New housing and commercial developments in Ripon could fund a better local bus service.

Ripon City Council’s transport group has been trying for several years to create a more integrated bus timetable for all parts of the city.

The current RS1 Ripon city service provided by North Yorkshire County Council operates to restricted hours during the week and doesn’t run at all on weekends.

But it is hoped that section 106 funds, which developers have to pay to fund infrastructure projects, could be used to improve matters.

Councillor Peter Horton, who chairs the transport group, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are well served by Transdev’s regular 36 double decker buses that provide journeys to and from Harrogate and onward to Leeds but our inner-city service is patchy.

“When commercial operators were no longer able to provide an internal Ripon service, we were grateful that North Yorkshire County Council stepped in to help but their mini-bus covers only around half of the city and we are looking for a more joined-up service.”

Councillor Peter Horton, who says section 106 funds from Ripon developments can help pay for a new bus service.

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Some money to improve the service has been allocated from the parish precept.

Section 106 planning money from the retail development at Rotary Way, where a Marks & Spencer opened last year, is another possible source.

Longer-term, there are plans to build 1,300 homes at the Clotherholme development on the site of the former army barracks, which is another possible source of section 106 income.

Councillor Horton said:

“We will liaise with North Yorkshire County Council as the integrated passenger transport authority to discuss how the sources of funding can be drawn together.

“As a growing city, it makes sense to have a robust and regular bus service that reduces the need for cars to come into the centre, where parking is at a premium, while also providing a means for non-drivers to come into town.

“There are environmental benefits as well, as fewer car journeys into Ripon city centre will reduce the emissions that cause global warming.”

A £2.5 million scheme to revive the river valley that runs through Fountains Abbey has been given the green light today.

The abbey and its water garden near Ripon are a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the UK’s most significant cultural landmarks.

But flooding has deluged the abbey ruins and the adjacent water garden several times in recent years. Nearby homes and businesses have also been affected.

Wildlife is under threat from poor water quality because of increased sediment in the river.

Now the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a £1.4 million grant to tackle the problem.

The sum, combined with funding from other sources, will enable the valley to be protected from the effects of climate change and flooding, which has threatened to cause irreparable damage to the abbey.

The Skell valley scheme aims to rejuvenate 12 miles of the River Skell by improving the landscape’s resilience to climate change.

Work on the scheme, led by the National Trust and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is due to begin in March.

The River Skell, which runs through the Fountains Abbey UNESCO World Heritage site

In 2007, flooding devastated archaeology at Fountains Abbey, inundated the water garden of Studley Royal  and caused damage downstream in Ripon.

Despite efforts to tackle the effects of extreme weather, flooding and silt-build up continue to threaten the valley’s heritage and ecology.

But now, with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other funders, including the European Regional Development Fund, large-scale work to protect the landscape can begin.

The four-year scheme, which has been under development for several years, will involve local partners, landowners, farmers and volunteer groups.

Efforts to reduce flooding will include tree planting, meadow creation and new ponds, which will reduce soil run-off and slow the flow of water.

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The project is designed to boost wildlife in the valley and it is hoped that populations of rare species such as curlew, white-clawed crayfish and golden plover will increase.

Communities will take an active role in the scheme with opportunities to learn conservation skills and undertake archive research.

Councillor Nigel Simms, who represents Masham and Kirkby Malzeard on Harrogate Borough Council and is chair of the Nidderdale AONB joint advisory committee, said:

“We will work closely with local farmers and landowners across the Skell valley to put in place nature-based solutions that will reduce flooding and improve biodiversity in and around the river.”

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.

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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 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’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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.”

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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.”

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.”

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.

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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.