Communities across the Harrogate district are on stand-by for flooding as Storm Christoph continues to bring persistent rain to the region.

With water levels set to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, home owners and organisations are watching to see whether rivers will rise enough to burst their banks and inflict damage on property.

In Boroughbridge, the Emergency Response Team (BERT) is ready to take action if the River Ouse rises above the predicted peak. Group leader Pauline Phillips told the Stray Ferret:

“At the moment, it’s just a watching brief. We can look at the telemetry online, which is very helpful, and I go down to the river and check the level as well.

“It’s looking like it will peak tomorrow morning at about 14.5m. We know if it gets to 15m it starts to come onto the road.”

The volunteers at BERT are standing ready to act if needed, and awaiting any warnings from Harrogate Borough Council’s emergency planners. Anyone in need of help can visit the Boroughbridge Town Council website.

Sandbags deployed

North Yorkshire County Council has deployed more than 15,000 sandbags – double the usual amount – and its highways team has been clearing drains and gullies.

Cones, barriers and signage for road closures have been distributed across the region and are ready to be used when necessary.

Highways staff are monitoring key routes, including Kex Gill and Blubberhouses.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson urged motorists not to take chances driving through flood water, adding:

“Just 60cm of standing water and 30cm of flowing water can be enough to float/move your vehicle. So please don’t take the risk!”

A yellow weather warning is in place across the Harrogate district, lasting until Thursday lunchtime. An amber warning for heavy rain which could result in damage to property or even danger to life applies to the southern and western edges of the district, including parts of Nidderdale.

On stand-by

The community in Pateley Bridge, which was hit by flooding last February, will also be watching levels on the River Nidd over the coming hours. The Environment Agency issued a flood warning and a flood alert for the river this afternoon.

Town councillor Ian Skaife, who leads the Community Resilience Committee, said this afternoon he did not expect there to be any major problems — but he will be watching the weather and river levels overnight.

“There’s plenty of capacity in the river at the moment. The unknown factor is what rain is coming down further up the dale. With the snow melt from the weekend, all three reservoirs will be full to capacity.”

Cllr Skaife said the amount of rainfall today should not be enough to overwhelm the rivers, but he and fellow members of the resilience committee will remain on stand-by in case they are needed as the storm continues.

Meanwhile, residents in Knaresborough will also be waiting anxiously to see whether the heavy rain causes the lower River Nidd to rise. Those living on the caravan park at Archers Meadows, just off York Road, are watching again as waters rise, after repeated flooding on the site over recent years – including water getting into several homes on Boxing Day in 2015.

Flood prevention measures have been introduced in the area, but residents have questioned their effectiveness as the water continues to rise rapidly in heavy rainfall.

Read more:

• Flood alerts issued as heavy rain forecast for Harrogate district
• ‘Clean your chimneys’, urges fire service after two fires near Ripon yesterday

Pressure is mounting for NHS staff to be offered free parking after North Yorkshire County Council wrote to the chief executive of Harrogate District Hospital.

NYCC chairman Jim Clark wrote to Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) to ask it to “actively consider” reinstating free parking for staff.

The hospital had previously allowed staff to park for free between late March and September, in recognition of the challenges they faced in the early months of the pandemic. The lost income was supplemented by the government as part of a national scheme.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret about the letter, which he had also sent to other trusts across the county, Cllr Clark said:

“It’s a cross-party issue with unanimous support and it was right, as chairman of the council, that I sent the letter.

“It shows how much the people of not only Harrogate but of North Yorkshire are very grateful for all the NHS does. To charge them to park is a bit of an anomaly.”

The letter also asked the trust to look at options for sustainable travel to help reduce its carbon footprint. Cllr Clark offered NYCC’s help in introducing schemes which would support staff to use environmentally friendly methods of travel.

It took almost five months for the wording of the letter to be agreed, after first being proposed in July by Cllr Geoff Webber, the leader of the Liberal Democrats on NYCC.

He called for councillors to ask all hospital trusts in North Yorkshire to offer free parking, but an amendment was proposed by Cllr Richard Cooper, who represents Harrogate Central for the Conservatives, to remove references to free parking and instead support and encourage “measures which enable staff to travel to and from work sustainably”.

The final version of the letter, which was drafted through the county council’s scrutiny process, includes both the call for free parking and support for sustainable travel. It received the backing of all councillors in November before it was signed and sent by Cllr Clark this month.

Cllr Webber said:

“Many hospital staff put their lives at risk for the community every working day and to charge them over £50 per month to park on site at the hospital, particularly when we are all discouraged from using public transport, is disgraceful.

“The cancellation of parking charges for staff would be a small gesture to show the gratitude of the management and the community.”

Read more:

• Frontline Harrogate hospital staff ask for car parking refunds
• Coronavirus surge forces Harrogate hospital to postpone surgeries

After reinstating parking charges in September, HDFT told staff in December it would donate the £50.50 per month from each staff member to Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity, to be used for a staff health and wellbeing fund.

However, some staff were unhappy about the charges and asked to opt out of the scheme. One frontline worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret:

“It feels like a kick in the teeth after all we’ve been through in 2020. We were busy before Christmas but right now it’s manic and we feel we deserve this money back.”

In response, a spokesperson for the hospital trust said:

“Parking charges were suspended in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic when regular services were completely cancelled. The Trust made the difficult decision to reintroduce charges when normal services resumed in order to protect the very limited space available, and ensure parking was as stress free as possible for patients using our services.

“We do understand the challenges for staff but we believe it would be unfair for the benefit of free car parking to be limited to those with a car parking pass. This is why we have made the commitment that monies raised from staff car parking will be reinvested into the staff welfare fund. This will be specifically used to benefit colleague health and wellbeing all across the Trust. Where it is invested is being decided by a staff group.”

The Stray Ferret contacted HDFT this week about the letter from NYCC. The trust said it had nothing to add to its previous statement.

Residents in areas prone to flooding across the Harrogate district have been urged to be ready for rising waters this week.

The Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for residents around the lower River Nidd today, as snow further up the river melts rapidly.

Areas around Cattal, Tockwith and Kirk Hammerton could all be affected as water levels rise today.

The warning says roads and farmland could be flooded as the river reaches its peak, along with tributaries including Sand Beck, Sike Beck, Pool Beck and Great Gutter. The warning says river levels in the upper catchment have already peaked.

The Environment Agency said:

“Please be aware that further rain is forecast from Tuesday, January 19. We are closely monitoring the situation and our incident response staff are checking defences. Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses.”

Meanwhile, the Met Office has issued yellow and amber warnings of heavy rain across North Yorkshire. Coming into effect from the early hours of Tuesday morning and lasting until Thursday, they warn of fast-flowing, deep floodwater which could pose a danger to lives.

Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to buildings, and some communities could be cut off. Power cuts, road closures and disruption to public transport are also likely, the Met Office said.

The Stray Gardener is written by Rudding Park’s Kitchen Gardener, Fiona Slight.

Fiona has worked in horticulture for over 30 years in the UK and abroad, and specialises in growing fruit and vegetables for fine dining. 

January weather getting you down? Here are five things I do to take my mind off those dull dark days, and to ensure things are raring to go when the weather improves and we have more motivation to get outside.

1. Grow what you like
At home, I only grow what I know we want to eat.  Choose your favourite fruit and vegetables and if you think any of them will be difficult to grow, have a go anyway!  Research well before starting, as this gives you a far better chance of success.  If you have room, soft fruit is always an easy and very productive choice.  Soft fruit can be very expensive even in season, so if you can grow your own, not only have you reduced food miles, you’ve saved money too.  Most soft fruit freezes or preserves really well and has a multitude of uses at any time of year.

2. Get organised
Decide when and where things are going to grow, think about successions and using your space to grow the maximum number of vegetables – especially important in a small space. Don’t just think about summer, try to plan ahead for winter crops that will be ready to harvest in early spring the next year.

Make a plan for your 2021 planting

3. Be floral – Remember to add some flowers too. Not only are they pretty, they entice pollinating insects and many types of predators that will help to protect your precious crop.  Flowers such as Violas, Nasturtiums, Sweet Alysum and Sweet Rocket are also edible and help to finish off a plate of food beautifully. Sweet peas (not edible) and Dahlias fit in a Kitchen Garden really well, and also provide beautiful blooms for cutting.

4. Clean – Tidy out your shed, wash pots, clean labels to re-use, clean tools. If everything is clean and ready to go, it saves time later in the year when you are most likely too busy to do it.  Clean your green house if you have one, it makes a big difference in winter and early spring to have clean glass to let in optimum light levels.  Use garlic candles, which are a more environmentally friendly way to kill off any overwintering pests, such as aphids and red spider mite that may be lurking in there.

Apple blossom will soon be in bloom again

5. Reflect – Take stock of your garden, slowly wander round looking at what you have, are you still using the fruit you put in? Does anything need lifting and dividing in Spring, such as Rhubarb.  Do you have any room for a fruit tree?  If so, order a bare root tree, they are much cheaper, and you get a lot more choice than you do with container grown trees.  Lastly, how can you entice more wildlife in to your garden, this is not only more beneficial to the environment, but can help with controlling unwanted pests in your garden.

Remember, better weather and longer daylight hours are just around the corner!

Stray Foodie Lockdown Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

“I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.”

January is rhubarb time in Yorkshire. The Tomlinson family have been growing forced rhubarb in Pudsey, West Yorkshire for four generations. It is known as the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle with excellent growing conditions. The plant is initially grown outside and subject to a specified number of frosts. Each winter acres of Rhubarb plants are transferred into long nursery sheds to be forced. Harvested in the dark by candle light according to an age-long tradition. The stalks are almost fibreless and bright pink in colour and has the most amazing flavour, unlike the rhubarb we get later in the year which can often be green and tough – this is not! It is one of the colourful joys of January.

Fresh local rhubarb is one of the joys of January

My Grandmother had a larder and as a child it sticks in my memory and was a source of inspiration. It was full of colour with bottled fruits of every variety, preserved in the summer to be enjoyed in the winter.

Japanese cuisine that is so fashionable contains a lot of preservation of varying sorts. Pickling, fermenting, smoking and drying, all to achieve the wonderful fifth taste, as has other culinary cultures, which brings to mind the preservation of this great January ingredient Yorkshire Rhubarb.

Here is a recipe for a rhubarb dessert and a pickled rhubarb. Sweet and Sour, you have your choice.

For the pickling liquor:

Ingredients

100g Sugar

100g White wine Vinegar

The zest of 1 Orange, 1 Lemon and 1 Grapefruit

10g Ginger Root

Method

Place all ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil to make a pickling liquor.

Bring to the boil and add a couple of sticks of chopped Rhubarb, take off the heat and cover with cling film until cool.  When cool, remove the rhubarb from the pickling liquor and serve with cold meats, pates, cheese etc.

For the Rhubarb Semi Fredo:

A semi iced mousse, which is extremely useful as you can use it to embellish other puddings.

Ingredients

175g Rhubarb Puree – for this you will need 7 sticks of rhubarb and 250g sugar.  Add the sugar and the rhubarb to a pan, cover with cling film and cook slowly until it falls and drain of the liquid and reduce to thick consistency. Put through a food processor until smooth.

20g White Wine

40g Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

170g Whipped Cream

Method

In a bowl over a pan of hot water, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and wine to a thick mousse like consistency over a gentle heat. Fold in the rhubarb puree and whipped cream. Pipe or spoon into finger moulds and place in the freezer.

As you will see from the image, decorate your Rhubarb Semi Fredo fingers with whipped cream, poached rhubarb, donuts, jam, tuille biscuits, and a little chilli should you feel adventurous!

Rhubarb semi fredo by Frances Atkins

This column is written for the Stray Ferret by Kimberley Metcalfe. Kimberley has an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Her company Pooches Galore is based in Harrogate and specialises in dog training and resolving canine behavioural problems.

As we are in the midst of another national lockdown one phrase that we have heard over and over again is ‘social distancing’. The thought that we cannot be close to others is an alien one to us. And the same goes for dogs: we spend a lot of time when our puppies are young encouraging them to be friends with every dog they see. Unfortunately, not all dogs grow up to want to be around other dogs – it makes them feel anxious or scared and this anxiety manifests as aggression.

As a behaviourist, I work daily with dogs who cannot cope when other dogs invade their personal space. For the owners in this situation the sight of another dog bounding over towards them is terrifying. This over excited, bounding dog, is often paired with an owner calling out “it is ok, they are friendly!”.

Unfortunately for the anxious dog, their brain is unable to compute this as friendliness. Instead their fight or flight system has been activated, and being trapped on a lead often leads to only one outcome: fight. The sympathetic nervous system releases several brain chemicals to help with the survival of the animal and the dog is no longer thinking rationally.

As a dog owning community, we need to help these anxious dogs by keeping social distanced not just from a human standpoint but for our dogs too. This is especially true when we see other dogs on a lead.

For most of us, our dogs leads are for keeping them next to us when we are on a walk, however, for owners of reactive dogs they can feel like the only way to have control over situations.

Of course, there are other reasons that dogs are on leads: they could run off when the owner unclips the lead, they could be in pain or be injured, they could be old or in season. However, for any or all of these dogs, having dogs run up into their face can cause a lot of frustration or anxiety and this in turn can become aggression over time.

So, let’s make a promise, if we see another dog off the lead, or an owner who is working hard to keep their dog calm in the presence of others, we help them out – keep our dogs close to us, under control, increase social distance. With reactive dogs it often takes a village – or in our case a town.

Two couples from Ripon were caught up in unexpected drama yesterday when a tree fell under the weight of snow.

Nicole Bond and her partner Ben Crewe were walking near College Lawns, just off Palace Road, yesterday lunchtime when they heard a cracking noise.

Assuming it was pallets being broken up on the nearby business park, they thought nothing of it – but seconds later realised what was happening. Nicole said:

“Ben looked up and shouted ‘run!’. I froze, but he ran out of the way. Luckily, I was right by where the tree fell, but I didn’t have to move.

“There was a couple that didn’t have time to move. As the tree was falling, there was a massive plume of snow that came up and covered everybody.”

As soon as the snow settled again, Nicole realised how big the tree was – and the damage it could have done.

“I thought the worst had happened. We were screaming, ‘are you OK? Are you hurt?’ Ben went into complete action mode and started pulling branches to get to them and I called for an ambulance.”

The huge tree fell under the weight of snow in Ripon. Photo: Nicole Bond

Very quickly, Ben managed to reach the couple. The woman was shaken but didn’t seem badly hurt, but her husband had a head injury that was bleeding.

Ben and Nicole used their clothes to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, following instructions from the call handlers on the phone.

They were warned that, thanks to the road conditions, it could take 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive – but it only took around five minutes before paramedics were on the scene. They treated the injured couple before taking them to hospital for further assessment.

Read more:

• LIVE: More snow forecast for Harrogate district tonight
• Covid vaccinations postponed after snow

Nicole has since been contacted by the woman to say they are both recovering, her husband having been treated for concussion, and to thank her and Ben for their help on the scene.

It was only chance they were all in the wrong place at the wrong time: Nicole and Ben took a different route for their usual dog walk because of flooding. Having spent the morning helping drivers make their way along snowy roads near home, they had just paused to take a video of the road conditions in the area – and a few seconds more or less could have made all the difference to how the incident played out.

Nicole added:

“It’s just crazy. It was all over within 10 minutes, including the ambulance getting there. We barely even had time to think at all.

“I was quite glad I took Ben out for a walk with me, and for the ambulance staff keeping everybody calm. It could have been a lot worse.”

The fallen tree in Ripon has already been broken up and made safe. Photo: Nicole Bond

Covid vaccinations due to be given at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate tomorrow will be rescheduled because of the weather.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is rescheduling all its Saturday appointments because of lying snow, freezing conditions and further snowfall expected.

Instead, all appointments will be moved to the same time on Sunday, at the same venue.

GP practices, which are rolling out the vaccine to patients across the Harrogate district, are today contacting all those who have appointments to advise them of the changes.

A spokesperson for the CCG said the changes were being made to ensure the safety of those attending:

“Snow is forecast for the Harrogate district through the early hours of tomorrow morning. The majority of people who’d been invited to have their COVID jab tomorrow are elderly and many will be frail.”

The Met Office has issued another weather warning for snow overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning. It warns of a chance of travel disruption, with vehicles likely to become stranded, as well as the risk of slips on icy services.

Read more:

• Nidderdale minibus helps rural people get vaccines at showground
• LIVE: More snow forecast for Harrogate district tonight

The chief executive of a care charity in the Harrogate district has spoken of her frustration over the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

Care home residents and staff are classed as high risk groups and are among the first to be vaccinated as part of the national programme.

The government has set a target of February 15 to offer the vaccine to all vulnerable groups.

But Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, which provides accommodation for older people, has said so far no residents or staff at its premises have been vaccinated.

Harrogate Neighbours operates Heath Lodge on Pannal Ash Road and the Cuttings on Station View. 

Ms Cawthray told the Stray Ferret she understood GPs were under pressure but the lack of communication was frustrating.

She said:

“Personally, I think the whole vaccine thing is a bit of a nightmare. None of us have had it yet. We’ve got a handful of people at the Cuttings who have got appointments at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

“The vaccine only arrived in Yorkshire on Thursday so I’ve got to give them a chance. I’ve been told they’re giving it to the larger care homes first. When they had the first vaccine, they did that because of the way it came in quantities and had to be used quickly or it was thrown away.

“The GPs are under so much pressure anyway. People are still ill with other bugs. They’ve just finished doing flu vaccines and now they’ve got this to do. Part of me feels sorry for them because it’s such a big undertaking for them.

“The communication is really bad still. Everything comes out late. We’re just finding it frustrating. We were asked way before Christmas for lists and forms ready to receive the vaccine. Now here we are in mid-January and we’ve not even had a phone call.”

According to North Yorkshire County Council figures today, 79 out of 235 North Yorkshire care settings, which includes care homes and extra care facilities, has one or more covid cases among residents of staff.

Health chiefs have urged care homes to be vigilant over visits from family and friends, even with the vaccine rollout.

Read more:

• Health bosses urge patience on covid vaccine as 76 further cases confirmed
• Growing concern in Harrogate district over lack of communication on covid vaccine

Richard Webb, director of health and adult care at the authority, said:

“Though it’s hard with a new lockdown, the vaccines have arrived and in the coming weeks and months more and more people in our settings will have much greater protection against the virus.

“But for now, we have to assume that the new, more transmissible variant of covid is in our county so, although everybody is tired, we must redouble our efforts to stay safe and to protect our care home residents and staff. Above all we must all stay vigilant with facemasks, hand washing and social distancing.”

Mr Webb added he has also asked care homes to be patient on the rollout of the vaccine.

“My main message to providers today is please be patient. The vaccination will be made available to people using your services and to your staff and this will happen in the coming weeks as more doses of the different vaccines become available. It is better that the vaccination programme is implemented in a safe way, than rushed.

“Local NHS colleagues are working around the clock and, as soon as the national distribution system delivers new vaccine batches to North Yorkshire, they will be contacting people to vaccinate them. In most cases, GPs and their teams will be contacting you. However, in some cases, your local hospital may also offer vaccinations to staff and to people using services.”

A schools leader in Harrogate has called for greater clarity on lockdown rules and guidance on who qualifies as a key worker as demand for classroom places remains high.

Richard Sheriff, CEO of the Red Kite Learning Trust (RKLT), said primary schools in particular have seen far more pupils attending in person than was the case in the first lockdown last year.

While he sympathised with parents trying to balance home schooling with work, he said the pressure on schools was significant – and could mean lockdown measures would not achieve the results needed for restrictions to be eased.

“There’s a big difference between what’s happening in secondary and primary schools. Although there’s some rise in secondary, it’s nothing like the increase in primary. This indicates it’s about the ability of parents to cope with younger children at home and carry on working, or going to work.”

The RKLT is a group of 13 schools, including five in the Harrogate district. As well as Harrogate Grammar School, there are four primaries: Coppice Valley, Oatlands Junior, Rossett Acre and Western. Other schools outside the group have also reported much higher attendance in the current lockdown than last year.

Mr Sheriff said headteachers generally knew which parents were key workers such as doctors, nurses, care workers and others. However, he said the government’s extensive list of jobs which qualify for key worker status meant many people could ask for their child to be given a place at school.

With most children being taught from home, he said teachers needed to spend significant time supporting online learning. However, the number of pupils in schools and the need to keep them in small bubbles was placing extra pressure on staff.

‘Goodwill of parents’

In some cases, headteachers have spoken to parents who had requested a place and found a way for the child to be kept at home. Mr Sheriff said:

“We’re managing with the goodwill of parents in not utilising that place. It’s parents’ goodwill towards schools that’s allowing us to continue to function.

“The pressure on primary teachers at the moment is really significant.”

He added:

“We have managed to talk to parents in a way that has got demand to a level we can meet. If there was significant change, if everybody sent children who could, it would be impossible. We would be swamped.”

Richard Sheriff, CEO of the Red Kite Learning Trust

Mr Sheriff said a review of what qualified as key worker status would help to ease the pressure, and would also help with enforcing lockdown measures. With so many children still in school, nurseries still open and cars on the roads, he said mixed messages were being sent, unlike in the first lockdown.

“This feels very different – almost that the schools are a signal to people about the level of activity. If schools were closed, the indication would be we lock up and stay home. Schools staying open is an indication, ‘it’s OK to be out and while I’m out, I’ll pop in to see so and so or have a chat at the school gates’.”

As well as reducing the number of jobs which qualified as key workers, Mr Sheriff said it would be helpful to have clearer guidance on the number of pupils who should be in schools. After the last lockdown, the government said 20% of students should be in at any one time, allowing schools to place limits on the number of pupils in their classrooms.

The RKLT, meanwhile, has prepared ways in which it could prioritise places in schools if needed. However, Mr Sheriff said with continued cooperation from parents and better guidance from the government, he hoped it would not be needed.

Read more:

• 300 more Harrogate children receiving free school meals since pandemic
• Schools to be banned from releasing helium balloons and sky lanterns