Twenty-four-year-old Washburn Valley farmer Robert McAneney says agriculture should be about respecting the land and “improving what you’ve got for the next generation”.

In February, he single-handedly took over the tenancy of Scow Hall Farm, which has spectacular views overlooking Swinsty Reservoir, one of the district’s most cherished outdoor sanctuaries.

The farm is owned by Yorkshire Water and rented to Robert for five years through a scheme called “Beyond Nature”.

It aims to encourage sustainable land management and improve the environment while helping younger farmers take on their own tenancies.

Open-minded

Robert was busy worming lambs when the Stray Ferret visited the farm last week. He has 120 sheep and 45 cows, which he hopes to double by the end of the year.

He said the stunning Washburn Valley scenery helps during the long and often solitary days managing a farm.

He was brought up in Darlington and studied agriculture at university. He’s not from a farming family, which he believes gives him a more open-minded and progressive approach to one of our oldest professions.

He said:

“I don’t have a farming background so I don’t have dad or grandad telling me ‘that will never work!”‘

“The older generation can be stuck in their ways. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, as they say.”

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Storing carbon

Soil carbon sequestration is a process where carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil’s carbon pool.

It’s key to Robert’s approach to managing Scow Hall Farm. He sees himself as a bit like a scientist, improving the soil so it can store more CO2.

He said this involves lots of soil analysis, harrowing soil, spreading lime and reseeding it with herbal mixtures.

Healthy soil also means he can cut down on using fertiliser, which can be catastrophic to wildlife.

He added:

“I’m open to new ideas. You don’t need to pile on fertiliser.”

A sustainable business

First and foremost, farms are businesses and key to Robert winning over Yorkshire Water was his plan to ensure that Scow Hall Farm turns a profit without dependence on subsidies.

Robert says subsidies can “create dependence” and is a “lazy business structure”.

The UK government plans to replace the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy with a new payment system that incentivises farmers to manage their land in a more environmentally friendly way.

Robert said he plans to start selling meat from the animals he rears later this year to people who care that their meat comes from a sustainable farm.

“That’s where we are heading.”

“I want to cut out the middleman so people know exactly where their meat is coming from.

“After five years I want to to leave the farm in a much better state than when I found it.”

North Yorkshire Police has arrested a third man in connection with a late night assault on two men in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate.

The 47-year-old from Harrogate was arrested yesterday evening and has since been released on bail.

Officers were called to the Grantley Drive area by the ambulance service at 11.20pm on Tuesday after two men were found with head injuries and cuts to their bodies.

Two other men were arrested on suspicion of wounding in the early hours of the following morning and have been released while under investigation.

A police helicopter was used to search the area to find the two men.

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Harrogate Town will play Rochdale AFC at home on the first day of the new League Two season.

The Greater Manchester outfit will visit the Environment on Saturday August 7 to kick off Town’s second-ever campaign in the English Football League.

Simon Weaver’s men will then head to Crawley Town on August 14 and then to Leyton Orient on August 17.

Fans will be looking forward to visiting Bradford City’s Valley Parade on Boxing Day with the reverse fixture played at the EnviroVent on 5 February.

The full fixture list. Credit: Harrogate Town

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The 2022 calendar year will begin with a trip to Port Vale on New Year’s Day before the team heads to Exeter on January 8, which is the longest away journey of the season.

Yesterday also saw Town drawn in the Papa John’s Trophy where they will face Sheffield Wednesday, Mansfield Town and a final team that will be announced at 4.30pm today.

The Carabao Cup first-round draw will also be revealed at 3.40pm today.

In April, the club were awarded a general safety certificate to hold full capacity games next season once all coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Harrogate Borough Council‘s rewilding to encourage bees and other wildlife has delighted many in the district this summer.

But one group of long-suffering residents believe it could be exacerbating their hay fever.

The pollen count has been at its mid-summer peak recently, especially on warmer days.

Many areas of the district, including parts of the Stray, have been left to grow wild, resulting in more pollen than in previous years.

Stray Ferret reader Clare Winsor got in touch to say she suspects her family’s recent bouts of hay fever could be related to the longer grass and wildflowers.

She said:

“My family and I are really suffering from hay fever this year, much worse than we would normally.

“I think this may be due to an increase in pollen/seeds/allergens produced by the overgrown areas.”

“Not sure how right I am but could this be the reason so many are complaining of hay fever locally?”

Fellow hay fever sufferer Sophie McCallum also believes the longer grass is “definitely making it worse”.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“This year is the worst I’ve ever had it and have been really suffering every day.”

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• Harrogate’s ‘rewilding’: untidy or biodiversity boon?
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However, some experts believe lockdown, rather than longer grass and wildflowers, could be a contributing factor because people are spending more time indoors.

Dr Naveen Puri, associate clinical director at Bupa Health Clinics, told Cosmopolitan magazine:

“Over the last year, social distancing restrictions have meant that we’ve spent more time indoors than perhaps we usually would.

“As a result, you may have been exposed to less pollen than usual, and this could make your hay fever feel worse.”

One Harrogate resident, Jerry Smith, playfully dismissed the claim that wildflowers increased hay fever and said he’s looking at the bigger picture.

He said:

“I wish for all biodiversity to be removed because it’s all giving me hayfever. I will continue to flourish as a human whilst the rest of the earth collapses.”

A council spokesman said:

“We have sympathy for hay fever sufferers, especially at this time of the year when the pollen count is higher and farmers are hay making.

“But we need to remember why we are leaving areas to grow and planting wildflowers.

“Pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, play a key role in sustaining the flora and fauna across the district.

“Sadly, they have been in decline for several years and we all need to play our part in supporting their habitats.”

The owner of a Harrogate car wash has said customers are questioning whether he is involved in modern slavery crimes, despite being unrelated to a recent court case.

Mehmet Ula, who owns Woodlands Hand Car Wash and Valeting on Wetherby Road, contacted the Stray Ferret to say around three to five customers a day were asking if staff were being treated correctly or abused.

It has happened since Defrim Paci, a 42-year-old married father-of-four, was one of two men convicted at Carlisle Crown Court for modern slavery crimes this month.

Paci is sole director of Harrogate Hand Carwash on Sykes Grove but the crimes were committed against workers at a Carlisle car wash. The Sykes Grove business was not implicated.

Mr Ula said:

“I’m in a difficult situation. I’ve lived in Harrogate for 18 years. We’ve got absolutely nothing to do with these people.”

“Most of the lads I employ are local and we do everything properly.”

Read more:

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Mr Ula bought the business, which was previously called Bubble Run, two years ago.

He said he pays staff properly and modern slavery was an “outrageous” practice.

He added:

“People have a right to ask questions, they should, but this is affecting my business.

“We 100% disagree with what’s happened.

“I hope they get the correct punishment. This is 2021 in England, modern slavery is not what we want.”

A liquidator has been appointed to wind-up Harrogate firm Airline Taxis, which has debts totalling £55,000.

Simon Weir, of DSI Business Recovery in Ossett, West Yorkshire, was appointed liquidator on Friday following a meeting of creditors.

Creditors include Tracey Lee, a former telephone operator at the company who won an employment tribunal against the taxi firm in January last year. A judge ordered the company to pay her £25,501.

She is yet to receive a penny and previously described to the Stray Ferret the “horrible” process of trying to get the sum awarded through the courts.

The company’s statement of affairs shows it also owes HSBC bank £20,000 for a bounce-back loan taken out last year.

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A directors report to creditors, signed by Airline’s sole director Mohammad Suleman, said the company experienced a “significant decline” in turnover due to lack of travel during the first covid lockdown.

The report added “there is no prospect of a dividend to any class of creditor”.

It also said Airline employed three staff and the rest were self-employed drivers.

The Stray Ferret contacted Airline Taxis for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

A company called Parade Taxis Limited was created in July last year with the same registered address as Airline Taxis on East Parade. Its sole director is Areefa Naz Suleman, the daughter of Mohammad Suleman.

Campaigners for the closure of RAF Menwith Hill will resume their weekly protests this evening.

The protest first took place in 2000 but was halted in March last year due to the covid pandemic.

Supporters of the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign will stand outside the main gates of the base from 6.00pm to 7.30pm.

Campaigner Sarah Swift said:

“This regular peaceful protest was started by the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases in 2000.  As has been said before, ‘It’s time they went!'”.

Built in the 1950s on the edge of Nidderdale, Menwith Hill is the United States’ largest overseas surveillance base. Giant radomes, or ‘golf balls’, are a distinctive feature of the site.

Read more:

• Upset and anger at plans to remove MP’s memorial tree at Menwith Hill

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Meanwhile, Harrogate Borough Council is expected to make a decision on the latest expansion at the base soon.

The Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, has submitted plans to add a new visitor centre, vehicle canopy and changes to the road junction on Menwith Hill Road.

However, the application has proved controversial because it would involve felling a memorial tree planted in memory of the late Bob Cryer MP in 1994.

Mr Cryer campaigned for transparency at Menwith Hill and secured a debate in parliament a few months before he died in 1994. He claimed the aim of the base was to “assert and retain United States supremacy”.

Mr Cryer’s widow, the former Keighley MP Ann Cryer, told the Stray Ferret she was “very upset” at the proposals.

Funding for Harrogate’s controversial Station Gateway scheme has been increased from £7.9m to over £10.9m.

The gateway project aims to create a more attractive entrance to the town around Station Parade and James Street and give greater priority for pedestrians and cyclists.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which bid for the initial funding from the UK government, has now allocated an additional £2.6m to the scheme. It will come from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund.

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority report said the overall delivery costs of the project have not increased but the extra money was needed for “risk and contingency”.

An additional £300,000 will be match-funded by local councils, taking the total cost of the project to £10.9m.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority has now agreed to proceed with the scheme towards drawing up a full business case.

The UK government has set a deadline of March 2023 for all schemes that received funds from the Transforming Cities Fund to be built.

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The Harrogate gateway scheme is being done in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Similar projects are planned in Selby and Skipton but the Harrogate scheme has proved the most contentious.

Some businesses are worried about the impact on trade but many Harrogate residents and environmental groups have welcomed it.

Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, has said the initiative “has the potential to create many more walking and cycling opportunities while transforming the look and feel of the station gateway area in Harrogate”.

The £1million replacement of Harrogate Theatre’s ageing roof is well underway in preparation for the hopeful return of live shows this year.

A temporary roof structure has been erected over the building to keep out water and protect against wind during re-roofing and external works.

The project is due to be completed by the end of September with performances returning soon after, subject to covid restrictions.

Harrogate Borough Council has released some images of the works, which you can see below:

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Conservative councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, said:

“Our investment in this local asset will allow the fantastic performances to continue, promote cultural activity in the town, attract visitors and support the local economy at a time when it is needed the most.”

David Bown, chief executive of Harrogate Theatre (White Rose) Theatre Trust, added:

“Harrogate Theatre is a much loved local venue and we’d like to thank Harrogate Borough Council for investing in the building. This will allow us to put on performances, and connect with our audiences for many years to come.”

Harrogate Theatre is operating a summer season programme in various venues around the town while the theatre is out of use. Further details are available here.

Harrogate residents and businesses are being asked to submit ideas to help give Cambridge Place a colourful makeover.

Harrogate Business Improvement District is working in partnership with Oxford Street-based charity, Artizan International, to install mosaics in the nine, blocked-out windows, on the side of the Boots building.

Each window space will spell out Harrogate — and the two organisations are looking for inspiration on what might go on the individual backgrounds.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“Cambridge Place is an extremely popular pedestrian cut-through between Cambridge Street and Oxford Street, yet one of the drabbest in the town.

“Now, in partnership with Artizan International, we want to give this street a real lift by installing nine colourful and eye-catching mosaics in these nine blocked out windows.

“Whilst each one will feature an individual letter to spell out Harrogate, we are asking for suggestions to create the individual backgrounds. The only proviso being it must be representative of the town itself.

“This could be its spa heritage, iconic buildings, or famous names and businesses associated with the town. We will leave it up to individuals, then choose nine different ideas.

“These will then be turned into mosaics by the Artizan International team, giving this much used thoroughfare a real splash of colour.”

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Ideas can either be emailed to Harrogate BID at info@harrogatebid.co.uk, or left with Artizan International, at their shop located at 39 Oxford Street, Harrogate.

The closing date is Friday, July 2.