Tim Flanagan, Author at The Stray Ferret

New walking and cycling routes to wellbeing in Ripon

An initiative to promote walking and cycling for fitness and wellbeing during the lockdown has been launched in Ripon.

The community interest company Ripon Together is behind the Healthy Journeying scheme.

It encourages people to get their daily exercise on foot or bike while enjoying the city’s scenery.

A website which gives details about safe local walking and cycle routes has been set up to support the project.

The Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, is chair of Ripon Together. He said:

“In this further lockdown it is even more important to look after each other.

“Ripon Together is supporting people’s health and wellbeing through its website where they can find lots of local walks and cycle routes.

“We are also hoping – covid restrictions permitting – to hold the traditional pilgrimage to Fountains Abbey, which could not take place on Boxing Day, on 1 May”.

He said Ripon Together was set up to make Ripon an even better place to live and it was important to encourage people to move around the city and its surrounding area sustainably, adding:

“We want more people to cycle and walk, and we want better access to the city and its countryside for those with disabilities. We need local infrastructure to support this. We would love to hear from anyone with ideas on how that can be delivered.”

Ripon Together is also supporting the creation of local greenways and a walking and cycling strategy for the city, as envisaged in the City Plan approved in a referendum in February 2019.

The proposed Clotherholme development would significantly increase traffic in the city. Healthy journeying – cycling and walking – would reduce congestion and pollution.

Ripon Together is also asking local people to help walking charity The Ramblers to identify paths that have been in public use but are not shown as footpaths or bridleways so that they can be protected under law.

If you know of any such paths, or want to volunteer to help the project, e-mail info@ripontogether.com

People who find public footpaths or bridleways obstructed or in poor condition can use the same e-mail address and Ripon Together will pass on the information to The Ramblers.

Ripon City Council freezes parish precept

Ripon City Council will not be increasing its parish precept for the 2021-2022 financial year.

In 2020-2021 council taxpayers in the city were charged £71.89, on top of the tax paid to North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council.

The precept in Ripon provided a total fund of £400,000 last year.

A total of £100,000 from next year’s budget is being allocated for public events from summer onwards in the hope that coronavirus will be under sufficient control by then to allow them to go ahead.

Money is also being set aside for the renewal of children’s play equipment at Quarry Moor Park and external decoration of Hugh Ripley Hall – the building on Skellbank named in honour of the city’s first mayor.

City council leader Andrew Williams told the Stray Ferret:

“With the current covid crisis and the impact it is having, we decided to keep the precept at the same level as last year.

“It has been a difficult time for everybody with three lockdowns, causing disruption to, among other things, the city’s retailers and the education of children.

“In addition, public events that have been a feature of life in Ripon over many generations had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus.

“However, we must look to the future and make plans and allocate prudent funding that enables us to move forward safely when the lifting of restrictions allow.”

Ripon Christmas lights were switched on last night.

Ripon’s 2020 Christmas lights were extended after an additional £65,000 from the parish precept was spent on them last year.

During 2020, the council set aside £65,000 for a number of public and civic events, including the 75th anniversary celebration of VE Day, Saint Wilfrid’s Day procession, summer bank holiday entertainment, Remembrance Sunday and Christmas and New Year festivities — all of which had to be cancelled.

The parish precept money, that would have been spent on these events and others, was subsequently diverted to pay for Ripon’s Christmas lights to be extended to help retailers and make city streets more attractive.

That move attracted criticism from some people who thought the money could have been better spent by providing direct financial support for retailers and other businesses affected by the pandemic.

Pateley’s Harefield Hall determined to survive a year of blows

Elaine Little was looking forward with optimism to 2020, which was shaping up to be a record year for Harefield Hall.

The four-star country guest house in Pateley Bridge, with its restaurant, bar, 14 en-suite rooms and bunk room for groups of cyclists and other travellers, had record bookings.

Then came covid and the first lockdown in March, which proved to be just the precursor to nine months of stop-start misery for the hall, which once belonged to the Archbishop of York.

Ms Little, the director of the hall, told the Stray Ferret:

“Just as we prepared to come out of the first lockdown and were getting ready for re-opening, a cloudburst on 28 June devastated the building.

“The rainstorm was so severe that the gutters and fall pipes were overwhelmed and the ingress of water damaged ceilings, furniture and carpets.”

The insurance claim is still to be resolved, as the pandemic has delayed the settlement processes.

The damage caused in June meant the hall could not reopen in July. Accommodation and restaurant bookings were lost, as were bar takings.

Harefield Hall once belonged to the Archbishop of York.

The premises remained closed until mid-October, then within a fortnight of reopening the second lockdown in November, effectively wiped out the pre-Christmas trade.

Now the third lockdown has dealt another huge body blow. Ms Little said:

“We’ve gone from crisis to crisis, unable to make any money to cover our overhead costs and trying to survive on a small discretionary grant and a bounce-back loan, that will need to be repaid.

“It’s so ironic, because at the beginning of 2020 we had record bookings – more than 50 per cent up on our previous best year.”

In spite of all this, Ms Little is determined that a rainstorm and three lockdowns will not blow her and her remaining team of four off-course.

She said:

“In business, you must remain positive and focused and we are determined to turn things around because we have total belief in what we are doing here.

“We hope a similar change of fortune is not far away for other small businesses in the Pateley Bridge area – some of whom are among our suppliers.”

Amid the countless calls to insurers and suppliers, Ms Little is looking to the future.

She sees potential in attracting more cyclists who are seeking hospitality and an overnight stay at Harefield, with its woodland and riverside setting.

Nature lovers, looking for the abundant variety of birds that are attracted to Nidderdale’s natural environment, also offer business opportunities, as does the opening later this year of a self-catering holiday cottage within Harefield’s grounds.

Call for volunteers as Pateley Bridge rallies for new lockdown

An appeal has been launched to find more volunteers as Pateley Bridge looks to support its most vulnerable residents through lockdown.

In the first lockdown, the Spar on the High Street became the centre for community support, delivering food and other essentials to people who were shielding or could not get out.

Tilly Chandler, whose family owns and runs the shop and Yorkshire Born and Bread bakery, said it was still making 30 free home deliveries a week to people in isolation in Pateley Bridge and neighbouring villages.

Pateley Bridge in lockdown.

However, extra volunteers will be needed if demand increases as more people in Upper Nidderdale self-isolate or shield. Ms Chandler told the Stray Ferret:

“At one stage we were handing up to 90 deliveries a day, with support from 60 volunteers. If there is a sudden surge in demand, we will need more volunteers to come forward. Anybody wanting to lend a hand can call the Spar shop number.”

In addition to the 30 weekly home deliveries that are ongoing, there is a click and collect service for people able to come to the store. Ms Chandler added:

“Some people who have been stuck at home have found it good for their physical and mental health to get out in the fresh air and use the visit into town as part of their exercise.”

Oliver’s army fights on as Ripon returns to lockdown

Yesterday morning Ripon Market Square was busy, but as dawn broke on a city entering Covid lockdown today the area fell silent – except for the sound of the on-going sewer repair work.

In Market Place East, the Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop – an earlier retail casualty of the spring and summer lockdowns – had already had its final day of trading after years of featuring on the Ripon high street.

Hairdressing salons, gyms, barbers and a bookmakers, along with all other businesses classed as ‘non-essential’ shut their doors last night and headed for weeks of uncertainty.

In Fishergate, the message from cafe owner Lou Grant was that Oliver’s army fights on. She told the Stray Ferret:

“We have decided to give it a go and see if a takeaway-only service can sustain us and carry us to safe shores when this virus is under control.”

Lou Grant, co-owner of Oliver’s Pantry

Mrs Grant, who is co-owner of Oliver’s Pantry with her husband, Tim, added:

“We are entering our ninth year and have taken every measure possible to keep our staff and customers safe, with screens, sanitisers and signs calling for people to maintain social distancing.

“Having come this far, we were not going to give up – as we feel we are in touching distance of the end to all of this hardship that we are other small businesses have had to face.”

Ripon road closure to last six weeks

A six-week road closure affecting the circulation of traffic around Ripon city centre is now in place after being delayed over Christmas.

Workers are back on site just a month after an initial closure of the junction of Market Place East with Kirkgate, lasting two weeks.

Sewer repairs being carried out by contractors on behalf of Yorkshire Water were suspended in early December to minimise disruption to Christmas trade in the city.

The suspension also followed complaints from members of the public on social media, saying that a temporary building site with fencing and cabins on it had blocked the view of the Christmas tree in front of Ripon Town Hall.

Photo of 36 bus leaving Ripon Bus Station

The unfamiliar sight of a 36 bus heading in this direction out of Ripon Bus Station on its diverted route to Harrogate.

Complainants also said at the time that the placement of temporary buildings on Market Square detracted from the look of the city’s festive lights, which had been extended at an additional cost of £65,000.

The new six-week road closure is required so that urgent sewer repair and renewal works can be carried out.

With the road closure preventing traffic from turning right from Market Place East onto Market Place South, the circulatory route around Market Square is affected and a number of diversions are in place.

Among traffic movements impacted by the closure is Transdev’s regular double decker 36 bus service to Harrogate.

To ensure that all bus stops in Ripon are served, drivers are using a circuitous route that takes in Allhallowgate, Stonebridgegate, Rotary Way and the Ripon bypass, with a right turn at the Wolseley building roundabout seeing the bus head back towards the city centre before the onward journey to Harrogate.

As Market Place West is not affected by road closures, the route into Ripon Bus Station up High Skellgate and along by the Obelisk currently remains unchanged.

History-making Ripon mayor receives New Year honour

A history-making former Mayor of Ripon has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community.

At the age of 39, in May 1975, John Richmond became the youngest person appointed to the city’s mayoral office.

Seven months later he achieved another unique feat, as the only serving mayor to carry out the hornblower ceremony, which dates back to AD 886.

Mr Richmond told the Stray Ferret:

“The hornblower was taking time off over the Christmas period and we urgently needed a stand-in to carry out the task of setting the watch – but who would do it?

“As chair of Ripon City Council, I called for volunteers, but nobody wanted the job, so in a fit of pique, I said, ‘ok then, I’ll have to do it.'”

John Richmond was recognised for his services to the city.

Mr Richmond had no experience of blowing a horn so over three weeks of discreet coaching sessions in the cellar of Ripon Town Hall, the city’s Sergeant at Mace and former hornblower, Cyril Hawley, taught him the technique.

His historic debut performance at 9pm on December 22, 1975, attracted an audience of 200 on Market Square, which applauded spontaneously after he completed four blasts on the city’s large African horn.

John pointed out:

“Part of the hornblower tradition involves announcing to the mayor that the watch has been set – so I was effectively informing myself!”

There were many more notable milestones in a 14-year career of civic service that started in 1967 when John was elected to Ripon City Council.

He subsequently won election to Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Against all odds, as an independent attending his first full meeting at county hall in 1977, he persuaded councillors of all political colours, in a Conservative-dominated authority, to support a reference back and re-think on proposals to turn 500-year-old Ripon Grammar School into a comprehensive.

Mr Richmond, who was a pupil of the school from 1947 to 1951, said:

“I was told I had no chance, but I decided to give it a go and with fellow independent Jack Blakey seconding me, we forced a re-think.”

Margaret Thatcher gave the UK’s remaining grammar schools a lifeline after she became Prime Minister in 1979 and Ripon Grammar survived, following further public consultation,

Mr Richmond’s other highlights included meeting with the mayors of Ripon, California, and Ripon, Wisconsin, when he was invited to go to the USA in 1976 to join the country’s bicentennial celebrations.

Always by his side was his wife of 55 years, Barbara, who died in 2013.

Mr Richmond said:

“She was my driving force and I wouldn’t have achieved anything without her. Though she is no longer with us, Barbara shares this honour with me.”

Light in the 2020 darkness for Ripon

The Mayor of Ripon has given a message of support and hope for residents of the city as 2020 draws to an end.

Councillor Eamon Parkin, whose mayoral year has been extended after a new mayor could not be appointed in May due to the pandemic, gave the following message to the Stray Ferret for Ripon:

It has been a year of darkness and light for the citizens of Ripon.

Few will be sorry to reach the last page in their 2020 diaries, after the nine months we have just endured.

As the joint owner of a public house, I know the pain that fellow publicans and other small businesses in the hospitality sector have experienced in this stop-start, lockdown year.

All traders classed as ‘non-essential’ have been losing out since March, with some struggling to keep their heads above water.

Against this backdrop of hardship and heartache, Ripon’s independent spirit has shone through. We turn into 2021 financially poorer, but richer in other respects.

Though the civic year has been severely curtailed by covid, I have either witnessed or been told of hundreds of acts of kindness across our proud and ancient city.

Mayor Councillor Eamon Parkin sees Ripon’s Christmas lights as a symbol of hope

People who worked late into the night on kitchen tables to produce vital protective equipment, joined neighbours on Thursday evenings to applaud the service of our hard-pressed frontline workers.

Restaurants and cafes closed because of coronavirus restrictions, made thousands of meals that were taken to elderly and vulnerable people stuck in self-isolation.

A Ripon butcher delivered free weekly meat packs to help hard-up families.

Pupils at our schools sent cards and messages to lift the spirits of care and nursing home residents and and donations of goods flooded into foodbanks.

Throughout our long history, Ripon has survived the Black Death, a Viking assault, the English Civil War and two World Wars, but an unseen, yet lethal enemy was at our gate in 2020.

It robbed us of loved ones and put our normal way of life and traditions on hold.

Our three hornblowers had to vacate Market Square – though their nightly ceremony, dating back 1134 years, has continued behind closed doors.

Celebrations of the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May had to be scaled back to home front gardens and August’s Saint Wilfrid procession was cancelled.

Despite the days of disappointment, Riponians decorated their properties, strung bunting across streets and greeted each other over fences and hedges, while joining in community singing to music played through loud speakers.

Some of the money that had been set aside for public and civic events that were either cancelled or scaled back, was used to extend our festive decorations to cover three miles of streets.

While there was criticism in some quarters about lighting a city centre where many shops and other businesses were closed, I believe that they provide a symbol of hope.

People make places and the spontaneous collaborative community effort I have seen across the city, during 2020, tells me that Ripon has a bright future.

I wish everybody a peaceful Christmas and a brighter New Year.

Music licensing organisation demands fee for Ripon carol singers

The organisation that licenses music has asked Ripon City Council to pay a fee for staging an outdoor carol service that was attended by about 20 people.

PPL PRS sent the council an invoice for £1,505 for 45 public events that took place last year.

One of the events was a Christmas Eve carol service on the Market Square.

The costing for the afternoon carol service was based on a notional 750 people attending. But the council is disputing the claim.

Councillor Andrew Williams, the chair of the council’s events committee and leader of the council, told the Stray Ferret:

“There were fewer than two dozen people present because of the poor weather, so heaven knows where they got that ridiculous figure from.

“With so many other important things that we are having to deal with at present – such as the coronavirus crisis – receiving an unexpected bill that just doesn’t stack up has sounded a sour note with the council and we are challenging the invoice.

“If necessary, we are prepared to make a song and dance about this!”

Carollers beware – singing on Ripon’s streets could prove costly

Cllr Williams also queried whether the bill should have been sent in the first place.

He said:

“The public events involving music that we staged in the city during 2019 were all at venues or on land owned by Harrogate Borough Council and they hold the required licences.”

PPL PRS is a joint venture between the UK’s two music licensing organisations — PPL and PRS for Music

A spokesperson for the organisation said:

“In the instance of a live carol concert, providing the material used falls within PRS repertoire and the event has no admission cost, the fee charged is based upon the maximum capacity of the venue, in this case 750 people.

“If the venue is operating under a reduced capacity figure, the organiser can declare this to us and an adjustment in the cost can then be made at the point of the next review. If this information is not submitted to us the event would be charged at the capacity figure.

“We have previously been in touch with the customer in question to request the correct information from them, and we would be more than happy to speak with them to resolve any issues they have with regard to the music licence invoice and attendance figures/events.”

With regard to how it gathers information used in drawing up invoices, PPL PRS said it uses “online research and historical information provided by the customer to establish events taking place, the capacity of the venue, admission cost, and the expected attendance”.

‘Drivers treat our road like a racetrack’, say Ripon residents

Ripon residents have raised safety fears about a section of unmarked road used “like a racetrack” by speeding motorists.

A 300 metre length of Kirkby Road did not have white lines replaced when resurfacing work was completed in August.

Ten nearby residents met the Stray Ferret to discuss their concerns.

Helen Mars, a teacher at Ripon Grammar School who has two young children, said:

“With the speed that some drivers come along this stretch, it’s like a racetrack – particularly at the weekends.

“As this is a road that it also used by very large lorries, we believe that it is dangerous without the white lines and an accident waiting to happen.”

Photo of a section of Kirkby Road with no white lines

Part of the 300-metre section of Kirkby Road that has no white lines. Many of the concerned residents live in homes on the left.

Residents are particularly concerned about the lack of a crossing patrol for Ripon Grammar School students, who use a path alongside the Kirkby Road allotments on their way to school.

Barbara Brodigan said:

“At least 100 children cross the road in the mornings and evenings on their way to and from school.

“Our previous requests for localised speed restrictions, a crossing and other traffic calming measures have fallen on deaf ears at North Yorkshire County Council.

“We’ve been told that a crossing can’t be introduced because the path alongside the allotments is not an officially recognised route to the grammar school.

“In effect, that means the students cross at their own peril – which is clearly unacceptable.”

Christina Thomson Jones added:

“I have lived on Kirkby Road for 29 years and the traffic issues appear to get worse and worse.

“One of my neighbours was killed while crossing the road in 1996 and nobody wants to see another fatality.”

County Councillor Mike Chambers, who represents Ripon North, said he was aware of the issues and sympathetic to calls for safety measures. He said:

“I have spoken with the county council’s traffic department about the need for a crossing, introduction of a 20 mph speed limit and even the possibility of having a one way system.

“I have another meeting with the department on January 6 and will raise these issues again and ask about replacement of the white lines, but at the end of the day, it’s down to budget availability.

“Installing a lights-controlled crossing costs up to £50,000.”

Although that money may not currently be available, Cllr Chambers is hopeful that safety measures could be funded as part of highway works to accommodate the Ripon Barracks housing development.

He said:

“The developer will have to make payments through a Section 106 agreement for works associated with the scheme and we may be able to get some of that money to address the safety issues on Kirkby Road.”

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