Warm welcome at evensong for new Bishop of RiponThe newly-appointed Bishop of Ripon received a warm welcome at a special choral evensong service yesterday.
For the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham the service, at which she and six others were installed as canons of the cathedral, provided an opportunity to meet for the first time with civic dignitaries from across the region and the cathedral’s clergy, choir and members of the congregation.
The service, attended by the Bishop of Leeds the Rt Rev Nick Baines and the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Ms Johanna Ropner, saw the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson carry out the installation ceremony in the quire (pictured below).
Bishop Anna’s consecration took place at York Minster in June, but she did not fully take up her new post until this month. when she and her family moved north from Surrey, where she was part of the Oxted team ministry in the Diocese of Southwark.
The Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Ms Johanna Ropner, pictured following yesterday’s service with the Bishop of Leeds the Rt Revd Nick Baines and the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson.
Bishop Anna, who studied business and anthropology at Durham University, said in April after her nomination was approved by Downing Street:
“I have felt drawn back to the north of England for a number of years and have a strong sense of God’s call to this particular role.
“God has laid a number of things on my heart in recent times, including a passion for climate-care and justice; care for the wellbeing of clergy and all God’s people; a vision for a church that serves as much beyond as within its buildings; and children and young people at the heart of it all.”
The Bishop of Ripon is one of five episcopal area bishops in the Church of England Diocese of Leeds and has responsibility for a large area, including the Yorkshire Dales and the towns of Ripon, Harrogate, Settle, Skipton, Wetherby and Richmond.
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Road reopens in Ripon after Toyota crashes into treeA section of one of the main roads in Ripon closed this afternoon due to a crash.
Bondgate Green was blocked between Farmison & Co and the Ripon bypass after a black Toyota car collided with a tree.
No other vehicles were involved.
North Yorkshire Police said the incident happened at about 11.50am.
A spokesperson added:
“A black Toyota Yaris car ended up crashing into a tree. The driver was taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment. Her dog was also checked over by a vet.
“The driver reported a small dark car, possibly a Fiat, had caused her to take evasive action. The driver did not stop as they headed to Ripon city centre. They are urged to contact the police as soon as possible to assist the investigation.
“There was only limited traffic disruption while the ambulance was in attendance. The car was recovered at 1.10pm.
“If you are the driver of the small dark car, you possibly witnessed the incident or have dash-cam footage, please email Adam.Deacon2@northyorkshire.police.uk quoting reference number 12230175042.”
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Park and ride scheme mooted for RiponCould a park and ride scheme be the answer to Ripon’s parking problems as it bids to attract more visitors?
That was one of the suggestions made at Monday’s full city council meeting, where Councillor Jackie Crozier called for a feasibility study focused on Ripon’s parking issues to be carried out.
She said:
“With more new housing coming on stream and an increase in visitors, we need to start to move forward by looking at all options that are open to us.”
“On a recent market day, some people who came to the city found it impossible to find a parking space and Ripon lost out because of this as they headed elsewhere.”
Councillor Andrew Williams, said:
“One of the things that we need to look at is how we could link Ripon’s new bus service into a park and ride scheme so that tourists and other visitors can park on the outskirts of the city and be brought in by bus.
“At the same time, to ease the pressure on parking spaces, we should encourage more residents to leave their cars at home and come into the city by public transport.”
As a first step in looking to find a solution to the city’s parking problems, it was agreed that North Yorkshire Council officers be invited to meet with Ripon City Council’s transport group and for preliminary discussions to be held.
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YMCA says Ripon charity shop will reopen
The YMCA has announced its charity shop at the Marshall Way retail park in
Ripon, which closed at short notice on September 1, is to reopen.
Five days after a brief statement on the shop’s Facebook page said that it had ‘ceased trading’, a further message posted on the
page said:
“We sincerely apologise for the temporary closure of this store. This is due to property circumstances beyond our control.
“The good news is we will be open again soon!”
The Ripon shop, which is part of a portfolio of 100 plus YMCA stores in England and Wales managed by the charity’s national retail team in London, opened in February in the unit formerly occupied by Argos.
The Stray Ferret contacted the YMCA’s London office to ask when the shop would be reopening, why it had closed so suddenly and what is happening with goods that had been donated by members of the public.
As of this morning (Wednesday) no reply has been received and the shop remains closed.
Ripon councillors call for safety measure at ‘dangerous’ city centre junctionRipon councillors are calling for new safety measures to be put in place near a city centre junction where four accidents have occurred in two years.
Concerns were raised at Monday night’s full city council meeting about the junction of Fishergate and Old Market Place, where a pedestrian was involved in an accident on the morning of September 1.
Councillor Eamon Parkin said:
“There have been four accidents here in two years and something needs to be done.”
A number of measures to make crossing the road safer for pedestrians were discussed, after Cllr Pauline McHardy proposed a zebra crossing be installed by North Yorkshire Council.
She said:
“This is a dangerous place for people to cross, but we could make it safer at little expense by putting white paint on the road.”
Councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams, who represent Ripon on North Yorkshire Council, said the council doesn’t install zebra crossings any more.
Cllr Williams also said:
“The installation of a Pelican (light controlled) crossing would cost thousands of pounds and be unlikely to be approved.
“We do, however, need to ensure that people can cross the road safely and I recommend that we ask North Yorkshire to put signs on posts at the approaches to the junction that say ‘Beware Pedestrians Crossing’.”
Councillors agreed to write to North Yorkshire Council requesting that new measures be put in place to make the junction safer.
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Ripon convenience store to be transformed into a Morrisons DailyThe McColl’s convenience store in Bondgate in Ripon, will close at midday today (Wednesday) and reopen on September 22 as a Morrisons Daily.
The Post Office counter within the shop closed yesterday and will also reopen on September 22.
The closure will enable changes to the internal layout of the shop and rebranding to take place as part of a national rolling programme of conversion works, following Morrisons’ acquisition of the retailer last year.
McColl’s had 1,164 shops when it was bought out of administration in May 2022. Of these, Morrisons said it would sell off 132 which were loss-making, while profitable outlets would be retained and rebranded as Morrisons Daily stores.
In a second-quarter trading update issued in June, Morrisons said the 400 stores it has converted so far had seen increased sales.
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Plaque marks Ripon Canal’s 250th anniversaryVisitors to Ripon Canal now have a permanent reminder of its long history after a plaque was unveiled at the weekend to mark its 250th anniversary.
The canal basin off Bondgate Green/Boroughbridge Road, was bathed in warm sunshine on Saturday as groups, organisations and members of the public were invited to a festival to celebrate one of the city’s hidden gems.
In addition to the formalities, carried out by the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke, there were displays by organisations including Ripon Civic Society, the Canal & River Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, Inland Waterways Association and Ripon YMCA.
All have a keen interest in the canal for reasons ranging from built heritage to wildlife habitats and use of the waterway as a leisure and wellbeing asset.
Lizzie Dealey, partnerships manager for the Canal & River Trust, told the Stray Ferret:
“It’s remarkable to think how this waterway, which lay derelict for decades after the arrival of the railways, has been transformed, through the efforts of so many people, into a treasured facility.
“There are now more boats on our canals than at the height of the Industrial Revolution, with more than 10 million people using the network each year.”
Those who visited the Ripon Canal Basin on Saturday as part of the free Heritage Open Days programme which runs until Sunday (September 17) were treated to some free entertainment provided by a team of Appalachian clog dancers (pictured above) before a performance by Ripon singer/songwriter Freddie Cleary.
Nigel Rawlinson, president of Ripon Civic Society
And people who wanted to find out more about the canal’s heritage were able to speak with Nigel Rawlinson, the president of Ripon Civic Society and Richard Willis, the owner of Ripon Scenic Cruises and a former secretary of Ripon Canal Society.
Both societies played key roles in the canal’s protection and restoration between the 1980s and 1996.
The unveiling of the plaque was carried out by the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, attended by Mayoress Ms Linda Hawke along with Lizzie Dealey, partnerships manager of the Canal & River Trust and event organiser Richard Willis, owner of Ripon Civic Cruises, which operates on the waterway.
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Ripon fundraising tops £31,000 for orphaned Ukrainian teenagerFundraising for 15-year-old Liza Bartienieva, who was orphaned following a tragic accident that claimed the lives of her mother, brother and half sister, received a £4,000 boost at Ripon’s Black Swan over the weekend.
Regulars of the Westgate pub and members of the wider community dug deep to support the teenager, whose father also died earlier this year.
But there was disappointment when it was discovered that an anonymous donation of £10,000 to the GoFundMe page set up for her will not be added to the fund.
Donna Chilcott who set up the page, which has received more than 1,300 donations, told the Stray Ferret:
“I have been contacted by GoFundMe and told that the person who donated the £10,000 has retracted their donation.
“This is disappointing, but we have still raised more than £31,000, which is an incredible amount in less than a week and when you consider that the initial target set was £3,000.”
Saturday’s fundraiser at the Black Swan raised £4,000.
She added:
“Working alongside Sara and Kelly Hirst who run the Black Swan, we achieved this through the generosity of the Ripon community, businesses and regular pub customers and we cannot thank them enough for their kindness.”
Freddie Cleary
The money raised at the pub’s fundraiser will be added to the GoFundMe page which stood at £27,331 this morning.
Kelly Hirst, added:
“The situation that Liza faces has captured the hearts of the people of Ripon and everyone that we approached wanted to help by either donating prizes for the raffle that we held or by putting money in the donations bucket that we had on the bar.”
Live music was part of Saturday’s event and among the performers was Ripon singer-songwriter Freddie Cleary, who donated more than £600 to the GoFundMe page raised while busking in the city.
Liza has been looked after by a Ripon family since the accident occurred on Sunday September 3.
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Charities benefit from Ripon Old Car Classic Gathering
Ripon Old Car Classic Gathering (ROCCG) has been back in gear raising much-needed funds for nine charities.
The principal beneficiary from the 2023 gathering at the city’s racecourse was Alzheimer’s Research, which received £5,000 from funds raised through entry fees.to the event, where a total of 700 classic cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and tractors were on display.
ROCCG chair Phill Greetham told the Stray Ferret:
“Our 28th annual gathering was held in late July and proved a great success. Over the years we have raised more than £200,000 for a broad range of charities.”
Some of the classic vehicles that were on display at Ripon Racecourse. Picture: Gary and Liz Smith Photography
He added:
“Profits from the event are shared between local groups and other good causes and each year our committee donates a large amount to one chosen charity, while smaller donations are made to a number of other deserving causes.”
In addition to Alzheimer’s Research, the other beneficiaries which received £150 apiece were: Guide Dogs, Vision Support, RNLI, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Macmillan Cancer Support, Saint Michael’s Hospice, Dementia Forward and Fighting Ependymona.
The cheque presentation evening was held last week at Hazel House in Allhallowgate and each recipient gave a short talk on how the money would be spent by their respective organisation.
Ripon Canal to celebrate 250th anniversary with open day on Saturday
Ripon Canal, one of the city’s hidden historic gems, will celebrate its 250th anniversary on Saturday with a day of festivities, including displays and live music.
The festival is part of the Heritage Open Days programme running from tomorrow (September 8) until Sunday September 17, which will see dozens of venues across the Harrogate district take part, offering free entry to anyone wishing to visit.
Saturday’s open day at the canal basin runs from 11am until 3pm and at 1pm the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, will unveil a plaque to mark the waterway’s landmark anniversary.
The day, which has been organised by Richard Willis , owner of Ripon Scenic Cruises with support from Ripon Civic Society, will be attended by representatives from organisations including the Canal & River Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and civic dignitaries.
The picturesque approach to the canal basin
The history of Ripon Canal
The canal opened in September 1773, principally to bring coal by boat from the mines of West Yorkshire for domestic use in Ripon and to carry cargos of wool and lead ingots from the Dales for use in Yorkshire’s cloth and heavy manufacturing industries.
However, 75 years after its opening, the canal became virtually redundant overnight with the arrival in Ripon of the railway and the opening in June 1848 of a station to the north of the city centre.
Barges could not compete with the new rapid delivery service and with the loss of trade, the canal’s fate as a commercial enterprise was sealed.
Operators of the new mode of transport that caused the canal’s demise soon became its owner, as the waterway was purchased by the Leeds and Thirsk Railway in 1844, which subsequently became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1855.
Decades of dereliction followed and at one stage Ripon City Council mooted the idea of filling in the canal to create an extension for the Dallamires Lane Industrial estate.
Prior to this suggestion, the British Transport Commission had obtained Royal Assent for the abandonment of Ripon Canal in 1956.
Regeneration and conservation
Calls to regenerate the canal to realise its potential as a leisure and tourist asset for local residents and visitors proved successful, gaining momentum through the formation of the Ripon Canal Society, of which Mr Willis was appointed secretary in 1982.
The waterway reopened for navigation as far as Littlethorpe Road Bridge in 1986 and was officially reopened right into the centre of Ripon in September 1996, with the assistance of the society and local authorities and with funding from English Partnerships.
Further improvements have been brought about through work carried out by Ripon Motor Boat Club, which has its marina and clubhouse on a section of the canal at Littlethorpe.
The waterway is now managed by the Canal & River Trust, which is the charity that succeeded British Waterways. It was awarded a Green Flag for its water quality in July 2018 and the improvements brought about by conservation volunteers and the Environment Agency have attracted more wildlife to its banks, while otters are regularly spotted hunting for fish.
Mr Willis told the Stray Ferret:
“The festival provides the opportunity for people to find out more about Ripon Canal and the role it has played, first as an industrial transport route and now as a leisure and recreational asset that attracts both visitors and wildlife into the heart of the city.”
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