A buzzard had a miraculous escape after it was hit by a car in Harrogate and got trapped in the front radiator grille.

The driver of the Jaguar felt a bump whilst driving and later was surprised to see her car had hit the bird, which had become stuck.

She frantically called different mechanics in Harrogate to see if they could remove the bumper and free the buzzard. After struggling to get help she called the RSPCA.

RSPCA animal rescuer, inspector Claire Little, was sent to an address in Fulwith Road to free the bird of prey.

Ms Little said:

“She thought the car had hit something and she then found the bird stuck in the car grille – who was miraculously still alive.

“I went along and was able to carefully remove the bird from the front grill of the car by removing some parts.

“I then checked her over and amazingly she didn’t seem injured – she just had a few ruffled feathers but no cuts on her body.”

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The plucky bird of prey has made a full recovery and was released back into the wild on New Year’s Day.

Ms Little added:

“She was a little shocked at first but wasn’t displaying any signs of injury. I think she just had some concussion but she seemed to recover well.

“It was a great moment to watch her happily fly off as I released her – and I caught the heart-warming moment on video.”

Watch a video of the bird being released below:

Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School has submitted plans to build a new permanent classroom.

The new structure would replace a temporary unit at the school that would be demolished.

Planning documents submitted to North Yorkshire County Council say the 134 square metre classroom would provide a more accessible and inclusive environment for pupils.

The village school currently has around 100 pupils.

Documents say:

“The new classroom unit will provide modern teaching environment and a much-needed space for the needs of the existing pupils providing them with a more suitable means of access and teaching environment.”

A decision on the proposal will be made at a later date.

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Work will begin in January to build three ponds for Great Crested Newts at Long Lands Common in Harrogate.

The team behind the community-funded nature reserve and woodland between Bogs Lane and Bilton Lane hopes the ponds will become a flagship for biodiversity in the area.

The ponds will be built in places that already have seasonal flooding and semi-wetland communities.

Surveys have found the common toad, common frog, smooth newt and Great Crested Newts all within 2km of the site. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will carry out the works.

The animals will use the ponds to breed between March and June and will use the habitat that Long Lands Common will provide for the rest of the year.

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• Newts delay junction 47 A1(M) upgrade near Knaresborough
• Long Lands Common set to open to members for the first time

The Long Lands Common December newsletter says:

“Given the situation of the site close to an existing pond, and with the landscape corridors provided by the railway cutting and Bilton beck, once habitats on-site start to become more natural, it is very likely that this baseline will increase in both diversity and absolute numbers as well as the additional benefits for species diversity and human enjoyment of the site that the presence of the ponds will bring.”

In 2020, around 3,000 people bought shares in the land. The appeal raised £375,000 to purchase 30 acres of land near the Nidderdale Greenway and protect it from development.

An official open day was held on the land for people who pledged money in July.

A detailed plan for the site is set to be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council in February. Thousands of trees will eventually be planted there.

Ripon’s New Year’s Eve concert this evening on Market Square will go ahead — but without a fireworks display.

An Oasis tribute band and Big Boyband Reunion will entertain revellers and the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, will address the audience at five minutes to midnight.

This will be followed by a blessing by the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.

Ripon City Council said yesterday that the fireworks display, which would have provided the finale to the night of free entertainment, had been cancelled, because of circumstances beyond its control.

Read more:

• Ripon’s New Year’s eve concert to go ahead without the fireworks
• Tree blocks road in Ripon as strong winds hit Harrogate district

Stage times are below:

21:00 Hornblowing Ceremony

21:10 Definitely Might Be (Oasis Tribute Act)

21:55 Big Boyband Reunion

22.35: Definitely Might Be

23.25: Big Boyband Reunion

23.55: Address by Mayor of Ripon followed by a blessing from the Bishop of Ripon

Ripon City Council leader Cllr Andrew Williams told the Stray Ferret that those planning to attend take a lateral flow test beforehand and only venture onto Market Square if the test gives a negative result.

The Harrogate district has reported 330 positive covid cases, according to the latest daily government figures.

Nationally, the number of infections also remains high. Figures show 189,846 cases have been recorded as the Omicron variant continues to spread.

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has reached a record high and stands at 1094 per 100,000 people.

Across the county, the rate stands at 879 and the England average is 1,305.

Read more:

• Excitement builds for Ripon’s New Year Eve celebrations tonight

• Harrogate Town game tomorrow postponed due to covid outbreak

As the number of infections continues to rise, many residents have reported difficulties obtaining lateral flow tests in the Harrogate district.

Yesterday, our reporter visited pharmacies across Ripon and found they were in short supply, with pharmacies currently out of stock and awaiting deliveries.

Harrogate Town’s home game against Port Vale on New Year’s Day has been postponed due to a covid outbreak in the Harrogate squad.

The club told the EFL that it would be unable to fulfill the fixture at the EnviroVent Stadium due to “a number” of positive COVID-19 cases in their squad.

A rearranged date for the fixture will be confirmed in due course.

Manager Simon Weaver said:

“We’ve been waiting in the wings ready to get back playing after matches had been called off due to Covid in the opposition camps. Unfortunately, we’ve now got a couple of positive cases in the group which adds to our extensive injury list and it means we’re depleted. It’s heavily frustrating as we’re all desperate to play for the supporters and we’re hoping a return to action isn’t too far away.”

It’s the third game in a week to be postponed due to covid.

Town’s away clash with Bradford City which was scheduled for Boxing Day was postponed due to coronavirus cases in Bradford’s squad.

Harrogate Town were also due to welcome in-form Mansfield Town to the EnviroVent Stadium on December 29.

Read more:

• Harrogate Town’s Boxing Day clash with Bradford postponed
• Pilgrims brave the elements for Ripon’s Boxing Day walk

A proposal to fast-track the demolition of the former McColl’s supermarket in Starbeck has been put on hold by Harrogate Borough Council.

Fire ripped through the supermarket in July 2018 and more than three years later, the Victorian-era building is still a burned-out shell with much of its roof missing.

Bates & Hemingborough, which owns the building, submitted an application in November to demolish the building under permitted development rules, which allows the demolition of a building without the prior approval of the council if it is deemed a safety risk.

The owner hopes to build new retail and housing units on the site.

However, planning documents reveal the council has written to the owner to say that the council must have the final say on the demolition.

It has requested the owner submits further documents, including a construction and safety plan, details of how the demolition would affect the public footpath and St Andrew’s Church and details of where construction vehicles would park on the site.

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• Harrogate social distancing planters find a happy home in Starbeck
• Plans submitted to demolish burned-out Starbeck building

Andrew Hart, founder of Starbeck Community Group and the owner of Starbeck Post Office, said he agreed with the council asking for conditions around the demolition but wanted to see quicker progress.

He added:

“The Starbeck Community Group have been in constant correspondence with our councillor, Harrogate Borough Council and the two owners of this property for months now.

“We have been promised real progress by all concerned but in reality we are again facing delaying tactics.”

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the controversy surrounding Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion plans.

January saw one of the most controversial planning applications in Harrogate for years.

Harrogate Spring Water applied to expand its bottling plant from 0.77 hectares to 0.94 hectares, which would have meant destroying public woodland planted by local families in the area of Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

To compensate, the company offered to replant trees, create scrubland and build a pond on private land behind RHS Harlow Carr.

But the idea of felling trees to create more plastic bottles generated anger and triggered a wider debate around how businesses should operate in the age of climate change.

Articles appeared in the national press and there was high-profile intervention from TV presenter Julia Bradbury, who urged the company to think again.

Harrogate Spring Water’s headquarters.

Hundreds of people watched a livestream of Harrogate Borough Council planning committee when it voted on the application on January 26 — considerably more than the usual 20 or 30 viewers for a council meeting.

They heard passionate interjections from councillors and residents opposing the plans, as well as representatives of Harrogate Spring Water saying the expansion was needed to grow a thriving local business and that felled trees would be replaced on a 2-to-1 basis.

Read more:

• Harrogate Spring Water to submit fresh plan for Pinewoods bottling plant
• Harrogate Spring Water blames pandemic as profits fall sharply

‘Not just any wood’

Sam Gibbs, the Conservative councillor for Valley Gardens, called Rotary Wood “not just any wood” and said he had spoken to many local residents who were “confused, upset, or angry” about the application.

Neil Hind, chair of Pinewoods Conservation Group, a charity that preserves the Pinewoods, said the “world has changed” since covid, which “has shown the importance of our green spaces”.

In the end, eight councillors on the council’s 12-person planning committee voted to refuse the plans, and four abstained.

After the meeting, Conservative councillor Jim Clark said he hoped the debate around the bottling plant had shown that local issues can be “at the forefront of climate change”.

What happened next?

Campaigners, such as Harrogate woman Sarah Gibbs, who had dressed as a tree outside the council offices each week to protest against the plans, were jubilant. But the vote wasn’t the end of the matter.

Harrogate Spring Water signalled its intention to submit fresh expansion plans.

James Cain, managing director, said in July.

“Our vision is to create a sustainable future for our business as one that supports high quality jobs, drives prosperity in the town and looks after nature.”

The company already has outline permission dating back to 2016 to expand its bottling plant, but the company said it was working on a completely new application and the old application would be disregarded.

But several months on, no new planning application has been submitted.

Organisations such as Pinewoods Conservation Group and the Rotary Club, which planted the trees in Rotary Wood, are still awaiting Harrogate Spring Water’s next move.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said:

“Harrogate Spring Water is still in the process of talking to all relevant parties. We will communicate any update as and when it happens.”

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the return of the show in a year in which many smaller agricultural events in the district fell victim to covid again.

The Great Yorkshire Show in July signalled a brief return to some sort of normality after covid decimated another year of outdoor events.

The show was cancelled last year and the venue’s Yorkshire Event Centre was converted into a covid vaccination site in the early months of the year.

For a while, it seemed possible that Yorkshire’s flagship farming event might have to be cancelled for a second year running. But the Yorkshire Agricultural Society took the decision to hold it over four days so visitors could spread out ⁠— and the risk paid off.

Prince Charles at the show

The Stray Ferret attended all four sun-kissed days to watch award-winning goats, sample delicious local food and drink, and we were front row for a surprise royal visit when the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended.

The couple arrived at lunchtime on day three and were greeted by hundreds of visitors at the gate.

Prince Charles spent time inspecting sheep, while the Duchess of Cornwall visited the children’s discovery zone.

Both also took time out to speak with the many visitors and exhibitors, including Phil Airey from Harrogate gardening charity Horticap.

The Stray Ferret’s videos of the royal couple attending the event and leaving the Stray via helicopter went viral and received over 200,000 views on our Facebook page. You can view them on our YouTube page here and here.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show to remain four-day event
• Emotional Harrogate reunion for Puss the cat and her Scottish owners

This year’s show also got a happy (and emotional) ending a week after it ended.

Farmer David Mitchell and his wife Annette drove 200 miles from East Ayrshire to be reunited with the intrepid Puss the Cat, who they feared was lost forever after she bolted from his trailer after sneaking in and hitching a ride to Harrogate.

Many shows cancelled

But although the Great Yorkshire Show went ahead, and will remain a four-day event in 2022, other agricultural shows weren’t as fortunate.

Nidderdale Show, which usually attracts about 15,000 people to Pateley Bridge in September, was cancelled.

So was Ripley Show, Birstwith Show and Tockwith Show, with organisers citing concerns over health, logistics and the extension of social distancing restrictions.

Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally called off its summer event, citing “too many uncertainties to proceed”.

But the unique Masham Sheep Fair went ahead in September.

Masham Sheep Fair

There is no other event like it in the district. As well as sheep judging, it offered sheepdog trials, tours of the Theakston and Black Sheep breweries, Morris dancing, fleece stalls and even sheep racing to keep the crowds entertained.

Organiser Susan Cunliffe-Lister told the Stray Ferret she was determined to hold the fair this year despite uncertainty over covid.

Weeton Show also decided to proceed and was rewarded with a sell-out crowd and glorious sun.

Agricultural shows are a major part of the district’s summer life and many people will be hoping they return en masse in 2022.

Each month the Stray Ferret tracks what the three MPs in the Harrogate district have been up to in Parliament and their constituencies.

As this is the last month of the year, this time we have provided a round-up of the activities of Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams throughout 2021.

As always, we asked all three if they would like to highlight anything in particular. Once again, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here are some of the key moments from Mr Jones’s year:

• Writing on his website in early January, he called the third national lockdown the one “nobody wanted”. However, he said the vaccines now provide “light at the end of the tunnel”.
• On January 13, Mr Jones revealed on his website that he had visited the Great Yorkshire Showground to check on progress with the vaccination programme. At that point, he said the site had vaccinated over 3,000 people at a rate between 125 and 135 people per hour.
• At PMQs on March 24, the MP urged the Prime Minister to support Harrogate Town’s bid to rearrange the date of its trip to Wembley so fans can attend. He even told a Harrogate Town supporter that he’d be on the train to Wembley with the fans if date is changed.
• In April, on his website, the MP spoke out against rumoured plans for vaccine passports, describing them as “extremely problematic”.
• In June, the Harrogate & Knaresborough MP was spotted campaigning for the Conservatives ahead of the Batley & Spen by-election on five different occasions. He was photographed eating fish and chips with Tory candidate Ryan Stevenson.
• On July 5, Mr Jones voted for the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill on its third reading in the House of Commons. The bill has been criticised for giving more powers to police over protests.
• In November he congratulated Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition for hosting its first climate action festival ahead of COP26.
• In December, Mr Jones told a constituent that the findings of an investigation into an alleged Christmas party at 10 Downing Street last year should be published as soon as possible.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Ripon, here are some of the key moments from Mr Smith’s year:

• At PMQs on February 10, Mr Smith asked prime minister Boris Johnson how the UK’s vaccine supply chain will cope if the virus mutates. In his response, Mr Johnson said the UK is going to have to get used to the idea of vaccinating and then revaccinating in the autumn as it faces new variants.
• Mr Smith announced on Twitter that his father-in-law has gifted him and his wife an ‘aphrodisiac themed’ takeaway meal to be delivered on Valentine’s Day.
• Mr Smith began a third lucrative advisory job, this time to MJM Marine Ltd, a cruise ship refurbishment company based in County Down, Northern Ireland. These roles earned Mr Smith an extra £144,000 a year.
• In July, Mr Smith voted for mandatory covid vaccines for care home staff.
• In September he told constituents he was “really sorry” if they were affected by TV disruption following the Bilsdale mast fire.
• Following the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal, he resigned from all three advisory roles in November.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural parts of the Harrogate district.

• In February, Mr Adams paid tribute to Captain Tom Moore following his death at the age of 100. He wrote: “RIP. A true British hero”.
• At an HBC planning committee on March 9, it was revealed Mr Adams personally wrote to committee members with his concerns about an 80-home development in Green Hammerton.
• In June, The Boundary Commission proposed changes to Mr Adams’ constituency that would see him lose all areas within the Harrogate district.
• According to MPs register of interests as of August 23, Mr Adams had received £6,000 worth of free hospitality tickets to England’s Euro 2020 games.
• Mr Adams was appointed minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office on September 16 as part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle.
• On September 10, Mr Adams was filmed telling anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray to “f*** off”. He defended his outburst and said his words reflected the views of many MPs.