read this and won’t fall for the same tricks!
Duke and Duchess learn how Harrogate based helpline supports frontline medical staffThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spoke with frontline workers and members of the Harrogate based Just ‘B’ team about the mental health impact of the coronavirus crisis on medical staff.
Just ‘B’ is part of charity North Yorkshire Hospice Care and provides emotional wellbeing and bereavement support, both locally and nationally, through a support line.
Frontline health staff often cite exhaustion and the relentless nature of the crisis as their reasons for calling the helpline.
Tony Collins, a volunteer for the Hospice UK Just ‘B’ helpline and Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Hospice Care and St Michael’s Hospice in Harrogate, urged frontline workers to access the helpline.
When speaking to the Duke and Duchess, Tony said:
“I think there’s something about reticence to call at the moment, and also around calling when they feel they have space to start processing and reflecting on the experiences they’ve been through.
“The phrases and the words we hear time and time again are ‘exhaustion,’ ‘relentless,’ ‘there’s so much death, when is it going to finish.
“We know that anxiety is high among frontline workers as they continue to work through the Covid-19 pandemic. This is why the helpline is so important in providing a safe space for frontline workers to reflect and process what they have been through, talking to someone else without the fear that they’ll be burdening loved ones.
“People often think: ‘I’ve got my friends, family and colleagues, you’ve just got to knuckle down and get on with it’. Frontline staff are used to putting others first, forgetting that they also need to look after themselves.
During the call, NHS staff and emergency responders spoke about their personal experiences with mental health, and how services such as Just ‘B’ have allowed them to cope better and begin to come to terms with their grief.
The Just ‘B’ emotional wellbeing, bereavement and trauma helpline can be accessed daily between 8am and 8pm at 0300 303 4434.
Two further covid deaths at Harrogate District HospitalTwo more patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died at Harrogate District Hospital.
According to NHS England figures, the deaths were reported on January 15 and 16. It takes the number of people who have died of the virus at the hospital since March 2019 up to 121.
Meanwhile, a further 64 people tested positive for covid in the Harrogate district.
The 7 day average of cases per 100,000 in the district now stands at 307 (latest data January 14).
The district has reported a total of 5,939 covid cases since the start of the pandemic last year.
Yorkshire Showground prepares for vaccination programmeSignage has been put up at the Yorkshire Show Ground for a covid-19 vaccination programme that starts this week.
The government has asked the 17 GP practices in Harrogate and the surrounding district, including Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham to oversee the vaccination rollout. The NHS though has been unwilling to release more detail.
Figures published by Public Health England today show there were 13 new positive cases for covid in the district in the past 24 hours. The district has a 7 day average of 92 cases per 100,000.
There have been no further covid deaths of patients who tested positive for covid at Harrogate District Hospital.
North Yorkshire remains in tier 2 covid restrictions.
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Yesterday new tougher restrictions were imposed over the Xmas period.
Up to three households can meet indoors but only on Christmas Day, rather than during December 23-27 as previously announced.
A new tier 4 with stricter restrictions has been created for people living in London and areas of the south-east.
Have the changes meant scrapping your Xmas plans? Email us contact@thestrayferret.co.uk
The Stray Gardener is written by Rudding Park’s Kitchen Gardener, Fiona Slight.
Fiona has worked in horticulture for over 30 years in the UK and abroad, and specialises in growing fruit and vegetables for fine dining.
At this time of year, when the garden has started to go to sleep and bare branches start to appear, there is a group of plants which keep doing their thing and provide much needed colour and structure during the dark, dismal days of winter. Enter – the evergreens..
Why not spend some time this winter admiring the many evergreens around, and possibly plan to add some more to your garden.
Not only do they have winter colour and are a useful foil to help other plants stand out more, they can provide good shelter and protection all the year round, not only for the garden, but also for wildlife. Evergreens can provide brilliant cover for nesting birds, and their leaf litter on the floor is a perfect home for hibernating animals such as hedgehogs. Many plants provide berries for birds and small mammals such as wood mice and dormice. Most are also very useful for cutting to use in flower arrangements, wreaths and garlands.
A Yew Pedestal at Rudding Park’s Follifoot Wing
Amongst my favourites are Yew (Taxus baccata) and Holly (Ilex aquifolium), not only are they lovely trees in their own right, they are a great choice for hedges and topiary, and are a reliable choice in any garden. Holly has the added advantage of having many different cultivars, variegated and green to add extra interest. They are also very easy to re-shape and prune back hard if they start to get a little out of control. Hollies are dioecious, meaning they need a male and female to produce berries, so that may be something to keep in mind if berries are your thing..
A Monkey Puzzle Tree
For evergreen shrubs to use on walls, you can’t beat Ivy. It does need to be monitored regularly, and is probably not the best option for an unstable wall with loose mortar, but it is fantastic for wildlife, being a great place for birds’ nests. I’ve even seen ducks nesting at the base of an Ivy plant and it also provides a late nectar source for pollinating insects. There are many different cultivars to choose from with large and small leaves and various different colour combinations.
For something a little more exotic looking, try Pittosporum, Myrtle, Mahonia japonica or the Monkey Puzzle tree. Pittosporum are a lovely range of plants with different coloured and textured leaves that can be used in containers and in the border, ranging from small rounded shrubs to small trees. Myrtle (Myrtus communis or Myrtus luma) having beautiful, small, fragrant leaves and small white flowers is extremely attractive to pollinating insects making the whole bush hum with activity in the summer. Mahonia x media cultivars is a winter flowering shrub with large spiky leaves and large yellow flowers that appear in December and January. They positively glow in the winter gloom and have the most amazing fragrance, reminiscent of lily of the valley. The monkey puzzle tree or Araucaria araucana needs no introduction, it’s a wonderful structural tree that stands out, especially in the winter months, just make sure you have room for it, but if you do, what an addition to your garden!
There are many more evergreen plants to consider, so when you get out for some fresh air over the Christmas period, why not pay a little more attention to the evergreen shrubs and trees that play such an important part in our environment, be it wild or cultivated. Enjoy!
Property Gold: why I’d never buy a PLC New Home
Property Gold is a monthly column written by independent bespoke property consultant, Alex Goldstein. With over 17 years’ experience, Alex helps his clients to buy and sell residential property in some of the most desirable locations in Yorkshire and beyond.
This week Alex highlights some of the problems with New Homes sold by Private Listed Companies – and why he would never buy one.
Apples – sometimes you bite into one and what lies beneath the pristine surface, is nothing but a floury, rotten core. You could say this is like buying a new build home from a PLC developer (i.e. one who is listed on the stock exchange), where their sprawling mass-volume schemes continue to plague Yorkshire. But what exactly is my issue with them and why would I never buy one?
Let’s start with one of my biggest issues – build quality. There are consistent reports in the media about sub-standard practices and corners being cut – all with the sole aim of maximising profit margins. PLC developers are not charities and are there to support their shareholders and to maintain stock position. PLC developers usually want 25-30% profit margin on each unit they sell, but they still need to install the glamorous kitchens and bathrooms as buyers can see and touch these. Therefore areas can be overlooked on items one can’t see behind the scenes such as cavity wall insulation, fire barriers, plumbing, wiring, roofing etc to get the profit. It’s not exactly ethical.
Many buyers then say, don’t worry we have all the guarantees and warranties, so we’re covered if something goes wrong. Well I would turn this around and ask – have you actually tried to make a claim on said warranty? Good luck!
It’s all about secondary and tertiary locations – after all, the only land available for the size of schemes that PLC developers want, lie on the outer fringes of already existing conurbations. So where is the upside when property is all about location? Lack of supporting infrastructure, traffic problems, shortage of school places and GP surgeries – the list goes on.
In these uninspiring, soulless Stepford streets, one can rarely add value as the developer has already maxed out the angles so their profit is amplified. In addition, buyers seem to sleepwalk into paying an excessively high price from the outset due to the glossy marketing and commission hungry sales staff. Therefore new owners are solely relying on the market to increase their home’s value during their time in ownership. So what happens if the market doesn’t go up and/or you fall into negative equity?
With the continued decline of the High Street, isn’t it about time we reinvigorated these areas. I firmly believe there is no need to build on open green space. Instead the Government needs to incentivise PLC developers to refurbish what we have and to help bring communities back together.
In conclusion, I did a quick straw poll of 20 estate agents and solicitors that I work alongside. Not a single one owned a PLC new home. And that’s all you need to know.
If you have any comments or questions for Alex, please feel free to contact him on alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk.