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 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.”

Read more:

• Wildflowers to be planted on Stray

• Five Harrogate district schools to benefit from £2 million carbon funding

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.”

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.

Read more:

• Former Ripon Grammar student publishes poetry to protect wildlife
• Ripon Together organises free summer events for children

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.

Just two positive covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today, according to latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,699.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 13.7 per 100,000 people. This is a reduction from yesterday’s figure when it was 16.

The North Yorkshire average is 21.5 and the England rate is currently 21.3.

Read more:

• Harrogate district first covid vaccine doses near 100,000
• Harrogate businesses frustrated over delayed covid restart grants

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

The last death at the hospital was recorded on April 11, according to NHS England statistics.

It means the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

The Stray Gardener is written by Rudding Park’s Kitchen Gardener, Fiona Slight.

Fiona has worked in horticulture for more than 30 years in the UK and abroad, and specialises in growing fruit and vegetables for fine dining. 

If you have the room, courgettes, pumpkins and squashes are well worth growing, producing tasty fruit with a variety of uses in the kitchen. May is the perfect time to get these plants growing.

Why not grow pumpkins for lanterns at Halloween? Any pumpkin variety will do, with ‘Jack O’ Lantern’ being a good option if you want the authentic orange skin. Squashes are a much better option for cooking as they have a very sweet, full flavour. ‘Crown Prince’, ‘Honey Boat’ and ‘Harrier’ are all varieties that I have tried with great success, even if I do say so myself!

Squash plants can be grown up frames

Pumpkins and squash do need a bit of room to grow, but are fantastic for covering areas of soil to keep down weeds, so if you have an area of ground you struggle to keep under control, this may be the option. However, for smaller areas they are great for growing up trellis or supports, especially a variety called ‘Uchiki Kuri’, a very decorative squash that also tastes fantastic.

Courgettes don’t tend to trail, so can be a good option for a smaller garden or for a container on the patio, producing large amounts of fruit from one plant. Cultivars such as ‘Midnight’, ‘Defender’ and the yellow ‘Gold Rush’ are a good option for containers and the open ground.

Cold frames are useful to harden off plants ready for planting out

Seeds are best sown inside in early May on their sides and singly in pots or large module trays, and planted out in late May/early June. Any earlier and they could be damaged by late frosts and bad weather. It’s advisable to harden them off gradually before planting out. A cold frame or other container that can be covered over at night will do. As long as they are all planted in good, moisture retentive compost or well-rotted manure, and are kept well-watered and fed, you can’t go too far wrong.

It’s a good idea to protect with cloches when first planted to guard against frost and cool weather. They also need to be protected against slugs when first planted.

Recycled factory lampshade used as a cloche for protecting the planted squash

Five more tips and tricks for your garden in May:

• Keep up with weeds. Try to get them before they flower and seed to help break the cycle. Consider where to remove weeds from: are there areas you could leave to encourage wildlife?
• Plant out dahlias later in the month, either in large pots or the ground. Keep some horticultural fleece handy to cover them with if a late frost is forecast.
• Keep sowing salad leaves successionally to ensure you have a good supply of leaves all summer long.
• Plant out bedding plants no earlier than the third to last week in May. It may even be beneficial to wait until the beginning of June if you know you are in a particular area for frost.
• Ensure peas and beans are properly supported when you plant them. We use twiggy branches from trees and shrubs for a decorative and practical look.

Read More: 

• The Stray Gardener: Blossom Beginnings
• The Stray Gardener: Mulch, mulch, mulch

A guide book that celebrates the rich history of Harrogate’s Valley Gardens is now on sale.

The book covers the history of the park from its early days in the 1860s, when it was known as Bogs Field, to the fight to save a deteriorating Sun Pavilion in the 1980s and 90s, to the restoration of the Japanese Garden in 2016.

It has been a labour of love for co-authors Jane Blayney and Anne Smith.

Ms Smith is a former journalist and founded the Friends of Valley Gardens (FOVG) group in 1986. She was its chair until 2009.

Ms Blayney is also a former chair of FOVG and said documenting the history of the cherished space is important for future generations.

Valley Gardens is a magnet for sunbathers on sunny days

Ms Blayney said:

“We decided to put together the book so people visiting the town can buy a memento from when they visit.

“It was a really good team job. We had a lot of fun researching it.”

The book costs £5 and is printed in glossy full colour. It’s available to purchase in Harrogate Waterstones, RHS Harlow Carr and Harrogate Tourist Information. It’s also available to buy online here.

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The book’s introduction is written by Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam, who also helped with fact checking.

Stories include the battle to restore the King Edward VII Memorial Gate, which was donated in 1911 and dedicated to those who died in the First World War.

In 1994, when a new hall was built for the Conference Centre, Harrogate Borough Council sold the gate to a scrap metal merchant who then sold it on to a farmer.

FOVG bought the gate back from the farmer so it could be restored and returned to the park. The gate was formally opened in 2018 for the 100-year commemoration of the end of the war.

The book is not for profit and all money raised will go towards printing a second run.

Ms Blayney said “we are very lucky” in Harrogate to have a place like Valley Gardens.

“It’s somewhere where you can take the family for nothing. Older people can sit and enjoy the sunshine, others can skateboard or use the boating pool.”

The Stray Ferret and the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) have worked with Malcolm Neesam to produce two fantastic history audio tours of Harrogate. Both last about an hour and are easy to do. The first will take you back to the golden age of Harrogate’s Victorian Spa days and includes a stop at Valley Gardens, the second will take you through the heart of the shopping district, stopping to learn about historic buildings as you go.  To take a look click here. 

Popular tourist attraction The Forbidden Corner will use cutting-edge 5G and augmented reality technology to create a new digital quest adventure.

The quirky labyrinth of tunnels, grottos, mazes and follies sits within a four-acre garden near Leyburn, just north of the Harrogate district.

The attraction is taking part in North Yorkshire County Council’s Mobile Access North Yorkshire Project (MANY) by using 5G technology to turn its popular brass rubbing experience into an interactive experience.

5G technology delivers high-speed and more reliable mobile internet access. Augmented reality often works through a mobile phone or tablet and superimposes digital data and images onto the physical world.

Johnny and Wendy Reeves, who have managed the Forbidden Corner for over 20 years, said the technology will reward returning visitors.

“Our customers are loyal. But we want to exceed their expectations and offer them more so they can experience something different every time whilst rewarding loyalty.

“It is exciting that the 5G network, which MANY will bring, will enable us to develop this type of adventure”.

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Katherine Pearson, managing director of Flo-culture, which is providing the technology, added:

“A 5G network will allow us to immerse visitors at The Forbidden Corner in a real-time augmented reality experience. The uniqueness of The Forbidden Corner will be brought to life in a totally new way.”

The Forbidden Corner was dreamed up by landowner, Colin Armstrong, who originally built it as a private folly. It was opened up to the public in 1994.

North Yorkshire County Council will offer food vouchers to parents who need them during May half-term.

The council has begun sending out supermarket vouchers to schools, including academies, as well as early years providers, childminders and care leavers in North Yorkshire.

The vouchers are worth £15 per child for the week.

The scheme is an extension of the government’s Covid Winter Grant Scheme that provided the vouchers to parents and carers in receipt of free school meals.

NYCC has received up to £338,000 which it estimates will benefit up to 20,000 children across the county.

Stuart Carlton, corporate director of children and young people’s services, said:

“The funding will ensure children in receipt of free school meals – and families who are struggling to provide food for children during the pandemic – can continue to cover the cost of food or other essentials such as utilities over the May half-term holiday.

“We estimate the latest round of funding will benefit up to 20,000 individuals across the county.”

Read more:

• Harrogate shop ‘blown away’ by free school meals support

• What is the situation in the Harrogate district on free school meals?

To qualify for free school meals a parent must apply to North Yorkshire County Council with evidence that they are receiving a benefit, such as Child Tax Credit, Income Support, or Universal Credit.

The Stray Ferret revealed in December that since January 2018, the number of children in the district receiving free school meals has increased by more than 58%.

The issue of free school meals rocketed up the political agenda last year following a high-profile campaign by Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford.

A Starbeck business owner has called for urgent action on a derelict high street building that he says is damaging the image of the area.

A fire ripped through the former McColl’s supermarket in July 2018, but almost three years later, the Victorian-era building is still a burned-out shell with much of its roof missing.

Andrew Hart is the owner of Starbeck’s Post Office which stands opposite the building. He said he has grown frustrated with progress to refurbish it and said it’s holding the wider area back from redevelopment.

He said:

“Anyone driving to Knaresborough or visiting Starbeck are looking at this great eyesore. It’s a shambles.”

“We are being rejuvenated in Starbeck with new shops and bars opening but this is putting off investment.”

Mr Hart said the building reminds him of a World War II bomb site and has become “the disgrace of Starbeck”.

He added:

“We have customers coming to the post office who say the building looks disgusting. It’s having a detrimental impact on my business.”

Read more:

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Mr Hart called on Liberal Democrat councillor for Starbeck, Philip Broadbank, to push the landlord of the building to submit redevelopment plans.

Cllr Broadbank told the Stray Ferret that pre-application talks between the landlord and Harrogate Borough Council took place last week.

He said architect drawings involve creating new retail space on the ground floor and flats above it.

He said:

“I’ve been in discussions with planning enforcement at Harrogate Borough Council if the plans don’t progress. This would involve tidying the site up so it looks better.”

Cllr Broadbank expects a formal planning application to be submitted by the landlord imminently.

A political row has broken out after a Liberal Democrat campaign leaflet accused the Conservatives of “hypocrisy” and “tricking” voters ahead of the Bilton by-election.

Voters will go the polls tomorrow to elect a new county councillor in the marginal Bilton and Nidd Gorge division.

Andrew Kempston-Parkes, the Liberal Democrat candidate, has distributed two leaflets to residents that make several claims about the proposed Knox Lane housing development.

Housing developer Jomast is behind the proposals, which would see 73 homes built on a green field in Bilton.

The development is still to go before Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee, when 12 councillors will vote on the plans.

However, the site is allocated for 52 potential homes in Harrogate district Local Plan, which sets out where development will occur in the district until 2035.

Cllr Matt Scott, who is standing for the Conservatives in Bilton and is a current HBC councillor, voted for the Local Plan before it was adopted in March 2020.

In the leaflet, Mr Kempston-Parkes claims the “Conservatives pretend to oppose the Knox Lane development while secretly voting for it”.

In another leaflet, he alleges the Conservative-run council proposed the development.

The Liberal Democrat leaflet

The second Liberal Democrat leaflet

Read more:

• What the Bilton by-election candidates say on the big issues
• Bilton by-election: What issues matter most to voters?

In response, Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones MP intervened with a leaflet of his own.

It called the Liberal Democrat literature “grossly misleading” and said he was “disturbed” by some of the claims made.

He said:

“I like to see positive and constructive campaigns based on a record of local action. I don’t approve of US-style attack-ad politics.”

Andrew Jones’ leaflet

The Bilton and Nidd Gorge election follows the death of Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber.

It is the only local council election taking place in the Harrogate district tomorrow.