Giant public artwork coming to the Stray remembers NHS covid dead

A huge art installation that commemorates NHS staff and care workers who died from covid will come to West Park Stray in Harrogate this month.

In Memoriam measures 36 metres in diameter and features more than 100 flags made from hospital bed sheets arranged in the form of a medical symbol.

It’s been designed by award-winning artist Luke Jerram and will be on the Stray from May 28 until June 7 before being transported to Edinburgh, Fleetwood and Weston-super-Mare.

Work installing it on the Stray will begin on May 24.

In Memoriam will be the first in a series of installations and events delivered in the months ahead by Harrogate International Festivals, which this year celebrates its 55th anniversary.

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Sharon Canavar, Harrogate International Festivals chief executive, said

“Two years ago, we were lucky enough to bring Luke’s Museum of the Moon to St Wilfrid’s Church, which was one of the highlights of that summer’s international festival, and was visited by more than 10,000 people.

“As an arts charity delivering festivals and events, we were first to close and will be the last to open, but we can’t just open the doors on our venues and go straight back to normal.

“We wanted to create something unique in Harrogate that acknowledged the last year whilst allowing us to create a safe, outdoor event for the town.

“We don’t want people to just look at In Memoriam from afar, we want people to experience it; we want individuals, families and friends to walk into the heart of it; we want them to sit under the flags and quietly reflect the events of the last 15 months.”

In Memoriam is being supported by Hornbeam Park, Harrogate BID, and Swainsons Funeral Directors.

Damn Yankee restaurant to return to Harrogate

The Damn Yankee on Station Parade in Harrogate is set to return with new owners.

Thanos Xhallo and Natasha Farmer are behind plans to reopen the popular American diner, which was a mainstay in Harrogate from 1972 until it closed in 2017.

It then became Burgers and More @ Original Damn Yankee in 2019 before the current owners took charge.

Thanos moved to Harrogate from his native Albania in 2014 and has worked in the kitchen and front-of-house at several restaurants in the town, including the Damn Yankee under its previous owners.

He said it’s been his dream to open a restaurant of his own since he began life in the UK.

The couple has bought the name of the business, which Thanos said means a lot to the people of Harrogate.

“It’s been all hands on deck getting the place ready.

“One women in her 60s walked past and said she used to come here as a child with her dad who has now passed away.”

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Thanos said the menu will offer what people expect from the Damn Yankee and will include steaks, pizzas, burgers and many different options for kids.

It will also offer Mexican fare, including burritos, house chilli, chimichanga and quesadillas.

Thanos said he might even bring back some of the old food challenges, where customers race against the clock to eat a giant burger or steak for the chance to get a picture on a wall of fame.

He said:

“We are going to do our best to give quality and for it to be affordable.”

Natasha added:

“This was my family’s favourite restaurant growing up, so when it became available we thought, we have to do this.”

“It isn’t just any American diner, it’s the American diner.”

The couple hope to have the restaurant open within the next few weeks.

Harrogate Town shop finds permanent home on Commercial Street

Harrogate Town’s shop on Commercial Street is to become a permanent fixture after the club signed a lease to stay.

The store opened in April, initially as a one-week pop-up shop to sell club merchandise and provide information on community initiatives.

It’s being run by the club’s community foundation in a unit previously occupied by Scandinavian lighting company Nordium.

The shop has proved popular and has also given fans the chance to see the National League play-off final trophy and the FA Trophy, plus meet members of the first team and club mascot Harry Gator.

Shops on Commercial Street were decorated in yellow and black bunting last week in honour of Town’s Wembley heroes, who beat Concord Rangers in the FA Trophy final.

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‘Bring back Bilton Youth Club to tackle anti-social behaviour’

A campaign has been launched to bring back Bilton Youth Club a decade after it closed.

Arnold Warneken, who was the Harrogate and District Green Party candidate in last week’s the Bilton by-election, has set up a petition calling on North Yorkshire County Council to reinstate the youth club. It was wound up in 2012 following funding cuts.

He said a reinvigorated youth club would have a big impact on young people in Bilton who have been stuck for things to do, particularly during lockdown.

Anti-social behaviour and crime were key issues when he was out campaigning, he added.

Mr Warneken said:

“It’s about getting people to acknowledge the relationship with anti-social behaviour and the lack of youth clubs.”

His petition currently has 230 signatures and Mr Warneken hopes the Bilton community will rally behind it to put pressure on North Yorkshire County Council, which runs children’s services in the district.

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Bilton Youth Club ran for over 50 years and was open three nights a week for teenagers to meet up and socialise. It also offered a range of activities, including sports and outdoor pursuits, until 2012.

The building is now run by the charity North Yorkshire Sport, which operates Bilton Health and Wellbeing Hub. It provides community activities, including a youth club, art club, physical activities, and social sessions for older people.

However, it only offers teenagers the chance to meet up once a week on Monday evenings from 5pm-7pm.

Mr Warneken proposes the youth club could be run at different venues in Bilton and offer activities from camping and foraging to musical tuition and sports coaching.

He added:

“It needs imagination and for the community to believe it will make a difference to crime, safety and health. The kids need to be given a chance.”

North Yorkshire County Council’s head of stronger communities, Marie-Anne Jackson, said:

“The county council’s children and families service are currently actively working with the stronger communities team, North Yorkshire Sport and North Yorkshire Youth to look at how we can work with local communities to support them to develop activities for children and young people and their families.

“We’re keen to harness the incredible energy and community response that has been seen in this work during the pandemic, by engaging with local people and organisations and making sure they have the support, skills and confidence needed to provide community services they would like to see in their local area.

“This includes making sure communities can provide support networks or services they feel they need for children, young people and families in their area.”

Rossett Sports Centre launches £10,000 artificial pitch appeal

Rossett Sports Centre has launched an urgent appeal to raise the £10,000 needed to resurface its 3G artificial football pitch.

The pitch, which is used by over 1,000 people every week, is over a decade old and was due to be re-laid last year.

However, covid has meant the facilities have been closed for much of the last 12 months, which has resulted in a “substantial” shortfall in income.

Rossett Sports Centre manager Josh Lyon warned if it is not resurfaced soon the pitch will be unplayable by the winter season.

Mr Lyon said:

“We’re now in a pretty desperate position. Our 3G pitch was laid in summer 2010 and has been a huge asset to the community ever since, but it’s coming to the end of its useable life. 

“We’ve done some small pitch repairs over the past few years but it’s now in such poor condition that this is no longer an option. In its current state, the pitch will only last a few more months before we have to take it out of commission.”

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The sports centre on Pannal Ash Road is run by Rossett School and is open to the public outside of school hours, seven days a week. Its full-sized 3G pitch provides space for both five-a-side groups and full team matches. 

Mr Lyon added:

“The 3G pitch is a thriving facility for both our local community and the school. We are therefore reaching out to individuals and businesses to help us plug the gap in our funding and reach our target, and we’re extremely grateful to everyone who has supported us so far.”

To donate click or tap here.

Harrogate lingerie shop to be converted into a home

The Lingerie Room in Harrogate is to be converted into a home.

The shop is due to permanently close on July 31, with owner Nicola Silcock retiring after five years in the town.

Ms Silcock moved the business from Settle to its current location on Tower Street. The site was previously occupied by a business that sold lighting.

Now Harrogate Borough Council has approved a planning application from landlord James Hopkins to form one larger home that includes both the shop and the upstairs property.

The first-floor kitchen will become a bedroom and the ground floor will be altered to create an open plan kitchen with a lounge to the front.

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Ms Silcock told the Stray Ferret in February that although she had a loyal customer base, a reduction in footfall in Harrogate had made the shop less financially viable.

She said:

“People are too busy and ordering shopping online is so easy.”

Residents bid to halt decision on 200 homes in Pannal Ash

A residents’ group has called on Harrogate Borough Council to postpone a decision on a controversial 200-home development just hours before a decision is due.

The council’s planning committee is scheduled to consider tomorrow the redevelopment at the former police training centre in Pannal Ash.

A report to councillors recommends deferring and approving the plans subject to conditions and a section 106 agreement, which covers the infrastructure costs of developments.

However, Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents Association claims several people who objected to the plans were not told about tomorrow’s planning meeting and that nobody from the group has been invited to speak against the plans.

A spokesperson for HAPARA told the Stray Ferret there has been a “severe breakdown” in the planning process and called on the council to postpone a decision to give them more time to prepare.

They said:

“It is clear there has been a severe breakdown in the planning process with seemingly a number of those raising concerns not being invited to speak or being made aware that this application was even on the agenda. This is clear breach of the council’s standing orders.

“We note that the council’s own ecology report was submitted at the last minute that also raised questions on the net loss of ecology regarding this application. This needs further scrutiny.

“We’ve requested urgent confirmation from the council as to what may have gone wrong here and seeking assurance such an omission will not be repeated.

“In this case we feel that the council has no option but to postpone and defer this application to a future meeting so we can review documents as per the normal process and prepare properly for the planning committee.”

Harrogate Borough Council previously approved plans to build 161 homes on the Yew Tree Lane site in 2018.

But a new proposal, submitted in November by Homes England, aims to increase the number of homes to 200 despite concerns about “unjustifiable planning creep” and the removal of a football pitch in order to build more homes.

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Parameters Plan

The former police training centre is on Yew Tree Lane.

Following a recommendation from the government’s planning inspector, the council is currently developing a parameters plan for the western side of Harrogate, where 4,000 more homes are mooted including at the police training centre.

The plan will look at transport and infrastructure needs for the area. It was expected last year but has been delayed.

The spokesperson for HAPARA said they received assurances from the council that no new developments would be considered in the area until the plan had been agreed.

They added:

“The parameters plan is still some way away so disappointing that this commitment has not been met without any consolation or discussion.”

The council did not respond to the Stray Ferret’s questions on the matter.

But its report to councillors ahead of tomorrow’s meeting says:

“The potential impact of the development (together with other developments around Harrogate) on local infrastructure and the surrounding road network has been fully considered and appropriate mitigation is proposed.

“The proposals are considered compliant with the overarching policies of the development plan and national requirements. The proposed development will make a valuable contribution to meeting the district’s housing need.”

 

Harrogate man’s dream of making it as a professional wrestler

High-flying Harrogate professional wrestler Joe Wade will go to extreme lengths to defeat his opponents in the ring.

“I’m willing to throw myself off tall buildings to win a match. I’m not worried about not being able to walk in the morning.”

The 20-year-old former Rossett School pupil has been wrestling for five years, mostly for Leeds-based promotions RISE and Tidal. Growing up, WWE wrestling stars such as Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio “were like superheroes” to him.

Joe was 13 when he decided he wanted to wrestle only to find out he had to be at least 15 before he could sign up for wrestling training in Leeds. He then spent two years learning gymnastics, karate, and boxing to help prepare him.

He is still honing his skills in the ring but hopes to one day wrestle in one of the big promotions in America or Japan.

Is wrestling ‘fake’?

For as long as wrestling has existed, it’s been criticised for being a “fake” sport.

The jibes are nothing new to Joe as wrestling runs in his family. His great-grandad George Wade was a referee who worked alongside British wrestling legend Big Daddy. 

Even though matches and storylines are scripted, Joe said many people don’t respect the skill involved with being a wrestler which he said is frustrating.

He added:

“I always hear the same BS about how wrestling is fake. Yet I’m sat here with a list of injuries.

“I had a fracture in my lower spinal cord. I’ve had many elbow issues, but it comes with the territory”.

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‘Wrestling is everything’

2020 was shaping up to be a busy year for Joe until covid took away the thing he loves doing the most.

“Wrestling is just everything, so it’s been awful.”

He’s used the time away from wrestling to develop and tweak his ring character on social media app Tik Tok. When shows resume in the summer, he’ll return with a darker, edgier persona.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think. So I’m coming back with a whole new attitude.”

“I was the generic ‘flippy kid’, but there are loads of those now.”

Life goals

By day Joe works at an office in Leeds and he’s also going to university in York in September to study psychology. 

But he hopes wrestling can one day be his full-time job. His dream is to perform in Japan, where the sport is especially popular.

When shows do return, he is most looking forward to hearing the roar of the crowd as he performs his high-flying moves on a villainous character.

“I like being the good guy, the plucky underdog. I love fighting the bigger guys.”

Green Shoots: Harrogate’s most environmentally-friendly house?

Green Shoots is a new monthly feature that explores the people and places that are doing their bit to improve the environment in the Harrogate district. Would you like to be involved? Get in touch: thomas@thestrayferret.co.uk

Tucked away on Bogs Lane in Harrogate is a home so good for the environment that it’s not just fit for the 21st century, but for the next one too.

Tim and Marilyn Larner bought a drafty 250-year old farmhouse on the site in 2016. After demolishing some barns that stood behind it, they built two homes in 2017 and moved into one of them at the end of the following year.

The couple proudly displays a Passivhaus plaque by their front door, which is a hallmark of its environmental credentials. The five-bedroom property is one of only two houses in Harrogate built to the strict standards.

Developed in Germany in the 1990s, Passivhaus is seen as a game-changer for low-carbon housing. It’s an innovative design code that prioritises insulation so that a home doesn’t need any heating or cooling at all, resulting in minimal energy bills. 

The Larners’ home has other eco benefits including solar panels on the roof to generate electricity and air source heat pump that brings in heat from outside and pumps it indoors.

Mr Larner said:

“It’s a delight and a great joy to live here.”

Subtle benefits

The front of the house has smaller windows as it is north facing.

Mr Larner estimates the house cost around 10% more to build than traditional methods — but the upside is electricity and heating bills are just £20 a year due to super air-tight insulation and renewable energy.

The whole house is wrapped in 300mm of rock wool all as well as air-tight membrane and there is 200mm of solid insulation on the roof.

Walking around the home, which is largely open-plan, the environmental benefits are subtle. Ventilation comes in through ducts in the ceiling and the large south-facing windows greedily maximise the amount of warmth offered by the sun.

The timber frame of the building was assembled like flat-pack furniture in just three days, bypassing the polluting and carbon-intensive building process entirely. Mr Larner said this ensures the quality and precision needed to make their home super air-tight.

The open-plan living space.

He added:

“We wanted to do the right thing environmentally. That was our main motivation for doing it.”

“It’s incredibly comfortable, really quiet and probably a lot healthier place to live. It’s a very controlled environment. You are never sitting in a draft. It’s lovely.”

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Housing targets

The upper level of the home lets lots of light in.

The property contrasts sharply with the glut of new build developments that surround it on the Kingsley Road and Bogs Lane area of Harrogate.

Mrs Larner said the building industry “has a massive vested interest” in building homes quickly and they don’t always consider the impact of housing on the environment.

She added:

“The government says they need more houses but they often choose volume over quality. They are throwing up houses around here.”

Mr Larner said the government needs to bring in legislation to ensure that more homes are built with the environment in mind:

“Builders should be out there doing this, but I fear regulation needs to make that happen. You can’t leave it to the market to deliver a house like this.”

“But It can be done. If you’re saving £1000 a year in energy costs and you hgave a better quality of life, what’s not to like about that? It’s a pity we have the financial availabilty to do this whereas others do not”.

Lifelong ambition

Mr Larner said rather than worrying about climate change, he and Marilyn wanted to take action. They see building their home as doing their bit.

“I don’t worry about climate change, it’s more important to act and be positive and hopeful. I don’t take any pleasure in what I’ve handed onto my grandchildren. They will hopefully be alive in 2100, what’s the world going to be like when they’re at that age?”

Building a home has been a lifelong ambition too. Many years ago, Mrs Larner had an uncle who built his own property. It left a lasting impression on the couple.

She said:

“It was amazing. 40 years ago I took Tim as my brand new husband, and he was just like — wow!”.

Mr Larner said they could never go back to how they used to live.

“We designed this house with the rest of our lives in mind.

“It’s fit for the future. I’m hoping someone will be happy to live in it in 100 years time.”

UK Poet Laureate to read at Ripon Poetry Festival

The UK’s Poet Laureate Simon Armitage will be reading at the fourth Ripon Poetry Festival, which will return to the city from October 7-10.

The festival was founded in 2017 by three Ripon-based poets, Andy Croft, David McAndrew and Paul Mills.

Born in Marsden, West Yorkshire, Armitage has been the UK’s Poet Laureate since 2019. It is a government-appointed position that dates back to 1668. He is also a professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.

Mr Mills told the Stray Ferret they wanted to have a big name appear at the festival after it was cancelled last year due to covid. Previous speakers include renowned writers and poets Ian McMillan and Michael Rosen.

He said:

“We wanted to re-establish ourselves and rebound from the pandemic.”

Ripon venues that will be taking part in the festival will be announced at a later date.

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Mr Mills is a poet himself and will be reading from his latest collection, Nomad, which includes poems about human evolution.

He expects the covid lockdowns and isolation to emerge as themes at this year’s edition, which he said will feature several local poets.

He added:

“We want visitors to the festival to feel like they’ve had a really entertaining and enlivening experience.”

Organisers have launched a poetry competition, with the best entries on any subject published in a book that will be sold at the festival.

The deadline for entries is July 23 and poems can be submitted on any subject to submissions@riponpoetryfestival.co.uk.

The entry cost per poem is below:

Children: £1

11 to 16-year-olds: £2

Adults: £3 or £5 for two poems

Schools: £10 for 20 poems.