TV show Bargain Hunt films in Harrogate

Harrogate has been no stranger to big-budget film sets and A-list actors in recent months, but this weekend daytime TV staple Bargain Hunt came to town.

The show has been on air since 2000 and features two pairs of contestants who buy antiques to hopefully sell at auction for a profit.

Teams competing in the show were spotted hunting for bargains at Ripley Antiques Fair, which holds monthly events during spring and summer in the village.

Antiques expert Danny Sebastian was also seen on Montpellier Hill in Harrogate and posed for a photo.

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Harrogate’s Independents vow to stand again

A group of five Independents has vowed to stand in future elections after they failed to win a seat on the new North Yorkshire Council.

Anna McIntee (Stray, Woodlands, Hookstone), Lucy Gardiner (Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate), Sarah Hart (Harlow Hill and St Georges) Daniel Thompson (Coppice Valley and Duchy) and Jon Starkey (Boroughbridge & Claro) all stood for the election on May 5.

Using the motto ‘Time for a Change’ and sporting pink uniforms, they pledged to put a stop to housebuilding in the area and oppose transport schemes like the Harrogate Station Gateway.

In the end, the district’s electorate voted for change, but it was the more familiar yellow of the Liberal Democrats that they chose.

But during their concession speeches at the election count, Ms Hart, Mr Thompson and Ms Gardiner all suggested they’d stand again in future elections, with a potential Harrogate Town Council on the horizon.

‘Same old faces’

It was a disappointing set of results for the Independents, in contrast to the strong showing by Independents in Ripon.

Over the past couple of years, thousands of people signed petitions set up by Anna McIntee and Lucy Gardiner to oppose the Oatlands Drive one way scheme and the Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood.

However, they weren’t able to translate successful petitions into votes.

Ms McIntee came fourth in her division with 167 ticks next to her name.

Ms Gardiner and Ms Hart fared better, receiving over 300 votes each, but they didn’t come close to beating the victorious Tory and Lib Dem councillors they were up against.

The five candidates met for a debrief last week where they reflected on the campaign.

Ms Gardiner said they were disappointed to see “the same old faces and old ideas being returned for another five years”.

She said:

“We were not just paper candidates but true representatives of the community, sharing many of the main issues as the residents and businesses, too many houses, no proper infrastructure, increase in congestion with no realistic solutions, pocket planning, all the wasted money on vanity projects, to name a few.

“It is disappointing that we didn’t get the majority and it was a shame there wasn’t an Independent candidate for every seat. However, considering we had no party machine behind us and none of us had ever stood before, we didn’t do too badly.”

Mr Starkey said he was disappointed by the low turnout.

“An average of only 36% voted and many still voted for the ‘party’ rather than the ‘person’, so we have to ask ourselves why?
Is the thought process ‘let’s give them another chance’, ‘I’ve always voted the same’, ‘it’s time for change’, or ‘what’s the point?’”

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Upsets

Before the election, it was difficult to predict who would vote for the ‘Time for a Change’ five.

Would it be disgruntled Conservative voters? Or people who don’t usually vote but who were attracted to their anti-establishment message?

The Conservatives failed to win three of the five seats where the independents stood.

These included the current deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, Cllr Graham Swift. He came a close second in the Coppice Valley and Duchy division, in a big upset for the Lib Dems.

Daniel Thompson came third and suggested his 199 votes helped to deny Cllr Swift the win.

Ms Gardiner said they succeeded in part of their aim of getting “the wrong people out”.

She said:

“We may not have succeeded by getting in but we certainly opened up the conversation and put the cat amongst the pigeons seeing a few key Conservatives in ‘safe’ seats voted out.”

Mr Thompson added:

“The Conservatives have been in power for years and their only legacy is a shambolic local plan favouring the pockets of the national house builders, pocket planning with multi million pound cycling lanes going nowhere and the (reported) £17 million vanity project that is the Civic Centre.”

Local issues

Following the abolition of HBC next year, it’s expected that a Harrogate town council will be set up to potentially manage local assets such as the Stray and Harrogate Convention Centre.

Elections could take place in 2024, and Ms Gardiner said the independents want to ensure Harrogate has a strong “community” voice, free from the shackles of party politics.

She said:

“Our efforts weren’t in vain, the independents aren’t going anywhere and we will strive to ensure Harrogate and Knaresborough doesn’t get swallowed up by the new North Yorkshire Council.

“We must not be led by politics, we must be led by the community and have a town council with the right people at the helm.”

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says Conservatives have ‘taken Harrogate for granted’

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey has said the Conservative Party has “taken Harrogate for granted” in the wake of this month’s local election results.

Ten Liberal Democrat councillors were elected in the Harrogate district, compared with nine Conservatives, one Green and one Independent. However, the Tories still have a majority across North Yorkshire as a whole.

The positive results for the local Lib Dems has spurred the party on to make further gains in the area, with the ultimate prize being the seat of Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones.

The party previously identified the constituency as one of its top 30 target seats in the next general election, which will be held no later than May 2024.

Mr Davey said:

“Harrogate has been taken for granted by the Conservative Party and clearly people have had enough. This month Harrogate joined countless other parts of the country in voting Liberal Democrat to send Boris Johnson a message.

“His government is failing to help people with the cost of living crisis and making matters worst through grossly unfair tax hikes.”

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Mr Davey criticised the Conservative-run Harrogate Borough Council for spending £17m on new offices as well as £5,000 on a snow globe at King’s Cross station.

He said the soon-to-be abolished authority had “stopped listening to local people”.

“The Conservative party in Harrogate has wasted huge sums of taxpayers’ cash on giant snow globes and a council office for a council that is being abolished.

“They’ve stopped listening to local people, as developers build all over Harrogate and Knaresborough’s green fields and they’ve failed to deliver on the long-promised electrification on the rail line to Harrogate.”

General election

Andrew Jones has been the MP since 2010 and has won four elections. He succeeded Liberal Democrat Phil Willis.

In the 2019 general election, Mr Jones won 29,962 votes, beating Lib Dem candidate Judith Rogerson by almost 10,000 votes. The Lib Dems did gain a 12-point swing on 2017, which largely came at the expense of the Labour Party.

Mr Davey added:

“At the next general election it will be a two-horse race in Harrogate between Boris Johnson’s Conservative party and a hard working team of local Liberal Democrats.”

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones for a response but we did not receive one.

Majority of young people in North Yorkshire have suffered from poor mental health

A report from a Harrogate-based organisation has found that 72% of young people said they had experienced mental health or well-being issues in the past year.

The research is part of a new report published by Healthwatch North Yorkshire. It says mental health services need “significant improvement” so more young people aged 16-24 can access the help they need.

As well as a survey, researchers organised focus groups at Harrogate College and Selby College to gather the views of young people.

Of those who said they had experienced poor mental health, only half said they sought help.

Reasons given for not seeking support included long waiting times to access support, the stigma surrounding mental health, and not knowing where to go.

Of those who did seek support, most respondents sought help from their GP, talked to friends and family, or got support at their school, college, or university.

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Those people who did get support from NHS services had a mixed response.

Some found the services helpful, but many raised concerns about long waiting times and fragmented services.

Helena, a young student involved with this research shared her own mental health experiences:

“Mental health and well-being are important topics that affect us all. However, this area still has a lot of stigmas around it, and there is a lot more that needs to be done to improve the mental health services across North Yorkshire and promote mental health across schools and colleges.

“Through personal experience I have come to value the importance of having support from all people, whether that is my friends or family, or the services provided locally, they are all vital in helping me to manage my own mental health.”

“I would call on all service providers in health and education to read this report and act on its recommendations and findings. Together we need to ensure that mental health services and support are equally provided cross the county.”

Read the full report here.

Meet the Knaresborough woman who is a dog chaperone at weddings

Would you like to have your dog walk down the aisle with your wedding ring?

It’s all part of a service offered by wedding dog chaperone Katie Abbott, who looks after couples’ pooches during their special day.

The Knaresborough-based professional dog walker first heard about the trend from America, and she thought she could offer newlyweds something a bit different in Yorkshire.

“People were getting family members in to look after their pets, but it took the day away from them.”

Prices start at £225 to hire Ms Abbott as a wedding dog chaperone. She usually stays with the dog for the wedding service and photos afterwards.

She can also stay overnight with the dog whilst newlyweds enjoy themselves at the reception and evening party.

Ms Abbott said the service is particularly popular with millennials who look at their furry companion as a member of their family.

“They want their dog there for the biggest day of their lives.”

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Ms Abbott is trained in canine body language, so on the day, she looks out for fear or stress signals to make sure the animal is not overwhelmed.

At a recent wedding, an excitable labrador charged down the aisle, so she took the dog outside for a walk to calm it down.

One of her jobs is ensuring that the bridal dress is not spoilt by mucky paws — and the dog is kept safely away from the cake.

She’s been to two weddings this year where she walked the dog down the aisle, and there are even custom collars with on them pillows so they can carry the ring.

She said:

“I love my job so much. As an animal lover, being able to work with dogs is amazing, as is being at a wedding, which is the happiest day of people’s lives.

“Having a dog there is the cherry on top of the cake.”

Knaresborough daredevil, 70, performs 50th skydive

Knaresborough woman Helen Westmancoat, 70, has performed her 50th skydive, this time raising over £1,200 for Martin House children’s hospice.

Ms Westmancoat is well-known for her skydiving and fundraising efforts, and the Knaresborough Rotarian performed her latest jump from 15,000 feet with Harrogate Brigantes Rotarian David Billington.

The money the pair raised is enough to pay for six months’ worth of parent support, four sessions of bereavement counselling and a visit from bereavement counsellors offering support through the most difficult of times. 

Her 50th jump was postponed several times to covid and unfavourable weather conditions but she finally made the dive this year, landing at Hibaldstow in Lincolnshire.

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Chris Verney, regional fundraiser for Martin House, said:

“What an amazing impact for those families who need it. We are truly grateful for Helen and David’s support in taking on this challenge, and I am so glad that Helen finally got to do her 50th jump.  Congratulations on reaching this milestone!”

Ms Westmancoat told the Stray Ferret last year how her unusual hobby began.

She said:

“The diving started in 2011 when I worked at York St John’s and there was a call to do a dive for the student support charity. I can’t do it alone in this country now as I’m over the age limit that it allows but I do hope to do more maybe abroad in the future.”

Ouseburn councillor: ‘pause thoughtless Linton asylum centre’

The new Green Party county councillor for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken, has called for a pause in ‘thoughtless and careless’ plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers in Linton-on-Ouse.

The government is pushing forward with its plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ at Linton-on-Ouse.

The site closed in 2020 after being used by the RAF for almost a century.

Although located in Hambleton, the site is only about a mile from the Harrogate district, on the other side of the River Ouse.

It’s close to villages Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton, which are all part of Cllr Warneken’s new division.

The asylum seekers will not be prisoners and will be free to leave the centre. Cllr Warneken said he is concerned services in the villages will not be able to cope.

Cllr Warneken, who won his seat last week by over 700 votes, said:

“The plan needs to have the brakes put on it. Rural locations are losing shops, pubs and post offices.

“The government has not looked at what the asylum seekers need, whether that’s religious or cultural things or food. They are not prisoners, they are victims.

“The centre will be twice the size of Linton-on-Ouse, three times the size of Great Ouseburn and eight times the size of Little Ouseburn. It’s not been thought through and is careless.”

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Cllr Warneken said ‘99.9%’ of residents in the villages are “compassionate and understanding about the issue”. 

But he fears the centre, which has been dubbed “Guantanamo-on-Ouse” by a Lib Dem councillor, could become a target for far-right protestors.

He added:

“I’ve been out talking to people who were concerned this week. They are saying it’s not right for the asylum seekers or the community.”

Migration crisis

The government has said it hopes the changes will help it crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

According to the BBC, 28,526 people are known to have crossed the channel in small boats in 2021, up from 8,404 in 2020.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said:

“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”

Historic Darley Mill to be converted to housing

An 18th-century corn mill in Nidderdale is to be converted into housing after complaints that the historic building once used as a shop and restaurant has deteriorated into a “mess”.

The proposals for Darley Mill include the conversion of nine homes and the construction of 11 new properties at the Grade-II listed site.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee approved the plans at a meeting on Tuesday when a local councillor said many villagers wanted to see the site redeveloped “as soon as possible”.

Cllr Sue Welch, chair of Darley and Menwith Parish Council, said:

“The current mill building is a mess – it spoils the whole look of the village and that part of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

“We need to bring it back into use and good repair.”

Cllr Welch said although the parish council viewed the mill conversion as “essential,” it could not support the construction of new homes at the site.

In response, Richard Irving, an agent for the developers YorPlace said the new builds were needed in order to make the development financially feasible – a view which was supported by an independent valuer.

Mr Irving also said the development would be carried out to the “highest quality”.

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The approval comes after previous plans for a smaller development of 13 homes were given the go-ahead in 2018. However, these plans never came forward.

The site closed as a corn mill in the 1960s and was most recently run by Yorkshire Linen Company as a restaurant and shop until 2016 when the company ran into financial problems.

Prior to this, the mill was converted into a store selling crafts and clothing in the mid-1980s.

The latest proposals include a mix of two, three and four-bedroom properties across the site.

The mill’s water wheel will also be kept under the plans.

Councillors cast five votes for and two against to approve the plans at Tuesday’s meeting.

Ripon soldiers in Cyprus to undergo mammoth charity challenge

A team of Ripon-based soldiers are rowing and cycling the equivalent distance from Cyprus to the UK to raise money for a men’s mental health charity.

21 Engineer Regiment has been in Cyprus since April as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force. They’ve been carrying out patrols on the buffer zone that runs between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

Whilst there, they have decided to raise funds for men’s mental health charity CALM.

They will use a combination of static bikes and rowing machines and plan to cover the 4,338 kilometres from their base in Nicosia all the way back to the regiment’s headquarters in Ripon.

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Spr Parker from the regiment said:

“Fitness is very much part of our daily lifestyle and so combining such challenges to highlight an important cause works really well for me.

“Mental health is hard to face, but for some reason it’s even harder with young men. In society I feel mental well-being among men is often not taken seriously enough or just overlooked”.

The link to donate is: https://www.justgiving.com/team/Road2Ripon

4km of jubilee bunting goes up around Harrogate

The streets of Harrogate have been adorned with 4km of jubilee bunting to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

The bunting has been bought by Harrogate Business Improvement District, with help from Harrogate Borough Council’s Welcome Back Fund.

Leftover bunting will be given to businesses within the levy area free of charge.

Streets the BID has dressed in a mixture of red, white and blue, various colours and ‘jubilee purple’ are:

Businesses within Harrogate’s town centre pay the BID 1.5% of their rateable value a year on top of their usual business rates. Harrogate BID, which drives footfall to the town centre, brings in around £500,000 from local firms.

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Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“With the bunting now adorning town centre streets, Harrogate’s countdown to the Queen’s platinum jubilee has well and truly started.

“And whatever bunting is left over, we have separated in to 10m strips for businesses from with the BID levy area to put up outside their premises free of charge.

“In the next week or so, the hanging baskets with red, white and blue flowers, will also start appearing, giving the town a colourful, floral lift.”