Tim Flanagan, Author at The Stray Ferret

Successful Ripon business built on the art of furniture restoration

A dozen years ago, when Aelita Redeniece left Latvia she was prepared to take any job to get her foot onto the UK employment ladder.

The degree that she gained at the Art Academy of Latvia in Riga, opened the door to work as a graphic designer and then marketing manager in the Baltic country, but with the move across Europe, her professional and artistic skills were put on hold as she worked first in an egg packing factory and later in a care home.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I was learning to speak English, but was not fluent at that time and that meant I didn’t have the confidence to apply for jobs more suitable for my qualifications.”

But, with encouragement from her partner and a couple of lucky breaks, she has finally been able to unleash her talent and is now running The Repair Shop – a highly successful business located within Halls of Ripon.

The focus is on refurbishing, re-upholstering and returning furniture to use – from much-treasured family heirloom pieces to chaise lounges given a new lease of life.

Through studies in Riga that earned her a fine arts degree, Aelita was taught how to use her hands to form clay into ceramic bowls, jugs and other items.

Now she has turned her hand and eye for detail to a different medium, making the step from potter’s wheel to busy workshop.

Aelita Redeniece in The Repair Shop

But why upholstery?

It may be that fate guided her, as Aelita explains:

“I bought a book in a charity shop about how to repair furniture and within days of reading it, I met, by pure chance, a craftsman upholsterer.

“After a brief conversation he very kindly agreed to take me on as his apprentice and teach me the skills he had gathered over more than 50 years.

“At first, I was doing simple tasks, but as I progressed, he gave me more complex things to do and eventually complete re-upholstery jobs.

“He is a lovely man and when I completed my apprenticeship and set up on my own working from home, he also put work my way.”

A showcase at Halls of Ripon

A second slice of serendipity came when Aelita enquired about the possibility of setting up her repair shop at Halls of Ripon.

She pointed out:

“I spoke with Mike Cooper because I noticed that there were second-hand sofas and chairs on sale there and he saw the synergy between this aspect of the business and the services that I provide.

“He, and the other independent traders at the department store, could not have been more helpful or friendly and with an affordable weekly rent, I was able to create my own showcase, with a unit that includes Victorian-style windows that were purchased from Lightwater Valley.”

Aelita has a growing order book from local, regional and national customers.

She is pictured above with an elegant French-style antique chair that she has fully refurbished for a customer who lives in Scotland and is a regular visitor to Ripon.

Aelita pointed out:

“Having seen The Repair Shop programme on TV, they wondered if I could renovate the chair and source a hunting print fabric for it.”

It now has pride of place back in the customer’s home, while many other sofas and chairs, have been diverted from a trip to the tip and returned to their former glory.

Call for roundabout to replace lights at key Ripon junction

A ‘jumble of traffic lights’ at the four-way junction linking the Morrisons Supermarket site with the Ripon to Harrogate Road, Moorside and Quarry Moor Lane, is causing confusion for motorists that may lead to accidents.

That’s the conclusion of Ripon City Council, which is calling for the numerous sets of lights to be replaced by a single roundabout.

Speaking at the July full meeting of the council, leader Andrew Williams, said:

“We have recently had two serious accidents at this junction and it’s just fortunate that neither of them involved fatalities.

“We have a jumble of traffic lights and lanes at this junction – some for vehicles turning in to Morrisons, some for them turning out and, adding to the confusion, there are also turns for Moorside and Quarry Moor Lane.

“The junction would be a lot safer if it were served by a roundabout.”

Fellow councillors were in agreement and the call to North Yorkshire for the roundabout will go alongside a request for further road re-surfacing in and around Ripon city centre.

The potholes have gone from Princess Road

North Yorkshire highways bosses have often had a rough ride when it comes to concerns raised by city councillors about potholed roads, but there was praise for them at the council meeting, as members said they were happy with the resurfacing work carried out on St Mary’s Gate, Minster Road and Princess Road.

Councillor Pauline McHardy said:

“A good job was done by the contractor employed by Harrogate Borough Council to resurface Cathedral Car Park and make the spaces wider and North Yorkshire has done a similarly good job with its recent resurfacing work.”

It was, however, agreed that there is still a long way to go before Ripon is rid of its pothole problems.

Cllr Williams, who was elected onto the North Yorkshire authority in May has taken senior officers and Cllr Keane Duncan, the newly appointed executive member for highways and transportation, on guided tours of the city’s uneven streets.

It is hoped that money can be allocated in forward budgets for repair and renewal works to be carried out.

Cllr Williams, pointed out:

“We visited a number of problem areas, including the four roads around Market Square, Dallamires Lane and Blossomgate and I explained that the people of Ripon would like to have all of them brought up to the standard of the newly-resurfaced roads that we now have in the city”

Ripon Together unveils programme of free summer activities for children

Ripon Together has unveiled its FunFest programme of free summer activities and events for the city’s children and young people.

It is working in partnership with Ripon Business Improvement District on the initiative.

Details about the activities, ranging from river dipping in the River Skell to an exhibition wheelchair rugby match at Ripon Grammar School, can be found by clicking here.

The programme, which runs from Saturday August 6 until Thursday August 18, is inclusive and open to people of all abilities at venues with good accessibility.

Simon Hewitt, of Ripon Together, told the Stray Ferret:

“We have built on what we learned from running the post-covid lockdown Summer of Fun 2021 and focused on events that proved popular last year, while adding new activities.”

Ripon Spa Croquet Club, whose lawns are located at Studley Royal Cricket Club (pictured below) is offering the opportunity for young people to try their hand at the sport and child-sized mallets will be available.

Studley Royal Cricket Club

The huge natural amphitheatre with its clubhouse, is the principal FunFest venue for events and activities on August 15, 16 and 18, including junior cricket and athletics coaching, an inflatable obstacle course, air rifle shooting and archery and a free hog roast and ice cream, supported by Morrisons supermarket.

Steve Harris, a trustee at the cricket club, said:

“We are very pleased to work alongside Ripon Together, Ripon BID and croquet club members, to support these community activities, which will benefit children and their families.”

The FunFest programme starts on Saturday August 6, with Friends of Hell Wath running forest schools at the nature reserve, funded by the Skell Valley Project.

There will also be a drumming workshop and family groups are invited to see what they can discover about doing some river dipping.

Swimming, climbing and Lego

Ripon Disability Forum in liaison with GB Wheelchair Rugby, has organised and exhibition match between Featherstone’s Yorkshire Lions and County Durham’s North East Bulls at Ripon Grammar School on August 13.

The school on Clotherholme Road will also be offering accessible swimming, a climbing wall and giant board games on that day while, in the city centre, Ripon Library will be the venue for a bicycle MOT, Lego event and sports and information roadshow.

David Ingham of Ripon Together said:

“We hope that as many children, young people and families as possible come to enjoy the free activities and we have made arrangements with YorBus for them to provide free travel to venues.

“This service can be accessed via the YorBus app and bookings for participation in the various activities that we have arranged can be made via the Ripon Together website.”

Harrogate street ranger saves man hanging from tree near library

The swift action of Harrogate Business Improvement District street ranger Chris Ashby may have saved a man’s life this morning.

Mr Ashby (pictured) found a young man hanging from a tree in Library Gardens, shortly after 6.15am.

He was working on the town’s floral displays at the time.

Mr Ashby told the Stray Ferret:

“At first I thought that the man, who I estimate to be in his 20s, was asleep up against the tree, but then I noticed the rope around his neck and I used a large pair of scissors to cut him down.

“He was blue, but still breathing, so I put him in the recovery position and called the emergency services.”

Emergency services in Harrogate’s Library Gardens this morning.

An ambulance and police were quickly on the scene and after attention by paramedics, the young man was taken to hospital.

Mr Ashby said he was on duty an hour earlier than usual, tending to town centre floral displays ahead of Britain in Bloom judging that takes place later today.

Anyone struggling with mental health can receive help from Samaritans by calling the freephone number 116123.

Ripon riverside reveals how previous generations of children learnt to swim

Decades before Sylvia Grice MBE started teaching generations of Ripon children how to swim in the city’s Spa Baths, the lessons were more rudimentary.

Among the overgrown trees, grass and plants that crowd a bank-side section of the Ure, retired postman John Heselton, has uncovered a rusty riverside relic.

The mystery object serves as a reminder of childhood experiences in Victorian and Edwardian times that would be frowned upon in today’s more safety-conscious society.

He pointed out:

“I discovered from a couple of people in their 90s, who were among Ripon’s first ‘wild’ swimmers, that their introduction to the waters of the Ure was literally a case of sink or swim.”

With the Skell, Laver and a canal adding to Ripon’s network of natural and man-made waterways, there has always been a need to teach children and adults a skill that could one day save their life or the lives of others.

John Heselton, with a black and white photograph of the pavilion, is pictured next to the pulley that was used as a safety device.

But pre-1936, when Ripon’s first public baths were opened, how did people learn their first strokes?

Mr Heselton, pointed out:

“For novice swimmers, a rope was wrapped around their waists before they took the plunge.

“If they showed any signs of getting into difficulties, the pulley that the rope was attached to, was wound back in by the adults on the bank who arranged and supervised the regular learn to swim and swimming sessions.”

He added:

“When I was a boy I learnt to swim, like thousands of other Ripon children, at Spa Baths, but it’s remarkable to think that generations before I was born, my ancestors are very likely to have been among those taught in this more basic way.”

Though the teaching method was basic, the same does not apply to the swimming pavilion itself, which was a grand purpose-built facility, as Mr Heselton discovered.

A detail in a wall (pictured below) first indicated to him that it was more than a boundary to a riverside residence.

He said:

“I have past this structure on hundreds of occasions over half a century – first as a keen club runner and more recently while out walking my dog Ruby – but it is only in the last couple of years that I realised it is a surviving remnant of a historically-significant facility.

“After rooting through the undergrowth, I saw that at ground level the wall includes a salt-glazed course of bricks, not there to let air in, but to drain water out, when the swimmers got out of the river to change back into their clothes.”

Like all good detectives, Mr Heselton looked for further evidence on the other side of the wall and the pulley system provided another vital clue about the previous use of this area, where the Ure broadens out to form a natural lido.

The ‘sink or swim’ childhood experience was confirmed by local people he had come to know during the 20 years that he served as a postman in Ripon.

Now, the missing pieces of the jigsaw have been put into place in a fascinating compilation of facts and photographs that the history and nature lover has painstakingly assembled.

Dean calls on council to support Ripon Cathedral’s £6m scheme

The Dean of Ripon has asked city councillors to ‘stand shoulder to shoulder’ with the cathedral and support its plans for a £6 million development.

Ripon Cathedral is hosting an exhibition of the plans in the north transept until the end of July.

They include building a two-storey standalone building on parkland adjacent to the Old Courthouse Museum and near the Garden of Remembrance installed by the Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion.

The building would include new toilets, a refectory, a gift shop and storage space.

Speaking at Monday’s full council meeting, the Very Revd. John Dobson said it was import to provide 21st century facilities that could serve the needs of parishioners and the growing number of visitors to the ancient building, which is celebrating its 1,350th anniversary this year.

Dean John said:

“I hope that the city council will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in supporting a development that will benefit the Ripon economy by bringing more visitors.

“While coming to enjoy the splendour of the cathedral, they will have the opportunity to visit the many attractions that Ripon has to offer.”

The plans are on display in the north transept at Ripon Cathedral.

The proposed development across Minster Road would also, he said, provide space for choristers to practice, as well as accommodate meetings of members of the cathedral congregation and the wider community.

Dean John told councillors:

“I’m pleased to report that we are having our best-ever year in terms of visitor numbers but as the cathedral’s reputation grows locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally, there is a need to provide modern-day facilities — particularly for those who come from afar.”

He said the Benedictine rule that guided Wilfrid in his work establishing the church in Ripon in AD 672 involved extending the hand of hospitality to visitors but, ironically, more than 1,300 years later the cathedral lacks the facilities to fulfil this mission.

Dean John added:

“I would like to thank those councillors who have already taken time to look at the proposals and we would welcome any of you who haven’t seen the plans to come and have a look and let members of the team know your views.”

Councillor Pauline McHardy said she supported the proposals and added:

“It will include the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet, making this magnificent cathedral more accessible to people with disabilities.”

Halls of Ripon celebrate a sparkling anniversary year

This story is sponsored by Halls of Ripon.

It has been a sparkling first year for the 20 plus independent retailers at Halls of Ripon.

At Red Buttons – one of the jewels in the department store’s crown – the celebrations continue for owners Mike and Liz Cooper as they will soon reach a golden milestone, having married in August 1972.

The couple, along with Hedley Hall, Ben Butler and Lloyd Sheard, were instrumental in the re-birth and re-invention of the unique retail destination on Fishergate, under the famous Halls name, so fondly remembered in Ripon and across the Harrogate district, for the quality of its goods and the excellence of its service.

In their own golden wedding anniversary year, Mike and Liz have launched a sale of select rings and other jewellery items, offered at discounted prices that customers can purchase to mark their own special occasions, from silver to gold, diamond and platinum.

The special anniversary sale of select jewellery items is now on at Red Buttons

Mike, who worked for more than 40 years in senior management at some of the best-known jewellers on the UK high street, said:

“Jewellery is a personal, emotional and sentimental gift that carries deep meaning and lifelong memories.

“Over the years it has been a pleasure to share in everything from marriages and the earliest wedding anniversaries, to the birth of a child, by helping people to find the appropriate piece or pieces of jewellery.”

Mike pointed out:

“For some customers, diamonds have been selected as the mile-stones that tell the story of their lives.

“The sentimental value goes on when single items or entire collections are left to loved ones and become treasured heirlooms that will be passed on to future generations.”

Creating customised Jewellery

Red Buttons takes pride in providing a personalised service and experience for customers, supported by designers and craftsman jewellers who can create customised pieces, often involving the recycling of a family’s redundant and damaged items.

Mike explains:

“A lady brought gold rings inherited from her parents, that she was unable to wear and within a matter of days we transformed them into a simple, but stylish cross that can be worn every day.

The gold heart with diamonds, created from wedding rings and an engagement ring

“For another customer, the wedding ring of her late mother and grandmother’s diamond engagement and wedding rings, were united in a single gold and diamond heart, whose sentimental value is beyond price.”

Red Buttons’ services include free jewellery cleaning and inspection, re-sizing, stone replacement, claw re-tipping and replacement. Part exchange is also available for customers with items that they wish to trade.

A community of independent retailers

Liz Cooper, said:

“Our independent retailers cover all ages, from clothes for babies and children to hand-made furniture and a newly-introduced repair shop where classic sofas and chairs are re-upholstered and returned to use.

“All traders have expanded over the past year and each has something special to offer that adds to the department store experience. The coffee, homemade cakes and sandwiches at The Hive cafe within the store are highly recommended.”

Ripon City Council says children pay price for ‘incompetent handling’ of leisure centre project

The children of Ripon are paying the price for Harrogate Borough Council’s ‘incompetent handling’ of the multi-million pound leisure centre project.

That’s the view of Ripon City Council, which backed a call from Independent leader Andrew Williams for immediate action to make the overgrown playing fields at the Camp Close site useable in time for the summer holidays.

Councillors also called for barriers, restricting access to the bike and skate park on site, to be removed so that proper access is restored. Some fencing has been forced down by young people wanting to use the facility (pictured above).

Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre

The centre opened behind schedule and over budget in March.

The council also agreed on Monday evening, to make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to HBC for a key report to be made public to discover the financial liability that council tax payers face for remedial work to leisure centre foundations.

The report, which was prepared by engineering consultancy Stantec, was received by HBC more than two months ago, prior to the local elections in May, but has yet to be presented to the council’s cabinet.

Overgrown and yet to be landscaped, the playing fields.

Cllr Williams, who was elected to represent Ripon at parish and North Yorkshire level, claimed:

“There is a clear attempt to suppress this report and literally kick it into the leisure centre’s long grass.

“But the public has a right to know the full financial consequences, before the successor authority has to deal with the mess of HBC’s incompetent handling of the project from the outset, starting with their decision to build on a site with a known history of ground instability.”

What was promised and what has been delivered?

The £10.2 million contract signed with construction company Willmott Dixon in November 2019, was for delivery of the new pool, a refurbished leisure centre, creation of a children’s playground, landscaping of the site, reinstatement of a football pitch, provision of parking for vehicles and bicycles and installation of electric car charging points.

To date, the pool, children’s playground, parking facilities and charging points, have been delivered, but only the gym on the upper floor of the leisure centre is open, with activities, such as spin classes relocated to the Hugh Ripley Hall.

The agreed completion date for the contract was May 2021, but delays caused by ground instability meant extensive grouting (injection of concrete) had to take place which held up the opening of the pool until March of this year.

Reluctance to release the Stantec report

Following an initial inspection by Stantec of a ‘void’ near the entrance to the leisure centre, discovered during construction work in September 2020, the consultancy was appointed to carry out a detailed investigation of the foundations.

In April, chartered engineer and Ripon resident Stanley Mackintosh, submitted an FOI request to HBC, seeking release of the Stantec report, but despite repeated attempts to obtain a copy, he still awaits their decision on whether or not the report will be released to him.

Escalating costs

Mr Mackintosh, pointed out:

“The known running total for the project as of September 2021, was standing at £14,590,665 and In my opinion, considerable additional monies will be needed to carry out the extremely complex works.

“This is because the foundations will need to be thickened from 200mm to 750mm, and superstructure modifications will be required to improve the structural stiffness of the building.

“It’s a very costly exercise to carry out under an existing building and even then, long-term sustainability cannot be guaranteed, because of the on-going underground gypsum dissolution that will continue to occur.”

He pointed out:

“Ground instability will be a constant feature in this area of Ripon, as evidenced by the opening up of a sinkhole in February 2018 on the leisure centre car park and the discovery of a further sinkhole close to the centre’s entrance in September 2020.

Chartered civil engineer Stanley Mackintosh, pictured outside the site before the swimming pool opened

“The actual remediation costs will only be known when the findings of the Stantec report are released and I have been attempting, under FOI legislation, to obtain a copy of that report, but the council appears reluctant to let me have it.”

“This stonewalling is a classic case of kicking the can down the road, because the council knows that there will be significant financial implications for council tax payers, long after HBC’s affairs have been taken over by the new North Yorkshire Council next April.”

What does Harrogate Borough Council have to say?

HBC has confirmed that the Stantec report has not been presented to its cabinet members.

A spokesperson, said in a statement:

“The report, and recommendations, will be presented to the meeting of the cabinet in due course.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that the council considers that remedial works that will need to be carried out under the centre are a financially viable proposition.

Asked when the landscaping works and restoration of the football pitch will be carried out, so that children can use the area for recreation once more, the spokesperson didn’t give any specific dates, but said:

“This work will be completed towards the end of the investment project at the leisure and wellbeing centre.”

Nidderdale wellness retreat shares its harvest for healthy eating

Within a stone’s throw of Brimham Rocks there’s a newly-created oasis of calm and quiet reflection.

The community herb and vegetable garden at the Acorn Wellness Retreat in Hartwith, has been designed to add to its holistic, healing approach and aim of improving people’s health and wellbeing with a diet of wholesome food.

As well as providing a ready supply of fresh produce used as ingredients in nutrition-rich dishes for guests, a weekly harvest of the herbs and vegetables is being shared with the neighbouring community.

A harvest for health – Acorn Wellness Retreat owner Katie Kavanagh is sharing the goodness of the garden with the neighbouring community

Acorn’s owner Katie Kavanagh, who opened the not-for-profit enterprise in 2017, told the Stray Ferret:

“We have people who come here for recovery, rest, retreat and sanctuary, often after treatment for serious illnesses such as cancer.”

She added:

“We also have a surrounding community of friends and neighbours and through sharing the items grown in the garden, we hope to be able to give something back to them.”

The new facility, created from sustainable materials by Ben Green of Springer Land & Property Services, includes a hazel bower, raised planters and seating areas.

The newly-opened garden at Acorn Wellness Retreat

To mark the opening, Acorn’s Helen O’Connor, a psychologist and forest bathing therapist, led a mindfulness session after attendees received a posy of freshly-picked herbs grown in the garden.

She asked the retreat’s friends, neighbours and her colleagues, to join with her in enjoying the peace of the new area by listening to the birdsong and attuning themselves to the natural rhythms of the countryside setting.

Ms. Kavanagh pointed out:

“We have planted a seed that will grow and thrive, while providing another means for enabling us to be at one with the natural environment and the healing qualities that this offers.”

Ripon Vision Support receives £7,000 boost from mayor’s charity appeal

Ripon Vision Support, which helps people with all kinds of visual impairment, has received a £7,000 boost that will enable it to extend its services.

The charity was selected as one of two beneficiaries of the appeal monies raised by former Mayor of Ripon Councillor Eamon Parkin.

The other recipient of a £7,000 award was the Ripon Christmas Lights Appeal, which Cllr Parkin championed during his three consecutive years in office.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am delighted to be able to share the £14,000 raised between the two causes and would like to thank the people of Ripon who supported me, with special mention for appeal treasurer Pearl Coates and secretary Joyce Maguire, who were with me all of the way.”

A meeting of Ripon Vision Support

Cllr Parkin, pointed out:

“My term of office was extended twice because of the covid pandemic, which also impacted on the amount of money raised for my appeal, because so many fundraising events had to be cancelled.

“In spite of this, through the limited amount of events that we were able to hold, the community spirit and generosity of local people shone through.”

While the money raised for the Christmas lights will go towards further improvements to the city’s 2022 festive display, Ripon Vision Support will use its share for further development of its activities.

Chair of the charity John Mellor, said:

“This is a tremendous boost for us and literally doubles the amount of money that we have in the bank.

“It will help us to extend our services and we are most grateful to Cllr Parkin for selecting us as one of his chosen charities during his years of office.”

Ripon Vision Support’s Tuesday morning meetings at the Allhallowgate Methodist Church Hall, are open to anybody in the city with any form of visual impairment.

They provide a platform for social gathering, advice and practical assistance and each meeting is attended speakers who give topical talks on a wide range of subjects.

Mr Mellor, said:

“We welcome new members and anybody wishing to join us can is asked to get in touch.”

Further details are available by clicking here.

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Swimming, climbing and Lego

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Reluctance to release the Stantec report

Escalating costs

What does Harrogate Borough Council have to say?

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