Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

How sad to see the deputy chief constable exercising his “lawful” duty and removing police traffic control from some Remembrance Day parades.

However, his new found ability to police anti-social behaviour should rid our pavements of e-scooters, e-skateboards and bicycles.

It also should get rid of the noisy “Hooray Henry” young motorists who speed around the town with illegal exhaust systems ruining our enjoyment of our lovely town.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Mike Hodgson, Harrogate

‘Shame’ over Great Yorkshire Showground fencing

I’m trying to make some sense of the extraordinary decision to fence off the Crimple meadows.  

For 10 years or more this area has, thanks to the generosity of Yorkshire Agricultural Society, been part of the lungs of Harrogate. Whilst I understand the land is theirs to do with as it sees fit, it seems mean-spirited to withdraw this amazing area from the people of Harrogate and beyond with no notice.  

I’m struggling to see what the society gains by doing such a thing – unless its aim was to deliberately upset the huge numbers of people who regularly used the space. The fencing of the area must have cost a fortune.  Money it can hardly re-coup in a hurry by renting the land or by selling sheep, particularly as those sheep will presumably have to be moved on the numerous occasions the fields are used as a car park.

I’ve heard some suggestions that reverting the land to farming might be a prelude to more lucrative development. Can this be true?

The land is theirs and what it does with it is its business. However, the town does have to tolerate the massive disruption the show(s) bring(s) every year — something we are given little choice in.

Robin Thompson, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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A former member of the band Simply Red will be among the judges at next weekend’s allotment show in Harrogate.

Harrogate and District Allotment Federation will be holding its 62nd annual show in the Sun Pavilion in Valley Gardens from 11pm to 4pm next Sunday.

The show gives allotment plot holders from Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge the opportunity to showcase their gardening achievements.

The allotment sites will display Simply Red-themed arrangements for this year’s inter-site allotment competition

The arrangements, which will include red flowers, fruit and vegetables, will be judged by Knaresborough-born Tim Kellett, a former member of the band Simply Red.

The outstanding exhibit winner in 2021.

Judging will take place between 10am and noon and then Councillor Eamon Parkin, deputy mayor of Ripon, and his consort Lucy Proud will officially open the show.

Trophies will be awarded at the end to plot holders who have achieved the most points in certain categories or who have presented particularly good exhibits.

Nick Smith, director of Harrogate Flower Shows, will present the prizes.

Profits from the show go to a local nominated charity each year to enhance their gardening projects.

This year’s chosen charity is Ripon in Bloom, which intends to use the donation to help with the refurbishment of Bedern Bank.

The show includes a plant stall.

Entry to the Show is free. There will be a raffle, tombola stall, cakes, produce and plant stalls as well as artisan craft stalls and stalls showcasing local charities.

Stray Horns will play in the Bandstand from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.

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A Harrogate bar is set to host a Taylor Swift-themed quiz to celebrate the UK leg of her tour.

Starling Harrogate, on Oxford Street, will stage a six-round quiz this Friday (August 18) for ‘Swifties’ to enjoy.

Attendees will need to brush up on their ‘Tay-Lore’ ahead of the event, and will be tested on their knowledge of her music videos, lyrics, her sell-out Eras Tour and more.

Teams will be formed on the evening and the lucky winners will be awarded Swif-tea mugs, while the winner of the best-dressed award will receive a free cocktail.

Organiser and die-hard Taylor Swift fan, Tiffany Snowden, held a release party ahead of her album, ‘Red’, in 2021 and is hoping the quiz will see the same level of success.

The 2021 album release party.

She said:

“We still have a few tickets left and last time was such a success, I’d love for other Harrogate-based Swifties to be able to attend.

“[It is a] pub quiz like no other, centred around the one and only, Taylor Alison Swift (a.k.a. the music industry).”

The quiz will be followed by an after-party featuring the star’s songs on repeat.

A ‘posh’ pizza buffet, including pizza slices and sides, will be also included in the ticket, as well as a complimentary glass of wine on arrival.

The singer, who is the second most listened to artist globally on Spotify, recently announced 13 UK shows as part of her Eras Tour in 2024, including Liverpool, Cardiff, London, and Edinburgh. VIP tickets set fans back over £600, while regular admission ranged from £58 to £172.

The quiz will take place on Friday, August 18, from 7pm – 10pm.

Tickets for the event can be found here.

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Three missing girls from Harrogate have been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police have confirmed that two 13-year-old and a 16-year-old girl were found in Leeds and returned to their families.

The girls were last seen at 5pm on Thursday (August 10).

A police statement said:

“Protecting vulnerable people is of paramount importance to North Yorkshire Police.”

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It was a mixture of trying to avoid rugby and suffering from concussion which led to Harrogate Hockey Club coach Jimmy Greenwood to pick up a stick.

The 51-year-old, who was born in Garforth, was forced to play rugby union when he moved to Harrogate and attended the grammar school.

In an effort to avoid being on the school team, he joined Harrogate Hockey Club as soon as he turned 14.

From there, it has been his love for more than three decades.

But, sat in the club on a Thursday afternoon as the pitch outside is packed with kids learning from Olympic gold medal hockey star Maddie Hinch, Jimmy says he never thought it would get to a stage where it became his full time job.

Picking up the stick for the first time

“I think I got concussed three times,” Jimmy says as he recalls his early rugby days at Harrogate Grammar School.

He had never picked up a hockey stick before turning 14.

But, to get out of playing rugby, he felt he should join the hockey team.

“I thought, if I’m in the school hockey team then I can’t get picked for the rugby team.

“So I began my hockey career.”

Jimmy’s school teacher Mr Sutton was a coach at Harrogate Hockey Club when it was based at Harlow Hill.

He took up a trial offer and ended up playing in the men’s side.

Jimmy in action for the men’s side.

Some may look at Jimmy’s story from player to full time coach as an accident given how candid he is about how he got into the sport.

But for him, hockey itself requires skill, technique and time to master.

“It’s an addictive sport. Once you’re in, you’re in.

“It’s an amazing journey when you start. Every other sport I played was just in your age group.”

Jimmy was playing with players much older than him when he joined Harrogate Hockey Club at aged 14.

At that age, he was able to play with adults – some of whom were into their 40s and 50s.

As a junior, he played on the wing because he was quick before he gradually moved to centre forward as he got older.

In the 1980s, the club was playing against the likes of Ben Rhydding, Thirsk and York – teams within the Yorkshire region.

It wouldn’t be until much later that Jimmy would test himself against tougher sides in Birmingham and further south when he studied at the University of Durham.

Much of Jimmy’s playing career was playing in the North Premier League for Harrogate.

However, in 2004, the club were promoted to the National League – which saw them pitted against the likes of Lewes and Birmingham.

For Jimmy, the move into the next division, which moved them outside of the north of England, was an eye opener.

“It was mainly decision making.

“There’s a level of skill that everyone can get to in hockey. There’s only so quickly that you can move a ball, like footballers.

“But then it comes down to how quickly the brain works.”

His passion for the sport took him as far as England trials – although his career never reached that level.

Turning to coaching

These days, Jimmy takes his hockey playing more casually.

However, he had his eye on becoming a coach when he was 18.

“I’ve sort of coached off and on for my whole career.”

He describes himself as a “technical” coach and has long argued that there is a difference between technique and skill when it comes to players.

“When I say technical, most people would call that a skills coach.

“Making sure people are stopping the ball correctly, holding the stick properly and showing them some tricky moves to do against opposition players.

“In my head – and I will argue this with everybody – that’s technique. The skill is picking the right thing to do at the right time.

“I like to empower anyone that I coach with as much technique as I can give them so that they are the best player that they can be. Then it is up to them, they can be world beaters if they can make the right decisions.”

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Amid the part time coaching and playing hockey on evenings and weekends, Jimmy had a day job.

Before the covid pandemic, he ran a book publishing business.

He worked for himself and enjoyed it, but then the covid pandemic hit and the world turned upside down.

“I have always run my own businesses and I wound one up about two years ago.

“It had done quite well through covid, but coming out the other side of covid the education sector changed quite drastically. The business couldn’t cope with the changes.”

Jimmy did not know what to do and tried to work for other people, but did not like it.

He turned to his passion in the hope that it may offer him work.

Fortunately for Jimmy, the club was in a position where it needed to offer support to its development officer, Megan Reid.

“She needed a coach to help her to do some of these outreach programmes into schools and to help do some of the club coaching here and to develop the juniors.”

Two months in, Jimmy says the job is a labour of love and something he feels he is well suited to.

“It is in some ways not like working because it is something that I absolutely love doing and I have done it for so long.

“But it is kind of strange to have never done it as a job before.”

While his new job involves coaching, it also involves helping to build the club back up from covid.

Like a lot of sports, Harrogate Hockey Club was hit hard by covid.

Some members did not return and the junior teams lost their way with no sport to play.

“To get everything back on track, it needs that extra support.

“I think it is happening in all sports now. Being able to rely on people’s goodwill to run teams nowadays is quite hard.”

The club has been fortunate enough to have stars like Maddie Hinch, who won gold for Great Britain at the Rio Olympics in 2016, hosting training sessions at the Ainsty Road pitch to help generate interest in the sport.

Despite the task in hand, Jimmy still has goals in mind.

He wants to try and play beyond the age of 55 and to help to grow the club and its membership.

“Having run businesses over the years, it’s like growing a plant.

“First and foremost, you need to grow it. You can get rid of some bits that are a bit unwieldy and then make it nice.”

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

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has said he supports the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge to house migrants.

The barge, moored in Dorset, has dominated the news this week.

Thirty-nine migrants onboard were removed on Friday after traces of Legionella bacteria were found in the water system.

However, the government remains committed to housing up to 500 men aged 18 to 65 on the vessel while they await the outcome of asylum applications — and Mr Jones agrees. He said:

“The people coming to this country on small boats are not fleeing an immediate threat of persecution.  They are coming from France.

“They are being exploited by people smugglers who are responsible for hundreds of migrant deaths in the Channel and in the Mediterranean. This is international, organised crime and we must not simply ignore it.

“I am interested in helping genuine refugees and preventing drownings in coastal waters. I also want to see migrants who are not fleeing persecution returned to their home country quickly.

“So I do agree with the decision to use the Bibby Stockholm as it will help speed up our processing of asylum applications, prevent people absconding once they arrive here and help us get genuine refugees into our housing and healthcare system quickly.”

‘We should be proud of our record’

The Stray Ferret asked Mr Jones if he agreed with fellow Tory MP Lee Anderson’s comment that the government had failed on immigration.

We also asked what he thought of Mr Anderson saying asylum seekers should “f*** off back to France” if they don’t like being housed on the barge. Last year Mr Jones told the Commons there was a ”problem with standards in our politics”.

Mr Jones said there was a collective failure across continents to tackle the issue. He said:

“People leaving poor countries where that country is a safe place and trying to get to rich countries is not something that can be prevented by the United Kingdom alone.  It is a global problem which requires a global response.

“That said, we should be proud of our record on helping genuine refugees. Since 2015 we have offered a safe and legal route to the UK to almost half a million men, women and children seeking refuge as well as family members of refugees.”

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Mr Jones suggested he disapproved of the use of the f word by Mr Anderson, who is deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He said:

“Anyone who knows me, even slightly, knows how I express myself and it is very different to the way Mr Anderson expresses himself.  Indeed it is different to the way Labour’s Diane Abbott expressed herself on Twitter on exactly the same issue.

“I like to dial down the heat and focus on the facts.  And those facts are that we have migrants coming to this country, some legally and some illegally.  We need to help those who genuinely need it and return those who do not to their home countries.”

A Harrogate rugby team has visited Canada as part of a town winning scheme.

Players from Harrogate Rugby Club’s under-16s visited Barrie in Ontario, where they were given a tour and even appeared on local television.

The city was twinned with Harrogate in 2013.

Sir Robert Barrie was a Royal Navy officer who fought against the USA in the 19th century and is buried in the Harrogate district.

He then took up a post in Ontario, Canada, to inspect a key trading route called the Nine Mile Portage. He settled there, calling it “one of the most beautiful places on earth”. In 1833 the area was renamed in his honour.

The Harrogate rugby side, which included students from Harrogate Grammar School and Ashville College, embarked on the nine-day tour in July.

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The tour was sponsored by Harrogate International Partnerships and included matches which saw Harrogate run out victorious.

Harrogate coach, Ralph Zoing, described the games as “competitive, but played in an excellent spirit”.

Harrogate Rugby Club raising the Yorkshire flag in Barrie, Ontario.

The team also raised a Yorkshire flag in Barrie during Yorkshire Day on August 1.

Dennis Richards, chair of Harrogate International Partnerships, said the visit was a success.

“Twinning works best through community groups, sport and music being prime examples. 

“The success of this trip should inspire many others in years to come.”

A civic reception was also held by Alex Nuttall, mayor of Barrie, as part of the Harrogate club’s visit.

Mr Nuttall said:

“These young men were excellent ambassadors for Harrogate and their rugby club. 

“They were a delight to host and strengthened a rapidly developing link between our two towns. Both towns have so much to offer each other”

A reciprocal visit is planned to take place in 2024.

Twinned

Barrie was twinned with Harrogate in 2013 at the suggestion of local aristocrat Sir Thomas Ingilby.

Sir Robert married Sir Thomas’s ancestor, Julia Wharton Ingilby, in 1816.

In mid-1834, Barrie returned to England and King William IV made him a knight commander of the Royal Guelphic Order. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1837 and knight commander of the Order of the Bath in 1840.

Barrie retired in Swarthdale, Lancashire and was buried at All Saints Church in Ripley in 1841.

Harrogate has one. So has Ripon. But Knaresborough hasn’t.

We are talking about business improvement districts, which are set up when businesses agree to work together to fund schemes that encourage more shoppers into town and city centres.

You might not know much about Harrogate BID but you have probably seen its work.

The recent Harrogate floral summer of celebration, which saw nine town centre floral installations ranging from a Buddha to giant cakes, was its handiwork.

So are the town’s Christmas lights, street entertainers and street ranger Chris Ashby, who buzzes around in an electric vehicle cleaning and weeding.

One of nine Harrogate floral summer of celebration displays by the BID.

In June, 76% of almost 500 Harrogate businesses eligible to vote did so in favour of supporting the BID for a second five-year term.

Such landslide support seemed inconceivable in the BID’s early days, when it was riddled with in-fighting. But the appointment of Matthew Chapman as chief executive in 2021 heralded a change of fortune.

Former semi-professional rugby league player Mr Chapman has navigated his way through the Harrogate business world with a deftness and charm not usually associated with cauliflower-eared rugby bruisers.

June’s vote, which means town centre businesses with a rateable value of at least £19,000 will continue to pay a levy to fund the BID’s work, was a testament to faith in the BID and his rigorous campaigning.

Was he surprised by the whopping majority?

“No. We had done a lot of homework. The groundwork started 14 months before the ballot. We were confident we could prove our worth and I spent a lot of time talking to businesses.”

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Even Mr Chapman’s sunny disposition was tested when North Yorkshire Council, whose Harrogate businesses include the Turkish baths, the tourist information office and the library, abstained from the vote.

The now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council’s block vote helped the BID win its first ballot five years ago. Was he disappointed its successor local authority didn’t offer the same support?

“It was a tough pill to swallow because we were the first BID in the UK to have a local authority abstain. But at least we can say it was a true business decision.”

(from left) BID staff members Bethany Allen, Chris Ashby and Matthew Chapman join chair Dan Siddle and vice-chair Andrea Thornborrow to celebrate the ballot result.

The yes vote means the BID’s work, which also includes events such as fashion shows and dog shows, the Harrogate Gift Card, street art and targeted free parking, will continue.

But will Mr Chapman? His departure for a managerial role at North Yorkshire Council was announced last year before her performed a U-turn and stayed. He says:

“I’m very confident of staying for the next five years. What that process made me realise is I’m very passionate about BIDs and Harrogate is a great place to deliver one.”

Harrogate ‘vibrant — but needs big brands’

Mr Chapman previously worked for BIDs in Leeds and Huddersfield but says “coming to Harrogate was like going from the second division to the premier league” because of the town’s prestige. He says:

“I’ve learned that Harrogate is a very traditional place where people are really passionate about its history.”

Harrogate, he says, is vibrant and people have a lot of pride in it, adding shop vacancy rates are below average and footfall is above average for a town of its size.

But he says the town centre “could do with some big brands” and some parts, such as Cambridge Street, are “looking tired and could do with a makeover” although he adds Harrogate’s affluent reputation makes it harder to win bids for regeneration funding.

“Look at Montpellier — that says ‘Harrogate’. We would like all the town to say that.”

Which brings us to the £11.9 million Station Gateway scheme — is he for or against?

‘Tired’ looking Cambridge Street

Mr Chapman displays a nifty rugby player’s sidestep by asserting the BID’s neutrality. Some retailers oppose the loss of parking spaces and part-pedestrianisation on James Street, while some hospitality businesses think it would encourage cafe culture, he says.

Mr Chapman commutes in daily from York, where he was born, to the three-strong BID team’s Victoria Shopping Centre office.

Its term two income is set to fall from £540,000 a year to £485,000 a year, mainly because the council’s latest reassessment of rateable values took more businesses below the levy threshold.

But Mr Chapman is confident his team will continue to delight and keep members happy.

“I want to show a clear return on investment. I have got to be able to stand in front of businesses and show what we are doing in return for charging a levy.”

The American accused of causing serious injury to two teenagers in a collision outside a Harrogate school is chief of the space policy division for the US joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.

The joint chiefs of staff consists of the most senior leaders in the United States Department of Defense, who advise the president.

Benjamin Oakes, 46, of Tewit Well Avenue, Harrogate, is a highly decorated colonel in the US military, according to his LinkedIn profile, which was taken down before yesterday’s hearing.

The profile said he has held his current role, which involves directing space policy for the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon in Washington, for more than four years.

He was previously a political-military analyst in the space policy division and before that was commander of the operational support squadron in the US Airforce.

Hundreds of US military personnel are stationed at RAF Menwith Hill, near Harrogate.

Mr Oakes pleaded not guilty yesterday to causing serious injury to two teenagers in a collision outside a Harrogate school.

He is charged with causing injury by careless or inconsiderate driving in the incident on Yew Tree Lane on February 2.

The court heard the two 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered serious injuries in the collision outside Ashville College.

Both he and magistrates opted not to send the case to crown court, where he would have faced a jury trial.

The trial will be heard a York Magistrates Court, provisionally on December 4 and 5.

Mr Oakes was released on unconditional bail.

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• Hundreds of junior soldiers graduate at Harrogate’s Army Foundation College

More than 400 junior soldiers graduated from Harrogate’s Army Foundation College this week.

Hundreds of graduates marched on the parade square to mark the end of their phase one training on Thursday.

The 17 and 18-year-olds will now go on to complete their trade training before joining regiments across the UK. 

The parade was led off the square by Bradley Ruddy, aged 17. This was in recognition of him being awarded the title of best recruit and saw him give the final words of command to all the soldiers on parade. 

He said:

“Everyone deserved their spot on the drill square. We’ve all worked extremely hard and put a hundred per cent effort in.”

Bradley Ruddy, pictured with his best recruit award.

Bradley, who is from Doncaster, is set to go onto join the Coldstream Guards after graduating from the college.

He added:

“I joined because I wanted to travel the world and, in the Army, you can do that for free.

“I’ve always been big into doing things outdoors and the Army offers a lot of adventure training, so that caught my eye.

“I do a lot of running and I’m a big hill walker. I just like being outside.”

The passing out parade held in Harrogate on Thursday.

Meanwhile, twin sisters Laura and Kate Hanna, 17, said they followed in their dad’s footsteps by joining the college.

Laura, who will be joining the Royal Armoured Corps, said:

“Our dad was in the Army. We’ve grown up with it.

“It’s been good having Laura here. We were not in the same company, so we only saw each other in the evenings.

“I’ve enjoyed learning about what happened in Normandy, and I enjoyed Battle Camp, where we did live firing. I’ve done cross country and athletics.”

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