Harrogate Hydro set for major refurbishment

Harrogate Borough Council wants to build a new two-storey extension to The Hydro swimming pool as part of a major refurbishment of the ageing facility.

The council has submitted a planning application this week to upgrade the building, which opened in 1999 and replaced Coppice Valley pool.

The council is proposing to demolish the current ‘drum’ entrance and replace it with a larger structure that includes a bigger café and reception area on the ground floor and a new 400 square metres fitness suite on the first floor.

Plans also include a refurbishment of the changing rooms and pool hall. Five electric vehicle charging points would also be added.

The Stray Ferret asked the council how much the works will cost, and whether it will affect opening hours at the pool, but we did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The Hydro’s ‘drum’ entrance would be demolished and replaced.

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The application has received the backing of Sport England, which said:

“An improved and modern leisure facility in this sustainable location delivers a series of benefits, including increasing the opportunity for physical activity, increasing membership and usage and encouraging better interaction with the facilities and services on offer”.

Other Hydro projects

There are now several building projects underway at The Hydro.

In July, the council confirmed it is to buy a new diving platform to replace the damaged one that has kept divers out of the pool for eight months.

This month, the council was also given approval for 420 solar panels to be installed on the roof of the pool.

The Hydro is now run by Brimhams Active, a new arm’s length leisure company set up by the council this year. It has taken over the running of 12 leisure facilities in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.

Harrogate events venue ‘bouncing back’ with new line-up revealed

The Yorkshire Event Centre has unveiled its lineup of events for the rest of the year —  which are all coming to Harrogate for the first time.

The conference and events venue at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground was closed for much of this year and last year due to covid and was used as a vaccination site from February until August.

The Great Taste Golden Fork Reception will be held at the YEC next month. It’s the first time the food show has ever been held outside London.

The Builders Merchants Federation, which brings together companies supplying building materials to the construction industry, will stage its All Industry Conference on Friday November 5 and 6.

And the Great Yorkshire Christmas Fair will relocate from Ripley Castle. The show, which offers Christmas gifts, will run from December 2 to 5.

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Heather Parry, managing director of the YEC, said the new events will be “very positive for the industry and for the Harrogate area”.

She added:

“We are absolutely delighted to be bringing new business to Harrogate and to Yorkshire, with a number of new events signing up with us for the first time.  It’s truly wonderful to be back doing what we do best after a tough 18 months.

“We are looking forward to bouncing back, bigger, better and stronger than ever.”

Upcoming events:

New book reveals storied history of Pannal and Burn Bridge

A new book has been written about the history of Pannal and Burn Bridge.

Its author is former Harrogate Advertiser journalist and Pannal historian Anne Smith, who has lived in Pannal for many years and raised her family there.

The book is called Pannal and Burn Bridge, Their Stories and includes history of the two villages dating back to the Domesday times. 

Ms Smith has written three books on Pannal previously and said her new effort “is my best book yet”. She added:

“The reason I did it is I want people who live Pannal to like Pannal and know about where they live.”

The name Pannal was first recorded in 1170 and the village has been a settlement for centuries. It developed in the middle of the former Knaresborough Forest and is believed to date back to the Bronze Age

By the early fourteenth century, Pannal had become a thriving village with weekly markets and an annual four-day fair.

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Personal accounts

The book includes personal accounts from current Pannal residents, histories of important buildings such as Pannal Village Hall and the Black Swan pub in Burn Bridge, maps and walks of the area, and other interesting tidbits.

Ms Smith said:

“It includes contributions from a lot of the characters and friends that live in the village.

“They put their memories of how wonderful it was growing up in Pannal.

Despite Pannal changing over recent decades, Ms Smith insisted “It’s still a good place to be.”

She added:

“I’m really pleased with the book and hope everyone buys it to see the area they live in because I love Pannal.”

The book costs £10 and is available from annesmith.pannal@yahoo.co.uk

Anne Smith launched the book at an event in Pannal earlier this month.

Malcolm Neesam, Anne Smith, Howard West

Tesco Skipton Road supermarket ‘could put us out of business’

The owner of convenience store Number One Shop on Electric Avenue fears a new Tesco superstore a stone’s throw away might destroy her business.

Plans for the new store, exclusively revealed by the Stray Ferret, include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road. Tesco says 100 new jobs would be created. Planning permission is yet to be granted.

Claire Lewis has run Number One Shop for the last seven years with her husband.  The new Tesco would be built almost directly behind her shop on the old gas works site.

Ms Lewis told the Stray Ferret that she had always heard rumours that Tesco had planned to revive its plan to build a supermarket on the site, “but now it’s official”

She said:

“I can’t compete with a massive superstore chain.

“I’ll lose a lot of business.”

Ms Lewis said trade at her shop took a hit when Aldi opened on Skipton Road in 2016. However, she was able to compete with the German chain due to Aldi selling primarily their own branded products.

But with Tesco selling branded products, she fears its buying power will mean it can sell the same products she sells but at a cheaper price.

Workers who would stop into her shop for a pie, some crisps and a drink may also decide to go to Tesco for their £3 meal deal.

“I can’t buy in bulk. I can’t lower my prices anymore.”

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Since Tesco first proposed to build a supermarket on the site in the late 2000s, there has been an unprecedented level of housebuilding on Skipton Road and Killinghall in recent years and Tesco said the new supermarket would help reduce car journeys across Harrogate.

However, Ms Lewis expects traffic to increase on Skipton Road, which she said is already “manic” at times.

“There will be a lot of traffic. It’s already manic on Skipton Road at 4pm.”

Up against giant corporation, Ms Lewis believes one area they can compete with Tesco is community spirit.

Her husband was stuck in India for five months last year due to covid travel restrictions, and her regular customers rallied.

“With covid, everyone came together.

“Local people were so kind and gave me lifts. Most of my customers are elderly and even with the Tesco they’ll still come to the shop out of respect for me.”

Calls to improve safety of children walking to school in Starbeck

A parent in Starbeck has called on North Yorkshire County Council to install a path and street lights on Kingsley Road to improve safety for children walking to school.

Darren Leeming and his family recently moved to the Kingsley Meadows estate, a new housing development on Kingsley Road in Harrogate.

Ten children from the estate, including two of his own, walk to and from Starbeck Primary Academy using Kingsley Road each day.

Mr Leeming believes the winding road, which has no street lights or footpath, is dangerous for the children who he thinks could be hit by a motorist.

He said:

“There is no lighting and no path. It just takes one kid to run out.”

“It’s an urgent need for the safety of children.”

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The section of the road that Mr Leeming says is dangerous

Mr Leeming said he has observed cars going above the speed limit of 20mph and he thinks many motorists use the road as a rat-run to avoid the Starbeck rail crossing.

He added:

“It’s supposed to be 20mph but there are cars that exceed the limit.

“If there’s nothing done there will be a fatality. I don’t want to wait until there’s a fatality of a child. It’s irresponsible of the council.”

A spokesperson for NYCC said Mr Leeming can request a highways improvement such as street lighting through its website.

Crowds flock to Masham for return of sheep fair

The Masham Sheep Fair commentator is setting the scene over a PA as visitors arrive at the Market Place this morning.

The centre of Masham has been taken over for the weekend by crowds observing different breeds of sheep in pens and and farmers wearing white jackets.

He says:

“Let the Eau De Sheep waft around the town and into your nostrils.”

Susan Cunliffe-Lister set up the first Masham Sheep Fair in 1986, which was initially to raise money for farmers in Africa.

She wanted to bring back an old tradition. Until the First World War, she said sheep farmers from across the Dales used to come to Masham each year to buy and sell as many as 80,000 sheep over the course of a few days.

Mina Wilson (left), Susan Cunliffe-Lister (centre), Susan Briggs (right)

Nowadays sheep farmers from across the UK come to Masham to compete. There are other events like sheepdog trials, tours of Theakstons and Black Sheep breweries, morris dancing, fleece stalls even sheep racing to keep the crowds entertained.

The event raises thousands of pounds for charity each year, with this year’s pot donated to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

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

“We were always going to try. Everybody is pleased to see each other.”

Nat Lofthouse

Lancashire farmer Kevin Gaskell is here showing his Jacob sheep, which have distinctive horns.

His best tup is called Lofthouse, which has four crossing horns that look vaguely demonic.

But with all the right markings, Kevin thinks he has the potential to be a prize winner.

Kevin Gaskell and Lofthouse the sheep.

Kevin has been coming to Masham to show sheep for six years. He’s picked up two championships, which would become three later in the morning when Lofthouse fulfills his potential and scoops the top prize.

The sheep is named after the legendary Bolton Wanderers footballer. He said:

“Nat Lofthouse is a bit of a hero”.

Masham farmer Pamela Lupton is here showing Suffolk sheep. When asked what makes a good Suffolk she said:

“It depends on the judge!”

Pamela Lupton and her Suffolk sheep.

One of her Suffolks won the top prize at The Great Yorkshire Show this summer but she said she’s most proud of her home town fair.

“This is my local and I love it here.”

Sheep-racing

At 12pm the first sheep race starts, where lines of spectators jostle to get a good view down both sides of a makeshift racetrack. A farmer waves a bucket of food which is chased by four hungry sheep towards the finishing line, which is a trough.

The sheep are given names like David Atten-baaa and Blee-ta Thunberg.

The sheep race towards the finishing line.

“It’s like the Tour de Yorkshire!” says one spectator.

For a pound, you can have a punt on the winner, with all money raised going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

One woman waves her ticket in the air and hopes it’s a winner.

“It makes it more exciting, if it wasn’t exciting enough.”

Explainer: Animal testing in Harrogate

The testing of medicine on animals has taken place off Otley Road on Harlow Hill since the 1970s.

Labcorp, formerly known as Covance, says its research on animals helps to develop life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

However, it’s an emotive subject and the practice raises ethical questions. Protestors have met outside the site for many years to object against what they believe is “wrong” and “horrendous”.

Labcorp employs around 1,400 people in Harrogate, has 170 study rooms, and has 15 PhD students working there.

Andrew Jones MP praised the business in Parliament this week calling it “the heart of new medicine development both in the UK and across Europe”, but his comments drew criticism from some.

What is animal testing?

UK law requires all new medicines to be tested on two live mammals, one of which must be a large non-rodent — usually a dog or monkey — before a potential new drug is tried on humans.

Drugs from the heroin-substitute methadone to various cancer drugs and the covid vaccines were tested on animals first.

Many of these experiments cause suffering to the animals involved.

Labcorp Drug Development said it takes “very seriously” the ethical and regulatory responsibilities to treat research animals with the “greatest care and respect”. It says testing new drugs on animals “is the right thing to do”.

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What happens in the tests?

The Stray Ferret spoke to Chris Magee, head of policy at Understanding Animal Research, a group that works with universities and the pharmaceutical industry to explain why animals are used in medical and scientific research.

He estimates around a quarter of the experiments that take place at Labcorp in Harrogate involve testing on animals, with the majority of these being on mice. Crop research and diagnostic testing also take place there.

He said beagles are bred domestically for the specific purpose of being used in testing before being driven to Harrogate.

He said the majority of tests on beagles involve putting a pill inside their food once a day. Scientists will then observe how the animal reacts over a period of usually around a month.

They will then euthanise the dog at the end of the experiment to look for early signs of disease. In 2019, figures show dogs were used in 4,227 experiments across the UK.

Government statistics show that 75% of these dogs encounter “mild” suffering and 25% encounter “moderate” suffering.

Moderate suffering includes forcing the dog to do something that they would normally run away from, giving it cancer or “swim tests” which involve putting an animal in water to test the antidepressant qualities of a drug. Animal charity PETA calls swim tests “cruel”.

Mr Magee said the dogs are exercised and played with and reports of them being locked up in cages all day are inaccurate.

Does it work?

Mr Magee said out of 100 drugs tested on animals, around 40 unsafe and deadly drugs are “weeded out” before they get to humans.

He provided statistics that suggest dogs in particular are good at detecting which compounds will be toxic to people.

However, PETA says many of the tests done on animals are unnecessary with trials done merely because researchers are curious.

Labcorp trades on the US stock market and brought in over $11 billion in revenue in 2018. Critics of the practice believe it is driven by profit and not the welfare of animals, which Mr Magee disputed.

94% of drugs that pass testing on animals are withdrawn before human trials, including for commercial reasons.

Are there alternatives to testing on animals?

Many people who oppose testing on animals believe it is outdated and should be replaced with more modern alternatives.

These include growing human and animal cell tissue in labs.

A spokesperson for the Harrogate District Green Party told the Stray Ferret the UK should “push itself to the forefront” of research and development without animal testing.

Mr Magee said the companies such as Labcorp are investing millions of pounds into alternatives that could be replace animal testing by the end of the 2020s.

He said:

“If animal testing is still being used then it’s necessary, it’s as simple as that.”

Harrogate district has highest covid rate in North Yorkshire

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 457 per 100,000 people, which is the highest in North Yorkshire.

Selby is second highest in the county with a rate of 418 and the average rate for England is 310.

Meanwhile, a further 143 covid cases have been reported in the district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

This week Harrogate District Hospital recorded another death of a patient who tested positive for covid.

It takes the death toll from covid at the hospital since March 2020 to 188.

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Ticketing problems at Harrogate Town leave some fans unable to attend

Ticketing problems at Harrogate Town left some fans unable to attend today’s home game against Stevenage.

At around midday the club posted on its social media channels that their online ticket booking system was down so they could not sell any more tickets.

It led to disappointment for fans who were yet to buy a ticket for the game. The club’s box office closed at 11am.

One fan, who had hoped to attend the game but was unable to buy a ticket, told the Stray Ferret the situation was “a farce”.

The club apologised for any inconvenience caused.

🎟 Due to circumstances out of our control, our ticketing system is currently down, meaning we cannot sell any more tickets online for this afternoon's game

We are working to get this resolved and apologise for the inconvenience caused pic.twitter.com/BWa6oT5mlw

— Harrogate Town AFC (@HarrogateTown) September 25, 2021

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Video shows memories of the 1977 Knaresborough Bed Race

A video was posted on the British Film Institute’s (BFI) Facebook page this week showing the Knaresborough Bed Race from 1977.

The Bed Race is a pageant of decorated beds, passengers and runners, combined with a 2.4-mile race through the town. Thousands of pounds are raised for charity every year and it’s been a fixture in the calendar of Knaresborians since 1966.

Watch the video below — do you recognise anybody?

The Bed Race was cancelled in 2020 and again in 2021 due to the covid pandemic.

The video is owned by charity the Yorkshire Film Archive. Its website hosts several other videos from the past from around the Harrogate district.

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