Harrogate couple run 127 miles in aid of Motor Neurone Disease charity

A Harrogate couple have run 127 miles in aid of a Motor Neurone Disease charity.

Georgina Hubbert and Robert Hamilton took on the challenge last week in an effort to raise money and awareness of the condition.

The couple ran between 20 and 23 miles a day for six days along the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Both were raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, a charity which funds research and provides support to people with MND.

Ms Hubbert said the couple took on the challenge in memory of her nana, who lived with the condition.

She said:

“She was like a mum to me. She died quite young with it.”

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The couple aimed to raise £2,500 as part of the challenge.

Ms Hubbert, whose family had raised money for the charity before, said this was the first time she had taken on the fundraiser.

The challenge saw the couple start in Liverpool and make their way down the canal over six days before finishing in Leeds.

While the the fundraiser proved to be tough, Ms Hubbert said she enjoyed the experience.

You can donate to the couple’s fundraising effort on their JustGiving page here.

Julian Lloyd Webber among big names set for Harrogate Music Festival

Harrogate International Festivals has announced early programme highlights for this year’s music festival, including a performance from Julian Lloyd Webber.

The festival, which is now in its 58th year, will host a variety of names in the industry across three weekends this summer, with an opening concert at The Royal Hall.

It celebrates music of all kinds and showcases a range of talent from young musicians to globally acclaimed artists.

British orchestra Chineke! will launch the festival, making their Harrogate debut. Chineke have performed at the Proms, as well as accompanying world-renowned rapper Stormzy on stage at the Brit Awards.

That weekend, Julian Llloyd Webber will be making a post-pandemic homecoming, while “festival legends” Oddsocks return to the event with an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said:

“I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are about this year’s Music Festival.

“It is our first full programme post-pandemic with a host of international names performing in some of Harrogate’s most beautiful buildings.

“We look forward to welcoming our audiences back to one of our flagship festivals this summer”.

Pianist Robin Green

Pianist Robin Green will be this year’s guest curator, and will head a weekend residency featuring 12 musicians in ten concerts.

The third and final weekend will feature trumpeter Mike Lovatt, premiering his brand-new project, the Brass Pack. There will also be a silent disco for children and a family festival.

The opening concert will take place on Thursday, June 29.

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‘The council have destroyed 99 years of model boats in Harrogate’

A new fountain in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens has effectively ended a century of model boating, according to the club that has used it for decades.

Claro Marine model boating club pleaded with Harrogate Borough Council to halt the £6,000 installation of the fountain in the boating pond near the cafe.

It said water from the fountain would damage the boats’ engines and jeopardise their hobby.

But the council, which was abolished a week ago, pressed ahead and the fountain was switched on a few days ago.

model boat pond boating lake

The pond has been used for model boating for 99 years.

Cub secretary Dave Finnegan, 69, told the Stray Ferret he was “very sad” because it spelled the end of a pastime he had pursued since childhood.

Mr Finnegan said:

“The council have destroyed 99 years of model boats in Harrogate. They will not listen.”

The club, he said, had been told the fountain would be situated in the deep end but it was actually in the middle of the pond, creating more of an obstacle.

The fountain is expected to operate from 9.30am to 6pm each day.

Mr Finnegan said:

“Even if switched off, the fountain is an underwater object to hit or go aground on.

“How do you get a boat back if it’s in the middle of the pond? I will not be sailing in Valley Gardens.

“I would like to thank all the visitors to the pond while I have been sailing for their kind comments and questions.”

fountain Valley Gardens model boats boating

The fountain has created an obstacle in the middle of the pond.

Mr Finnegan said the club was now trying to find another pond in the Harrogate area.

Alison Wilson, head of parks and environment services at Harrogate Borough Council, previously told the club:

“As the body [of the fountain] consists of a base and jets there is little infrastructure involved. Once in place, we will consider any protection required to ensure there is no damage to the jets from boats and vice versa.

“We do not wish to curtail your clubs activities, simply make the area more attractive and usable at other times of the week”.

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Harrogate’s Finlay Bean scores first century of county cricket season

Harrogate-born Finlay Bean has scored the first century of the county cricket season while playing for Yorkshire.

Bean, 20, made headlines last year when he scored 441 for Yorkshire second XI — the highest score in second X1 championship history.

At the time he didn’t have a professional contract and played for York Cricket Club but he was subsequently signed by Yorkshire and made his first class debut against Lancashire in September.

Bean, who studied at Ripon Grammar School and Queen Ethelburga’s, scored 118 off 149 balls against Leicestershire in the opening day of the first fixture of the year at Headingley.

The four-day match is still ongoing.

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Harrogate village cricket pavilion destroyed in suspected arson attack

Arsonists are believed to have destroyed a cricket pavilion in a village near Harrogate.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were called to Weeton Lane in Weeton at 8.40pm last night to reports of a shed fire.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log added:

“On arrival this was found to be a wooden cricket pavilion which was completely destroyed. Crews used one hose reel to extinguish the fire.”

The incident log did not give a cause of fire but villagers have reported seeing youths fleeing from the scene.

The cricket club in Weeton folded years ago and the pavilion had fallen into a state of disrepair.

Some frustrated villagers are keen to mount a campaign to restore the site to community use.

Weeton cricket pavilion arson

Man’s hand burned

In a separate incident later last night, Harrogate firefighters responded at 10.30pm to a smoke alarm going off in a house on Olive Grove in Harrogate.

The incident log said:

“This involved a candle which is believed to have been left unattended, causing smouldering to surrounding surface.

“One male suffered burns to his hand, received treatment from fire crew and will make his own way to hospital. Crew also ventilated property. Burn pack used.”

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Renewed call to move Harrogate ‘little temple’ to Starbeck

A Starbeck community group has made a renewed call to bring Harrogate’s “little temple” to the area.

An application was tabled by North Yorkshire County Council in November last year to remove the tempietto in Station Square to make way for the £11.2 million Station Gateway scheme.

The proposal was approved by Harrogate Borough Council prior to its abolition on Friday.

The new North Yorkshire Council has said no work on the tempietto will take place until a decision has been made on the gateway project.

However, Andrew Hart, a postmaster, has reiterated a call to bring the structure to Starbeck in order to “rejuvenate” the area.

Mr Hart, who also founded the Starbeck Community Group,  wrote to the borough council in November last year requesting that the tempietto be moved to Belmont Field.

He told the Stray Ferret that any move to demolish the structure would be “shameful”.

Mr Hart said:

“When I formally contacted HBC last November I was assured in writing that the Starbeck Community Groups request for the tempietto to be moved to Belmont Field, Starbeck would be taken seriously and discussed with the councillors.

“To demolish it would be shameful. To dismantle and rebuild it in Starbeck would give the community a focal point of pride. The cost would be negligible against the budget for the Harrogate Gateway.

“It would also add to the rejuvenation of Starbeck and reward the whole community for the fantastic effort it makes in carrying out its own projects such as flowers, Christmas lights, street cleaning, and street decorations.”

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The tempietto, which is inside Harrogate Conservation Area, was built between 1988 and 1992 as part of the redevelopment of the area to create the Victoria Shopping Centre.

Made of Jedburgh sandstone, its classical design was based on the work of 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio’s basilica at Vicenza in Italy.

The government-funded gateway scheme would see major changes to the public realm opposite the train station to make the gateway to Harrogate more attractive to visitors and more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

It would also see part of Station Parade reduced to single lane traffic to accommodate cycle routes and James Street partly pedestrianised. Business groups and residents have voiced concerns about the impact on trade and traffic.

In an email seen by the Stray Ferret, North Yorkshire Council officials said the relocation of the tempietto had been raised with council contractors. However, the move would need to be costed and require planning permission.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at North Yorkshire Council, said the authority was aware of requests to move the tempietto.

He said:

“We are aware that there is some interest from other organisations in relocating the tempietto and we are looking to understand if this could be achieved should the decision be taken to implement the Harrogate Station Gateway project.”

Harrogate district amateur dramatic group stripped down and raised £12,000

A Harrogate district amateur dramatic group who bared all in a production of Calendar Girls raised £12,000 for three cancer charities.

The Kirkby Overblow Dramatic Society performed its own version of the Tim Firth film late last year.

All proceeds from the play have been donated to the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre at Harrogate District Hospital, Maggie’s Yorkshire and Blood Cancer UK – each of which received £4,000.

The sell-out show was “the most successful charitable performance we have produced”, according to the chairman.

The 1999 film is based on a true story of how Rylstone and District Women’s Institute, near Skipton, posed for a nude calendar to raise money for leukaemia cancer.

The cast also took part in their very own nude photoshoot – posing strategically at local landmarks in the village.

Photo: Annette Fishburn Photography

Claire Mackenzie, director of the production, said:

“When I was asked to choose a play which we could put on, I was thinking more about what we could take off, this way it would be an attention grabber…and it worked, thanks to the commitment and bravado of all the cast and crew”.

Cast and crew of Calendar Girls handing over the cheque donations to three cancer charities.

Regional fundraising members for the charities were on hand to accept the money raised by the dramatic society.

Fiona Gavaghan, of Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“Huge thanks and congratulations go to the KODS team for raising this astounding amount.

“What they have done will change the lives of hundreds of cancer sufferers and their families throughout Yorkshire”.

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Harrogate teenager to compete in national race at Silverstone

Harrogate teenager Greg Marshall is set to compete in the British Junior Supersport Championships at Silverstone today.

The event is a national motorcycling race and will see entrants from all over the UK compete.

Fifteen year old, Greg, began motorcycle racing aged 9 and has progressed through the classes of Mini Motos and MiniGP bikes — he now rides a Kawasaki Ninja 400.

The Harrogate Grammar School pupil only began riding full-sized bikes in 2022, when he raced with Bemsee – the oldest motorcycle racing club in the word – and found his bike on pole position twice in one weekend.

Greg at Brands Hatch earlier in the year.

Greg said:

“I’m very excited to begin my first season with BSB in the Junior Supersport class.

“I’m feeling comfortable with my new bike and I can’t wait to see what this season brings for me”.

Greg has several sponsors supporting his 2023 season, including Knaresborough’s Redline Specialist Cars.

His father Paul said they are “always open to hearing from local businesses” that would wish to support him and have their names on his bike.

Mr Marshall said his son is making excellent progress:

“I’m very proud to see Greg taking the next step in his racing career and am looking forward to supporting him in his 2023 season with British Superbikes.”

The Silverstone race will be televised on Eurosport, with some rounds free to air on Quest TV.

More information about the race can be found here.

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Harrogate’s most eye-catching cricketers set for another season

As another cricket season gets underway, a team from Harrogate is set to begin its 24th consecutive season with a virtually unchanged line-up.

The players are only about a foot tall and have been in a few scrapes but they remain undefeated.

Thousands of people see them each year in the garden of Kenneth and Lesley Simpson on Knaresborough Road, opposite the One Stop shop.

The statues of eight players, two batsmen, an umpire, a sight screen and a pavilion are often admired by passers-by and have become such a landmark some bus passengers ask for tickets to ‘the cricket pitch garden’ as it’s more memorable than the name of the bus stops.

Kenneth, however, has a confession to make — he’s not a big cricket fan. He’s more of a football man, who supports Leeds United and is a former referee.

He is, however, a canny Yorkshireman who created the design as an easy way to maintain his garden. He said:

“We were going to put a football pitch in but because all the statues of players we could find had balls underneath their arms, it wouldn’t have looked right.”

Kenneth and Lesley Simpson cricket statues

The view from behind the bowler’s arm

Lesley noticed some statues of cricketers at the Harrogate Flower Show and when she spotted some more on holiday in Skegness they had enough for a display.

Over the years two have been vandalised — one was repaired but the other was too badly damaged and had to be replaced. Kenneth, who has lived in the house for 54 years, said:

“Someone took them down Knaresborough Road and didn’t realise how heavy they are.”

All the statues are now fixed into the concrete. Kenneth paints them every other year but the hardest job is cleaning the green grass that passes as the pitch.

One day a member of Marylebone Cricket Club passed by and was so taken by what he saw that he returned days later with the sight screen, which he made. Many have stopped to take photos and compliment the couple.

Lesley said:

“It’s surprising how many people stop and say ‘what a lovely garden you have’.”

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Harrogate’s Rachel Daly on target as England win Finalissima

Harrogate-born striker Rachel Daly scored in the penalty shootout as England beat Brazil to win the Finalissima last night.

The match, in front of 83,000 fans at Wembley and broadcast live in ITV, saw Euro 22 champions England take on Copa America winners Brazil.

England led 1-0 at half-time but Brazil pounced on a goalkeeping error in injury time to take the match to penalties.

With the score at 1-1, Daly — who came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute — put England ahead with a powerful drive and the Lionesses went on to win 4-2.

They are now unbeaten in 30 matches.

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