Ex-serviceman who lost his legs in IRA bombing finds therapy in Harrogate choir

An ex-serviceman from Knaresborough, who was a victim of an IRA attack, has spoken of how singing has been his therapy after a career in the military.

Andy Mudd served in the The Royal Military Police for 18 years after joining up aged 18. He served in Germany, Ireland, London, Cyprus, and Lebanon.

While in Colchester with his wife in 1989, a bomb planted by the IRA exploded under their car.

Mr Mudd said:

“Luckily, my wife was only slightly injured.

“I, unfortunately, lost my right leg from the hip and the left one above the knee. I also lost two fingers on my right hand. But we survived!”

Despite his disability, Mr Mudd continued his work for his corps – serving seven years in a wheelchair — until 1996. He was awarded a British Empire Medal and was mentioned in Dispatches for his work.

After leaving the military, Mr Mudd joined the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (BLESMA), where musician and choir-leader Gareth Malone scouted a group of singers to perform at the Invictus Games in Florida, in 2016.

It was then that Mr Mudd discovered his love for singing.

He added:

“I eagerly joined, although not singing since my days in the choir at Saint John’s Church, Knaresborough, in the 1970s.”

The group, which was named the Invictus Games Choir, also sang and recorded ‘Unbroken’ by John Bon Jovi at the world-renowned Abbey Road Studios.

From there, Mr Mudd went on to sing with the Help for Heroes Choir and Take That at the Royal Variety Show, as well as at The Royal Albert Hall and Sports Personality of the Year Awards.

Harrogate Male Voice Choir with the Ryelarks Choir.

Mr Mudd and his partner, Joyce, moved back to Harrogate last year and he quickly discovered the Harrogate Male Voice Choir to continue his singing journey.

He said:

“I was warmly welcomed into the 2nd tenor group and have been thrilled to sing with this fine male voice choir.

“Two hours of rehearsals every Tuesday evening fills my heart with joy.

“It’s a great therapy; always learning and producing a great sound.”

One member of the choir, Lawrie Coulthard, told the Stray Ferret:

“Andy is a most welcome addition to our choir.

“Not only having a splendid voice, but his happy persona also adds enormously to our friendly atmosphere at rehearsals and concerts.”

The choir, which was formed nearly 55 years ago, now has around 50 members and sings a variety of musical genres.

It has performed at a range of venues, from village churches and castles, to stately homes and even The Royal Albert Hall.

Mr Mudd added:

“I have enjoyed it so much and recommend it to anyone who wants to sing.

“Come and join us!”

The choir rehearses every week at Woodlands Methodist Church on Wetherby Road.

Those wishing to join can call 07905515492.

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Harrogate squash captain eyes first title in 25 years

Harrogate-born Declan Christie is ranked among the highest non-professionals in the world at squash — but he still wants to achieve more.

The 31-year-old estimates he plays the sport, which will be added to the Olympic programme in 2028, at least three hours a day.

He pits himself against professional players every week and also has the chance to get into the top eight of the British rankings in padel tennis.

But, as captain of Harrogate’s premier squash team, he has his eyes on more.

Picking up a racquet

The club has not won the league in 25 years. Declan wants to rectify that.

By his own admission, Declan does not come from a sporting family.

His dad would take him to his local tennis club as a child and he became addicted to racquet sports.

But, it was squash which got him hooked in.

“I used to play tennis originally, I started playing when I was about seven. I played for about three years.

“I used to get dropped off at the squash and tennis club and I would be there all day. After my tennis lessons had finished, I’d go inside and play squash.

“Squash is a much faster sport and that’s what got me hooked.”

Declan playing in a squash match.

Declan playing in a squash match.

Declan entered local tournaments and went on to represent Yorkshire at under-13s.

The intensity of the sport and the glory that comes with it being a single player contest is addictive to Declan

“Squash is often described as boxing with rackets. It’s physically demanding.

“It’s between boxing and chess. You’ve got to think a few moves ahead.”

‘No other sport like squash’

Despite his commitment to the sport, Declan does not play it professionally.

Instead, he has ran his own business, Luxury Flooring, since he was 17.

“I’m a business owner. There’s not a lot of money in squash, so I chose not to go down that route.”

Owning his own business was a foundation for him to be able to pursue squash, he says.

Sport took a back seat while Declan was building his company.

“I was working like 18 hours a day building that up. I didn’t really have much time for sport.

“I played a little bit here and there, but not like I do now.”

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These days, Declan has handed over the reigns of his firm to a management company.

It means he has been able to commit more time to squash and padel tennis and his pursuit of building up his ranking.

He estimates that he plays sport around three hours a day, in particular squash.

“I love squash. No other sport that I have played comes close to squash. I have played a lot of tennis and padel.

“But the feeling of winning a squash match when there is just two people on the court, there is no feeling like that.”

Aiming for the title

Declan already has a league championship under his belt from his time at Chapel Allerton in Leeds.

Sat inside Harrogate Sport and Fitness Centre, where Harrogate play their home games, he explains that the club has been without a title for 25 years.

The league will take Declan and his side across the county to Pontefract, Hull and Doncaster, where they will be pitted against professional and high ranked players from across the world.

At Harrogate, Declan has top 100 ranked Stuart MacGregor as his teammate as well as players who play for Yorkshire.

For Declan, he feels this year the team has a good chance to end that period.

He became captain after the club asked him to lead the side going into the season.

“The club asked me and I’m quite ambitious with it. 

“We want to win the league and that’s what I want to do. It’s about putting a team together that can do that.

“I’ve won the league with another club in Chapel Allerton. This club hasn’t won the league in about 25 years, but we feel this year we’ve got a really good chance of winning it.”

Declan counts the Hungarian open, Swiss open and Italian open as among his achievements in squash.

In the future, he also has ambitions to play for his country in the senior team and represent Great Britain at padel tennis.

But, this year, winning the title at Harrogate is the ultimate goal.

“I know what to do to win this league, so I’m pretty confident that we can win it.”

If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Allerton Park incinerator near Knaresborough hailed a success at scrutiny meeting

Five years after its launch, the controversial £1.4 billion energy-from-waste incinerator near Knaresborough has been declared a success, even by some of the community leaders who voted against it.

The landmark Allerton Park plant, near the junction of the A1(M) and the A59 east of Knaresborough, drew fierce opposition and High Court legal challenges after being declared the best solution to managing 320,000 tonnes of waste a year to improve green disposal methods and avoid landfill costs.

Since the facility opened in 2018, Allerton Waste Recovery Park has continuously exceeded its 70 per cent target for diverting residents’ waste from landfill, achieving nearly 93 per cent last year.

However, the facility has never met the City of York and North Yorkshire Council’s target of recycling five per cent of items in the general waste, only managing just over two per cent for the first time last year.

But Councillor Greg White, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for waste management, said the continued failure to hit the recycling target was partly caused by a positive reason.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of the council’s transport, environment and economy scrutiny committee examining the plant’s performance, he said that since residents separated high amounts of recyclable materials from their general waste, relatively little material of sufficient quality to recycle was being left to mechanically separate at the plant.

He said overall the facility had proved a success, but needed to increase the amount of energy which could be extracted from general waste at the same time as pressure was mounting from the government to have separate food waste collections.

The meeting heard Robert Windass, the Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge, claim that missing the waste recycling target was due to “the idleness of people who live in the houses who cannot be bothered to put it in their recycling bins”.

Cllr Windass, who went against his Conservative colleagues by voting against the facility as he did not believe the facility would be the best deal for taxpayers, said:

There were a lot of people in the community worried about pollution coming out of the chimneys, but there hasn’t been.”

Cllr Windass said chairing a residents’ liaison committee with the site had been “a hell of a job to start with”, with people fearing the plant would impact on their quality of life and house prices. He said:

“It does work very well. Residents are much more relaxed about it now. The only complaint which we get is HGVs queuing on the road if they can’t get into the site.”

The scrutiny committee heard that since the facility was launched it had dealt with more than 1.5 million tonnes of waste and saved 330,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

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But the meeting also heard that councils were effectively incentivised to provide as much waste as possible as they are paid for it by the site’s operator, which in turn acted as a disincentive to educate residents more about what to recycle.

Councillors were told while processing waste from Derbyshire increased North Yorkshire’s carbon emissions at the site, efforts were underway to cut overall emissions from the site.

After the meeting, the authority’s leader, Conservative Councillor Carl Les, said:

“I thought it was the right thing to do at the time and I still think it’s the right thing to do.

“People call it an incinerator, but it’s producing energy from waste. We should all adopt that hierarchy reduce, recycle, re-use, but there comes a point where you can’t any further, so to get rid of the residual waste and generating energy I think is the right thing.

“I would now like to see some way of capturing the waste heat that is generated and capturing that and we are looking at partners to come next to the site and use that heat.”

His comment is likely to draw criticism from Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, who this week raised concerns about further development – or “industrial creep” – at the site.

Boroughbridge community larder hosts cost of living event

Two Harrogate district charities are holding a community event which hopes to combat the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

Boroughbridge Community Larder operates a food bank at Boroughbridge Methodist Church which aims to reduce food waste.

It has partnered with local mental health charity, Mind in Harrogate District to host the Boroughbridge Community Larder Event, which will offer visitors legal advice, cooking demonstrations and mental health support during the financial climate.

The event will begin with a cooking demonstration from Season Well – a Leeds-based project which promotes organic and healthy eating. Attendees can expect to learn budget-friendly recipes using produce from the community larder and local ingredients.

North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Support will offer drop-in sessions to those looking for energy-saving strategies, priority services registers and financial guidance through the cost-of-living crisis.

Mind will also provide mental health signposting services for those that may need it, as well as on-site support.

Kirsty Dawson, rural wellbeing coordinator at Mind in Harrogate District, said:

“We’re facing the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation. The pressure from this crisis is impacting everyone, from people who were already struggling, right through to people who’ve never worried about money before.

“That stress and worry can make it hard to stay mentally well. Mind can’t fix the cost-of-living crisis, but we can help the people, families and communities in our district feel more able to cope.

“By working with other local organisations and helping to highlight the support that is available locally, we hope we can help people to better manage these difficult times.”

The event is open to everyone and is entirely free to attend.

It will take place Wednesday, November 8, from midday until 4pm, at Boroughbridge Methodist Church.

The larder will operate as usual on the day and will provide food resources from noon until 1.30pm at the same venue.

Those that would like to watch the cooking demonstration must register by Tuesday, October 31. You can register in person at the Community Larder or contact Kirsty at kirsty@mindinharrogate.org.uk or on 07305 049296.

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Start date for North Yorkshire combined authority delayed

The establishment of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority looks set to be delayed, according to a council report.

The combined authority, which will be overseen by a directly elected mayor, is expected to have powers to make decisions on matters such as economic development and transport.

Its formation will be overseen by Harrogate-born James Farrar as chief operating officer in its transition year.

The authority had been due to be set up this year and begin operation in May.

However, according to a North Yorkshire Council report, the establishment of the authority looks set to be delayed as parliament debates the devolution deal later this month.

The Stray Ferret asked York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, which is helping to form the combined authority, when the start date would be delayed to.

In response, a spokesperson said:

“Assumptions used to form the combined authority budget were set against a timeline of key milestones, including a parliamentary debate period starting in September.

“This milestone is now anticipated to begin later this month and therefore reflects an amendment of the assumed start date. The timeline remains on track for mayoral elections to run in May 2024.”

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An order is expected be laid before parliament later in the autumn, which will include provisions for powers and funding tied to a devolution deal as well as paving the way for the creation of the authority.

The move to set up a combined authority comes as North Yorkshire agreed a historic devolution deal with government.

The proposed devolution deal includes a £7 million investment to drive green economic growth towards the ambition of York and North Yorkshire becoming the country’s first carbon negative region.

There is also proposed investment of up to £2.65 million to deliver affordable low-carbon housing, and £13 million for the building of new homes on brownfield land during 2023/24 and 2024/25.

The elected mayor will make decisions on investments in strategic priorities such as for transport, housing, and adult education.

The mayor will also have responsibilities for community safety and strategic responsibility for the totality of policing, fire and crime for York and North Yorkshire.

They will appoint a deputy mayor to carry out many of the powers and duties of the role currently known as police, fire and crime commissioner.

An election for the mayor will be held in May 2024. 

Leeds Bradford Airport re-opens but storm continues to disrupt rail services

Leeds Bradford Airport has re-opened after a plane veered off the runway in yesterday’s storm Babet.

The TUI Airways flight from Corfu went off the runway and onto the grass after landing at around 1.53pm in heavy rain. None of the  195 passengers and crew were injured.

The LBA team said it and its partners had worked tirelessly throughout the night in torrential conditions to recover the aircraft in order to safely reopen the runway and airport.

The airport put out this statement at 12.30 today.:

Passengers travelling should contact their airline to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport as there will be continuing disruption.

We understand the significant disruption and inconvenience for passengers departing for their holidays and returning home. We are grateful for the patience and understanding our passengers and business partners have shown during this difficult time.

It thanked staff and passengers for their patience:

We want to express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in supporting the effort dealing with the incident, disruption and recovery of the aircraft in exceptionally difficult conditions.

Once again, we would like to thank our passengers for their cooperation and understanding during this challenging period.

LNER warns people not to travel

LNER meanwhile, has warned rail passengers not to travel today as the severe weather continues to cause major disruption to services.

In a statement LNER said:

Due to ongoing flooding of the route between Doncaster and Wakefield, speed restrictions in Scotland and trains and crews being out of position following yesterday’s extensive disruption, an extremely limited service is in operation and services may be subject to short-notice cancellation.

There are no LNER services operating north of Edinburgh. Due to road closures, rail replacement is not available.  Other train operators are also subject to disruption.

Tickets will be valid for travel between Monday 23 October and Friday 27 October 2023 or fee free refunds will be possible from the original point of purchase.

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Yemi’s Food Stories: Exploring Harrogate with Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours

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.

I’ve lived in Harrogate for over 10 years, so when I got the invite to join the Yorkshire Appetite Food Tour team on a tour of Harrogate, I was certain we would visit some familiar places – but I was wrong.

There is something to be said about being a tourist in your own town, as you get to see it through a fresh pair of eyes — especially when it’s through the eyes of someone who knows and appreciates the history.

I learnt about Harrogate and enjoyed many stories that Jill, our guide, told us about William Slingsby, the soldier who discovered Harrogate, and why we see street names like ‘Montpellier’ and ‘Parliament’.

The tour started at Starling Beer & Coffee House on Oxford Street. I have walked past this road before but never noticed the venue. It is a popular brunch spot in town that serves pizza throughout the evening, as well as unique dishes like poutine – a Canadian reputed hangover-cure!

Our first dish was eggs florentine. It included locally sourced poached eggs with spinach and mushrooms, served with a hollandaise sauce and micro herbs.

We then had another history lesson on the town centre, including the significance of the war memorial, how the town got its name and even some background into the Harrogate institution that is Bettys.

After this, the tour took us to Yorkshire Tapas. Chef Dane champions local produce and creates tapas-style dishes from Yorkshire staples, such as fish and chips, Yorkshire puddings and roast dinners.

Here we enjoyed a generous portion of Yorkshire pudding with pulled pork, shoestring fries, and crackling powder.

Yemi and her fellow food tour members at Vanilli’s and Yorkshire Tapas (R)

The next stop was Cold Bath Deli where we enjoyed a delicious sausage roll served with a leafy salad and French dressing. The mixed beans and roasted cauliflower were both delicious, and I never thought I’d see the day I would be like Oliver Twist asking for more broccoli!

There were lots of other things to try here, so I must visit again to sample other menu items.

Chocolate ice cream at Vanilli’s

Next up was Vanilli’s – an ice cream parlour on Cold Bath Road that has been running for 12 years.

We tasted a variety of lovely ice creams, including some gluten free ones.

Alex, the owner, is passionate about making great ice cream with no artificial flavourings, and I could certainly taste the difference. I have never ordered a chocolate ice cream but was an instant convert when I tasted Alex’s.

I am heading back for his Christmas flavours, so look out for my post on that – I might even save you a job of looking for a quality dessert.

Before heading to Hales Bar – the final leg of the tour – we ventured through Valley Gardens to learn about the town’s rich spa history. We finished the tour with a drink, a slice of parkin and Farrah’s sweets.

The tour is designed to give insight into Harrogate and its history, as well as enjoying a four-course meal from local businesses. I found it eye-opening and discovered lots of new places I’d like to try.

If you’re like me, you can lose sight of what is around you because you are a creature of habit. It’s time to see our gorgeous town through a fresh pair of eyes and to look at both sides of the road.

We need to walk through doors to see the foodie jewels that are lurking behind them.

I am certainly going to be more present as I continue to explore the vibrant food scene across Harrogate and the rest of Yorkshire.

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Flooding expected on Skell, Ure and Nidd as river levels rise

Flood warnings are active on low-lying areas alongside the rivers Ure, Skell and Nidd in the Ripon, Boroughbridge and Harrogate areas this morning. The Environment Agency issues flood warnings when flooding is expected and immediate action is required. One was installed in Ripon last night due to rising river levels. The Environment Agency said:

“Flooding is forecast to affect locations near the River Laver, River Skell, with low lying land expected to be most affected, particularly around riverside properties including Firs Avenue and properties either side of Alma Weir.”

Another warning is active for Boroughbridge camping and caravan site along the Ure. It says the river level is expected to peak at around 2.2m at Westwick Weir this morning, A separate warning was issued at 12.48am this morning for the nearby River Tutt in Boroughbridge where properties next to the river are expected to flood. The only part of the River Nidd with a flood warning is at Birstwith, where the Environment Agency said at 4.48am this morning:

“Areas most at risk include properties situated along Wreaks Road, Clint Bank and Broomfield Road.”

Less severe flood alerts, which indicate flooding is possible but not likely, are in place for the upper, middle and lower Nidd catchment areas A flood warning for the Lower River Ure was issued at 1.48am last night but was downgraded to an alert at 8.31am, with the Environment Agency now saying:

“Flooding is possible on low-lying land including agricultural land and local roads in the areas around Masham, Boroughbridge, Aldborough and Bishop Monkton.”

The River Crimple, Lower Dunsforth Access and the Nidd at Hunsingore also have flood alerts in place. Lighter rain is expected this morning before a 48-hour dry period proceeds more rain.

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Hotel group boss confident multi-million investment in Harrogate district will pay off

Sean Donkin dropped out of university to run a pub, much to his father’s dismay.

Now chief executive of the Inn Collection Group, he has overseen the acquisition and renovation of three well known hotels in the district — the St George in Harrogate, the Dower House in Knaresborough and the Ripon Spa.  All recently re-opened as the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon Inns after multi-million pound renovations.

We talked to Mr Donkin at the reopening of the Ripon Inn about his vision for the hotels and the group’s investment in the district.

The Ripon Inn

Why did the Inn Collection target this area for 3 new hotels?

When we first sought to come further into Yorkshire it was not about creating one singular site.  It’s about creating a nucleus so we can create our own culture on the site but also within the area.

So the manager here (the Ripon Inn) being alone wouldn’t be a great thing for him but having Harrogate and Knaresborough links them together really well.

We don’t want to set up sites in isolation.

The Ripon Inn is your biggest investment – was it a bigger restoration than expected?

When we first saw the property, we thought that’s one hell of a property, understanding that it’s gone through years of deterioration.

We’ve done 30 of these now so development wise it doesn’t really faze us but we do take a few knocks along the way.  In this case the roof, the walls, the windows, everything’s brand new. We’d anticipated about two-thirds of that to be case but when it’s closed for such a long period of time you only get one chance to do it properly so the budget was blown out of the water to give the building best chance it has taking a long term perspective.

Inside the Harrogate Inn

The three hotels have been landmarks. How did you approach renovation work?

People get very nostalgic about buildings which is lovely but we have to look forwards not backwards. You have to modernise them and treat them with respect as well.  At Ripon we lost the ballroom for an extra 10 bedrooms. The reality is without the extra bedrooms the building might not be viable at all.

There were people who were worried about what we going to do with Harrogate – I think the quality of the fit-out shows that we are there for the longer term.

By repurposing,  we are encouraging more people to do more things in the area they’re visiting. We do rooms, food and beverage. I’ve always been an advocate for being the best you can be within the boundaries of what you understand.

Have you struggled to recruit staff?

We haven’t had any issues, we honestly haven’t.  People have their own views about hospitality. But it gives people opportunities. You can learn and go other places – we’ve got sites in the Lake District, North Wales, Northumberland and there are genuine opportunities to further your career.

The Knaresborough Inn

Are you confident the group’s investment in the three hotels will pay off? 

We’ve proved it 27 times so far!  To do it individually I can’t see how that’s sustainable, but having a cluster is where you get the real benefits. You get knowledge of the local area and team knowledge. We want to incentive the team, so we do nights off all together. So how do you do this without shutting the place? We move staff between sites. All our processes are the same so we can do this.

I don’t know if people realise this but we started at Lindisfarne. The history between Lindisfarne, Durham, York and Ripon is huge. It’s following the path of, dare I say it, early Christianity. These are the tracks that people have trodden for hundreds of years and almost unknowingly we are following these tracks too.

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Prolific Harrogate burglar jailed for three raids including at restaurant and bar

A career burglar and “persistent thief” has been jailed for two years for a series of raids, while he was on a suspended sentence, for breaking into Harrogate hair salons.

Anthony Fraser, 38, targeted three premises including a bar and a restaurant in Harrogate town centre just three months after receiving a suspended prison sentence for raiding two hairdressers, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Kelly Clarke said that on April 26 the “recidivist” burglar raided North Bar in Cheltenham Parade after using a crate to smash a glass door. He then stole £500 of items including £198 of alcohol.

About a month later, he targeted a property under renovation at Princess Square after scaling the rear brick wall. He tried to force the door open but was unsuccessful and ran off.

On August 7, he stole more than £500 from a safe at the Estabulo restaurant on Albert Street after breaking in through a rear fire door. CCTV captured him looking around the office for a key to the safe before stealing the contents and riding off on a pushbike.

Fraser, of Swan Road, Harrogate, admitted two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary with intent to steal. All three offences were in breach of his eight-month suspended prison sentence for three burglaries committed in January.

In those raids, Fraser stole thousands of pounds’ worth of products from the Hart & Hart hair salon and Nathan Cosgrove Barbers, both on Commercial Street, on the same weekend.

CCTV showed him smashing a window at Hart & Hart in the early hours of the morning, evidently with a brick. He then left but returned a few hours later and reached in through the smashed window to steal hair straighteners worth over £300.

He left the Nathan Cosgrove salon a “mess” after ransacking the place and stole about 30 items worth £6,851. He also took the till.

The following day, police raided a “drug den” in Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, where they found Fraser and a suitcase containing a “large amount of barbering equipment”.

Fraser had over 30 previous convictions for 50 offences, the majority for theft and kindred, dating back more than 20 years.

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He appeared for sentence for the new offences via video link yesterday after being remanded in custody.

Addicted to Benzodiazepine

Defence barrister Danielle Gilmour conceded that Fraser, a drug addict, was an inveterate burglar who “goes around looking for (opportunities) to burgle”.

She said that Fraser, who had been living in a hostel in Harrogate after being spared prison in March, was addicted to the prescription drug Benzodiazepine.

Recorder Dafydd Enoch KC branded Fraser a “recidivist burglar” with an “appalling” record.

“You have a very long history of burglary and other dishonesty offences,” added Mr Enoch.

“Most, if not all of it, is born out of a long-standing drug problem.”

He criticised Fraser for targeting yet more premises in Harrogate just three months after receiving the suspended sentence, including a “small business” from which he stole £500 cash.

Fraser was jailed for two years, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.