Northern Aldborough Festival reveals 2023 line-up

An appearance by TV historian Lucy Worsley will be among the highlights of this year’s Northern Aldborough Festival.

The line-up for the nine-day festival, which is one of the annual highlights of the Harrogate district arts scene, was revealed today.

Ms Worsley will give a talk on crime writer Agatha Christie on June 19.

Trumpeter Matilda Lloyd, pianist Sunwook Kim and the Armonico Consort will also head to the Roman village for the festival, which runs from June 15 to 24.

Now in its 29th year, the event offers audiences the chance to experience performances normally seen in the world’s biggest concert halls in a rural village setting.

Tickets went on sale for Friends of the Festival today and will be available to the wider public on March 27.

Italian opera and Beethoven

BBC Young Musician of the Year brass winner, trumpet-player Matilda Lloyd will perform a programme from Italian Opera.

Matilda Lloyd

Matilda Lloyd. Pic credit: Benjamin Ealovega

The first Asian winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition, Sunwook Kim will play Beethoven’s final sonatas in St Andrew’s Church.

There will be a rare double bill of Haydn’s comedies, The Diva and The Apothecary, presented by the nationally-renowned, Bampton Classical Opera company.

This year also includes the inaugural New Voices Competition, a nationwide hunt for the best classical vocal talent.

Robert Ogden

Festival director Robert Ogden outside St Andrew’s Church

The jazz ensemble, The Tim Kliphuis Sextet, will perform at the Old Hall in North Deighton and the vocal ensemble, Armonico Consort, will perform Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in St Andrew’s Church.

Further details are available here.

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Junior doctors begin strike at Harrogate District Hospital

Junior doctors formed a large picket line on Wetherby Road in Harrogate this morning as a 72-hour strike got underway.

Up to 61,000 junior or trainee doctors began a walkout at 7am today in a dispute over pay.

Many cars sounded their horns in support of those taking part in today’s action on Wetherby Road, close to Harrogate District Hospital.

The British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association have defied calls from Health Secretary Steve Barclay to call off the strike.

They are calling for a 26% pay increase to “reverse the steep decline in pay faced by junior doctors since 2008/9”, according to the BMA.

A statement on Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust‘s website says the strike will impact services to patients. It says:

“Outpatients appointments and planned activity may be affected.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. We will be re-arranging any postponed appointments as a priority.

“We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Nobody should put off seeking urgent or emergency care during the strikes, and key services will continue to operate.”

The full statement is here.

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Plan approved to convert former Harrogate Italian restaurant into flat

A plan to convert the former Lugii’s restaurant in Harrogate into a flat has been approved.

The Italian restaurant, which was situated in a residential area on Valley Drive, closed in October 2021.

Applicant Nidge O’Brien tabled plans to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the building into a two-bedroom apartment.

Now, the council has approved the plans.

In a report, the authority said the move would “respect the character and appearance of the existing building and surrounding conservation area”.

Luigi’s closed its doors on October 17, 2021. In a post on its Facebook page, management at the restaurant said:

“We have thus reached the end of the journey, and we take this opportunity to thank all the customers who have supported us with their affection during these two years.

“Luigi’s Restaurant will open its doors for you on Sunday 17th October for the last time.

“Heartfelt thanks to all of you, it was a pleasure to pamper you and give you the goodness of our simple and genuine dishes.We will meet again, around the county.”

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Ofsted rates Harrogate pre-school ‘outstanding’ for first time

“Passionate” staff and a “stimulating” environment combine to make Harrogate’s Performatots an ‘outstanding’ pre-school, according to Ofsted.

The latest report by the government’s inspectors praises the way the setting teaches children language and maths, as well as skills including food preparation and hygiene.

Performatots was inspected alongside Northern Performance Academy, a performing arts school that is part of the same business run by Kelly Nevett.

In a report published this week, Ofsted inspector Jo Clark said:

“Children show high levels of curiosity and a sense of wonder in their learning. For example, during a unique birthday walk children sing and celebrate the earth revolving around the sun for each year of a child’s birth.

“They celebrate the life of the child, as children and staff offer words of thanks and best wishes. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

“Children develop their emotional literacy through speech and drama classes in their wonderful theatre. Specialist drama teachers support children to identify feelings using coloured scarves. Children use a red scarf to depict an angry emotion.

“They skilfully use their words to explain their feelings. A child places a calm coloured scarf around the child and says, ‘I’ll protect you.’ Children learn to understand their emotions and develop a positive mental attitude.”

The report said children “showed tremendous levels of independence” such as when taking food for lunch and choosing their seats.

It said this made them “superbly prepared” for the next steps in their education.

Ms Clark’s report also said:

“Management and staff are inspirational in their vision for providing children with exceptional and unique learning experiences. They are dedicated in developing the skills and knowledge of all staff to ensure the best outcomes for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

“Partnership with parents is exceptional. Staff provide parents with the skills and knowledge to continue and extend their child’s learning and development at home.”

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The report did not give any suggestions for improvement, rating all four areas of education ‘outstanding’.

The new rating – a step up from the previous ‘good’ grading given in 2017 – has been welcomed by Performatots, based on Anchor Road.

Owner and principal Kelly Nevett  said:

“We are all absolutely over the moon to receive this recognition for Northern Performance Academy and especially our early years department of exceptionally passionate, talented teachers.

“We are a school that champions the power of the arts in education, shining a spotlight on the incredible way they bring learning to life and help young people to be confident, creative, curious and capable. We are thrilled that our unique, pioneering approach to the early years curriculum, was judged to be outstanding.

“Our glowing report has made many of our parents cry – for all the right reasons! It’s so reassuring for parents to know that their children are receiving the very best level of early education and care available to them. Who wouldn’t want their child to have an outstanding start to their life?”

Ms Nevett said the grading was particularly welcome after Ofsted changed its criteria in 2021, making the top rating harder to achieve.

While the inspection only took place on one day in February, she said it reflected much more than what was seen during that small window.

“It’s about the years and years prior to that moment of consistently analysing, evaluating and evolving in order to become the very best you can be. It’s a journey and it doesn’t just happen, so it’s about the blood, sweat and tears, the set-backs, the knocks, the sleepless nights, the juggling, the failures and the low points.

“We are where we are through sheer hard work, determination and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Despite receiving no recommendations for improvement from Ofsted, we have fostered a fantastic company culture and a vision to always be improving. I know we will continue to reflect, enhance and develop the amazing opportunities available here.”

Harrogate to be second fastest growing place in Yorkshire, says North Yorkshire Council CEO

Harrogate is forecast to be the second fastest growing town in Yorkshire this year, says the new chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.

Richard Flinton, who is set to oversee devolution in the county from April 1, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Stray Ferret Business Awards on Thursday.

Mr Flinton told the ceremony at Pavilions of Harrogate that supporting local business would be a major part of the new council’s agenda.

He said:

“Supporting business will be a really big part of the council.

“I have got great admiration for the wealth creators, the entrepreneurs and the talented individuals in this room.”

Mr Flinton will oversee the biggest reorganisation of local government in North Yorkshire since 1974.

The move will see seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, and the county council scrapped to make way for one unitary authority.

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Mr Flinton, who is also involved with York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said he wanted to see the new council work closely with the private sector.

He said:

“Our shared aim has got to be to try and create more jobs and wealth.

“I know that growing your businesses is what creates those jobs and that wealth. One of our roles in the public sector is to be able support you through infrastructure, through making sure people have got the right skills and work together to make sure we grow our economy.”

‘A massive opportunity’

Mr Flinton said Harrogate was “an incredibly important” part of the economy of North Yorkshire, adding:

“Ernst and Young are forecasting that Harrogate will be the second fastest growing part of the whole of Yorkshire this year, just behind the city of Leeds.”

He added that there was a “massive opportunity” for Harrogate to be one of the most vibrant towns in the north of England.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards showcased a variety of talent from across the area, and 11 finalists were crowned the winners of their categories.

The ceremony was attended by nearly 400 guests and celebrated the success of businesses from across the district.

You can read more about the winners of the awards here.

Business Breakfast: Ethical cafe opens second store in Knaresborough

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

Number Thirteen Coffee House & Cakery – a retro-inspired, eco-conscious coffee shop in Knaresborough, is set to open a second, larger store.

Number Thirteen opened in January 2018 when operator Sarah Ward took over a small vacant shop unit on Castlegate.

Five years on, Number Thirteen is set to open a second, larger premises on the first floor space above Donkey’s Years Antiques on Silver Street.  The new space will have all the hallmarks of Number Thirteen’s signature retro styling, but will be more of a social space, with room for larger groups.

Ms Ward said:

“It’s very exciting to be opening a second shop in Knaresborough.  The town has such a strong, friendly business community and our customers are so loyal and supportive.  I just wanted to be able to give them all something to be proud of.

“Each shop will have its own identity but will work in harmony with each other too. We saw little point creating something that was exactly the same, just made bigger, and instead we’ve kept all of the best bits and built on them, trying out new things that we otherwise didn’t have the space to do in our Castlegate shop. ”

Number Thirteen on Silver Street will be opening on April 1 to coincide with the start of the school holidays.

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Transport chief in Harrogate tonight

Tonight’s meeting of the Harrogate Chamber of Commerce will focus on broadband and town centre connectivity.

Entitled “The Highway — super and public”,  the meeting with hear from NYnet about business broadband CityFibre about domestic broadband.

David Simister, the chamber’s chief executive said:

“Obviously businesses rely on high speed broadband — if they don’t have it they will be disadvantaged from other parts of the country that do.

“We live in a world where nothing less than superfast is acceptable.”

The meeting will also hear from councillor Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, on updates about the controversial Station Gateway project in Harrogate and wider highways issues in the town centre.

The meeting, at the Harrogate Convention Centre starts at 5.30pm.

Scammers fail to spoil another successful Knaresborough tractor run

Thousands of people turned out across the Harrogate district today to support the Knaresborough tractor run.

The event, which is believed to be Britain’s biggest tractor run, has become one of the district’s most popular annual events.

Almost 400 tractors, including some vintage open station models with hardy drivers braving the elements, tooted their horns, waved and revved their engines to the delight of the crowds.

Organised by Knaresborough Young Farmers, the event raises money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Tractors set off just after 9am from the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and headed to Ripley and Knaresborough.

Knaresborough tractor run

Today’s start at the showground.

The convoy then passed Staveley, Burton Leonard and Markington, Bishop Thornton and Glasshouses before stopping in Pateley Bridge for lunch.

The drivers and passengers then continued to Bewerley, Dacre, Darley, Birstwith and Hampsthwaite before finishing in Knaresborough late this afternoon.

The organisers arranged live tracking of the front and back tractors for the first time, which led to some scammers posting a link online asking people to give bank details to follow a live stream.

Some people reported losses before the organisers deleted the links and issued warnings not to use them.

The number of tractors taking part and the sum raised has yet to be confirmed but the event appears to have been another big success.

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“It means so much to us”, says Stray Ferret Business Award Winner

The Stray Ferret Business Awards saw 11 finalists, and one very lucky prize winner, crowned the winners of their categories.

The winners shared their reactions in the LCF LAW Winner’s Lounge.

Here is what some of them had to say.

The Golden Ticket Prize

Winner: Millie Rae

Millie Rae, of Cloud NINE, was crowned the winner of our Heads or Tails game, winning herself an overnight stay in the Presidential Suite and dinner at Grantley Hall.

In the LCF Law Winner’s Lounge, Millie said:

‘I’m very, very happy.

“We were playing heads or tails and I changed my mind at the last minute, and I managed to win! I’ll take my boyfriend with me…if he’s nice!”

Dynamic Leader Award – sponsored by Succession Wealth

Winner: Ian Baker, The Soundproofing Store

Ian Baker, founder and managing director of The Soundproofing Store, won first place in our Dynamic Leader Award.

Ian Baker with Clare Frisby (L) and Lawrence King of Succession Wealth (R)

In the LCF Law Winner’s Lounge, Ian said:

“My team put me up for this, I had nothing to do with it and I feel absolutely amazed”.

“I’ve always liked to treat people as you’d wish to be treated yourself — that’s what I always try to do”.

Best Independent Retailer Award – sponsored by the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub

Winner: TravelGate

TravelGate is an independent travel agency in Harrogate. The company won the Best Independent Retailer Award.

Clare Frisby (L) with the TravelGate team and James Farrar, of York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub (R)

Melanie and Phil, in the LCF Law Winner’s Lounge, said:

“We are absolutely overwhelmed to have received this award.

It means so much to us – thank you to everybody”.

“There were some fabulous businesses in this category, so it is incredible to recognised”.

Digital Innovation Award – sponsored by ASE Computer Services

Winner: Strive Group

Strive Group is a connected experience agency in Harrogate.

The company took home the crown for Digital Innovation.

Clare Frisby (L) with the Strive Group team and Chris Dickinson of ASE Computers (R)

In the LCF Law Winner’s Lounge, Director Alistair Grant said:

“It felt awesome to be up on that stage and accept the award for the company”.

“There is such strength of talent in Harrogate and we wanted to show the local community the great opportunities here”.

The Stray Ferret would like to thank everyone who entered the awards and everyone who attended our event.

Thank you to all our sponsors, including all the businesses supporting our individual categories, and our lead sponsor, Prosperis.

Keep an eye on our site and social media over the coming days to see more news and photographs from the awards ceremony.

Stray Views: North Yorkshire rural transport ‘desperately inefficient’

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.

Hats off to North Yorkshire County Council for being open about the cost of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes. The reason that DRT is expensive in rural areas is because it is desperately inefficient.

DRT is supposed to be the answer where demand for timetabled services has dropped to uneconomic levels. But DRT actually makes the problem worse – if the only timetabled bus leaves at 10.30, it may well carry me (who would prefer to leave at 09.30) and my neighbour (who might prefer to leave at 11.30). 

But DRT asks us each when we want to travel, and if we are both lucky enough to bag a ride, then the bus will come to our village twice, carrying just one of us each time. And because the schedule is built in random order, as requests come in, the vehicles end up with wasteful gaps when there isn’t enough time to fit in an extra trip, and lots of “dead mileage” as the vehicles zoom around empty from one drop off to the next pickup.

I live in a part of rural Derbyshire that is likely to lose timetabled services soon, and I wanted to see if my fears were borne out by data. Finding no published information on loadings for DRT buses, I made a FOI request to NYCC for detailed information on the Yorbus service around Ripon. 

The data, for February, March and April 2022 shows the two minibuses carrying passengers for just a third of their operating time and when they did have passengers, it was rarely more than three. Normal taxis could have been used instead (with far lower costs and emissions) for over 97% of the operating hours. These figures will have improved, a bit, as ridership has increased in the last year, but Yorbus will still be running as what is in effect a badly-scheduled taxi service using vastly oversized vehicles.

Even if you don’t worry about the cost, DRT isn’t even a good replacement for a timetabled service. The marketing materials may talk about flexibility, but for the user that means uncertainty.

NYCC have reported that Yorbus has been unable to meet about 20% of the requests for a ride. 

Failure may be OK if you were planning to go shopping: perhaps you will be luckier tomorrow. But what if you had wanted to use Yorbus to get to work? Or to an appointment with a hospital consultant?

John Geddes, Winster, Derbyshire

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‘Disgust’ at North Yorkshire County Council view

I read with disgust but no real surprise in the Stray Ferret the view of the North Yorkshire Tory council expressed by the opposition concerning the behaviour of the council. 

They describe the behaviour as something like a “Putinesque regime” amongst other descriptors. They then go on to describe actions that are nothing short of abuses of power.

It irks me that this dire council has managed to wriggle out of it’s responsibility to face elections till 2027 as a result of the re-organisation of local government.

Let’s face it, it is likely that the forthcoming local elections are likely to see the Tories, deservedly, wiped off the the face of the electoral map in much of the country. North Yorkshire however remains lumbered with this dismal bunch for another four years.

This thoroughly depressing and damaging state of affairs should not be allowed to stand.

Nick Hudson, 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.

£1.5m fund for voluntary organisations in North Yorkshire

Voluntary organisations that helped North Yorkshire communities during covid could benefit from a share of £1.5 million funding.

The funding will be available following the launch of the new North Yorkshire Council in just under four weeks, on April 1.

It will allow community and voluntary groups to increase their capacity to act as so-called “community anchors”. 

The funding, spread over the next three years, will be available to organisations to act as hubs for the public to access advice and support and to increase resilience in communities. 

The project is building on the work that was undertaken by all of the current eight councils in North Yorkshire, including Harrogate Borough Council, to develop close working relationships with a network of community and voluntary groups which were instrumental in providing support to residents during the pandemic. 

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for stronger communities, Cllr Greg White, said:

“Volunteers and community groups have always played a hugely important role in North Yorkshire, but their work came even more to the fore during the covid crisis. 

“These organisations became a trusted voice for communities and helped us to publicise key public health messages and provided support at a grassroots level by co-ordinating the delivery of food and other essential items while checking on the most vulnerable members of society.”

Community anchors

While the concept of community anchors has been employed elsewhere in the country, the scheme in North Yorkshire is thought to be among the biggest of its kind nationally. 

The vast swathes of rural North Yorkshire which are home to some of the most isolated communities in the country present significant challenges in ensuring that the 615,000 residents in the county are given the support and services that they need. 

Groups that are already established in North Yorkshire can apply for £15,000-a-year in funding to become a community anchor ahead of a deadline on March 20. 

To qualify for the funding, organisations need to be established in communities with an existing base where they are delivering services, while also demonstrating a proven track record that they are financially sustainable. 

The funding is being made available to broadly increase the capacity of the groups, rather than being targeted at a specific project, and to strengthen the resilience of communities to build on the solid foundations that developed during the pandemic. 

The investment would be available to finance a range of activities such as building partnerships with organisations including the council and health services and increasing their capacity to deliver physical and mental well-being programmes for communities. 

The money could also be employed to help develop projects such as community transport services, running social enterprises and delivering skills and education. 

The funding would also be potentially used to help communities to respond to emergencies, and improve people’s financial resilience, especially in relation to food and fuel. 

Nidderdale Plus and Ripon Community House

Groups which could apply for the funding and played a key role throughout the covid pandemic include Nidderdale Plus, the Upper Dales Community Partnership and the Grassington Hub as well as the Community Care Associations in Stokesley, Thirsk and Easingwold. 

Ripon Community House, which is based in part of the city’s old workhouse and celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, was another of the community support organisations established in the pandemic, and staff are due to apply for funding to become one of the new community anchors. 

The venue, which provides meeting rooms for the community as well as a food bank and activities such as chair-based exercise classes, currently houses a base for Harrogate Borough Council to offer services such as waste and housing, and this will continue with the launch of North Yorkshire Council. 

Ripon Community House’s chief officer, Suzanne Bowyer, said:

“The legacy of covid has meant that we have become a real trusted voice in the community, and people come to us for advice – if they don’t know which organisation to go to, then we can invariably help. 

“To have the chance to build on this work by becoming a community anchor is so important, and the launch of the new council in North Yorkshire will undoubtedly help ensure the public can access services even easier by knowing there is one single organisation to deal with.” 

Funding from the government has already been used for North Yorkshire’s voluntary sector as part of financial support provided nationally to help the country recover from the pandemic. 

However, the new funding is being provided via North Yorkshire County Council’s Stronger Communities Achieve Together programme and is aimed at supporting about 30 different organisations over a three-year period. 

North Yorkshire County Council and the seven district and borough authorities will merge from April 1 to pave the way for a devolution deal, which is set to transfer decision-making powers and millions of pounds of funding from Westminster to local political leaders. 

The new council will retain a main office in each of the former district areas, supported by additional customer access points in public locations.

Information on how to apply for the community anchors project is available online on the county council’s website.

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