Last night, at around 7.30pm staff at some retail stores were clearing the shelves to leave the shops empty of stock whilst they temporarily close. The lights were on at LK Bennet on James Street with a single member of staff on the phone sitting at a desk in the back of the empty shop- sacks of rubbish sitting in the entrance.

It was a similar picture at SpaceNK around the corner.

At 7.30pm, Harrogate’s usually busy Saturday nightlife would normally just be coming to life. But last night everything was shut except the town’s takeaway restaurants. Some bars had decided to switch their lights off – others kept them on.

North Bar on Cheltenham Parade

Revolution Bar on Parliament Street

It was a scene none of us could have imagined a few months ago.

Many churches across the district are streaming their Sunday morning services this morning..

Canon Jim Callaghan, the Catholic Dean of Harrogate, has written these reflections after a tumultuous week: 

Two weeks from now the Church throughout the world begins the celebration of Holy Week; the days in which we commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), the Lord’s Supper (Maundy Thursday), Jesus’ Passion and Death (Good Friday) and the joy and glory of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The Diocese of Leeds is the Catholic Church across most of what was Yorkshire’s historic West Riding and our Mother Church is Leeds Cathedral. The Harrogate Deanery has three parishes in Harrogate, plus one each in Knaresborough, Ripon, Bishop Thornton, Pateley Bridge and Wetherby. On an average weekend, these churches have an attendance of more than 2,000 at Sunday Mass.  That number easily doubles at Easter, with our young people returning from Universities and Colleges to be with family for the Easter Celebrations, not to mention tourists and other visitors to the area.

In the past few days our Bishops, in common with all other major faith groups, heeding advice from H.M. Government, have suspended all public worship until further notice.

This temporary suspension of the public celebration of the Mass is for the Catholic community “unprecedented and disturbing” in the words of our own Bishop.  Other religious believers and the wider community will share our sense of dislocation; a feeling of being displaced from where we ought to be.

In these challenging days and weeks however, we remain in communion with Christ and with each other.  Our Priests will continue to celebrate the Eucharist privately each day, praying for the whole community, and we would encourage all our people to unite with us spiritually.

St Robert’s Catholic Church, Harrogate

We hold in prayer especially those who are already sick and housebound and all who care for them, those in Harrogate District Hospitals and all our Doctors, Nurses and related staff who are at the forefront of the NHS.  Indeed, our prayer for them is one of solidarity and thanksgiving for all that they are doing.

Our churches remain open each day as places for private prayer and reflection, though without any formal services.  In our churches and in our houses this Sunday we will pray for each other and for the whole nation.

May the Lord Bless us, protect us from all harm and bring us safely home to Him.

From today, you can join the Right Reverend Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds online, as he celebrates Sunday Mass at Leeds Cathedral.  Live-streamed at 11.00 hrs via YouTube: www.leedscathedrallive.org.uk

These images of Harrogate town centre were taken at 11.30 this morning:

Ripon

Market traders in Ripon today where shoppers did come out

The centre of Knaresborough at 1pm

St James Business Park where there were queues for the McDonald’s drive through

Staff at Hirst’s bakery in Knaresborough were busy as supermarkets ran out of bread

The CEO of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society has told the Stray Ferret that farmers are working “around the clock” to keep supermarkets stocked. Nigel Pulling encouraged people to shop locally and said there’s a need for more staff as foreign seasonal workers are unable to travel.

“These are times of uncertainty and worry for everyone and here at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society we want to really highlight the work that our farmers are doing to support the nation through this crisis.

Farmers are working around the clock to keep the supermarket shelves stocked and families fed, as demand rockets”

• Nigel Pulling’s full message to Harrogate district residents. 

Kevin Wilson, his wife Daphne and his son James own and run the Hewness House farm at Blubberhouses. On his 200 acres or so of land he has 1200 breeding ewes and 60 beef cattle. Lambing season is about to start – for the Wilson’s family it’s a busy time of year.

Kevin told the Stray Ferret he has concerns about how coronavirus will impact the farming business. He sells his lambs and beef at the Livestock Auction Market at Skipton and is worried that coronavirus may affect its ability of to function. Produce from British farmers is the best, he said, and if foreign imports are disrupted due to the coronavirus he thought British farmers will keep the food supply chain working

“We want everyone to stay healthy. British farms produce very high quality products – it’s all homegrown and locally produced . You can’t get much better than that.”

Kevin at his farm in Blubberhouses

The Livestock Auction Market will open this Monday and a spokesperson told the Stray Ferret it would stay open. Farmers are encouraged to bring their livestock alone and leave it with the auctioneers to sell to avoid human contact.

Kevin said the recent flooding has left arable farmers worried about getting their crops in and now coronavirus has arrived. It’s all very worrying but no matter what happens, he said, British farmers will carry on working to keep us all fed.

A message from Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society: 

These are times of uncertainty and worry for everyone and here at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society we want to really highlight the work that our farmers are doing to support the nation through this crisis.

Farmers are working around the clock to keep the supermarket shelves stocked and families fed, as demand rockets.

We can see this first-hand in Fodder which sells produce from over 430 local farmers and producers and we are encouraging people to keep shopping local. Fodder’s supply chain is short and in these difficult times, we need to keep supporting these local farming businesses as we all go through this dreadful time.

And with fruit picking due to get underway next month, a call has gone out for people to apply for jobs picking and packing fruit and vegetables as travel restrictions have had an impact on workers willing to travel to the UK during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Organisation HOPS is working with The National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) to help gather support from the YFC community and has launched a #YFCRuralSupport campaign to find applicants. We would encourage people to get in touch. Click here for information.

At the Society, we are also mindful that as farmers work hard to support us all through this, many are already socially isolated due to the nature of their business and location. They are still dealing with the aftermath of extremely wet weather and being challenged to make their businesses more efficient ahead of government policy changes.

Some diversifications to increase farm incomes are also threatened for example those running B&Bs who have had bookings cancelled as Coronavirus tightens its grip.

There are many sources of help and support in our communities as well as helplines for anyone in need.

• Farming Community Network (7am to 11pm) 03000 111 999
• There is a lot of general and helpful information at www.farmwell.org.uk
• Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (9am to 5pm) 0808 281 9490
• The Addington Fund (9am to 5pm) 01926 620135
• Perennial (for those who work/have worked in the horticultural industry) 0800 093 8543
• Samaritans – 24/7 on 116 123

We at the Society will continue to follow the Government’s advice in this rapidly changing situation.

As organisers of Springtime Live which was due to be held on March 28, we took the decision to cancel the event due to the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19). All ticket holders will be contacted, and they will be automatically refunded.

Currently, the plan is to hold the Great Yorkshire Show on Tuesday July 14 to Thursday 16 and tickets will go on sale nearer the time, but only subject to the latest government advice.

Please keep an eye on our websites for details and we thank you for your continued support and loyalty through these difficult times.

Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate has become the first of the town’s hotels to temporarily close as a result of the government’s announcements on stricter “social distancing” measures. Cedar Court has 100 rooms and is one of the town’s larger hotels.

The Managing Director of Cedar Court, Wayne Topley this afternoon posted on the hotel website that:

It is with great regret, that as of Friday the 20^th March, the decision has been taken to temporarily close the Cedar Courts: Bradford, Huddersfield, and Harrogate. We have taken this, enormously difficult and unprecedented, decision in a direct response to the Government’s advice around ‘social distancing’ and our ongoing duty to protect the health and the wellbeing of our customers and our teams within the business. We are taking new bookings from the 1^st of May onwards – unless Government advice changes. As a business and a team of people, we hope for happier times, but for now, the safety and welfare of guests and team alike is of paramount importance.

The hotel will be contacting all its customers and suppliers in the coming days, and said it would  “do our upmost to move contracted business and honour our obligations where we can”

The Ivy on Parliament Street

Last night The Ivy Restaurant in Harrogate which opened in November 2017 announced  last night it was shutting immediately until further notice. A notice on its website said:

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that due to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the advice from our government and the World Health Organisation, we are left with no option but to close as of 7pm today, Thursday 19 March

This extraordinary measure has been taken in the interest of both employee and guest safety which are of utmost importance to us.

Debbie Smith has run Twisted Cakes on Kings Road in Harrogate for 3 years.  She is pregnant and  has 3 children, her 15 year old son, Sam, has chronic asthma. Last year Debbie lost a baby boy, Theo, when he was only 27 days old to whooping cough. Debbie told the Stray Ferret that the coronavirus has left her terrified. Debbie acted before any government announcement and took the decision to pull her children out of school on Monday.  

“I understand that some people think I’m over–reacting but I’ve already lost one son already and people don’t understand the panic you feel when you think you might lose another and I’m also pregnant”  

Like many people struggling to cope in this crisis, Debbie can’t afford to stay at home with her children. She runs her business alone, is self-employed and her family is dependent on her:  

“I can’t stay at home. I have to support the children by working. If I don’t put keep my business going no one is going to feed my children if I don’t”.  

Her cupcake shop has seen a dramatic 90% fall in business –all but one order remains. Her shop has stayed open but she’s had no customers.  

Debbie, though, hasn’t given up. She has launched a new delivery service and has produced a cupcake home decorating kit to entertain children who will be off school and bored. She is prepared to deliver the boxes for free.  

Debbie has seen a 90% drop in sales

She has welcomed news that she might get some financial support but isn’t sure how or when she’ll receive it. She thought it might be in April. 

“We just have to wait until the money comes to us. I just don’t know how we’re going to apply for it. I heard it would be through the local council but I’m not sure.”  

For information about how to get in touch with Debbie at Twisted Cakes click here

The Stray Ferret wants to hear your story of how the coronavirus is impacting your business

Images taken of Harrogate at around 7.30pm:

Larger hotel and restaurant owners in Harrogate have called on the government to provide financial support after the government today asked the public to avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and social venues.

Rudding Park and Spa in Harrogate, one of the towns largest hotels, has 90 bed rooms. Peter Banks Rudding’s Managing Director demanded clarity from the government:

“What help are the government going to provide?  Are they going to allow us to stop paying PAYE, VAT, Corporation Tax and rates and what further liquidity are they going to give to banks to allow them to keep us going? More importantly, how quickly is this going to happen? Anyone in a leasehold or rented property will need to be paying their mortgage, rent and bills at the end of the month – where is that money coming from? From a hospitality industry perspective, at Rudding Park we are lucky, we are large enough to ‘ride’ it but I certainly wouldn’t want to be running a smaller business in this environment.”

The Yorkshire Hotel Harrogate

 I am worried about the long-term sustainability of the business if we don’t have any customers coming through our doors. The government has suspended business rates for smaller places but I think we need to look at some relief for bigger businesses as well. The government has not shut us down so I think it’s still okay for fit and healthy people who are not at risk to still go out for food and drink.”