People are being given the chance to get involved in a £2.5 million project to create a sustainable future for the Skell Valley.
The project focuses on improving a 12-mile stretch of the river from Dallowgill Moor to Ripon and includes the World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.
High levels of silt deposits threaten the ecology and poor water quality has led to a decline in nature.
The project is being co-led by the National Trust and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
To mark the start of the project, a free celebratory event will take place between 1pm and 4pm on Saturday, September 11, at Ripon’s Hell Wath Nature Reserve.
Activities taking place will include stream dipping and guided nature walks, natural wool dyeing sessions and a display of historical archives.
Refreshments and ice cream will be available.
Children attending should be accompanied and supervised by an adult.
The event is designed to highlight the role that the community, alongside farmers and landowners, can play in the four-year Skell scheme.
Project manager Nabil Abbas said:
“The project is all about working with the local community to improve this rich and beautiful landscape’s resilience to climate change, boost the local economy and increase people’s access to green space following the coronavirus pandemic.
“I hope everyone will join us on September 11 as we celebrate the start of this innovative project.”
Volunteers wanted
Project partners and local community groups will be on hand to lead activities, talk about their organisations and answer questions.
There will also be opportunities for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and interests to get involved. Volunteer roles are currently being recruited in nature conservation and archive research.
Details of the project.
Mr Abbas said:
“Volunteering offers fantastic opportunities for those wanting to develop practical conservation skills, learn about wildlife management or who might even want to follow a career in habitat conservation. It’s also a great way to meet like-minded people, help safeguard our beautiful landscape, and try something new.”
Read more:
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- Pilgrims to walk from Ripon Cathedral to Fountains Abbey
For those interested in the history of the Skell Valley, volunteers are needed for the Digging Deep in the Archives project being run by the West Yorkshire Archives Service.
No prior booking is required for people planning to attend the event.
Ripon’s Curzon cinema finally looks set to reopen
There are finally positive signs that Curzon is planning to reopen its Ripon cinema, but the company says that the date is not yet known.
The premises on North Street have been closed since the first covid lockdown in March last year.
At present, Ripon is not listed among the 13 locations on the Curzon website, but a recruitment advert in the cinema’s windows suggest it is gearing up for a reopening.
However, when approached by the Stray Ferret about the duty manager position being advertised under the heading ‘We Are Recruiting’ a member of the Curzon customer service team, said:
“I can confirm that we are reopening but we do not have a date set yet for this to happen.”
The duty manager’s role is described by the cinema chain as involving ‘work alongside the general and assistant managers on all aspects of running the cinema.
This is currently the only role in Ripon being advertised on the jobs section of the Curzon website.
The advertisement in the windows at North Street says the company is seeking a person who, among other things, has ‘strong communication skills’ can ‘lead by example to provide top class customer service at all times’ and is willing to ‘act as an ambassador for Curzon at all times.’
Recruiting, but no confirmed reopening date as yet for Curzon’s Ripon cinema.
The London-headquartered BAFTA award-winning integrated film company was founded in 1934.
Alongside its cinemas, members can view film at their homes through its streaming service.
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As the covid lockdown restrictions on cinemas and live theatre were progressively eased by the government earlier this year, Curzon issued confusing and contradictory statements about its plans for the two-screen Ripon venue, when approached by the Stray Ferret for updates on its plans.
Curzon’s opening in Ripon in November 2013, provided film lovers in the city and the surrounding rural areas, with their first cinema since the closure in 1982 of the Palladium Picture House on Kirkgate.
Post lockdown, those seeking the cinema experience have been able to see films screened at Harrogate’s Odeon and Everyman.
Rare heather moorland holds up TV transmitter replacementPlans to replace the fire-damaged Bilsdale transmitter and restore TV and radio signals for large swathes of the Harrogate district are being held up by the transmitter’s location within a rare heather moorland.
The blackout of Freeview TV channels and loss of radio signals has affected thousands of homes, particularly in the northern part of the district, after a major fire on August 10 put the 1,030 ft mast out of action.
Patience is wearing thin among many people, who have now been affected for three weeks.
Stray Ferret follower Lynette Cooper, who lives in central Harrogate, summed up the mood when she said:
“I’m totally fed up. For weeks now, I haven’t been able to see any of my favourite programmes.
“It’s the same for my daughter Helen at her home in Pickering and a friend told me that some elderly people at a Harrogate nursing home she goes to, just sit there with nothing to watch.”
The Bilsdale transmitter, built on the moors near Helmsley in 1969, is one of the most powerful transmitters in the UK, serving hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners from North Yorkshire to the North East and beyond.
The Bilsdale mast’s moorland location.
In a statement on August 13, transmitter operator Arqiva said:
“Our plan involves the erection of an 80m temporary mast at Bilsdale and we have been surveying the site to identify the best alternative locations within the restrictions we have.
“Included in this is the fact that Bilsdale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, meaning we have to seek agreement to place any additional equipment.”
In its most recent update since the fire incident, the company could still not provide a likely date when services would be restored. It said:
“We continue to work through the process to enable access to the Bilsdale site to build the temporary mast.
“There is no specific new detail to share at this point but we are continuing to work round the clock to find a way forward.”
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The transmitter’s location within a government-protected area of 44,000 hectares of moorland continues to be a stumbling block.
The area was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its heathland habitat and breeding birds. Special permission needs to be granted for access across it.
Natural England says on its website:
“Heather moorland is rare on a worldwide scale – there is probably less heather moorland in the world than tropical rainforest.
“One of the largest continuous expanses of upland heather moorland in England and Wales is here in the North York Moors – a sheep could wander from Egton to Bilsdale without leaving it. Moorland covers a third of the North York Moors National Park and most of the higher ground is covered in heather.”
The area is also a designated Special Area of Conservation — a status reserved for important plant habitats in Europe — and a Special Protection Area because of its importance to breeding birds.
Although the access issues are yet to be resolved, Aquiva said last week some Freeview services had been restored for those who receive signals from smaller relay sites. None of them are in the Harrogate district.
A TV Licensing spokesman has said customers unable to receive TV coverage for more than a month will be eligible for a refund or free extension of their TV licence.
Attempts to resettle a refugee family in the Pateley Bridge area have taken a significant step forward.
Nidderdale Community Welcome, a community group set up to sponsor a refugee family in Nidderdale, has found a house and raised more than £12,000.
Peter Wright, who heads the organisation, said:
“We can expect a refugee family to be selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and for the family to be with us in about four months time.”
With funding and housing in place, the application to bring the family to the Dales now needs Home Office approval, which should be a formality.
In preparation for the resettlement, Nidderdale Community Welcome is to hold a meeting at Pateley Bridge Methodist Church between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday next week. For further details email wrightpandh@gmail.com
The search for a house in the Pateley Bridge area for a refugee family has been successful.
Mr Wright said:
“We are now moving from the planning to the implementation stage and need to put together small teams to assist the family with benefits, schooling, language, etc.
“The meeting will allow people to hear what is involved and to help us by signing on to one or more of the teams.”
The steering group is also looking at the possibility of establishing a community investment scheme to purchase a house for the longer term of this project.
People able to invest between £5,000 and £40,000 in a fixed-term scheme with an anticipated return of two percent per annum would have a proportionate share in the capital of the house.
John Tarrant, treasurer of Nidderdale Community Welcome, can be contacted at johntarrant@leakhb.plus.com for further information.
Read more:
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Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the refugee focus has switched from those displaced by war in Syria to Afghan nationals fleeing their country.
While Nidderdale Community Welcome, which was set up in November, plans for its first refugee family, Ripon City of Sanctuary has already resettled a number of Syrian families and is ready for another.
The group, established in 2016, has been fundraising since April, in anticipation of bringing another Syrian family to the city.
It has raised 85 per cent of the money needed and a has identified a suitable house.
Nicola David, chair of the Ripon group, said:
The Ripon chapel that survived medieval plague and modern pandemic“We have been trying to build a little Syrian community here.
“Some Afghan interpreter families are currently being assisted to resettle in the UK, and a very small number have arrived in the Harrogate district.”
In Medieval times Magdalens Road was one of the principal routes into Ripon – a place that had grown in importance and religious significance from 672 AD when Wilfrid established the church where the city’s cathedral now stands.
That iconic building will be the focus of much attention next year. Services and celebrations are to be held to mark the 1350th anniversary since Ripon’s Patron Saint created the foundation upon which the city was built.
It is one of three Grade I listed buildings in Ripon, enjoying the same English Heritage (now Historic England) categorisation with the obelisk on Market Square.
That 82-foot structure, was built in 1702 and paid for by John Aislabie of Studley Royal water garden fame and, 18 years later, South Sea Bubble infamy.
In their prominent locations, Ripon’s cathedral and obelisk are two of the city’s best-known and loved Grade 1 listed buildings – but where is the third?
The answer takes us back down Magdalens Road and a small chapel that sits modestly in its well-kept grounds.
Dating back to the 12th century, the Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalen, completes Ripon’s Grade I set.
Founded by Thurstan of Caen, who was Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140, the chapel is the only complete fragment of any of Ripon’s medieval hospitals to survive from the time of its foundation.
It had sisters and a priest, whose duties were to feed and shelter lepers, maintain blind priests born in Ripon, and give alms to the poor.
Anne Priestley, who rings the bell to beckon the Sunday congregation to the chapel
For Anne Priestley and Joyce Pearson, it is a building that they have marvelled over for years.
They live in the Almshouses of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene, across the road and are two of the three keyholders for anybody wanting to visit and find out more about this hidden and historically-important gem.
Ms Priestley, said:
“This was the site of Ripon’s leper hospital – one of many created in England during the medieval period when leprosy was sweeping the land.”
In an echo, that comes all the way back to today, she said:
“The disease was far-reaching and a strain of it was thought to have been brought back to this country from men infected during the crusades.”
She added:
“Over nearly 1,000 years, this chapel has survived leprosy, the Black Death, plague, Spanish flu and now the covid pandemic.”
Keyholder Joyce Pearson, with her dog Eddie, says visitors are always welcome
Eucharist services, led by a roster of retired clergy, are held each Sunday at 10am and the chapel’s bell is rung for five minutes beforehand to beckon a congregation of up to 20.
Among that congregation is Ms Pearson, who said:
“We welcome visitors and most of them are amazed when they hear about the chapel’s history. It is very much one of Ripon’s hidden gems.”
Apart from the Sunday morning services, the chapel remains locked, but people who would like to look around it, can call on the keyholders who live at 44, 50 and 52 Magdalens Road.
Read more:
- Could former MoD houses in Ripon be home for Afghan refugees?
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Crowds flock to Ripon’s weekend of entertainment
The sun shone during the day and the tribute acts sparkled at night, as Ripon staged its second weekend of large-scale entertainment since the easing of lockdown.
By dawn yesterday, the city centre was swept, tidy and ready for dozens of stallholders at the Little Bird Artisan Market.
With its locally-made goods, the market remained open until 3pm, sharing the square with two fairground rides and a climbing wall.
The market opened prompt at 10am.
The entertainment, paid for from Ripon’s parish precept, aimed to support the city’s retailers, cafes, restaurants, pubs and heritage attractions, by driving additional footfall.
Saturday night’s crowd was larger than the one attracted by the Yorkshire Day Weekend tribute acts at the start of the month.
ABBA Forever, performing songs made famous by the Swedish supergroup, brought the curtain down on the musical entertainment, which also featured the Big Boyband Reunion whose repertoire ranged from The Backstreet Boys to Take That.
In between acts, in the shadow of the obelisk, Allison Clark from Ripon’s own ‘fab four’ team of hornblowers, performed the city’s ancient ceremony of setting the watch.
A spin beside the obelisk
Many of the children allowed to stay up late and join family groups on Market Square had, earlier on Saturday, ridden the Thomas the Tank Engine train, climbed the wall or enjoyed the uplifting experience of the Mini Paratrooper ride.
For three-year-old Scarlet, pictured above, with her grandmother Catherine, the train was the ride of choice, while a long line of older children, queued for their attempt at scaling the wall.
Today, the city’s Bank Holiday of free entertainment continues at Ripon Racecourse, which is holding its last family fun day of the season.
Gates open at 11.15, with complimentary entry for accompanied children to the course enclosure.
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The activities include a performance by the National Festival Circus, a Punch ‘n’ Judy magic show, barrel train ride, cub karts, an inflatable assault course with giant slide, balloon modelling, face painting and sand and slime modelling.
Action on the track includes Ripon’s only listed race of the season — the EBF-sponsored Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy.
Ripon’s invitation to family funfair seekers
With no funfair on Harrogate Stray this Bank Holiday, families across the district with younger children are being invited to visit Ripon.
Saturday and Sunday will see the city hold its second summer weekend event on Market Square, with two fairground roundabouts and a climbing wall free of charge.
This follows the Yorkshire Day weekend, that saw the city hold its first large-scale public event since the covid lockdowns.
While this weekend’s activities are principally aimed at people living in Ripon and the surrounding areas, families from further afield can also attend.
City council leader, Andrew Williams, said:
“People from across the district are invited to join in the fun of the fair.
“We have two rides for little ones and a climbing wall for older children.”
Family groups gathered on Ripon Market Square for the tribute acts concert held as part of the Yorkshire Day weekend
Those visiting from outside Ripon, who would like to stay later, are also invited to attend Saturday night’s free concert, featuring three tribute acts performing on a stage in front of Ripon Town Hall.
The children’s rides and climbing wall will be open from 2pm until 8pm on Saturday and 10am until 4pm on Sunday. The musical entertainment starts at 7pm on Saturday.
On Sunday, from 10am until 3pm the next in the series of Little Bird artisan markets, featuring handmade goods produced locally, will also be held on Market Square.
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Could former MoD homes in Ripon be used to help Afghans?
Ripon will do all it can to help with the resettlement of Afghan families fleeing their country in fear of the Taliban.
That’s the message from the city’s Conservative county councillors Mike Chambers and Stuart Martin, following a call for urgent action from former Mayor of Ripon, John Richmond.
Mr Richmond, who served as an independent councillor on Ripon City and North Yorkshire County Council, noticed that a clutch of former Ministry of Defence-owned houses off Whitcliffe Lane are up for sale.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“In view of the desperate plight of the Afghans that we are witnessing every day, on our televisions, I wondered if a few houses could be set aside to meet their pressing need.”
The former mayor put the question to Cllrs Chambers and Martin and also Ripon’s MP Julian Smith and he has been encouraged by their positive responses.
John Richmond is seeking urgent help to find homes in Ripon for families fleeing Afghanistan.
Cllr Chambers, who is also Harrogate Borough Council‘s cabinet member for homes and safer communities, said:
“We are already committed to resettling Afghan families in the Harrogate district and will look closely at what can be done specifically in Ripon.”
Lease back agreement
Among former MoD properties that are being marketed by Ripon’s estate agents are homes in Marina Way and Kent Close.
Prior to going on the market, the family-sized houses are being ‘lightly refurbished’ by Group Worx.
In 1996, the MoD entered into a sale and lease back arrangement with Annington Property Limited involving 55,000 homes built originally for military personnel and their families.
This includes properties in Ripon and sale boards in Marina Way and Kent Close bear the Annington name.
Cllr Chambers said:
“The properties haven’t belonged to the MoD for 25 years, but we will have to see what we can do.
“I am very aware of the ties that this country has with Afghanistan, having been welfare officer for the Royal Engineers in Ripon following my career in the RAF.”
‘Exceptional circumstances’
Cllr Martin, who is also a district councillor and immediate past mayor of the Harrogate district, said:
“While I remain mindful that many local people are seeking assistance from the council with finding a home, these are exceptional circumstances.
“A large number of Afghans who are having to leave their country for their own safety have helped the British and US forces and are our friends.
“You should help your friends and I am all for supporting their resettlement here in Ripon and other parts of the district.”
Read more:
- Harrogate District to assist Afghan refugees
- Ripon and Pateley Bridge resettlement groups ready to help
A response received from Julian Smith’s office said that he would look into the suggested provision of some of the MoD’s former properties.
Mr Richmond added:
Ex-Ripon Grammar student completes 48 marathons in 48 days“At times like these, actions will speak louder than words, I’m pleased with the willingness to look at my suggestion and believe that if Ripon and all communities across the UK can do their bit, we can ease a lot of suffering.”
Former Ripon Grammar School student John Clark has completed a remarkable feat of endurance by finishing 48 marathons in 48 days in 48 English counties.
In doing so, he has so far raised almost £38,000 for children in food poverty. He aims to achieve £48,000 and donations can still be made through www.JustGiving.com/campaign/484848
Mr Clark’s own family struggled to survive on benefits after his father suffered life-changing injuries in a work accident.
His mighty marathon venture, which amounted to 1,248 miles, finished in Worcester.
John Clark during his school days at Ripon Grammar.
The 34-year-old, who left Ripon Grammar in 2003, said:
“The challenge was even more physically and mentally demanding as I expected but the support of so many people kept me moving forwards.
“From injuries, to blisters, to extreme wet weather conditions and heatwaves there were new and interesting challenges almost daily but each day, 26.2 miles got finished regardless.
“The 48/48/48 wasn’t just about raising funding but also raising awareness.
“Throughout the challenge so many conversations were had, radio, television airtime given and newspaper columns written about the crisis this country faces and the 48. It felt like we were genuinely making a difference.
“It was about planting seeds around the country with the ambassadors, runners and schools that support the project and our hope is that those that ran with me will go on to create their own Miles4Meals events in the future to continue the financial support and awareness raising that our nations foodbanks and charities need.”
Mr Clark, who has competed in international strongman events and now owns a chain of gyms, set up the charity Miles4Meals to help families facing the same issues that he did as a child.
His life changed when his father Alan, a roofer, broke his back and shattered his foot in a fall after scaffolding collapsed.
Mr Clark added:
“I understand the difficulties families face and the hard choices that need to be made with minimal budgets available for basic living expenses.
“I hope to make a difference, so others don’t have to experience the same as I did.”
The coronavirus pandemic has increased problems faced by families across the UK with an estimated 8.4 million people living in food poverty.
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Dalesman triathlon in Ripon attracts 600 hardy souls
More than 600 people entered the inaugural Dalesman Triathlon on Sunday, which started and finished at Ripon racecourse.
Triathlons consist of a swim, followed by a cycle ride and run.
There were three different distances, the main one being the full Dalesman, which consisted of a 2.4 mile swim in the lake at Ripon racecourse followed by a 112-mile cycle route in Masham, Dallow Moor and Brimham Rocks and a 26-mile marathon run that returned to Ripon.
The full Dalesman started at 6am and final competitor finished in darkness at 10.30pm. Henry Sleight won in a time of nine hours and 53 minutes.
Event organiser Rob Wilkins, who lives near Ripon, said it was a successful but exhausting day and he hoped it would return next year.
Keen runner, the Rt. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Ripon, was among those who answered a call for volunteer marshals put out by Ripon Runners club, of which she is a member.
Dr Hartley said:
“It was a terrific event, and great for the region to attract nationwide competitors.
“In addition, it highlighted the sporting attractiveness of Ripon and its surrounding communities. It was great fun to be a marshal and I am full of admiration for all those taking part.”
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