A month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lewis Edwards is planning to return to his home city of Ripon with Ukrainian partner Tanya Bogdanovska.

Teachers Mr Edwards and Ms Bogdanovska fled Kyiv, where they had been working at a private school, on February 25.

Joining the mass migration of refugees who sought safety in neighbouring NATO countries, they arrived in Slovakia.

There, they and eight friends created a shelter to help Ukrainian women, children and men over 60 find sanctuary in other parts of Europe.

This morning Mr Edwards told the Stray Ferret:

“We are awaiting the outcome of Tanya’s application to travel with me to the UK and once all is in place, our plan is to head straight to Ripon.

“That will give us time to find our feet again, while being with family, friends and meeting some of people who have been so generous in supporting our work with refugees.”

Former soldier Mike Heelan is also returning home to Harrogate after travelling to Slovakia to help. Mr Edwards said:

“I would like to say a massive thank you to Mike Heelan, who came over from Harrogate when he read about what we have been doing in Slovakia.

“His help has been invaluable and we will be wishing him well when he heads off back to the UK later today.”

Former soldier Mike Heelan is returning to Harrogate.

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Fundraising for Ukraine to continue

Their efforts have been supported by a gofundme page launched by Mr Edwards’ family. More than £19,000 has been raised.

Though they are leaving Slovakia, the fundraising will continue.

Mr Edwards’ mother, Ali, said:

“We are excited that he will be returning to the UK with Tanya and look forward to their safe arrival in Ripon.

“Though they leaving Slovakia, we are committed to continuing the fundraising for the people of Ukraine, who face a desperate situation for the foreseeable future. The monies raised will go to other groups who will be providing humanitarian assistance.”

The flag of Ukraine flies above Ripon Town Hall

Cllr Parkin, said:

“We already have the flag of Ukraine flying on the town hall and Lewis and Tanya will be welcomed as heroes, when they arrive in the city.”

Funds raised in Ripon have been used to source ambulances, buy and transport vital medical supplies and food and provide shelter.

This work will continue, through the increased involvement of the Slovakian government, acting in liaison with humanitarian aid agencies and on-the-ground volunteer groups.

Ripon City Netball Club’s Falcons, Kestrels, Ospreys Eagles and Hawks, flocked together for their social highlight of the year — the annual awards.

More than 40 members from the teams, which are each named after birds of prey, gathered at Ripon Bowling Club on Saturday for a sparkling evening of prize presentations, congratulations and celebration of the 2021-2022 season.

The event was compered by the club’s head coach, Helen Mackenzie who, at Christmas, received her own accolade from former BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration when the votes of readers of the Stray Ferret saw her win the Harry’s Heroes community award.

Thandi Mahlangu, winner of the players’ player award for the Eagles, received her award from Alastair Little of Biffa.

The club, which was formed seven years ago, is based at Ripon Grammar School and has teams playing in the Harrogate, Hambleton and the North Yorkshire Ambassador leagues.

Its focus, since formation, has been on inclusivity, providing the opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to join in both sporting and social activities.

Club member Jackie Laugher (left) mother of GB diving star and triple Olympic medal winner Jack, presented Helen Mackenzie with gifts on behalf of the club.

Ms Mackenzie said:

“The aim since we set off has been to create a club based on three words – participate, enjoy, succeed.

“We are inclusive, welcoming all-comers.

“This sees mothers play alongside their daughters and siblings enjoying training and playing together.”

The trophies that were presented.

The award recipients

Presentations were made by Alastair Little, Yorkshire regional general manager of waste management and recycling company Biffa, one of the club’s sponsors.

For each team, trophies were awarded to the most improved player, the coach’s selected player and the players’ player.

The award winners were:

Falcons: Steph Parker, Jo Wallace, Helen Peacock

Kestrels: Suzanne Armstrong, Jen Addyman, Alice Scurr

Ospreys: Lindsey Stockdale, Karen Ellam, Becky Ash

Eagles: Lesley Watkinson, Cat Walmsley, Thandi Mahlangu

Hawks: Rachel Cattley, Karen Dodds, Laura Cardin

Winners of other club awards were: Nicole Greenwood, Nicola Lymer, Michelle Ingham, Kirsteen Dixon, Anne Groves, Beth Beadle and Hayley Blaymires.

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From facilities designed for the seriously rich to listed buildings of religious and historic significance, the Ripon Civic Society’s design awards shortlist embraces a wide range of architectural splendour.

Grantley Hall, the multi-million pound luxury hotel, fine dining and wellness retreat, is among the contenders in the Best New Building category for the Hazzard Silver Cup.

Grantley Hall is also shortlisted for the best restored building award, where it is competing again, amongst others, St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church at Coltsgate Hill. where renovation was made possible because of the £500,000 raised by parishioners and grant funding.

Opened in 1862, the Grade II* listed building is recognised as one of finest parish churches in England.

The Pugin reredos that provides the backdrop for the high altar at St Wilfrid’s was refurbished as part of the church’s restoration.

St Wilfrid’s is also shortlisted for the society’s Craftsmanship Award, where it again competes against Grantley Hall.

Both face stiff competition in this category from Ripon Cathedral’s Fallen Angels project, which saw the restoration of carvings and canopies in the medieval quire.

Ripon Cathedral’s Fallen Angels project is shortlisted for the civic society’s design awards. Picture: Ripon Cathedral

Grantley Hall is also in the running for The Younge Rose Bowl for Best Environmental Improvement, where it is up against Ripon City Wetlands, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Oscar’s Wood and High Batts Nature Reserve.

Ripon Claro Lounge is shortlisted in the Best Contribution to City Centre Revitalisation category

Contenders for the Taylor plate for Best Contribution to City Centre Revitalisation are the Claro Lounge and apartments in Market Place South, The Magdalens pub in Princess Road and The Water Rat at Bondgate Green.

Society chairman Christopher Hughes, said:

“Our usual biennial awards last held in 2018 have, as a result of covid restrictions in 2020, become quadrennial this year, and whilst we were anticipating a larger-than-usual response we have almost been overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of nominations submitted.

“Over the past few weeks our four judges have been considering and fine tuning a list of over thirty submissions, many of which had award-winning potential.

“Finally, and with not a little difficulty, we’ve arrived at a shortlist of which we are extremely proud and which we believe showcases the remarkable quality of projects in our part of Yorkshire”.

Read more:

• The curtain’s up on plans for Ripon Theatre Festival
• Ripon man has Whisky galore to auction for Falklands veterans charities

The award presentations will take place at Ripon’s Workhouse Museum on the evening of Thursday, April 7.

The winners of two of the awards — The John Whitehead Award for Civic Excellence and the Helen Whitehead Award for Best Project — will be announced on the evening.

With perfect timing, yesterday’s bright sunshine marked the start of Holi and saw a celebratory event at Ripon Library.

The Hindu festival signals the arrival of spring — focusing on love, new life and reconciliation.

Following the Diwali celebration staged at the library in November, Sarita McDermott, owner of the Realitea Indian bistro and tearoom on North Street, brought an insight into the culture of her native country.

Supported, once more, by a team of dancers from Jennyruth Workshops and the library’s outreach librarian Claire Thompson, the event provided an authentic taste of Indian culture, through readings, music, dancing and food.

Ms. McDermott, told the audience:

“Holi is all about making a fresh start, forgiving and forgetting, loving and looking forward, as we leave the cold winter weather behind us and enjoy the spring and sunshine.”

Part of the Holi Festival celebrations involve coating people with brightly-coloured powder paint. Picture: BBC

The festival features dancing, singing and, at some locations (though not Ripon Library), the throwing of powder paint and coloured water, in celebration of the Hindu god Krishna and the legend of Holika and Prahlad.

Ms Thompson, who gave a reading about Holi, told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s a pleasure for the library to hold brilliant events such as this, which enable people, particularly children, to learn about different cultures and how festivals are celebrated in other countries, just as we celebrate Easter and Christmas in this country.”

Read more:

The historic Ripon Canal will be featured on BBC Four this evening when Robbie Cumming completes the last leg of a 170-mile journey aboard his boat, Naughty Lass.

On Monday, viewers of Canal Boat Diaries saw the YouTube vlogger and TV presenter set off from Wigan in the first episode of the new series.

In tonight’s final episode, which starts at 730pm, he takes in the sights along the route from Knottingley to the Ripon Canal basin at the outer reaches of the English inland waterways network.

The water-borne journey, via a navigable section of the River Ouse, also features Boroughbridge Canal

Almost 250 years of history

At the time of its opening in 1773, Ripon boasted the most northerly canal basin in England at the city end of its 2.5 mile stretch.

But that claim to fame came to an end in 2002, with the opening of the Ribble Link section of the Lancaster Canal.

Just 71 years after its opening, Ripon Canal became virtually redundant overnight with the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in 1841.

Ripon provides the final entry in Robbie Cumming’s Canal Boat Diaries. Picture BBC

Barges could not compete with the new rapid delivery service for coal and other goods and with the loss of trade, the canal’s fate as a commercial enterprise was sealed.

The railways 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 become 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 the Ripon Canal in 1956.

Calls for the canal’s regeneration

However, growing 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.

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It 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 a programme of work carried out by Ripon Motor Boat Club, which has its marina and clubhouse on a section of the canal near Littlethorpe.

The waterway is now managed by the Canal and 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 have brought more wildlife to its banks. Otters are regularly spotted hunting for fish.

Previous episodes of Canal Boat Diaries can be seen on BBC iPlayer.

Traffic problems are expected this week when the principal route to and from two of the Harrogate district’s busiest business parks is closed for two days.

Between 7.30am and 5.30pm on Thursday and Friday, an eight-tenths of a mile section of Melmerby Green Lane, between the A61 and Barker Business Park, will be shut for carriageway repairs.

The daytime work on those days presents a huge headache for heavy goods vehicle drivers because the so-far un-signed detour route from both business parks will inevitably mean drivers will have to turn left towards the village of Melmerby on a road which has a 7.5 ton weight limit on it.

The weight limit sign on the approaches to Melmerby

HGV drivers making deliveries at both business parks were scratching their heads when the Stray Ferret visited. One said:

“I haven’t a clue where the diversion route will take me, but if I have to turn left and head towards Melmerby, the size of my lorry means I will have to break the weight limit.”

Another HGV driver said:

“This is a crazy situation, Thursdays and Fridays are two of the busiest days of the week for deliveries.

“Why couldn’t they have planned the roadworks at night, like they did with the work on the Ripon bypass bridge?”

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways team, says:

“Drivers will be able to follow a diversion route to avoid Melmerby Green Lane while the work is in progress and there will also be advance notifications on the A1.”

Within 100 yards of the Potter Space business park is the weight limit sign

NYCC’s highways area manager Melisa Burnham, said:

“We appreciate there will be some disruption involved and have done everything possible to minimise that, with a fully-signed diversion and advance warnings on the A1, particularly aimed at HGV drivers who may be heading to the business park.

“We are pleased to be carrying out work on Melmerby Green Lane and the road will be safer and better to use when it is complete.

More information is available on the roadworks map at www.northyorks.gov.uk/roadworks-map

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• Double delay for Kirkby Malzeard road users

Accessibility to Ripon Arts Hub has been dramatically improved with the introduction of a wheelchair lift.

For David Suddards, this means that he can now watch performances at the hub’s downstairs studio theatre with his wife Josie.

Mr Suddards, a wheelchair user, played a key role in raising awareness of the need for access for disabled people at the Allhallowgate building

This in turn led to successful applications for funding, which enabled purchase of the £12,000 lift and its installation, plus another £2,000 for associated building works.

The wheelchair lift means that disabled people can access the hub’s downstairs theatre.

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The lift was officially opened by Mr Suddards, when he became its first passenger.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s great to know that I can come to enjoy performances here and accompany my wife. Up until now I hadn’t been able to attend the studio theatre and the same applied to other people in wheelchairs.”

The opening was attended by Jeremy Dunford, a trustee of Ripon Disability Forum and also a wheelchair user.

He said:

“I’m pleased to know that disabled people now have access to watching theatre and other performances at the Arts Hub.

“They have the same right as an able-bodied person to be given access to facilities in the city and if you provide access for people with disabilities, you also make a building more accessible for other people, such as parents with prams and pushchairs.”

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• Ripon bids to take back city assets

Hub committee member and fundraiser Hannah Ruddy said:

“Improving accessibility for visitors and performers was a top priority when we drew up plans to reconfigure the building, to turn it into a flexible space for use by all elements of the arts community, as well as other visitors.

“In addition to the lift, we have an accessible toilet on the ground floor and have widened doorways to the green room and studio which also helps people with impaired sight.

“Once we’ve raised more funds, the next stage is to introduce a toilet for people with access requirements on the lower ground floor.”

Ripon city councillors are determined that proceeds from the sale of Ripon Spa Baths must not go to the soon-to-be-defunct Harrogate Borough Council.

A ‘for sale’ sign remains in place at the baths, a listed building that was once the centrepiece of Ripon’s Edwardian spa quarter.

The baths permanently closed on November 7, four months before the delayed opening of Ripon’s new multi-million pound pool at Dallamires Lane.

The building was put on the market by Harrogate Borough Council after being deemed to be ‘surplus to requirements’.

Ripon councillors are adamant that money from the sale of Spa Baths should not go to Harrogate Borough Council.

Ripon City Council successfully applied for the building to be listed as an asset of community value — which means the community has six months to formulate a bid to buy it.

At the same time, Harrogate Borough Council, which will be abolished in 13 months, has selected an unnamed preferred bidder to take on the building.

The city council has continued to meet with the preferred developer to discuss the site’s future use.

It said the two parties have held ‘constructive discussions’ designed to maintain community use at the site as part of wider redevelopment proposals.

Independent Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams received unanimous support from members at last week’s full council meeting for a proposal to appoint consultants, who will advise the council on progressing the ACV application.

He said:

“The developer has said that they are happy to work in partnership with us and, this being the case, there is no reason why Harrogate Borough Council, which is in its dying embers, should receive any money from sale of the building.

“Ripon did not receive a single penny from Harrogate when it took over Spa Baths and other city assets in 1974 so it’s reasonable to expect the borough council to return the properties at no cost to the city council.”

Read more:

• Six months to save Ripon’s Spa Baths for the community
• Ripon bids to take back city assets

The return of assets

Ripon, along with other parish and town councils that became part of the Harrogate district in 1974, have been seeking the transfer back of assets ranging from halls to market squares.

However, a notice of motion to this effect presented at February’s full Harrogate Borough Council meeting by Ripon independent councillor Pauline McHardy was defeated after a stormy debate by the Conservative-controlled authority.

At that meeting, Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper said the motion “simply isn’t legal’”.

He said that the borough council itself can not produce takeover plans for its own buildings to be run by local councils.

At the meeting, Cllr Cooper expressed doubts about the ability of town and parish councils to manage and operate assets, but added Harrogate Borough Council was: 

“Seeking to get better services for residents run from these assets is where we should be focusing.

“If parishes can do it better and put together a delivery plan – great.

“I wish them all well and good luck in managing those services from parish, city and town councils. But what I am seeking to do is make sure they get control of assets and run great services from them legally, quickly and sensibly.”

Reminders of the desperate plight of the embattled people of Ukraine have been evident across Ripon in recent days.

From the Rotary Club of Ripon collection at a bustling Market Place, to the contemplative silence of churches, there have been opportunities for residents to provide financial support, pray, or both.

On Rotary Way, customers at the Marks & Spencer food store are being invited to make a donation when they pay for their shopping. Similar collections are being held at other Ripon shops and businesses

Further down Rotary Way, an iconic image from another war provides a simple and moving message of support for passing motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.

The silhouette of the First World War soldier and his sweetheart has had the blue and yellow ribbons of Ukraine added along with a posy of flowers of the same colours.

The Our Lady of Fountains Altar at St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church, where The Pope’s prayer for peace can be seen

At St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church on Coltsgate Hill, the altar of Our Lady of Fountains is decked in yellow and blue. The altar also displays the prayer for peace of Pope Francis.

The altar was bequeathed to the church by the family of the 1st Marquess of Ripon, a man known for his kindness and compassion, who died in 1909.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin and his consort Nigel Guy (right), are pictured with Ali Edwards (centre) her partner Lizzie, and some of the 40-plus people who attended the fundraising event

Ripon’s Lewis Edwards, who escaped Kyiv late last month with his Ukrainian partner Tanya Bogdanovska and is now in Slovakia, spoke via his mobile phone to family, friends and supporters gathered at a fundraising event held at the Magdalens pub on Saturday evening.

Mr Edwards told attendees at the packed venue, how former Harrogate soldier Mike Heelan had arrived safely in Slovakia to lend an extra experienced pair of hands to the 10-strong team, which is helping refugees seeking sanctuary in countries across Europe.

The event, hosted by the pub’s owners, the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Eamon Parkin and his consort Nigel Guy, raised more than £1,300, which be will added to £16,000-plus already raised through donations to the gofundme page set up by Mr Edwards’ family.

Ripon Runners made up for lost time when the Lightwater Valley 10k returned at the weekend after two years off because of covid.

Ted Leahy completed the testing course in 35 minutes and 43 seconds to win the men’s open race, 19 seconds ahead of Ripon Runners clubmate Jamie Baker.

Jamie was outright second in the race and also won the men’s seniors event in a time of 36.02, almost five and a half minutes ahead of the second-placed senior runner.

Ted Leahy, winner of the men’s race and Emily Abbey, who won the women’s race

Other winners from the club, included Ian Harrison in the male veterans 40 race and Lenny Lennox who was the first male veteran over 60 to cross the finishing line.

The outright winner of the women’s race was Emily Abbey of Swaledale Runners in a time of 44 minutes and.37 seconds.

Morag McDowall and Lucy Philpott capped an outstanding day for Ripon Runners by winning the female veterans 55-years old and female veterans seniors categories respectively.

A total of 136 runners completed the race and many more, including junior runners, took part in the 3k event.

The other winner was North Stainley Primary School, which raised much-needed funds from the entry fees paid by runners.

The annual race, over an undulating multi-terrain route, is organised by the charity Friends of North Stainley School and covers a course that  passes through the Lightwater estate and the surrounding countryside.

Money raised contributes towards the cost of school trips, technology for pupils, music lessons and sporting activities.

North Stainley Primary School opened in 1871 and is still based in its original building, close to the village church of St Mary’s.

All photographs provided by Tyler Parker Photography.

Read more:

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