Ripon Cathedral rejects claim about memorial gardenRoyal Engineers march to commemorate 75th anniversary of freedom of RiponRetired Royal Engineers join fight to save Ripon’s military heritageOn the road: Will Tory dominance continue in Ripon?Work begins on Ripon city centre Changing Places toiletWork has begun on Ripon city centre’s first Changing Places toilet, which is scheduled for delivery in early August.
In the meantime, the existing block on site at the back of Sainsbury’s and near the bus station is closed and eight temporary toilets – two of them accessible to wheelchair users – are in place.
Eight temporary toilets have been put in place as work gets under way
The work follows an announcement in April by North Yorkshire Council that Killinghall company Dalebuild Ltd had been awarded a £162,000 contract to build the new facility.
After a successful bid by the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council and Ripon Disability Forum, £40,000 was granted through the government’s Changing Places Fund towards the cost of the new facility.
The toilets are larger and more accessible for people with disabilities and restricted mobility who cannot use standard accessible toilets. They include equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches and space for carers.
Ripon Disability Forum is working alongside businesses and other organisations in the city for its Access Ambassadors initiative to make Ripon more access aware and accessible.
Trustee Jeremy Dunford previously told the Stray Ferret:
“Changing Places toilets allow families greater freedom when caring for a family member with specific needs.
“They allow whole families to shop, visit and travel with more confidence and security. For independent people with greater need it means their independence is supported by the facilities they need.
“This is great news for businesses, residents and visitors to the city of Ripon.”
Changing Places toilets at other Ripon locations
Ripon already has a Changing Places toilet at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre but not one in the city centre.
However, Ripon Cathedral has plans to include one as part of its proposed £8 million annexe development on Minster Gardens, These would be in replacement for the current public toilets on the site.
Main image: Work is getting under way on the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet
Ripon residents react as 390-home scheme gets underwayHousebuilder Taylor Wimpey has said it hopes to develop a good ongoing relationship with its neighbours as work progresses on the 390-home scheme at West Lane in Ripon.
The development, which will take up to seven years to complete, borders West Lane and is close to Hell Wath local nature reserve.
It will include 156 affordable homes, ranging from single bedroom semi-detached and terraced properties to a number of four-bedroom detached and semi-detached houses.
The scheme, which was previously proposed by Barratt Homes, was granted permission at a planning appeal in 2018 after initially being refused by the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council in 2017.
Barratts subsequently pulled out of the development and in February 2021 Homes England, the government’s housing agency and Taylor Wimpey struck an £89.5m deal to acquire the site to get the plans back on track.
A computer generated image of the 390-home West Lane site in Ripon.
The 2018 appeal decision came as a blow to the Ripon Residents Planning Group, which was formed to fight the proposals and a number of them were present for a ‘meet the builder’ event held by Taylor Wimpey at Harrogate Road Methodist Church this month.
Their reaction to the event was mixed, with some claiming it was little more than a marketing exercise for the new homes.
One resident, who didn’t want to be named said:
“It felt a little bit like a sales pitch and overall I think that they could have done better, particularly with distribution of information about the meeting.
“If they try a little bit harder and keep residents informed about what is happening on the site, I’m sure that there is a way forward.”
Jeremy Dunford, a trustee of Ripon Disability Forum, who lives close to the West Lane site, went to the event to ask questions about the number of homes that will include step-free access and be adaptable for people with limited mobility.
He discovered that more than half of the properties (140 affordable and 62 private homes) will have these facilities, while16 of the houses will be specifically designed for wheelchair users.
Mr Dunford said:
“I look on that as a success for a development of this size, though our ultimate aim on all new housing schemes is for 100 percent of homes to be accessible to wheelchair users. “
Residents at Taylor WImpey’s ‘meet the builder’ event.
A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey, said:
“We found our meet the builder event useful, as we were able to hear people’s views at the start of what we hope will be a constructive on-going engagement.
“We are going to be here for a number of years and will aim to keep residents informed with updates about the development and advance notice on matters such as any prospective temporary road closures.”
The spokesperson, added:
“There is going to be disruption and we are very conscious of issues like mud on the road and will ensure that they are swept on a regular basis.”
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Ripon’s replica tank goes on tour ahead of D-Day anniversaryFollowing its official unveiling at the end of last month, ‘Ripon’s remarkable replica tank is now on a tour of locations in and around the city.
From the lawns at Ripon Inn, where a large crowd gathered to see it unveiled on April 30 by Lt Col. Perry Bishop, commanding officer of the 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, the life-size model is now relocated and attracting a lot of attention at Tate’s Garden Centre on Studley Road.
It will remain in situ there until May 23, before being moved to Fountains Abbey, where it will be in place from May 24 to June 4.
The life-size model measuring 24-foot long, nine-foot wide and seven-foot high will then be transported by Ripon Farm Services on a low loader trailer to the piazza at Ripon Cathedral on June 5, in time for the D-Day 80th anniversary concert on the evening of June 6 featuring Ripon City Band, The Duchy Belles, The Dishforth Military Wives Choir
and Charlotte Potter.
The event will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Royal Engineers being granted freedom of the city and, following the concert at 9.15pm, a D-Day 80th anniversary beacon will be lit on the piazza by Jack Churchill, the great grandson of wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill.
Created from wool and wood by the non-stop knitters of Ripon Community Poppy Project in conjunction with Richard Thomson and Gordon Woods – members of Ripon Men’s Shed, the tank is the stunning centrepiece of Ripon’s D-Day commemoration and celebration events.
The tank builders pictured at the Ripon inn, from the left: Carol Dunkley, Hazel Barker and Stuart Martin of Ripon Community Poppy Project, with Richard Thomson and Gordon Woods of Ripon Men’s Shed
Stuart Martin, who co-founded the project in 2017 with Hazel Barker, said:
“We have asked for and received help from individuals, businesses – including Tate’s Garden Centre and Ripon Farm Services – and organisations across the city and all have given their time, materials, labour and logistical advice free of charge.
“It has been a magnificent community-wide project collectively involving almost 100,000 hours of volunteer input and has been made possible because of the generosity of the city’s organisations and businesses.”
Main picture: The ‘on tour’ tank, which can now be seen at Tate’s Garden Centre
Reconstruction work scheduled for popular riverside path in RiponReconstruction of a stretch of riverside path in Ripon that has been fenced off for public safety will begin next month after works were given the go-ahead by the Environment Agency.
The section, from Borrage Green Lane to High Cleugh, is in danger of collapsing into the River Skell and has been blocked off for several weeks with six foot high fencing at each end.
Parts of the path on the popular riverside route have been undercut by high and fast-running waters caused by higher than average rainfall.
Karl Battersby, corporate director of environment for North Yorkshire Council, said:
“The Environment Agency permit for us to undertake the works on the River Skell footpath in Ripon has now been issued with a window for the works to take place between June 16 and September.
“Due to the popularity of the path we will do whatever we can to complete the work towards the beginning of the window but completion dates will depend on contractor availability and river levels which we have no control over.”
The recently-repaired wooden bridge over the Skell near High Cleugh is part of the route.
Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council, told the Stray Ferret:
“North Yorkshire’s rights of way team will be paying for the reconstruction work and I would like to commend them for the swift way in which they have responded to our request.”
Image: Part of the section of path that will be reconstructed
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Ripon Men’s Shed seeks funding to secure futureRipon Men’s Shed, which has tripled its membership since it was launched in the summer of 2021, is looking to raise funds to secure its long-term future.
The group has set up a gofundme page and is selling hand-made goods created by members at craft fairs as it bids to raise £45,000.
Shed manager Barry Sutton told the Stray Ferret:
“With the growth we have achieved in less than three years we have the potential to increase our numbers to 100, but to do this at our present location, we need to raise £45,000.”
The charitable incorporated organisation currently rents premises that belong to New Life Church on Water Skellgate. Now the adjacent church building itself has become available, providing an opportunity for expansion the shed’s management would dearly love to take.
Mr Sutton (pictured on the left in the main image) pointed out:
“Our initial membership in 2021 was around 12 and we now have 36 regular active members who come here over three days each week – Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“However, with our current size and restricted space we are unable to recruit further at present, but that would change immediately if we were able to secure the necessary funds to purchase the premises that we currently rent and the church building “
Workshop space is limited, but would increase dramatically with expansion into the adjacent church building
The men’s shed movement, which addresses issues of loneliness and social isolation, has a specific focus on the older male population, but women are welcome too.
Its aim is to improve physical and mental health by providing a safe space in the form of a welcoming friendly workshop where members can make friends and share life skills and experiences.
Since its launch the shed has been involved in numerous community-based projects, among them the creation, in collaboration with the knitters of Ripon Community Poppy Project, of a life-size replica Churchill AVRE bunker-buster tank, which is the stunning central feature of Ripon’s D-Day commemoration and celebration events.
Members Gordon Woods and Richard Thomson who were respectively in the Royal Engineers and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before retiring from their service careers, built the wooden frame of the tank.
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Ripon campaigners prepare for post D-Day battle with the bulldozers
Planning update
Last week, the government agencies Homes England and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation provided an update on the Clotherholme proposals in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website.
The report pledged to “work with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust on a heritage strategy which will balance the urgent need for new homes for local people with a strategy for preserving and recording the unique history and heritage of the barracks”.
The trust’s continuing concerns
But the trust, which has launched a website as part of a campaign to preserve key aspects of the site, believes the agencies have shown little desire to co-operate since Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission in February last year and their pledges remain vague and opaque.
Trust chairman Guy Wilson said:
“We are hugely disappointed that after 15 months of engagement with Homes England, the current outline planning application lacks any provision for the preservation of even a single example of the rare and unique huts at Deverell Barracks.
“Neither has any land been allocated to allow for the relocation and re-use of these heritage assets. Both were specific requests that the Harrogate Borough Council planning committee called for in February 2023.
“It has sadly become apparent that none of the parties to this development has any real interest in preserving the heritage of the site and none has made any attempt to work constructively with us. All they are interested in is appearing to do enough to get their present plans passed without alteration, in which case the result will be that significant heritage assets will be lost and this we very much regret.”
The planning update said the housing scheme will preserve the main military roads and names as well as provide information signs
Trustee Michael Furse told the Stray Ferret:
“The city has a rich and deep military history and has enjoyed a long and close relationship with the Royal Engineers.
“We and many Ripon residents strongly believe that the important heritage assets at the barracks site are worth fighting for.”
Main image: Field-Marshal Montgomery recognised the important role that Ripon’s Royal Engineers played in the installation of Bailey Bridges, such as this one in Italy. Picture Wikipedia
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