IMAGE GALLERY: work started at 5am this morning as a huge crane lifted the oxygen tank into position outside the Royal Hall 

The team at Harrogate’s White Hart Hotel made a special order of pizzas for the construction workers at the Harrogate Nightingale Hospital.  Simon Cotton, the Managing Director of the HRH Group, which owns the White Hart said they were asked what they could do to provide something more than the basic catering the workers have on site — he was told they fancied pizza and he set out to make it happen.

Simon said he “sourced some proper dough”  to try to make the pizzas as tasty as possible.

Mr Cotton sourced the best dough he could find

The White Hart is one of a number of hotels in Harrogate that is being used as accommodation for key workers. The restaurant and bar are closed and all meals are delivered by room service.

The hotel has NHS, MOD and catering staff staying – all working to create a Nightingale hospital at the Harrogate Convention Centre.

“We delivered the pizzas to the construction workers yesterday. A number looked tired but their spirits were up – they are working a 24 hour operation. When we gave them the pizzas we all observed social distancing guidelines. I think they were happy to have something more than the sandwiches on site”

Once the construction workers have finished the Nightingale will then see the arrival of NHS who will undergo training before, and if, patients arrive.

Dr Duncan Petty PhD has urged the public not to be tempted to stockpile drugs and told the Stray Ferret that preparations for Brexit has helped with the supply of medicines during the crisis.

Dr Petty, who lives in Harrogate and is a member of the English Board of The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Society,  said in the early days of the outbreak pharmacies came under huge pressure as people tried to get hold of their drugs in advance before self-isolating. It put a serious strain on community pharmacies at a time when they had reduced staffing due to the coronavirus.

Dr Petty said there is sufficient supply if people order at the correct time.  There will only be a shortage if everyone tries to get their medicines early.

“Interestingly, the government had been stockpiling because of Brexit which is fortuitous as we now have plenty of medicines in the country. A lot of the medicines we supply come from abroad and there will be supply line problems coming from places like India and Italy- many inhalers for example come from Italy so you may find you are prescribed a different type of inhaler but we do have supplies of the vast majority of medicines”

Dr Duncan Petty PhD

Dr Petty says pharmacies do deliver to people who are unable to leave their homes but most have a very limited capacity to do this. He sad the government is organising “hubs” through local councils for patients who are self-isolating to organise volunteers to do the deliveries.

In a statement Harrogate Borough Council said: “The government has contacted vulnerable residents with information about how they can get in touch with support networks, such as community hubs, should they need them”.

WATCH: The sign going up, being tested and then switched on.. marking the HCC’s transformation

The construction site of Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital has been a hive of activity this week.

When it opens, the temporary hospital will have up to 500 beds available to care for coronavirus patients.

The convention centre’s contract caterers have returned and volunteered to work for nothing to feed the 400 strong team of contractors building the hospital this week.

So far, six patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died at Harrogate District Hospital with 163 confirmed cases in North Yorkshire.

Paula Lorimer has revealed that the NHS and MOD looked at a number of arenas in the region before deciding to choose the Harrogate Convention Centre as a Nightingale hospital.  She said it was the centre’s vast halls that made it more convertible into a hospital. Her team had to quickly return to the venue, having shut it down due to coronavirus.

“We are so proud and happy to help and play our part but we also feel very emotional at times. It’s given us a deeper respect for the NHS . Getting the building ready is one thing, staying here and delivering the care another. You get that feeling of how brave they’re going to be – we can walk away from this when they are arriving and the duty and bravery they’ll show to combat this”

Paula Lorimer Director of HCC, being interviewed today

Ms Lorimer said the HCC had to bring back its security, cleaning and stewarding teams. The contract caterers returned and volunteered to work for nothing to feed the 400 strong team of contractors building the hospital.

“It’s been a steep learning curve for everybody. We do have the knowledge though- it’s a vast site and very detailed engineering drawings have had to be got out. We had to teach the Royal Engineers their way around the building so they can put in the complex facilities that are needed.”

Paula Lorimer said the public have been calling the centre offering support and that, when the hospital is built , she thinks there will be real opportunities for the community to get involved -but not yet.

When asked how long she was expecting the centre to be used as a hospital she said:

“We just don’t know — it could be months, it could be longer. We just don’t know if it will ever be used. We hope there won’t be a requirement for this – the government has thrown everything into this and we’re here to do our bit”.

A 2017 plan of the Harrogate Convention Centre

One Harrogate street has been keeping spirits high during the coronavirus lockdown by getting involved in a daily exercise class.

“Right. Now some squats,” Mel Milnes bellowed out at around 8.30am on Spring Grove to a group of around 20 eager participants.

The classes started out with just one side of the street a couple of weeks ago before the rest of the neighbours wanted to get involved.

From then it has become a daily ritual at the same time from Monday to Friday.

Mel is not pretending to be a fully qualified fitness instructor but, then again, this isn’t an intense fat burning class.

She told the Stray Ferret: “Each day we have been getting more and more people involved. It’s just meant to be a bit of fun, it’s just a bit of a laugh and the street has really enjoyed it. We are self-isolating but the street has gotten closer together. We are even organising a pub quiz later this week, which we’re all going to do from our gardens.”

Mel has led many of the classes but she has also got other people lined up for the microphone, with an eight-year-old girl trying it out tomorrow.

How has your street adapted to life on coronavirus lockdown? Get in touch with the news team on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

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Fitness class on Spring Grove, Harrogate

2nd April 2020
Sue Riley leads the fitness class on Spring Grove, Harrogate

2nd April 2020
Fitness class on Spring Grove, Harrogate

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Fitness class Spring grove

Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital will have up to 500 beds available to care for coronavirus patients, it has been announced.

NHS England has now confirmed the plans for the hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre for the first time, after increasing activity on the site this week.

It was announced alongside a new Nightingale hospital in Bristol, which will accommodate up to 1,500 patients at a time. Other Nightingale hospitals in Manchester and Birmingham are already being created and one at London’s Excel centre will open for patients from today.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said it was “nothing short of extraordinary” that the new hospital in London had been set up in less than a fortnight, with support from the Ministry of Defence.

“The NHS, working with the military, has done in a matter of days what usually takes years,” he said. “Now we are gearing up to repeat that feat at another four sites across the country to add to the surge capacity in current NHS hospitals.

“We’re giving the go ahead to these additional sites, hoping they may not be needed but preparing in case they are. But that will partly depend on continuing public support for measures to reduce growth in the infection rate by staying at home to save lives.”

Army and NHS staff toured the site of Harrogate’s new Nightingale Hospital on day three of construction.

When it is up and running, which could be possible over the next week, it will help the NHS deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Three temporary ‘Nightingale’ hospitals have already been announced – in London, Manchester and Birmingham – with more understood to be in the planning stages.

Although the NHS has not yet revealed full details about the project, an announcement is expected imminently.

It comes as the number of confirmed cases in North Yorkshire has risen to 149, with six deaths at Harrogate District Hospital.

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Construction at Harrogate Conference Centre

2nd April 2020
Construction at Harrogate Conference Centre

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Convention Centre Harrogate, new signage

2nd April 2020
Convention Centre Harrogate, construction work outside the Royal Hall

2nd April 2020
Harrogate Convention Centre

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Harrogate Convention Centre

2nd April 2020
Harrogate Convention Centre

2nd April 2020
Harrogate Convention Centre

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MOD arrives at Harrogate Convention Centre

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Fleet of Emergency vehicles arrives at Harrogate Convention Centre

2nd April 2020
Emergency staff arriving at Harrogate Convention Centre

A university student is making good use of her time in lockdown by providing free concerts for her Harrogate neighbours. 

Lucy Crocker, 22, played songs from her front garden in Mallinson Oval last Friday, hoping to lift spirits. 

So many of them came outside to listen from their doorsteps and driveways that she is planning to make it a weekly concert. 

She said: “I saw videos of people giving concerts on their balconies and I thought, ‘I could do that’.  

“When I’m at university, we have informal student recitals every Monday and I miss that when I’m away.” 

Former Harrogate Grammar School student Lucy plays viola and sings, and says she can play a few chords on the ukulele. Her first performance consisted mostly of music she already knows, but she has been taking requests from her neighbours and practising their suggestions. 

“I don’t know that much modern music – I’m more used to playing in orchestras,” she said. “But I’m OK at playing by ear, so if I know the song I can usually play it.” 

Lucy plans to continue her concerts for as long as people are at home to hear them. She is preparing to sit the final exams for her earth sciences degree at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, from home, where her parents and younger brother are also in lockdown. 

There are other families living nearby, as well as elderly people, and Lucy said she was keen to bring people together, even if from a distance. 

“I wanted to have a little bit of interaction with the neighbours that isn’t just on a messenger basis,” she said. “They all came out and seemed to enjoy not just the music, but all being out at the same time and chatting to each other across the road.” 

Among those who appreciated the performance was Margaret Willis, who has family living in Harrogate and helping out with food supplies but is missing seeing people every day. 

“All us oldies were out in the road,” she said. “We all kept our distance but it was nice to get out and chat to neighbours.  

“I think it did us all good. Everybody said how lovely it was. Even people who hadn’t been out for ages brought a chair out and sat down to listen – it was really good.”