Ripon Cathedral is being urged by the city’s heritage watchdog to re-think its £6 million proposal to build on the gardens across the road from the iconic building.

The cathedral has been consulting on plans to erect a two-storey standalone building on parkland adjacent to the Old Courthouse Museum.

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

But Ripon Civic Society chair Christopher Hughes told the Stray Ferret:

“We are not convinced that the proposed building is the necessary and only way to achieve the new proposal for a north side development.

“Therefore, we have been unable to give it our support.

“After extensive discussions and a breadth of informed opinion the response has been delivered to the cathedral authorities.”

Ripon Civic Society supports closing Minster Road but opposes the development on Minster Gardens.

Mr Hughes added:

“We agreed that development on the north side of the cathedral is preferable and that we support closure of Minster Road, but Minster Gardens is a significant open space for the city and has always been so.

“We consider that redevelopment of this has not been fully taken into account in the new proposal. Accordingly we strongly encourage re-examination of the stone yard land in cathedral ownership and production of an alternative building design.

“The stone yard is where we contend that a significant part of the cathedral’s accommodation requirements needs to be met.”

The north side proposal was put forward as an alternative to a previous plan for an extension built onto to the south of the cathedral.

Addressing  last month’s meting of Ripon City Council, the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd. John Dobson said it was important 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.

He 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.”

Read more:

• Dean underlines the economic benefit to Ripon of cathedral proposal
• What does the Ripon Cathedral plan entail?

Harrogate district businesses and other organisations are being encouraged to provide details of defibrillator units on their premises.

The Defibs-Ripon Group, working closely with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has been at the forefront of installing and raising awareness about the location of defibrillators in the city, but is keen to make the Harrogate district aware of a wider initiative.

Group member Alec Lutton told the Stray Ferret:

“The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has created an online log in site called The Circuit, which provides locations throughout Britain of defibrillators that can be accessed 24/7 by emergency services.

Now, the BHF is looking to expand this, by registering the whereabouts of every defibrillator by including location details for all of the life-saving devices.

Mr Lutton added:

“This will be achieved by including the business names and postcodes for those ‘restricted access’ units on the premises of shops, leisure and hospitality, other businesses and organisations, where the devices are only available for use during working or opening hours.”

“Our contacts at YAS have asked us to encourage all those with such units to support this important initiative.

“There are currently 23 defibrillators in Ripon and the surrounding area that can be accessed 24 hours a day and, as a group, we would also like to add onto our locations list,  the  names and postcodes of Ripon-based businesses and organisations, where there is restricted access.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Hospital handles increase in heat-related illnesses
• Where are Ripon’s defibrillators?

Helping a heart attack victim

A heart attack or cardiac arrest could happen to anyone of any age at any time, day or night and the following advice is offered by defibrillator providers, if an incident arises:

• Start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) straight away, phone 999 and once you give the operator your location, they will tell you where the nearest defibrillator unit is.
• Do not leave the person on their own – send someone else for the defibrillator.
• The person sent for the unit, will be asked by the operator for the code on the front of the cabinet, and then given the code to open it and obtain the defibrillator.
• Each has a built-in voice instruction guide, to help you use it.

Bereaved families have accused dog owners who let their pets off the leash at a Ripon cemetery of being disrespectful and causing distress.

Jeanette Behan has visited the grave her husband Brian in Ripon’s Kirby Road Cemetery twice a week since 2014.

Mrs Behan, told the Stray Ferret:

“I’ve had to remove dog dirt from my husband’s grave on a number of occasions and I’m getting sick of it.

“It is disrespectful as well as distressing, but Harrogate Borough Council, who I contacted weeks ago, don’t appear want to know.

“I’m sorry to say that over the years, this place has gone to wrack and ruin, while Stonefall in Harrogate where I have family and friends buried, is kept neat and tidy by a team of gardeners.”

In the same section of the cemetery, the last resting place of Michael Hogan, who died in 2012, is looked after by his partner Tracey Bland.

Ms Bland said:

“The thought that some people are so disrespectful that they are happy to let their dogs run free in a cemetery, is beyond belief.

“When they are challenged, the say that they haven’t seen any signs to say dogs are not allowed, but why would anybody need to see a sign, when it’s a matter of common decency.

“I’ve got a dog and there is no way that I would let it run free across people’s graves.”

Some owners are ignoring this sign at the main entrance to the cemetery and letting their dogs run free

Ms Bland at her partner Michael’s grave

Read more:

• Harrogate Borough Council accused of being disrespectful of Ripon’s dead
• Ripon Cemetery headstones daubed with graffiti

Seeking action from Harrogate Borough Council

With a lack of response from HBC, Mrs Behan called for intervention from independent councillor, Pauline McHardy, who also has relatives buried at the cemetery and has voiced concerns about the management and maintenance of the site.

Cllr McHardy, said:

“I raised the matter with council officers, saying that there was a need for signage on all entrances to the cemetery to be improved and positioned where it can be seen by everybody.

“I also asked for the appropriate action to be taken to enforce the rule, which only allows people with assistance dogs to enter the cemetery.”

In an email response seen by the Stray Ferret, Alison Wilson, HBC’s head of parks and environmental services, said she has asked a colleague:

“to look at the signage options for the site to advise that only support dogs are allowed and also raised the issue with the dog warden service in Safer Communities requesting they undertake some patrols of the site. “

Cllr McHardy, added:

“I will be monitoring the situation.”

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