What’s new this year at the Great Yorkshire Show?

An array of new attractions are set to take place at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show.

The show will run from Tuesday, July 9, to Friday, July 12. Last year tickets sold out a week before the event started.

This year is set to see a craft beer bar, a Battle of the Butchers, Theakston’s Great Yorkshire Inn and Main Ring performances from Forever Tenors and the Paul Hannam Quad Bike Stunt Show for the 165th edition of the show.

It will also be the first time the show hosts the World Ayrshire Federation Annual Conference when around 100 farmers from countries including Kenya, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and America attend as part of a UK Tour.

Meanwhile, the People’s Choice competition will return for the first time since 2019.

People’s Choice traditionally took place in the cattle classes, with exhibitors generally in fancy dress and a light-hearted approach to the whole business of describing and judging the cattle. Its return this year has seen it extended to goats and pigs.

Charles Mills, show director said:

“We are thrilled to announce an exciting programme of events throughout the show, from a world conference for farmers from across the globe, to a Battle of the Butchers competition in the Food Hall, there’s so much for everyone to enjoy.

“There’s also the old favourites which traditionally draw huge crowds with the Cock O the North and the Grand Cattle Parades and I’m delighted to announce the return of People’s Choice which is a lot of fun and gets the public involved.”

Elsewhere, there will be newcomers to the Vertu Motors GYS Stage with Helen Skelton (Tuesday) and Rob and Dave Nicholson, of Cannon Hall Farm, (Friday) along with returning stars Peter Wright of Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet (Thursday) and Adam Henson (Wednesday).

The President’s Lawn will showcase a Grimme four row self-propelled potato harvester on display, set up in honour of the YAS President this year, Martin Cockerill, who’s a potato farmer.

There will also be a photography exhibition by British Life Photographer of the Year, Amy Bateman, who will reflect her on a yearlong journey to record the stories of forty farms across Cumbria.

Amy and husband Colin’s 900-acre cattle and sheep farm Croft Foot is also nominated for a Tye Trophy award, a YAS award highlighting some of the best farms in the north of England and recognising the contribution of farmers to conservation and environmental improvement.

For the first time at the GYS, a craft beer bar will be open in the Food Hall.

There will be over ten beer choices from four brewers within a three-mile radius of the Showground, including award-winning beers from Harrogate Brewing Company, Roosters, Turning Point and Daleside breweries. These local businesses are all members of SIBA – Society for Independent Brewers – the UK body that represents independent breweries.

Tickets are: Adults £35, Children £13 and Families £86 click here to find out more. 

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Harrogate district set to become election battleground

As the door to 10 Downing Street slammed on Wednesday evening, it effectively signalled the starting bell for a six-week election campaign.

The Prime Minister’s announcement that an election will be held on July 4 created political battlegrounds across the country’s 650 constituencies.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, the outlook is no different.

The constituency has been held by the Conservatives for 14 years. In that time, Andrew Jones, the incumbent MP, has won four elections.

He has seen off three different Liberal Democrat candidates vying for the seat, as well as numerous other opposition parties.

(Left, clockwise) Andew Jones, Tom Gordon, Shan Oakes, John Swales and Conrad Whitcroft.

(Left, clockwise) Andew Jones, Tom Gordon, Shan Oakes, John Swales and Conrad Whitcroft.

But the Lib Dems see the 2024 election as a different proposition. Tom Gordon, who will be contesting Mr Jones, has described it as a “once in a generation” election and a chance to kick out the Tories.

Mr Gordon’s challenge will be to overhaul the Conservative’s 9,675 majority – a required swing in the region of 8%.

The 29-year-old has framed the election in Harrogate as a choice between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories, a sign that the party is eyeing the seat as a major scalp.

Meanwhile, there are three other candidates so far in Conrad Whitcroft (Labour), Shan Oakes (Green Party) and John Swales (Reform UK) who are preparing to put a dent in the Tory dominance in the constituency.

But, despite the reported discontent within the Conservative backbenchers at the prospect of a summer election, Mr Jones has been defiant.

The day after Mr Sunak’s announcement, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP issued a combative statement which he pledged to win voters trust.

He said:

“On 5 July we will wake up with Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister or Keir Starmer. No other outcome is possible. And there has only ever been a Labour Prime Minister when this constituency has elected anyone other than a Conservative.

“Choosing that local champion combined with choosing our next Prime Minister is the responsibility that lies with us all on 4 July. I hope that Harrogate and Knaresborough residents will choose me again and I will be working hard win that trust once more.”

Skipton and Ripon

In six weeks’ time, Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, will be tasked with defending his 23,694 majority.

The former Northern Ireland secretary will be hoping to make 2024 his fifth election win in the constituency.

He will also be looking to continue a legacy for the Conservative Party in holding the seat at every election since it was created in 1983.

Standing in his way will be Green Party candidate Andy Brown, who will contest the constituency for a fourth time. Simon Garvey will be standing for Reform UK.

Wetherby and Easingwold

This election will see some voters in the Harrogate district fall under a new constituency.

Wetherby and Easingwold, which replaced the old Selby and Ainsty seat, will cover areas such as Spofforth, Follifoot and Boroughbridge.

The new seat offers all parties a chance to stake their claim to become the first to hold the constituency.

So far, the Tories have announced that current Elmet and Rothwell MP Alec Shelbrook will stand for the party. Meanwhile, Reform UK will field Mike Jordan on polling day.

The Liberal Democrats have chosen James Monaghan as its candidate for the new constituency.

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Businesses hit as power cuts strike Harrogate yet again

Businesses in the centre of Harrogate have been affected once again by power cuts this week.

James Street, Princess Street, Prospect Crescent and parts of Cambridge Street have all suffered outages.

Some shops have had to temporarily close while others told the Stray Ferret they have had issues with their tills, shutters, phone lines, lighting and internet.

This is not the first time the Streets have been left without power. In March, James Street was left without power for a week when Northern Powergrid found “a fault on the underground low voltage cable, resulting in a blown fuse”.

Princess Street and one side of James Street were affected on Tuesday (May 21) with Halifax, FatFace, White Stuff, Hobbs and others all forced to close.

Northern Powergrid said in response to Tuesday’s outage:

“At 08:47 am on Tuesday, May 21 we were alerted to a power cut affecting the James Street and Princess Street areas of Harrogate. Our engineers attended the area at 9am and located an underground low voltage fault.

“This was resolved and power was restored at 2:45 am on Wednesday 22 May. We continue to closely monitor any previous interruptions in our areas and work quickly to resolve any faults on our network.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while our engineers worked safely to repair the fault and re-connect power.”

Yesterday, (May 23) the opposite side to those shops affected earlier in the week on James Street and Prospect Crescent were affected from the early hours of the morning until 4.30pm.

Emergency dentist left unable to treat patients

Dr Shoreh Ghasmi owner of The Harrogate Clinic

Dr Shoreh Ghasmi, owner of The Harrogate Dentist, was once again badly affected by the loss of power. The clinic, which provides 24-hour emergency care, was without light, access to medical records and dental machinery all day, meaning it was unable to treat patients.

She began a root canal surgery at 6.30am and numbed the patient’s mouth. At 7.28am, mid-way through the procedure the power shut off, leaving Dr Ghasmi and her patient panicked in the dark when her tools stopped working.

In March, Dr Ghasmi experienced the same problem when she was left unable to treat an emergency patient with a fractured tooth. After the initial power cuts she was told a generator had been installed and she was highly unlikely to have another power cut.

Yet four months later the clinic was thrown into the same position and Northern Powergrid had acted “nonchalantly” about the issue, she claimed.

Dr Ghasmi said:

“I cannot emphasise how much pressure the power cuts put on the clinic. They (Northern Powergrid) don’t realise how serious this is. It can’t go on, not when it is seriously affecting people’s health.

“I understand mistakes are made but when healthcare is on the line something needs to be done. They just told me ‘no one else has reported an issue’, but we are open 24 hours and need to help our patients. When it happens, I just go numb, and I feel helpless because I can’t help my patients. We are an emergency dentist, so people come to us because they are in such pain.”

James Street

Yvonne Nightingale, general manager of jewellers Ogden of Harrogate, said the power cuts have had “a horrendous knock-on effect” on the business. The power outage meant that the shop was unable to open and the intruder alarm was activated as a result of intermittent power.

Ms Nightingale added that the alarm activated smoke detectors, which someone witnessed and called the emergency services.

The fire services outside Ogden on James Street on Thursday.

Their neighbours Cornish Bakery Harrogate were also badly affected, losing a day of trade and forced to waste pre-prepared food. Hotel Chocolat and Sainsbury’s Local were also affected, with no power to their fridges.

Emel Rasit, manager of Crew Clothing, said:

“This is now the fifth or sixth time it has happened, it is very frustrating at this point and it has now meant the figures for this week will be a struggle.”

Manager of Crew Clothing Harrogate, Emel Rasit (left) with colleague Jack.

Northern Powergrid told The Stray Ferret today:

“On Thursday 23 May, we were alerted to a power cut affecting the James Street area of Harrogate. I can confirm that we have had an ongoing intermittent low voltage fault in this area, which has now been located and repaired.

“This type of fault can cause long duration issues, however we had six members of staff on site within three hours to ensure work was completed and power was restored as quickly as possible. All local properties and businesses were visited by our onsite engineer at the time and provided updates.”

“We do have some follow up work to complete following the repair, however all properties potentially affected will receive prior notice of excavation and we do not expect that supply will be interrupted.

Cornish Bakery Harrogate and Ogden of Harrogate closed due to power cuts

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Land train runs into lamppost in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens

A land train, which is part of a funfair in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens, pranged a lamppost on its first trip of the event today.

Fun in the Park, which opened at 11am today, offers family-friendly entertainment, rides and street food during this bank holiday weekend and half-term.

But the Magical Express, which takes people to-and-from the entrance of the gardens, ran into some bother when trying to negotiate a bend.

A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret they suspected the driver “misjudged how big the front of the train was” when turning a corner, before hitting a lamppost. They added:

“Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

The source also said the event “got off to a rocky start” due to issues with the generator.

They continued:

“There were problems with the generator first thing, which meant all the rides opened late. Once they did open, this train incident happened on its first lap round!”

The event, which is running daily from today and throughout next week’s school half-term holiday, is operated by Northallerton-based Crow Leisure Group Ltd.

It is the first time the company has held an event in Harrogate.

The land train. Pic: Crow Leisure Ltd.

The Stray Ferret contacted founder and chief executive, Alex Crow, about the train mishap.

Mr Crow said it was the “first time” the driver had operated the train around the Valley Gardens with passengers, adding:

“The corner seemed tight.

“The driver reversed back and drove forward again. No one was injured and there’s no damage to the train.

“We have now put mats down on the left side to allow it to make a wider turn.”

Mr Crow also said the train was taken for two practice runs around Valley Gardens this morning and five practice runs yesterday without people onboard.

When asked about problems with the generator, Mr Crow added it “needed a filter change”, which he claims has now been sorted.

He said:

“Everything is running smoothly now. People have said they’re really enjoying the event.”

The event is free to enter but rides come with a charge.

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What’s new this year at the Great Yorkshire Show?Sheffield United top Harrogate’s list of pre-season friendlies

Sheffield United are coming to Wetherby Road as part of Harrogate Town’s pre-season friendly fixtures.

Town announced four matches today as part of their preparations for what will be their fifth season in League Two of the English Football League.

Simon Weaver’s men hosted Sheffield Wednesday in a pre-season friendly two seasons ago.

Now they will take on Sheffield’s leading club, who have just been relegated from the Premier League.

The Blades, managed by Chris Wilder, will make the trip from South Yorkshire to The EnviroVent stadium on Tuesday, July 23 for a 7pm kick-off.

Town’s pre-season shapes up like this:

The club said further fixtures and ticketing information for these matches will be confirmed in due course.

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Judicial review threat to Ripon’s 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme

Ripon City Council could begin legal action to ensure key concerns relating to the 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme are addressed.

North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee granted government agency Homes England outline permission to develop Ministry of Defence land in the north-west of the city last week.

Although there is widespread acceptance that the scheme will go ahead, Ripon councillors, Ripon Military Heritage Trust and Ripon Civic Society have all called for safeguards to be installed on two key issues before the homes are built.

They want to see vital military heritage sites at Clotherholme preserved and a rethink on a proposal to ban right-turning traffic at the Low Skellgate / Somerset Row junction, which is one of many transport measures relating to the development.

The junction where traffic could be prevented from turning right.

Cllr Barbara Brodigan, a Liberal Democrat who represents Ripon Ure Bank and Spa division said she was disappointed local voices “did not have the impact we wanted” at last week’s planning meeting in Northallerton.

She said:

“There was a small success in that they will look again at the ‘no right turn’ proposal for the junction at Low Skellgate.

“However, I have campaigned for nearly four years now for the traffic assessment to be reviewed as I believe the existing one is flawed, having been conducted in June when there is less school traffic on the road.”

Neither Cllr Brodigan nor Cllr Andrew Williams, a member of the Conservatives and Independents group who represents Ripon Moorside and Minster, sit on the countywide strategic planning committee.

But both spoke at last week’s meeting to flag up concerns. Cllr Williams said:

“The banning of right turning traffic at the Low Skellgate / Somerset Row junction will mean my constituents effectively being cut off and having to find an alternative way to get to their homes.”

Last week’s strategic planning committee meeting.

The strategic planning committee agreed to review plans to preserve the city’s military heritage when the application comes back to councillors for the reserved matters application, which contains the details of the scheme.

But Cllr Brodigan said:

“This fails to preserve the military heritage, which I believe the planning committee intended, as the developers can start bulldozing the buildings under the planning consent.

“So it is not enough, unless the city council considers a judicial review, which I believe we will.”

Cllr Brodigan added:

“Homes England, like other developers, talk about place-making, consulting with the community etc. They say it is not just about chimney pots, but in fact it is.

“I would like to see some genuine engagement from Homes England with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust to preserve the significant military heritage at Clotherholme for posterity. We will ‘soldier on!'”

‘We need as many voices raised as possible’

Ripon Military Heritage Trust said in a statement it was disappointed the planning committee did not agree to a deferral “but instead approved the scheme without the safeguards in place that the trust believes to be essential to ensure the preservation of a group of the historic buildings”.

The statement added:

“Nevertheless, we were encouraged by the general support for the heritage expressed by a clear majority of the committee and for the view voiced by several members that land should be allocated for this purpose.

“And we were also partly reassured by the determination of elected members to keep the final decision on heritage preservation in their own hands rather than deputing it to officers as was being proposed.

“However, given that the committee in approving the overall development has agreed a plan to demolish all the barrack buildings, we are concerned that the developers may seek to pre-empt any decision on the heritage by simply bulldozing Deverell Barracks at the earliest opportunity.”

The Stray Ferret is backing the trust’s campaign to save Ripon’s military heritage and the statement said “we need as many voices raised in concerned protest as possible”.

The statement added:

“We are most grateful to the Stray Ferret for its continuing support of our fight to save this important part of our heritage.”

The houses are due to be built on land between Clotherhome Road and Kirkby Road.

The Stray Ferret is backing the trust’s campaign to save key parts of the city’s military history, as reported here. Please sign the petition here. 

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Beginner’s guide to whisky from a Harrogate expertNew deli to open in Harlow Hill next weekSummer DalesBus service begins in Harrogate district this weekend

Another summer DalesBus service will begin operating in the Harrogate district this weekend.

The 825 service, which operates on Sundays and bank holidays over the summer period, will serve people in Harrogate, Knaresborough and villages near Ripon.

The route departs at 9.02am from Wigginton, in York, before stopping at Knaresborough bus station, Harrogate bus station, Ripley Cross, Burnt Yates, Brimham Rocks and Fountains Abbey.

It then proceeds to Galphay, Kirkby Malzeard, Grewelthorpe, Hackfall Woods and Masham.

It continues as far as Richmond, where it arrives at 12.30pm.

The return service departs from Richmond at 3.15pm and will reach the first Harrogate district stop (Masham Market Place) at 4.10pm.

The 825 will run every Sunday and on bank holidays from May 26 to October 6.

Single fares are capped at £2 in line with the national initiative.

People can also use the 820 and 821 DalesBus services, which run throughout Nidderdale over the summer.

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