The Inn Collection Group, has begun redevelopment work on Ripon’s Spa Hotel and aims to have it completed by next spring.

A spokesperson for the company, confirmed in a brief statement this morning:

“We recently appointed STP Construction to redevelop the Ripon Spa Hotel, and work began this month and we’re looking complete it by spring 2023.”

The news follows hot on the heels of Sterne Properties’ announcement that it plans to return Ripon’s Spa Baths to its former Edwardian splendour, having purchased the Grade II listed building for an undisclosed sum from Harrogate Borough Council.

The Spa Hotel, which was in the ownership of the Hutchinson family for decades, opened a year after the baths and the two, nestling alongside Spa Gardens and Spa Park, were key elements of Ripon’s stylish spa quarter.

The elegant Edwardian building shut at the start of the covid pandemic in March 2020 and was subsequently put on the market

The 40-bedroom hotel, set in six acres of gardens, features public rooms including a ballroom, terrace bar and self-contained Turf Tavern Bar Bistro.

At the time of purchasing the property in June 2021, The Inn Collection Group said that a major, but sympathetic refurbishment would be carried out to enhance and repurpose the venue and bring it in line with The Inn Collection Group’s award-winning ‘Eat, Drink, Sleep and Explore’ brand.

Company managing director Sean Donkin, added:

“The Ripon Spa is a fantastic addition to our portfolio of properties. It has huge potential which we have an exciting vision to realise. We’re looking forward to starting that journey while expanding the group’s footprint in Yorkshire.”

“The Inn Collection Group excels at revitalising classic, landmark sites like The Ripon Spa and realising their full potential with significant capital spend, detailed planning and care to retain the unique, historic character of landmark sites such as this.”

The fast-expanding Northumberland-headquartered group has numerous hotels in the north and has been steadily adding to its Yorkshire portfolio, with the Spa Hotel joining The Dower House in Knaresborough and George Hotel  in Harrogate as recent acquisitions.

Read more:

• The Inn Collection Group purchases Ripon’s Spa Hotel
• Plan to return Ripon’s Spa Baths to its former glory

In this 1,350th anniversary year for Ripon, full celebrations for the city’s patron saint are making a return for the first time in three years.

Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, meant that there was only limited activity organised in those years by the St Wilfrid’s Procession Committee to keep the tradition alive.

But on Saturday, the parade, which attracts thousands to the city’s streets, will be back in force – starting on Studley Road at 1.30pm and finishing at Ripon Cathedral at 4.15 – where a service will be held,

The 24-stage parade timetable and route, which will see numerous temporary road closures, can be seen by  clicking here.

The St Wilfrid parade will finish at Ripon Cathedral, where a service to celebrate the city’s patron saint will be held at 4.30.

Led by an actor on horseback, playing the role of St Wilfrid, the parade will be accompanied by the award-winning Ripon City Band and will include decorated floats with designs created by businesses and organisations.

Held on either the last Saturday of July or the first Saturday in August each year, the St Wilfrid’s Parade is a unique event, whose origins date back to 1108 when King Henry I granted a royal charter to the City Of Ripon to hold an annual fair.

St Wilfrid is celebrated as the man, who in AD 672, founded the church in the location where Ripon’s iconic cathedral now stands and the stonework in the crypt, dating back to that year, is the oldest remaining building remnant to be found in any English cathedral.

Ripon City Council event

While the revelry is on-going around Ripon’s streets, the city council is marking a much more recent tradition on Market Square from 2pm on Saturday.

The Celebrating Yorkshire Day event starts at 2pm with free fairground rides for all the family, a climbing wall, face painting and Punch and Judy shows.

At 6pm, local singer songwriter Freddie Cleary, kicks off an evening of free musical entertainment and he will be followed  on stage by tribute acts, either side of the 9pm setting of the watch ceremony performed by one of the Ripon hornblowers.

Read more:

• A year of celebration for Ripon’s Patron Saint
• Ripon businesswoman shows the art of restoration

Ripon has suffered its second banking blow in the space of nine weeks, with the announcement that the Halifax Bank branch will close on November 14.

The closure of the branch on Market Square South, comes after Barclays advised its customers in May that it is closing its branch on August 25.

Reacting to the closure announcement, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:

“This is a bad news for Ripon, as we will be going from three high street banks to one, with the city left with just the HSBC branch.

“We are a growing city whose population is set to increase by up to a quarter by 2030 with new housing coming on stream.

“Among that increased population there will be many elderly people who either do not know how to use online banking, or are fearful of it.”

Closing on August 25 – Barclays Bank in Market Square East

Cllr Williams, added:

“With Christmas just four months away, the timing could not be worse for Ripon’s independent retailers, particularly due to the fact that after the Barclays and Halifax closures, residents and tourists visiting the city centre will not have access to cash machines outside normal trading hours.

“Not everybody wants to pay for a meal in a restaurant or a drink in a pub, with a plastic card.”

Figures produced by the Halifax as part of its explanation of the closure decision, shows that 22 percent of branch customers are 75 and above, while a further 37 percent are aged between 55 and 74.

The Halifax explains its decision

In its announcement, the bank, said:

“Following an in-depth review, this branch will close on 14th November 2022

“Like many other high street businesses, we’ve seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years as more customers choose to do most of their everyday banking online.

“We’re responding to the way our customers use our branches. We’ll continue to invest in our branch network, but we have to make sure our branches are where customers need and use them most.

“As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often. In addition the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank.”

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.

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.

Read more:

• The sink or swim history of taking the plunge in Ripon
• A sparkling anniversary for Ripon’s department store

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.

Read more:

• Ripon school earns praise from Ofsted
• When will work on play facilities for Ripon’s children be carried out? 

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 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.

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.”

Read more:

• Sink or swim tales from the riverbank in Ripon
• Dean calls for council’s support for Ripon Cathedral development plan

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.

Read more:

• Harrogate firefighters battle extreme heat as five fields go up in flames
• Bystanders smash car window to rescue four dogs in Harrogate

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.

Read more:

• Ripon’s Spa Baths to be returned to its former glory
• Dean calls for council’s support for Ripon Cathedral development plan

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.”

Read more:

• Ripon Vision Support receives £7,000 boost from mayor’s appeal
• Ripon’s Spa Baths to be returned to its former glory

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.”