Harrogate football team set for county cup final this weekend

An under-13 Harrogate football team will go head-to-head with York at a county cup final this weekend.

The Harrogate and Craven School Boys team has made it to the final of the Yorkshire Federation Schools’ Football league against York School Boys.

The squad, made up of 24 boys from across the two districts, was whittled down from hundreds of hopefuls at the initial trials.

The boys were put forward by their school PE teachers at the time and all represent a range of local schools, including Ripon Grammar School, Harrogate High School, Rossett School, King James’ School, Ashville College, St John Fisher’s and St Aidan’s.

They have taken on teams from Scunthorpe, Sheffield, York and more during the campaign.

Now, following victories against Rotherham and Wakefield, the U13s will compete in the final at Bridlington Town this Saturday.

Manager Andrew Pears said some of the players have “been signed” or are currently in talks with “a number of professional football clubs”, including Hull City, Bradford City and Huddersfield Town.

He added:

“With a focus on developing young talent and fostering a love for the game, the team is dedicated to honing their football abilities, whilst also emphasising the importance of academic excellence and good sportsmanship.

“Coached by experienced mentors, the players are provided with the guidance and support necessary to excel both on and off the field.

“Throughout the season, the team competes in various tournaments and matches, showcasing their abilities and representing their districts with pride. Their dedication and passion for the sport serve as an inspiration to their peers and a source of pride for the Harrogate and Craven communities.”

Mr Pears also said players who have represented the district at a competitive level will be presented with honour caps at the team’s awards night in May.

Harrogate and Craven School Boys U13s will play York School Boys in the league cup final on Saturday, April 27. Kick-off is at 12.30pm.

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Firefighters battle major house fire in Starbeck

Fire has caused widespread damage to a house and garage in Starbeck this morning.

The blaze is believed to have started in the garage of the property on Avenue Close, off High Street.

Crews from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Wetherby and Moortown, along with the aerial ladder platform from Harrogate, battled the fire.

Harrogate watch manager Nev Scott said crews were mobilised at 9.52am to what he described as a “significant fire”.

Mr Scott said:

“The fire has significantly affected one two-storey property, and there is smoke damage to a neighbouring property.

“The work of the crews has prevented the fire spreading to an adjacent property. Crews will continue to work through the day to dampen the fire and mitigate any further damage.”

He added the occupants had got out of the property by the time firefighters arrived at the scene, and no-one injured. An investigation into the cause us ongoing.

The burnt wreckage of the garage.

A statement by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said:

“Fire crews were called at around 9:50 this morning to reports of a house fire on Avenue Close in Harrogate.

Crews have been working to fight the fire and stop it spreading to a second property.”

Firefighters at the scene of a house fire in Starbeck.

Paramedics and police were also at the scene.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement:

“Police are assisting North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service at the scene of a fire at a residential property on Avenue Close in Harrogate.

“The incident was reported at 10.17am.”

Photo of smoke billowing from a window in the fire-damaged roof of a house in Starbeck.

Smoke billows from the roof of the fire-damaged roof.

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Tim Stedman to star in Harrogate panto again

Harrogate Theatre has announced that Tim Stedman will star in this year’s pantomime once again.

Mr Stedman will be making his 24th panto appearance in Harrogate, where he has become a huge fan favourite playing the fool.

He will take on the role of Phillipe Fillop in Beauty and the Beast, which will run from Wednesday, November 27 to Sunday, January 19.

The announcement was met with joy by fans on social media who posted comments such as ‘Tim IS Harrogate panto’ and ‘the man is the very definition of a legend’.

Mr Stedman previously spoke to the Stray Ferret about performing in Harrogate in an interview here.

Harry Wyatt

The theatre also announced Harry Wyatt will return to take on the role of Madame Bellie Fillop the sous chef.

Further cast announcements have yet to be made but Howard Chadwick, who co-starred with Mr Stedman for many years in Harrogate, won’t be back in 2024.

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Harrogate man pleads guilty to racial harassment at fish and chip shop

A man has admitted racially aggravated harassment at a fish and chip shop in Harrogate.

Darren Beeforth, 37, of Charles Avenue in Harrogate, appeared at York Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Beeforth was charged with one count of racially aggravated harassment and one count of threatening to damage property.

The former offence took place at Dougie’s Fish and Chips on King Edward’s Drive, on March 22, while the latter happened on the same road on the same day.

Beeforth reportedly harassed members of staff at the takeaway and then threatened to smash a man’s windows, the document added.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to one count of assault by beating, which happened on the same day.

Beeforth reportedly assaulted a woman by beating her at an address in Harrogate.

He has been remanded in custody until his sentencing, which will take place on May 7, 2024, in York.

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Plans for car wash on busy Harrogate road withdrawn

Plans to build a car wash and valeting station on Skipton Road in Harrogate have been withdrawn.

A planning application was submitted to North Yorkshire Council in December for the facility, which would have been created on the car park of a former builder’s merchants near to Harrogate Fire Station.

Tofan Osman Abdullah, who is based in Leeds, was behind the scheme and planning documents stated that he had experience running a similar business a few years ago.

According to the application, the business would have opened from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and from 9am to 5pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

A design and access statement attached to the application urged the council to approve the plans. It said: 

“There are strong planning grounds to support this application, and to support local businesses. We believe the additional noise would not make a difference in comparison with the very close busy A59 road.”

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However, before the application could be considered, the council’s environmental health team submitted a representation that raised concerns about the potential for noise impacting nearby residential properties.

It asked the applicant to produce a report to outline how much noise the car wash might create and how this will be mitigated.

A council officer said: 

“The proposed location of the development is right next to a noise sensitive property (79 Skipton Road), and others on Bartle Avenue are in close proximity. There are no details as to the type of equipment to be used on site and the associated noise levels. 

“This department has investigated complaints associated with noise from such an activity at properties at a further distance therefore there is the potential for this development to impact the noise sensitive properties in proximity to it.”

A request to withdraw the application was accepted by the council.

New bus service set for Harrogate’s Wedderburn Road

A new bus service is set to once again serve Wedderburn Road in Harrogate.

The X4, operated by Connexions, will offer two return services a day from Monday to Friday.

It will depart from Harrogate Bus Station to Wedderburn Road, via Wetherby Road, and will return to the bus station via Knaresborough Road.

The X4 will leave Harrogate at 10.30am and 1pm, and will return from Wedderburn Road at 10.42am and 1.12pm, Monday to Friday.

A Connexions spokesperson told the Stray Ferret the X4 service will begin operating on May 20.

They said, due to “registration reasons”, the service will be free to ride between May 20 and June 3. After that, the £2 bus fare cap will apply.

The spokesperson added:

“We wanted to give people in that area a service since they didn’t have one.

“I just hope as many people use it as possible to make sure it keeps running.”

The service is funded solely by Connexions, the spokesperson said.

The news comes after the 104 service, which ran between Wedderburn Road and Harrogate town centre, was scrapped in November 2018.

Nearby residents and councillors have since called for the service to be reinstated, as one local told the Stray Ferret the removal of the service was like a “slap in the face”.

Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones, responded to the news:

“It has been many years since there was a bus service from Wedderburn Road into town. Local councillors and I tried repeatedly to persuade bus companies to re-instate a service.

“Whilst this is a low number of services per day I hope that residents are able to use the service and demonstrate to the operators that there is demand for the service to grow.”

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Historic Harrogate Arms reopens for first time in a decade

The Harrogate Arms Café has opened to the public today.

The site, which sits in the Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Gardens, has been closed since 2014.

It was originally built in 1844 by the then-owner of the estate, Henry Wright, along with a Bath House.

During its time, it has seen many guises, including a hotel, Thai restaurant, nightclub and pub.

However, after the RHS bought the site in 2014, it set out to restore the two historic buildings.

Today, it reopened for the first time in a decade as a café.

The Harrogate Arms Café.

Conservative councillor of Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate and mayor of Harrogate, Michael Harrison, cut the ribbon alongside Clare Matterson, the director general of the RHS to mark the occasion.

The RHS was granted listed building consent in 2019 and has since spent “several millions” on the renovation process, head of site Liz Thwaite said.

Liz Thwaite.

Ms Thwaite told the Stray Ferret:

“The RHS didn’t have the internal funding for the works back in 2014, but by 2019, when we got the building consent, the funding was then in place internally.

“There has been a lot of unforeseen issues along the way and things popped up that we didn’t expect, like bats roosting and wet weather.”

Inside the café.

Ms Thwaite said the horticultural charity decided to take on the project to “link both the Harrogate Arms and the Bath House back to their historic landscape”.

It wanted to give visitors a garden café, as well as the teahouse and Bettys, and offer “more space” to enjoy the gardens, she added.

A spokesperson for the RHS said at the opening sustainability is “at the core” of the charity and has been central to the renovation process.

They added the café will not offer plastic water bottles or single-use coffee cups, and uses Brazilian coffee from “one of 200 regenerative coffee farms”.

The coffee kiosk.

Ms Thwaite told the Stray Ferret:

“We’re feeling really, really excited about the opening.

“We had hoped it would open sooner, but due to weather issues it hasn’t been possible. But nevertheless we’re still so excited.

“I think customers are going to be delighted with it and it will help grow visitors and memberships to the site. People can walk around the garden and have a lovely coffee or lunch here.

“It will showcase what we grow, as well as offer an important message to encourage people to grow their own produce.”

The RHS hopes to use locally sourced produce at the Harrogate Arms Café, and will source a lot of ingredients from the Harlow Carr kitchen garden.

The charity is also undertaking 2-acres of landscaping works around the café, which includes planting mature tree and digging swales to manage rainfall.

The Harrogate Arms Café is officially open to the public.

It offers indoor and outdoor seating, as well and breakfast, lunch and all-day menus. The cafe will be open during summer garden operating hours (9.30am to 6pm) every day.

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Police to carry life-saving nasal spray to prevent drug overdoses

North Yorkshire Police officers are to begin carrying a life-saving nasal spray to tackle the effects of opioid overdose.

The force has joined 28 other UK police forces by rolling out the spray to response and neighbourhoods policing team officers in the initial phase. The scheme will be gradually expanded over a few years.

More than 250 frontline officers have volunteered to carry Naloxone.

Naloxone, which is safe to use, will be administered by officers via a nasal spray, which is easier to use than the injection-based variant.

Assistant chief constable Catherine Clarke said:

“Naloxone is the emergency antidote used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. If administered within 15 minutes, Naloxone can restore normal breathing to a person if it has slowed or stopped.

“The main cause of premature death among people who use drugs in the UK is drug overdose. Many of the reported deaths could potentially have been avoided if Naloxone had been administered, which buys more time for medical intervention by ambulance and hospital teams. This really is a life saver.”

Someone who experienced this first hand is Harrogate woman Emma Plant.

Her life was saved by the kit after she accidentally overdosed and was revived with naloxone. Ms Plant was a heroin and cocaine addict for 10 years. She said:

“It just spiralled out of control, I actually used to go over quite a lot and my friends would call the ambulance.”

She experienced an overdose in a shared household. A man in the house found her unconscious and used the naloxone to revive her.

Ms Plant said:

“He used the Naloxone on me and saved my life. What he said to me is that I’d gone blue, I wasn’t breathing, I was gone, and I didn’t believe it. Now I think about it I think, wow, he actually saved my life. I could’ve not been here today if it wasn’t for him having that naloxone on him.”

Ms Plant is now clean and employed as a community engager with Red Rose Recovery in Harrogate. She is also part of the new Peer 2 Peer Naloxone Guardians who will be distributing more Naloxone in the community.

North Yorkshire Police’s harm reduction officer Danny Stannard delivers the first Naloxone training sessions to frontline officers.

As a member of the North Yorkshire Drug and Alcohol Partnership, the force says it has a part to play alongside emergency services and community partners in preserving life and reducing harm for substance users.

A consultation on a draft North Yorkshire substance use (drugs and alcohol) strategy ends on April 30, 2024.

Public health experts and national organisations including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC),  will support the police in using naloxone.

Click below to watch Ms Plant’s story:

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Police release CCTV image after Harrogate shop theft

North Yorkshire Police has released a CCTV image of a man they wish to speak to regarding a Harrogate shop theft.

The incident happened on March 17 at approximately 6pm at the One Stop Shop on Knaresborough Road.

Officers said around £140 worth of goods were stolen, including coffee and body sprays.

The force added:

“Please contact us if you recognise the man on CCTV, as he may have information that will assist our investigation.”

To contact the police email hazel.simms-willimson@northyorkshire.police.uk, call 101, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website.

Please quote reference 12240047925 when passing on information.

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Harrogate primary school appoints new headteacher

A Harrogate primary school has announced a new headteacher and deputy-head teacher.

Hookstone Chase Primary School has appointed James Hughes as the new headteacher and Hannah Norton as the new deputy headteacher.

Mr Hughes has been acting head since October 2023. He has worked in primary schools for 18 years.

Before starting at Hookstone Chase, he held the position of deputy headteacher at nearby Willow Tree Primary School for 13 years.

Mr Hughes said:

“I am thrilled to become the new Headteacher at Hookstone Chase Primary School and am committed to unlocking the potential of every one of our young learners.

“Alongside Hannah and our talented staff team we will nurture academic excellence and strengthen connections with our local community to cultivate a vibrant and diverse learning environment.”

Ms Norton joins the school from New Park Primary School, also in Harrogate, where she was assistant headteacher and special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).

Hookstone Chase Primary School

Hookstone Chase Primary School is part of Northern Star Academies Trust, a partnership of 15 primary and secondary schools across North and West Yorkshire, five of which are in Harrogate.

Harrogate High School, New Park Primary Academy School , Starbeck Primary Academy and Willow Tree Community Primary School are also in the trust.

The trust’s CEO, Jenn Plews, said:

“We’re delighted to welcome both James and Hannah to their new roles at Hookstone Chase Primary School and to support them as they lead the school into this new chapter.

“As a growing Yorkshire Trust we put people at the heart of everything we do and know that excellent education starts with excellent teachers. We take great pride in being able to provide career advancement prospects within our Trust partnership and are so pleased that both James and Hannah are taking the next step in their career at Northern Star.”

Hookstone Chase Primary School is also looking for a volunteer governor. If you  would like to find out more about the role contact governance@nsat.org.uk. 

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