Harrogate Town launches football academy

Harrogate Town plans to launch an academy that enables 16 to 18-year-olds to train full-time with the club and progress into the first team.

Subject to approval from the English Football League, the academy will enable young players to develop under UEFA-licensed coaches.

Knaresborough Town manager Paul Stansfield, who used to play for Harrogate Town, will head the academy.

He will be supported by professional development phase coach Ross McKay. Phil Priestley will act as goalkeeper coach and Josh Walsh will be academy secretary.

Lee Barraclough has been appointed head of recruitment and a full-time physio and part-time doctor will be recruited.

The academy team will compete in the EFL Youth Alliance North East.

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First team manager Simon Weaver said:

“It’s vital that we launch our own academy, it’s a massive step in the right direction for the club in terms of fulfilling the vision of where we started and what we foresee being our future.

“The goal at this club has always been to produce youngsters from the first stage in our player development centre to the youth teams and see them move into the first team and beyond so this is hugely important for us.

“There’s a lot of local talent, but by having an academy we are able to spread the net farther and wider in the hope that we produce some really good talented youngsters.”

Harrogate Town’s under-19s, under-17s and under-19 alliance teams will continue to compete in their respective leagues, alongside the newly established academy.

 

‘I’m moving my family from Bilton due to anti-social behaviour’

A family has told the Stray Ferret that crime in Bilton has got so bad they are planning to move away from the area.

Last week we reported a growing fear of crime in the Harrogate suburb after a girl was assaulted.

Now one family member, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of having their property damaged, has said things have become so bad they want to leave.

The person said they had witnessed graffiti, arson and drug dealing and felt “at the mercy of luck” about being victims of crime themselves.

They added the area now has “too many unsavoury characters and not enough police presence”:

“The church is a hangout for drinkers and older kids day and night. I’ve watched many acts of vandalism such as graffiti, bottles being smashed, things set on fire and gates kicked in. When I’ve been able to reach the police nobody ever comes despite the offenders hanging around here for hours.

“Drug dealing occurs regularly outside the shops, my neighbours car was stolen, my neighbour was also mugged in the alley by the Co-op so I never let my kids walk that way now.

“Every morning I check my car to see if it has fallen victim to having the tyres slashed or paint thrown over it as many residents have had. Now there are reports of potential dog snatching so we have had to stop letting ours go in our yard unattended.”

They also said efforts to create a neighbourhood watch group had failed:

“At times it has been really stressful living here and we feel we are purely at the mercy of luck. A neighbourhood watch was set up two years ago but only a handful of us went to the meeting and I’ve heard nothing since.

“We plan to leave before summer, which is the worst time for us with drunk kids hanging outside in groups all night.”

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In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said:

“Over the past 100 days, antisocial behaviour in the Bilton area has accounted for around five percent of all antisocial behaviour reported across the Harrogate district. The majority of these reports are potential breaches of covid regulations.

“Any amount of antisocial behaviour ruins the quality of life for local people and can escalate. So it is vitally important that members of the public report incidents to us, so that we aware of them and can take action.

“The area has its own beat manager and local police community support officers who carry out regular patrols of the area and also work closely with the local Safer Harrogate community safety partnership.

“We urge members of the public to report incidents to us on 101 or 999 in an emergency. You can also report incidents online at Report it – North Yorkshire Police | North Yorkshire Police”

Harrogate’s Ashville College appoints first female head

Ashville College in Harrogate has appointed Rhiannon Wilkinson as its first female headteacher in its 144-year history.

Ms Wilkinson, who was headmistress at Harrogate Ladies’ College from 2009 until 2013, will take up the position in September.

She will become the 11th headteacher in the history of the independent day and boarding school for boys and girls aged three to 18.

Richard Marshall, the previous headteacher, died in November aged 48 of cancer.

Elspeth Fisher will remain as acting head until September 1 when she will revert to her former position as a deputy head.

Ms Wilkinson said:

“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Ashville College and returning to the Harrogate District which I always saw as my forever home.

“As a head over the last 12 years, I am confident that my versatility and commitment to serve young people and their families, whatever their background, need or ability, will enable me to succeed at Ashville College.

“Ashville is rich in heritage and remains true to its strong Methodist values, it is small enough to care but big enough to challenge both its day and boarding pupils.”

She added she hoped to “build on the successes of my predecessors, in particular the unfulfilled legacy of Richard Marshall”.

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Ms Wilkinson, who graduated in modern history at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, has taught in – and led – schools in the UK, Hong Kong and Brunei, and most recently was the founding head of Whittle School Shenzhen in China.

After leaving Harrogate Ladies College she became head at Wycombe Abbey independent school in Buckinghamshire.

A statement issued by the school today said Ms Wilkinson was the unanimous choice of the board of governors.

Jamie Search, chair of governors at Ashville, described Ms Wilkinson as “an exceptional educational leader”, adding:

“In her four years at Harrogate Ladies’ College, she did an exceptional job and is credited with transforming the fortunes of the school.

“We feel incredibly privileged to have someone of Rhiannon’s calibre and experience joining Ashville College.”

 

Harrogate firefighters help toddler with head stuck in toilet seat

Firefighters were called to help a toddler that got its head stuck in a toilet seat in Harrogate yesterday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the incident at Allotment Gardens yesterday afternoon at 5pm.

According to the incident summary, the crew advised the child’s mother to use soap to lubricate the area.

She was then able to remove the seat.

No other information was available at the time of publication.

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Footfall in Harrogate will decline without change, says council leader

Footfall in Harrogate town centre will continue to decline if things do not change after the covid crisis, claims Harrogate Borough Council’s leader.

Speaking at a meeting of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Cllr Richard Cooper said the pandemic had left more people shopping online and craving an “experience” in town centres.

Cllr Cooper’s comments last night came on the day retail and hospitality reopened for the first time since the third lockdown was imposed in January.

Businesses in the district pressed the council leader on what direction the town was going in after reopening, with some expressing concern over the Station Gateway project.

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Cllr Cooper said the vision for Harrogate was one that would see more people living and working in the town centre, more events and a high street that offered an experience.

He said:

“For the past seven years that I have been leader of the council, I have heard traders talking to me about footfall going down.

“If we carry on doing things as we are doing them, footfall will continue to go down.

“We need to do something different to get people into the town centre and to support retail because anchor stores are no longer going to be there. Debenhams is gone.”

Cllr Cooper added that the pandemic had accelerated the amount of people shopping online and the town needed to adapt.

However, Graham Strugnell, a chamber member for 20 years, said he had heard some of the council’s plans “time and time again” and added that businesses often saw proposals “fall away”.

Station Gateway

Cllr Cooper was pressed on whether he would listen to concerns raised by organisations, such as Harrogate Business Improvement District, Independent Harrogate and Harrogate Civic Society, about the gateway project.

The £7.9 million project is being led by North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

It could see James Street pedestrianised and Station Parade turned into a single lane with cycle routes.

Independent Harrogate has warned Harrogate’s hospitality and retail sector is in a ‘fragile and critical state’ and has ‘serious concerns’ about the scheme’s economic impact.

William Woods, of Independent Harrogate, asked the council leader whether he would listen to the organisations’ concerns.

Cllr Cooper said he would listen to all business bodies, but would commit to whatever the outcome of the consultation on the project was.

However, he added that people had supported changes to the town centre.

He said:

“It doesn’t matter what businesses say and it doesn’t matter what councillors say, if customers have a different view about how things should develop and about the kind of town centre that they are willing to go to, then they will simply vote with their feet.”

Three of Harrogate district’s five council pools remain closed

Although the covers of some council-run swimming pool were rolled back yesterday, there is still no date when Knaresborough, Ripon and Starbeck pools will reopen.

Harrogate Borough Council has reopened The Hydro in Harrogate and Nidderdale Pool in Pateley Bridge.

But Knaresborough pool, which has been closed since the end of last year, remains shut as do pools in Ripon and Starbeck.

In its Residents’ News email sent yesterday, the council said Knaresborough pool required repairs and covid restrictions were still preventing Spanish engineers from travelling to fix the filtration equipment.

It said it was “highly unlikely the engineers will be given permission to travel any time soon” and added the council had been in talks with UK pool specialists and were “working up plans to completely replace the faulty equipment”. The newsletter said:

“This is likely to be a more costly solution, but we are keen to ensure our residents in the east of the district have easy access to a pool as soon as possible.”

Across the district in Ripon there is a similar story. The Spa Baths are currently up for sale and remain closed to the public.

A new Ripon pool and leisure centre development was scheduled for completion at the end of next month but has been delayed until November 2021.

The council told the Stray Ferret that further updates on the Ripon development would be released in the coming weeks.

There is also no news on the future of Starbeck Baths.

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Visiting resumes at Harrogate District Hospital

Harrogate District Hospital has today resumed visits for inpatients as part of the latest easing of lockdown restrictions.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust announced today all inpatients were allowed one visitor for 30 minutes each day.

Visits are allowed between 2-4pm for up to 30 minutes. Appointments must be booked in advance with wards.

Also from today, partners are allowed to attend all pregnancy scans.

But no visitors are allowed in the emergency department unless they are accompanying a child.

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Patients who are classed as end of life, or have dementia or a learning disability, or have been in hospital for a long time will continue to have open and flexible visiting as before.

During the booking process visitors will be asked questions about covid symptoms, travel and requests to isolate. Visitors will also have to wear PPE whilst in the hospital.

To read the guidance in full, click here.

WATCH: Harrogate basks in the sun as shopping and dining returns

Harrogate basked in the sun today as outdoor dining and shopping returned.

From today non-essential shops, hair and beauty salons, gyms and spas have been allowed to open.

It was a day many people had long looked forward to and it did not disappoint, with lots of people flocking to the town centre and some describing it as “absolutely glorious”.

The Stray Ferret went to North Bar, West Park Hotel and the high street to see how people were feeling about the big day.

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WATCH: BBC film of Alan Whicker’s 1960 trip to the Spofforth horse breaker

On a damp day on September 9, 1960, broadcaster Alan Whicker came to Spofforth to interview one of the country’s few remaining horse breakers.

Jack Anderson was 75 at the time and had been training horses for 60 years at the time of the interview.

Mr Anderson gave advice on how he trained horses and an insight into his unusual life.

The video was first first broadcast as part of Tonight, which covered the arts, sciences as well as topical matters and current affairs.

It is now part of a BBC archive of films shared on a weekly basis.

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The interview starts with a series of questions on how to stop horses kicking and biting and how to hold a horse for shoeing.

Mr Anderson also talked about the times when it went wrong:

“I have had legs broken, collar bone, jaw, ribs. Oh yes. One [horse] will do one thing and one will do another. But the heart of the thing is to make them.

“There is a way of making them. If I said to go over them then we went over, even if it took an hour and a half because I am a crude fella when I start.”

He adds he does all of his training by talking, not by using the stick that he brandishes to the camera.

Do any Stray Ferret readers remember Jack Anderson, the Spofforth horse breaker, or the day Alan Whicker visited?

Police and council to check Harrogate venues comply with outdoor rule

Police and council officers are to conduct checks on outdoor hospitality shelters in the Harrogate district to ensure they comply with government regulations.

Harrogate Borough Council warned of the checks amid concern about whether all of the shelters in the district comply with what is classed as outdoor.

Many hospitality venues have created shelters to take advantage of today’s latest easing of lockdown rules, which allow licensed premises to serve customers outdoors.

Government guidelines say that to be considered outdoors, ‘shelters, marquees and other structures can have a roof but need to have at least 50% of the area of their walls open at all times whilst in use’.

A source close to one small business owner told the Stray Ferret they were ‘surprised’ the council, which is enforcing the national government guidelines, had agreed to some of the structures.

The issue has also raised numerous comments on social media.

A council spokesman said its officers would be carrying out visits across the Harrogate district in partnership with North Yorkshire Police, “to offer support, advice and guidance to businesses and check on compliance with the latest regulations”.

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He added:

“Temporary outdoor shelters are determined by national government advice.

“Any Harrogate district businesses wishing to find out more, or whether planning permission is required, should get in touch and we will be happy to advise.”

Asked to comment on claims some venues breached the guidelines, he said:

“Without knowing the details of the premises who have raised concerns we cannot comment further.”

The council spokesman was unable to say how many venues had applied to erect outdoor structures.

But many large Harrogate hospitality venues, including the West Park Hotel, the Fat Badger , La Feria and Gianni’s Brio Restaurant and Pizzeria, as well as the Fox and Hounds and the Grantham Arms in Boroughbridge have done so.

Perhaps the most spectacular is the Cedar Court Hotel‘s £50,000 tipi, which can accommodate 36 people.

Wayne Topley, managing director of the hotel, said it was built in full compliance with the regulations. He added it could be adapted for weddings and conferences.

“It’s a temporary structure but we hope to use it for a couple for years to come.”