Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.  

One of the upsides of British summer is the opportunity to go to festivals, and I love that there are so many food festivals in Yorkshire.

Each one has a different vibe, and you can never quite anticipate what the experience will be with Yorkshire weather. Luckily, this year, the weather was fantastic.

The RHS launched The Festival of Flavours in 2022 to celebrate the produce from its gardens and encourage us to grow some of our own food. It was a huge success and this year’s festival offered even more traders and chef demonstrations.

Both seasoned and amateur gardeners and foodies turned out in their droves for the event, which included children’s cooking classes, kitchen garden tours, live music performances and a wide variety of food to try.

The festival was backdropped by the colourful grounds of Harlow Carr and I was excited to be on stage cooking two dishes alongside many other local chefs.

Fig and raspberry clafoutis

A personal highlight for me was using seasonal ingredients; I used white currants as part of my sweet dish, which was fig and raspberry clafoutis, with a white currant and raspberry whipped cream. It was my first time using the berry and I was excited to learn about the flavour profile.

The clafoutis.

Traditionally made with cherries, clafoutis is a French classic that is a staple in many homes. Methods behind the dessert can be varied – some simple and others much more complicated.

The former calls for all ingredients to be mixed in a blender before pouring over the fruit in an oiled dish.

The more complex recipes, however, call for the egg whites to be beaten separately – to form soft peaks – before being added to the yolks which have been beaten with sugar. Melted butter is also drizzled into it before folding in the flour.

Having tried different recipes, I have concluded it doesn’t make much difference to the end result, so I would recommend keeping it simple!

I sometimes use brown butter (beurre noisette) to get a nutty taste and add some almonds for a bit of crunch.

The cooking stage

The cooking stage featured some incredible chefs, including 2022 MasterChef winner, Eddie Scott, and contestants Afsaneh Kaviani and Owen Diaram. The RHS’s own Joe Lofthouse was also there, as well Gilly Robinson from The Cook’s Place in Malton, Ian Wilkinson from Yolk Farm, and Bobby and Minal Patel from Prashad, Leeds.

(L) Yolk Farm’s Ian Wilkinson and Yemi

David Atherton, who won the Great British Bake Off in 2019, taught a masterclass on scones. I am still dreaming of his lemonade scone, but we still don’t know if the cream or jam should go first.

Lots of local businesses were also there, including the district’s own Harrogate Tipple and Jack in a Box, as well as The Yorkshire Pasta Company which is based in Malton.

How to reduce food waste

I left with some fantastic tips on reducing food waste. These include always writing a shopping list; never go shopping when hungry; avoid going shopping too frequently; do a weekly fridge raid; get creative to use what you have at home and store your ingredients in the right way to extend their shelf lives.

9.5 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the UK alone – despite 8.4 million people being in food poverty.

We all need to try and grow some of our own food, have an appreciation for ingredients and reduce waste as much as possible.

Next week, I will be visiting Baltzersens Café and Coffee shop.

Read more:

• Yemi’s Food Stories: the Yorkshire distillery that makes vodka from apples
• Yemi’s Food Stories: A ‘sweet day’ at Bettys Cookery School

When Harrogate High School held its autumn open evening on Thursday, there will have been some parents present who needed to be won over. 

After 10 years of being rated ‘satisfactory’ by Ofsted, and then another 10 years rated ‘good’, the school was downgraded earlier this year to ‘requires improvement’ – the third-best out of four ratings.

But speaking to the Stray Ferret ahead of the open evening, headteacher Sukhraj Gill said the thorny subject of the school’s Ofsted report was not one he was going to duck. He said: 

“It’s the first thing I talk about on parents’ evenings – it’s not an elephant in the room for me. On paper, we’re ‘requires improvement’, but we are improving.” 

Mr Gill arrived at Harrogate High in January 2022 and had been in post little over a year when the Ofsted inspectors came the following spring.

A graduate of the University of Warwick, he completed his teaching qualifications at the University of Cambridge and taught maths for over 20 years in West Yorkshire, including a decade at Bradford Academy (then rated ‘good’), where he was vice principal. 

He said: 

“Before I started this job, people said to me ‘Harrogate High? That’s the worst school in Harrogate’. I heard all those descriptions of the school before I even set foot through the door.

“That just tells me that these students need good-quality education, and good-quality people who value them and can help them grow and move on to their next destinations. 

“I’m not saying I’m anybody special, but I think I can bring a bit of experience and strategy.” 

He came to Harrogate High at a time when the school – like many around the country – was still reeling from the covid pandemic. The school had lost its sixth form, and a lot of students – even those from secure, well-off backgrounds – were displaying the traits of social disadvantage: disorganisation, lack of focus, and persistent absenteeism.

Mr Gill, who is the school’s third headteacher since the last Ofsted inspection in 2017, said: 

“At that time, we [already] had some turbulence among the teachers and leadership here. We own that – we’re not going to hide from that. But we’re part of the Northern Star Academies Trust, and they were all over that, hiring a school improvement officer and replacing the senior leaders here. I was the last piece, as the headteacher.” 

But the changes didn’t stop at new staff. The Ofsted report highlighted several areas where the school, which has around 750 students, needed to improve, and Mr Gill is introducing best practice strategies to effect the necessary changes. 

One criticism of the school was that the implementation of the curriculum in some subjects was not as effective as in others, so he has developed a teacher toolkit, which lays out the different phases that every lesson must feature. 

Ofsted also pointed out that some staff didn’t not use the school behaviour policy consistently, so Mr Gill has created scripts for teachers to use in the most common situations. 

Another observation was that the personal development curriculum was not planned to the same level as subject curriculum planning, so the school identified its core values under the acronym CARES – courage, aspiration, respect, equality and self-control – which permeate school life. 

The watchword is consistency – in expectations, behaviour, lesson structure and planning. Mr Gill said: 

“This is an evidence-based approach, and it’s effective for all students, even high attainers. If you have consistency in learning, language, the way teachers teach, it helps students make an impact quicker.” 

Read more:

• Harrogate school to create city farm
• Harrogate High School ‘requires improvement’, says Ofsted
• Ofsted says Boroughbridge High School ‘requires improvement’

Beyond the classroom, there is a wide range of extracurricular activities, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards have been reintroduced, there’s a farm twinning project with Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are even plans to create an urban farm at the school at some point over the next three years. 

For the more academically minded, Mr Gill says the curriculum was built “from the top down” rather than from the bottom up, and is delivered with high expectations. 

The overall mission is to be a school for the community which supports every child regardless of background, says Mr Gill: 

“My experience of working in inner cities is good for Harrogate High School, because this is effectively an inner-city comprehensive school – even though Harrogate is a town. This is a true comprehensive school. We’ve got affluence and high attainers, and we’ve also got some real disadvantage, and that’s not always appreciated by the wider community.” 

The data reinforces the point. Harrogate High School has the highest percentage of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) of all the mainstream schools in North Yorkshire. Nearly 30% of children receive free school meals, compared with 15% across the county and around 24% nationally. Mr Gill said: 

“We’ve got children here who are looked-after children, we’ve got children who are young carers for parents who are drug abusers, we’ve got children who we feed breakfast to, because they can’t get it at home. But we’re an inclusive school. We won’t let any child down.” 

Whether Mr Gill is successful in his mission could be measured in various ways, but he says his mindset has never been based around his personal success – it’s always about the students. He said: 

“When you make a difference to students who need the difference made, that brings the greatest sense of fulfilment. 

“I’m a very spiritual person – I do a lot of meditation – and I’ve always thought we’re chosen to be here, at this point in time.” 

The other obvious measure of success will be the next Ofsted inspection – whenever that may come – but that doesn’t seem to faze him. He said: 

“We’ve put strategies into place and we’re now starting to see a culture shift. If Ofsted came in a year’s time, I believe we’d have a completely different report. 

“But we don’t work just to an Ofsted inspection – it only reflects a point in time. We work for the students. We serve our community. That’s who we’re here for.”

An application for the River Nidd in Knaresborough to be designated bathing water status is to be submitted to the government next month.

If successful, the move would oblige organisations such as the Environment Agency to take action to clean the Nidd, amid concerns about high sewage levels and bathers falling ill at Knaresborough Lido.

Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones will submit the application after overseeing a survey of how many people use the Lido during the bathing water season from May 15 to September 30.

Mr Jones said the deadline for sending the application to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was the end of October. He added:

“Once submitted, there begins a long process in which Defra consult with many key stakeholders including Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency.

“Whilst we can’t be sure when the result will be known, applications that were submitted last year found out around March of this year.”

He said further surveys at the Lido were unlikely due to the colder weather, adding:

“The numbers we received from the surveys were excellent, and were nicely capped with that final burst of good weather a couple of weeks ago which saw hundreds of people swimming in the River Nidd at the Lido.”

The surveying was hampered a change in guidance in early July, but Mr Jones said “we have a committed team of volunteers which enabled us to adjust our plan quickly and fulfil the new criteria”.

Water sampling continues

Last month’s sampling in Bilton.

Nidd Action Group, which consists of anglers, academics, conservationists and volunteers has undertaken water sampling along the Nidd as part of the clean-up campaign.

The first round of sampling took place last month and a second round is required.

David Clayden, chairman of the group, said:

“We have identified four possible dates, but they are dependent on getting four days with no rain prior to the sampling day – so the first two, September 25 or 27, are no good.

“We are now aiming for either October 4 or 5 – again dependent on prior weather forecasts.”

Knaresborough Lib Dems send message to MP

Knaresborough Town Council gave its backing to the bathing water application this week — but the Liberal Democrat-controlled council added clauses urging the government to do more to protect rivers.

Cllr Kathryn Davies, a Conservative elected in Aspin and Calcutt who took part in the Lido survey, proposed a motion calling for the council to support the application.

It said the Nidd at the Lido was an important resource for the people of Knaresborough and improving water quality “would have significant benefits for the environment, public health, recreation and the local economy”.

But David Goode, a Liberal Democrat who represents Castle ward, said the motion “looked like a concerted effort by the Tory party to deflect attention” from allowing water companies to dump sewage in the river.

He proposed additional clauses, which included writing to Mr Jones requesting he “votes against any legislation that weakens planning and environmental policy” and “supports the call for water companies to be turned into public benefit companies with the aim of reducing leaks and sewage dumping, as well as limiting returns to shareholders”.

Read more:

• Knaresborough councillors reject call to prevent second BID vote
• Police officer bumps into shoplifting suspect in Knaresborough McDonalds toilets

North Yorkshire Police has released a traffic alert following a collision on the A61 at South Stainley this afternoon.

The force said in a social media post just before 4pm the road was blocked and traffic was heavy.

It added:

“Motorists who are travelling between Harrogate and Ripon are advised to find an alternative route.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue incident log said crews attended the two-vehicle crash.

The summary reported one person was trapped in a vehicle and suffered a broken arm.

Crews released the person into the care of paramedics.

The incident follows two fatal collisions on the same road in the past month — all have been in the South Stainley area.

Read more:

• Police name victims of fatal A61 crash near Ripon
• Masham woman sets up fundraiser for bus driver involved in fatal A61 collision

A national telecommunications company has appealed a decision to refuse plans for a new 5G mast in Harrogate.

CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd, which operates Three Mobile, proposed installing the mast on Park Parade.

It submitted the plan to the former Harrogate Borough Council in November 2022.

The developer said the proposal would help to “improved network coverage and capacity” in the area.

However, the council rejected the plan on the grounds it would be detrimental to the visual amenity of the site.

John Worthington, who was chief planner at the council at the time, said in a decision notice:

“The proposed street pole, by virtue of its external appearance, scale and siting, would be a visually incongruous and alienated addition that would be detrimental to the visual amenity and character of the site and conservation area. 

“It would fail to respect local distinctiveness. This harm outweighs the benefits of the proposal in this location.”

CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd has now taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

A planning inspector will make a decision on the appeal at a later date.

The move is the second time the company has appealed a decision to refuse a 5G mast in Harrogate.

The borough council also rejected a plan to build a mast at Granby Park, which is adjacent to the Stray by Skipton Road.

An appeal against the refusal was submitted by the company in July this year.

Read more:

• Plans for two masts to meet ‘acute need’ for 5G in Harrogate
• Harrogate council refuses plan for 5G mast overlooking the Stray

The chief constable of North Yorkshire Police has announced she will retire after more than 30 years in uniform. 

Lisa Winward will step down from the £154,000-a-year role at the end of March 2024; her successor has yet to be named. 

She said she was “immensely proud to have been a police officer and public servant for 30 years”, adding:

“It was a very difficult decision to make but I feel that the time is right for me to retire.

“I will still be here for several months and look forward to saying goodbyes in person to as many people as possible who I have had the privilege to meet during my time in policing.”

Chief constable Winward began her policing journey as a volunteer special constable in York.

Following service through the ranks of constable through to chief inspector for Humberside Police, Lisa resumed her service to North Yorkshire in 2008, serving the City of York as chief inspector, superintendent and commander between 2009 and 2013. 

She has served in key roles at the heart of North Yorkshire Police including executive officer to the then-chief constable, head of uniformed operations, major crime, specialist operations, criminal justice, and force intelligence.

After leading the local policing portfolio as assistant chief constable throughout 2016, in February 2017 she became deputy chief constable at North Yorkshire Police. In August 2018, she was confirmed as chief constable. 

Read more:

• North Yorkshire Police urged to say sorry over LGBT+ ‘witch hunt’
• Concern over North Yorkshire Police’s decision not to attend all mental health call-outs
• Call for North Yorkshire police commissioner to resign rejected

A statement issued by North Yorkshire Police said: 

“Her vision and passion for understanding and addressing the root causes of crime and disorder in communities has been a hallmark of her tenure as chief, positioning North Yorkshire Police to play its part in early intervention, and working seamlessly with partner organisations to help the residents of York and North Yorkshire be safe and feel safe.” 

Chief constable Winward is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy development programme in leadership and policing, and during her time as a chief officer has been the lead on a number of national portfolios, including citizens in policing, women’s health, and menopause. She is a trustee for the Police Treatment Centre and the chair of the British Police Symphony Orchestra. She currently leads for the National Police Chiefs’ Council on intelligence, local policing and senior assessment, and in 2022 was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished policing service. 

Paying tribute, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe said: 

“Her dedication of over 30 years of public service and collaboration has shone through whilst serving as a leader here at North Yorkshire Police and I feel privileged to have spent time working alongside such a remarkable individual.

“I know all of us here in York and North Yorkshire wish Lisa well in her future plans.”

A vintage clothing store is set to open on Harrogate’s Cold Bath Road.

Karma Co. Vintage has put posters in the window of the unit previously occupied by children’s shop Tiger Fifty 7,  which announced it was closing and looking for another site in May.

The retailer will stock popular brands, vintage street wear and some of its own clothing designs.

Co-founder Victoria Webster said:

“We are a new family business that believes in good vibes and good karma.

“That means doing good for the environment by providing a more sustainable way to shop fashion and, in turn, giving customers the opportunity to find those amazing vintage pieces that make you feel like you’ve found something so special.

“When you shop vintage pretty much everything is limited edition – which we love.”

The shop will join Harrogate’s thriving vintage shopping scene alongside the likes of Catherine Smith Vintage Fashion and SPACE.

Ms Webster added:

“We’re a very creative family, and my husband Anton, who is co-founder of Karma Co., has worked in vintage for many years. Some people will recognise him from his days managing Bluerinse in Leeds, or running stalls at Leeds Festival.

“We can’t wait to show you what we have in store.”

Karma and Co. Vintage hopes to open mid-October.

Read more:

• Council approves conversion of Harrogate strip club into flats
• Honeybees given new home on Harrogate shopping centre roof

Leaders at Harrogate High School aim to create an urban farm in the school’s grounds, it has been revealed. 

Harrogate High is part of the Northern Star Academies Trust, which also includes Skipton Girls’ High School and seven primaries, including New Park, Hookstone Chase, Willow Tree and Starbeck. 

Jenn Plews, chief executive of Northern Star, told the Stray Ferret the trust was “really ambitious” for the school’s Ainsty Road site. 

She said: 

“We have an ambition to open a city farm here, probably within the next three years.

“As part of our environmental and sustainability priority, all of our schools are really focused on the farm-to-fork agenda, the walk-to school agenda, and also bringing nature in, so a lot of our schools have got a lot of plants and nature brought in from outside. 

“We’ve had a farm-twinning project with AONB Nidderdale [Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty] over the last year, and last year we had over 1,000 children going out to farms as part of their education, which has been incredible.” 

What form the farm would take, and what it would include, have yet to be decided. Ms Plews said: 

“We’d have to work out what animals we’d have, to start with. We’ve already got goats and chickens at New Park, and ducks, and we’ve got two apiaries in the trust that produce honey.  

“What this school needs is a really great partner, because we can’t do it on our own.” 

She said the ideal partner would be a care farm. Care farms use farm-related activities for therapeutic purposes and provide healthcare, social care and specialist educational services. 

She added: 

“A farm would also allow us to give our students opportunities in animal care and husbandry qualifications.” 

Harrogate High headteacher Sukhraj Gill added: 

“If children are having mental health needs and wellbeing needs, the farm would be a different environment that they can get involved in. All the research shows that extracurricular things like that will help.” 

Mr Gill gave the Stray Ferret a wider-ranging interview, which will be published over the weekend.

Read more: 

• Ripon educational farm features on Channel 4 series
• Harrogate High School ‘requires improvement’, says Ofsted
• Harrogate Railway FC juniors to make secondary school its new home

A group of rough sleepers in Harrogate‘s Crescent Gardens has been evicted this morning after occupying the pavilion for two weeks.

Representatives from North Yorkshire Council‘s property services division and North Yorkshire Police began the move-on operation just before 9am this morning.

The council also brought a van to gather the rough sleepers’ belongings.

One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said some people started arguing with the council after they were told to disperse but there was no violence.

He added:

“One or two sleepers appeared frustrated and declined to cooperate, but they eventually started packing and leaving from 9.15am.

“The police were present to ensure the operation was non-violent.”

The operation ended at approximately 9.40am.

Larger items, such as mattresses, were removed by the council.

The Stray Ferret first reported the encampment after nearby residents raised concerns about anti-social behaviour last week.

One of those residents, Eileen Dockray, said after today’s developments:

“I’m now concerned that the police and the council, who both tried to pass this problem back and forth between each other, should now come together and work out who’s responsible for dealing with this sort of problem in the future.

“We, the public, also need to know who we can go to for help when a situation like this arises again, as it surely will.”

Read more:

• No resolution in sight for rough sleeping den in Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens
• Reader’s Letter: Who does have the power to tackle rough sleeping camp near Crescent Gardens?

Hotels, shops and schools were among those recognised for their floral displays at the Harrogate in Bloom awards last night.

The annual awards ceremony, which was held at West Park Hotel in Harrogate, honours individuals and businesses who use flowers to make the town more attractive.

Pam Grant and Chris Beard organise the judging each year on behalf of Harrogate in Bloom, which is a voluntary group formed in 1989 to support council efforts to maintain the town’s reputation as a floral town.

The winners included Helen James Flowers, which won the shop window competition, the White Hart Hotel, which won the hotels and guesthouses category and Richard Taylor Church of England Primary School, which won the schools contest.

(from left) Matthew Chapman, Pam Grant and Chris Beard at last night’s awards.

The awards were organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District, which runs various floral-themed initiatives, including the Harrogate Floral Summer of Celebration. It also provides floral displays as part of its mission to encourage more people to visit the town centre.

Ms Grant, president of Harrogate in Bloom, said the support of the BID meant there was “a real opportunity to bring back the halcyon days when Harrogate was the floral capital of northern England”.

Nick Smith, director of Harrogate Flower Shows, which stages the annual spring and autumn flowers shows in Harrogate and at Newby Hall near Ripon, compered the awards ceremony.

Harrogate in Bloom winners 2023

HAMMOND MANN TROPHY – SCHOOLS COMPETITION

Richard Taylor C of E School

Mc CRINDLE TROPHY – SHOP WINDOW COMPETITION

Helen James Flowers

CROWTHER TROPHY – HOTELS AND GUESTHOUSES

The White Hart

HARROGATE IN BLOOM SHIELD – COMMUNAL GROUNDS CATEGORY

Royal House – Laxford Ltd

PARKS DEPT ROSE SHIELD

The Winter Gardens

BETTY’S TEAPOT – RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY

Swan Court

CHAMBER OF TRADE AND COMMERCE TROPHY – DISCRETIONARY AWARD

Open Country

PRESIDENT’S AWARD – DISCRETIONARY AWARD

Refuse Collection Team

MAYOR’S TROPHY – DISCRETIONARY AWARD

Carolyn Rothwell

EDGAR SCHOLEY SHIELD – BEST ALLOTMENT SITE

Pine Street Allotment Site

HARROGATE COUNCIL TROPHY – BEST ALLOTMENT PLOT

Peter Walker – Pine Street Allotment Site