A short queue of cars was waiting outside the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Penny Pot Lane in Harrogate this morning.

After North Yorkshire County Council announced yesterday afternoon that it was going to re-open some of its tips today, locals were ready to make use of the facility.

Traffic management was in place, forcing drivers to approach the site from the west only. Those arriving from the Harrogate side had to follow signposts to go along the A59 and down to join the queue on Penny Pot Lane.

NYCC said if the queue becomes too long, it will ask drivers to come back later in order to spread demand.

Diversion signs re-direct traffic arriving from the east

With 10 tips now open from 8.30am to 5pm, seven days a week across North Yorkshire, the county council said they are only to be used by people who cannot store their waste at home until lockdown is lifted. Commercial waste is not being accepted and nor are trailers, but charges are still being made for disposing of some non-commercial waste, including hardcore, rubble, plasterboard and tyres.

Coun Andrew Lee, NYCC’s executive member for Waste Management, said:

“Please consider others and go to the HWRC only if you are struggling. If you can store your waste at home, please do so. And please continue to try to minimise waste and where possible use your kerbside collection services rather than visiting a recycling centre. Ask yourself whether your trip to the centre is really an essential journey.

“As outlined in Government guidance, a visit to your local HWRC should only be considered essential if the waste materials cannot be stored at home without causing risk of injury or harm to health.

HWRCs on Wetherby Road in Harrogate and Dallamires Crescent in Ripon remain closed.

The planned commemorations may not be possible, but across the Harrogate district, communities are preparing to ensure that the 75th anniversary of VE Day is marked.

Bunting, music and afternoon tea will be the order of the day on Friday – all carried out in line with social distancing guidance.

Nationally, the Royal British Legion is encouraging people to join with a two-minute silence at 11am and a UK-wide sing-along of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again at 9pm.

Locally, towns and villages are organising acts of remembrance to be carried out together from a distance. Groups of neighbours are also planning socially-distanced street parties through the day.

Residents are being encouraged to decorate their homes to mark VE Day

North Yorkshire County Council chairman Jim Clark, who represents Harrogate Harlow division, said: “This anniversary was never just about looking back at something that happened 75 years ago, and the situation in which we find ourselves today makes that even more pertinent. 

“Then, as now, it is about community spirit. The theme of Holocaust Day this year was Stand Together. While we can’t do that physically, we can in spirit. We can stand together in remembrance and thanksgiving, against hatred and prejudice and for building stronger communities. 

“I encourage people in towns and villages across North Yorkshire to take time to reflect and to remember in their own way.” 

Harrogate

In the town centre, displays of vintage vehicles, a parade by the Army Foundation College and a Spitfire on show by the war memorial have all had to be cancelled, along with a concert at the Royal Hall. Instead, community groups are helping to make the day special for people at home.

Oatlands Community Group is encouraging people to raise a cup of tea at their doors or windows at 4pm to mark VE Day together. Other events and commemorations include:

• a photographic slideshow trail on Harrogate Library’s Facebook page
• afternoon tea for one being delivered to vulnerable people supported by Oatlands Community Centre, along with a postcard reproduction of a wartime scene drawn by schoolboy Will Robinson, printed on the back with the lyrics of We’ll Meet Again
• activity packs available to be downloaded free or can be delivered by post at a cost of £1.75 from MyLifePool community enterprise
• Yarn Etc on Knaresborough Road is encouraging people to make and keep knitted or crocheted bunting ready for a community project at a later date
• HG Community Lockdown Festival will be a weekend of events to bring people together virtually for activities and entertainment

Knaresborough

The Knaresborough Royal British Legion is encouraging people to mark the occasion from home. As well as joining local and national activities, they want people to share photographs on social media of how they have marked the day.

Branch vice-chair Dave Houlgate said: “As we face some of the most challenging times since the end of the Second World War, now more than ever it is important to unite in recognition of service to the nation, just as communities did 75 years ago.

“There are many parallels between the struggles of the Second World War and what we are going through today. We look to our Second World War generation to learn from their experiences.  The Legion continues its work to protect them from the threat we currently face.”

The branch’s planned refurbishment and re-dedication of the VE/VJ seat in the castle grounds will be rescheduled for VJ Day in August. Meanwhile, on Friday:

• Knaresborough Delivers will be bringing afternoon tea to households in the morning, supplied by local businesses including Six Poor Folk, McQueen’s Cafe, Number Thirteen and Hirst’s Bakery. (Pre-order by 2pm on Thursday.)
• 11am – two minutes’ silence 
• 4pm – town-wide clap for veterans  
• 4pm – sing-along to We’ll Meet Again

Ripon

Ripon Cathedral was preparing to host the county’s official commemorative service. Social distancing may have stopped the service from going ahead in the building, but it will proceed online.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, will lead the service. The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, will speak, while the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Mrs Jo Ropner, and Coun Jim Clark will also give readings. Dishforth Military Wives Choir and the Black Dyke Band will also take part, and assistant organist Tom Coxhead will conclude the service with William Walton’s Spitfire Prelude. Watch online via the cathedral’s website. 

Ripon library will showcase Newby Hall Archive on its Facebook page, in partnership with West Yorkshire Archive Service, along with newspaper articles from the time. Residents are also being encouraged to decorate their windows in red, white and blue, while Union flag bunting has been strung across Princess Road.

• 11am – broadcast on YouTube of virtual service from Ripon Cathedral
• 3pm – city-wide clap to mark the time when Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe

Boroughbridge

A planned town-centre celebration, including a ceremony at the war memorial followed by community activities, has had to be called off. However, the united parish of Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Dunsforth, Minskip and Roecliffe are at the heart of the newly-planned commemorations.

• 10.30am – community singing in gardens (lyrics on the churches’ website)
• 10.50am – online prayers led by the Rev Karen Gardiner
• 11am – national anthem and blessing

Pateley Bridge

Residents are being encouraged to dress their windows in red, white and blue, while bunting is going up in Greenwood Avenue ready for the commemorations.

• 11am – The Last Post played through loud speakers across town, followed by a two-minute silence and Reveille
• 11.02am – playing of I Vow to Thee, My Country (lyrics on the St Cuthbert’s Church Facebook page)
• after – everyone is encouraged to enjoy picnics in their gardens

Harrogate Convention Centre is not being paid any rent by the NHS for its use of halls as a temporary Nightingale hospital.

Since construction began in late March, and until the end of June, rent is not payable to the convention centre or its owner, Harrogate Borough Council.

Staff from the convention centre, as well as HBC’s property services, estates and ICT departments, have supported the transformation of the centre into the Nightingale hospital ready to be handed over and officially opened on April 21st. Documents due to be discussed by the council’s cabinet tomorrow say:

“The contract is initially in place until the end of June 2020 and work is underway to understand whether that may be extended.

“The contract does not provide for rent to be paid during the NHS occupation up to the end of June, as no planned events were being held during this period. However, should the agreement be extended there is provision for compensation in the event of the cancellation of future events.”

Harrogate Convention Centre has not commented on whether its staffing, utility and other costs are being covered, or on arrangements from July onwards. Harrogate Borough Council has also declined to comment.

The Nightingale hospital is not currently in use, but is on stand-by in case existing hospitals in Yorkshire and the Humber are unable to cope with the number of Covid-19 cases.

It has 500 beds and has occupied eight of the centre’s halls. Staff who were trained on site during April have since returned to their usual workplaces elsewhere in Yorkshire.

Dentists and technicians from the Raglan Suite Dentistry Laboratory in Ripon have developed a protective visor from 3D printers normally used for dental work.

So far they have provided almost 2,500 visors free of charge to local care homes, hospitals and other key workers that need them.

Steven Campbell, Dental Technician at the Raglan Suite and MD of Nexus Dental Laboratory, told The Stray Ferret:

“Dentistry is on pause, so we wanted to make use of our 3D printing machines that usually make night guards, liners and dentures. I was shocked at the lack of PPE available so we have managed to come up with the perfect design to create these essential visors. It is brilliant to be able to provide  PPE equipment to our local area.”

The technicians have also been making 900 ear savers each day to make the visors more comfortable for people to wear for long periods of time.

There has been industry funding for the production of these and there is also a go fund me page where people are able to donate towards the making of them.

The amount of people who used Harrogate’s food bank more than doubled when lockdown was introduced and volunteers fear another spike could be on the way when measures are lifted.

Figures from The Trussell Trust show that from March 13 until March 31 this year, the facility at Mowbray Community Church, West Moreland Street, saw 224 people collect food – a 146% increase on the same period last year.

The food bank also saw its busiest ever session on the first Friday of lockdown as 90 people came to collect within two hours.

Jan Bathurst, who has been team leader at the facility for the past seven years, said she feared there will be more who need support after lockdown as the economy struggles.

Donations which have been made to the food bank at Mowbray Community Church on Westmoreland Street.

“I think demand will go up after lockdown and we will see another spike,” she said.

Among those who needed support were people on zero hours contracts and families with children on free school meals.

Others included the self-employed, people with mental health problems and those struggling with debt.

Meanwhile, social distancing measures have been put in place at the facility to keep both volunteers and those who need the food bank safe.

The food bank now pre-packs food for people who have been referred to them by bodies such as Citizens’ Advice to collect.

Jan Bathurst, Team Leader at the Harrogate District Food Bank.

Those referred to the facility are also no longer allowed into the church to collect their packages or have a coffee with volunteers.

Instead, a table is placed in front of the entrance where food is handed over to them on collection.

Helen Ketteringham, who has volunteered at the food bank since it was opened in 2013, said the lockdown has been tough to deal with.

“It was a shock for everybody,” she said. 

“A lot of the volunteers at the food bank are elderly and they had to stay at home to be shielded.”

Currently, the food bank operates on a team of 12 who help to prepare packages and distribute them.

Donations have also continued to come into the facility, with the majority of food being offered by the public.

A mobile coronavirus testing site has been set up in the car park at the Hydro in Harrogate.

The Jenny Field Drive drive-through site will offer testing to key workers by appointment only and is one of four being run by the military in North Yorkshire.

A mobile coronavirus testing centre has opened at the Hydro, Harrogate

Permanent sites have been set up at Poppleton park and ride near York and at Temple Green in Leeds. North Yorkshire County Council said the mobile testing unit was for “key worker and priority testing”.

Signs ask visitors to keep their windows closed

On arrival, people are being asked to keep their car windows closed except when prompted to do otherwise. Following guided lanes, they pull up to be passed a swab test which they then drop into a box to be sent away for testing.

Military personnel are running the mobile testing site

The new site at the Hydro is the latest option made available to key workers after the government promised to ramp up testing drastically. As well as ordering home testing kits, people can go online to book an appointment at one of the permanent sites or mobile testing units.

Vehicles are guided through the mobile testing site

Used swabs are deposited in a box to be sent off for testing

Last week, care homes told The Stray Ferret that there was a mixed picture with testing availability. Some had been able to access home tests and appointments, while one was quoted a three-week wait for an appointment in Leeds.

88 people have died in Harrogate after testing positive for coronavirus with 35 of those deaths recorded in the town’s care homes.

Each week on a Tuesday the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals how many people have died outside of hospitals.

The number of hospital deaths is released on a daily basis by the NHS – Harrogate District Hospital has so far recorded 49 coronavirus deaths.

Update: Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any more coronavirus deaths in today’s new figures. A further 366 people have died in England’s hospitals.

Last week, the ONS data which included deaths up to April 17 revealed that there had been 22 deaths outside of hospitals.

This week, the data goes up to April 24 and now shows that there have been 39 deaths outside of hospitals.

In Harrogate, two people have died from coronavirus in their homes and two have died in “other communal establishments,” so the majority of deaths outside of hospitals were in care homes.

The data also gives an overview of the rest of the country’s care homes where there is an average of 20 care home deaths. Harrogate is above the national average at 35 deaths.

When the ONS data, bearing in mind that it only goes up to April 24, is added to the latest numbers from hospitals it confirms that 88 people so far have died with coronavirus in Harrogate.

As of last Thursday, Harrogate District Hospital has also released 70 patients after recovering from coronavirus.

Further questions have been raised about the role of councils on Harrogate BID after outgoing board members said their plans were thwarted by local authorities.

After four board members including the chairman resigned last week, two of those behind the critical resignation letter have spoken out further.

Rob Spencer, who runs Townhouse Design, said he grew frustrated that the hard work of board members came to nothing when they tried to get the council to act or agree to their plans. He said:

“One of the things I’m passionate about is having our town looking great to welcome visitors and it certainly doesn’t look as good at the moment as it has done previously. Nobody can afford to be complacent.

“The town hasn’t been looked after to the standard it has been previously, yet council tax has gone up. When we presented that to the council members they were very defensive and very keen to get the BID to spend money from doing additional things to embellish the town or attract people but it shouldn’t be having to undertake basic duties to keep it to a reasonable level.

“It was met quite often with a lot of resistance when it was mentioned to council members on the BID. They would refer to other towns and say Harrogate was better and you would think, ‘that’s not relevant’.

“With our potential and history to encourage visitors, we do have a duty [to maintain a high standard] because Harrogate is a beautiful town and a spa town and quite unique. You can’t afford to think it’s going to stay successful because of that historic interest.”

His comments were echoed by fellow signatory Chris Bentley, of Hornbeam Park Developments, who said: “One of the board members volunteered to liaise with the council over street cleaning. They couldn’t get that any further forward. Now they’re trying to do it with third-party cleaners which brings another level of bureaucracy.”

Harrogate BID says it is working on initiatives to draw people back to town once the lockdown is lifted

The four board members who resigned last week were appointed after applying for the positions at the end of 2019, hoping to bring more positive action on behalf of local businesses. It followed after a difficult first year for the BID, which saw numerous board members step down and the first manager departing after less than four months in post. Mr Spencer said:

“I wanted to do some good and help the town. I had mixed reasons for wanting to come out. I run a small business and I’m involved in that day-to-day and that has to come first. Particularly at the moment, that’s more crucial than ever.”

‘Still a great town’

Last week, following their resignations, Harrogate BID issued a statement saying it was aware of the challenges facing the town and was dedicated to making improvements for the benefit of all its levy payers.

Both Mr Spencer and Mr Bentley praised the hard work of the remaining board members and some of the initiatives they had proposed, particularly to make the town centre as vibrant as possible during the run-up to Christmas, should social distancing allow.

But they said at a time when businesses were facing unprecedented challenges, they had to focus on areas where they could make the most difference, which meant spending time on their own businesses. Mr Spencer added:

“We’re still a great town and there are some great businesses. We’re in unprecedented times and I’m confident things will return and bounce back.

“Everybody in their businesses has to work very hard. When we’re investing in our businesses, we want to know that the council are doing the right things with people’s council tax and are not complacent about things.”

Harrogate Borough Council declined to comment on its involvement with the BID. The Stray Ferret approached North Yorkshire County Council for a comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

A Harrogate headteacher hopes schools will be given enough time to plan for the return of pupils when lockdown is lifted.

Chris Parkhouse, who has been in charge of Grove Road Community Primary School since 2017, said he has been given no further guidance on the return of schools so far from government, despite speculation in the national press.

Mr Parkhouse said he was given little time to plan for the closure back in March and learned the news from the government at the same time as the rest of the country.

He said he would want time to prepare further social distancing measures at the school to add to those that are already in place.

This could include planning to split children into smaller classes if they are phased back into school by year group.

At the moment, Grove Road teaches 20 pupils from key worker families and a further 300 are taught online.

Chris Parkhouse, headteacher at Grove Road Community Primary School in Harrogate.

The school is also the ‘Harrogate hub’ for children of key workers across the district and is open seven days a week.

As part of preparations for the lockdown, children have been encouraged to wash their hands regularly and assemblies have been cut back to comply with social distancing.

Instead, virtual assemblies are held every Friday by Zoom to keep in touch with pupils and award the ‘star pupil award’ for the week.

Mr Parkhouse said the lockdown has been tough to deal with, but that the school has been prepared.

“I do not think there is a headteacher in the land that has not found it challenging,” he said.

“What I’m hoping for is that we are given more time to make sure that the school is safe to reopen.

“The difficult thing at the moment is that we have not had any further guidance.”

Schools across the nation were closed on March 20 as part of further measures to halt the spread of coronavirus.

In primary schools, exams for year six pupils were cancelled. Grove Road currently has 45 children in that year group.

Mr Parkhouse said he would like to see older children back in school to prepare them for secondary education.

“I hope that we can still help them through this period of their lives and spend a bit more time in school,” he said.

Harrogate District Hospital has reported that one more of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus has died, bringing the hospital’s total so far up to 49.

The person died yesterday and was announced with 204 others in England’s hospitals today. Scotland today recorded another five, Wales another 15 and Northern Ireland another six.

England’s patients were aged between 26 and 101 years old. Three of the 204 patients, who were aged between 41 and 58 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

The number of deaths hit a peak in April.

The Stray Ferret has mapped out the rise and subsequent fall in coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital.

The data shows that the hospital hit a peak in the number of deaths in April and particularly April 6 with four deaths on one day.

Today’s death figures are the lowest daily increase in hospitals for around five weeks, when 214 were announced dead from coronavirus on March 29.

Last week the ONS released data on the number of COVID-19 deaths outside of hospitals. In the Harrogate district, 22 people are reported to have died with symptoms of the virus up to April 17th.