A student from Harrogate is aiming to run 100km – 62 miles – around Oatlands Stray to raise money for charity.
Morgan Glazier, 21, will run for 12 hours through the night of Friday, June 30 to Saturday, July 1 – and will then cap it off by completing the 5km Harrogate Parkrun.
Morgan, who left Rossett School in 2020, said:
“I’ve been out practising a lot over the last couple of months, building up my mileage and getting used to the pace I’ll be keeping on the night. My route around Oatlands Stray is about a mile long, and I’m hoping to manage as many as 62 laps, but if it gets really tough, I may have to make do with 52, but that’s still a double marathon.”
The run is part of Morgan’s longer-term fundraising plan. He has just finished the final year of his degree in economics at the University of Bristol and plans to mark the achievement by running the Budapest Marathon in October in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation.
But to secure his place, he must raise 80% of his £1,000 fundraising target by the end of July, and he is hoping his epic Stray all-nighter will be a way of hitting his target fast. He will be supported through the night by friends and family, some of whom plan to keep him company for a few laps.
This is not the first time Morgan has set himself an ambitious target to raise money for charity. In 2020, aged just 18, he ran 465 miles in 30 days, raising over £9,000 for mental health charity Mind.
Morgan said:
“I’ve been running for years, but this 12-hour challenge is new territory for me – I’ve never run this far in one go before, but that’s part of the fun.”
Meningitis is the inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. It can kill, and survivors can be left with long-term effects, such hearing loss, brain injury and limb loss.
Students are the second-biggest group at risk of contracting meningitis, after babies and toddlers.
The Meningitis Research Foundation funds work to find new ways of preventing meningitis and septicaemia, and to mitigate their effects.
To support Morgan and help him on his way to his £1,000 fundraising target for the Meningitis Research Foundation, go to his JustGiving page and make a donation.
Read more:
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- Knaresborough runners to take on first Leeds Marathon to tackle MND
- Woman visiting daughter’s grave issues dog fouling plea
Harrogate man’s colourful garden is ‘biggest display yet’
Harrogate man Paul Ivison is once again opening his garden to the public with the aim of raising money for charity and getting a visa for his fiancé.
Paul has lived on the corner of Mayfield Grove and Mayfield Terrace for more than 15 years. He has changed his garden’s design many times and become something of a local celebrity.
Previous displays have raised money for North Yorkshire Horizons, the Disasters Emergency Committee and many more charitable causes.
This year’s garden will feature a number of themes: mental health, LGBT Pride and the danger of plastic to our oceans.
He said:
“This year’s display… is the biggest I have done in three years”
At the garden’s opening there will be information available on where to get help for those suffering with poor mental health.
As well as this there will be a colourful LGBT section. Gnomes have been painted in the six colours of the pride flag and there will be a number of other rainbow painted items on display.
On the topic of plastic in our oceans, Paul has installed a fully working bathroom suite which will be filled with plastic waste. Red water will be flowing out of it to symbolise the danger of discarded plastic.
This is all with the aim of raising money for the Samaritans.
He also wants to raise money for his partner, who lives in the Philippines, to get a UK visa and move to Harrogate.
The garden is opening Sunday 25 June at 3pm and Paul has invited neighbours and friends round to enjoy it.
Entrance is free but there will be a box by the gate for any charitable donations. Paul also has a GoFundMe page for his partner’s visa, which you can find here.
Read more:
- Harrogate man gives garden a Ukraine-themed makeover
- Harrogate man donates money raised from garden display to the Philippines
Yemi’s Food Stories: Making the most of honey
Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.
The past couple of weekends have been full of food adventures involving honey which is always a staple in my kitchen, given its many health benefits.
From having lemon-ginger-honey drink to stave off a chest infection, drinking honey and balsamic vinegar water before bed, to replacing sugar in many savoury and sweet dishes.
Louisa’s honey has been a feature in my past two weekends as I got to work with other chefs to create dishes using their many varieties of honey including the Acacia Ginger, Coriander, Lime, Citrus, the award winning Bosco, Acacia and Chestnut honey.
Food allows one to be creative and there’s nothing better than creating on the fly without recipes. The first event required the chefs including Gennaro Contaldo, of ‘Two Hungry Italians’, to create dishes from a range of different vegetables and meat with access to wood fired pizza oven, multiple wood fired grills and stoves.
The beetroot immediately caught my eye. I put some beetroots on the open fire and while they were roasting, I finely sliced some red onions and cooked them in olive oil with grated ginger and some pink Himalayan salt. Once the onions were deeply caramelised, I grated and added the roasted beetroots and finished this with black pepper, whiskey balsamic vinegar and ginger honey.
This is a simple and quick relish to make and goes really well with grilled meat, burgers, hummus and flat bread.
I then cooked a spatchcock quail dish using a simple marinade of Bosco honey which has a woody and intense flavour mixed with fresh oregano and thyme, lemon juice, grated habanero chilli, salt and olive oil. This was a real crowd pleasing dish ( see image below) and all it took on a really hot grill was about 9 minutes depending on the size of the quail.
My final savoury dish was squid cooked with some shallots, roasted peppers, Louisa’s lime honey, chilli, lime juice and fresh herbs. This was a really quick dish and one that I would recommend for a mid week dinner. Squid is a protein that needs to either be flash cooked in 2 – 3 minutes or slow cooked for hours.
This would be perfect as a side dish, topping for salad, couscous, rice, or an appetiser whilst waiting for the main meal. It’s a healthier alternative to battered squid rings.
The following weekend found me and a few other chefs at the BBC Good Food show in Birmingham, where I created a couple of honey inspired savoury canapes – toasted sourdough topped with prosciutto, drizzle of acacia honey, fresh thyme and micro herbs. The second one was toasted sourdough topped with labneh which is a strained cheese, sundried tomatoes, a drizzle of acacia honey and micro basil. I find the saltiness of the tomatoes and the sweetness of the honey make for one of those marriages made in heaven.
My dessert creations included carrot, ginger and coconut cake using Bosco and Ginger honey, strawberries and cream canape with ginger honey and chestnut honey crumb, whiskey balsamic and citrus honey macerated strawberries served with mascarpone on sourdough cracker.
My final creation inspired by middle eastern flavours was sourdough cracker topped with mascarpone, roasted pistachios, citrus honey and rose petals and this was tasted and complimented by Katy Truss from Fabulous Food Finds.
I hope you do more with the honey in your cupboard and you don’t just relegate it to being a drinks sweetener or toast topping. Try some of the amazing honey products that our local shops have to offer and have a go at making marinades, cocktails, sauces and bakes.
If you want to catch Yemi in action she will be giving a demonstration at The Harrogate Food Festival today at 4pm.
Read More:
- Yemi’s Food Stories: Making a good chicken burger
- Yemi’s Food Stories: a range of exotic sausages in Knaresborough
Council’s new dog poo policy causes a stink in Knox
A change in the council’s bin regime is seeing dog-waste pile up by the roadside, according to local residents.
Over the last week, North Yorkshire Council has removed the familiar red dog-waste bins from Knox, which is on the north-west edge of Harrogate. In their place, they have put green wheelie bins, but not all in the same positions as the bins they replace.
Knox resident Maxie Schiffmann-Rowinski said:
“They’ve put a wheelie bin right outside our house, and now it’s filling up with dog poo and it really stinks in this warm weather.
“All of us living down here are pretty angry about this. This lane is very popular with dog-walkers, and some who don’t know about the green bin are just leaving their dog-poo bags on the ground where the dog-waste bin used to be.
“I’ve complained to the council via their online form, but had no reply.”
Asked about the move, Karl Battersby, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, told the Stray Ferret the bins had been removed following a service review, and that the council was being guided by good practice outlined by the Waste and Recycling Action Partnership in its Right Bin, Right Place study.
He said:
“The newer bins have a larger capacity and house a wheeled bin. This means they are efficiently emptied by our larger wagons, reducing the risk from manual handling individual bags. With the greater capacity, fewer bins are required which helps to reduce street furniture, particularly in locations where two bins may have been placed close together.
“This and other new bins will be emptied less frequently due to the increase in capacity, but they will be emptied as often as required, taking seasonal variances into account.
“The replacement bin at the end of Knox Lane was planned to be further down the lane, in close proximity to existing street furniture. We will check it’s correctly positioned.”
The council has installed a large new bin at the end of Knox Lane… but some dog-walkers have yet to get the message.
Paul Haslam, the North Yorkshire councillor serving Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said he was party to the decision-making process that led to the policy change, but that it had not been implemented as he had imagined it would be. He said:
“This looks like a well-intentioned project that’s gone wrong. I agreed with the principle behind the plans: to make it easier by using more machinery, which in some cases would result in changes of locations and frequency of emptying.
“But it’s quite obvious that the way it’s turned out is not ideal – there are not enough bins and some of them are in the wrong place.”
North Yorkshire Council’s Mr Battersby said that the bin replacements in Bilton and Knox would be followed by others in Harrogate.
He said:
“Surrounding parishes have already had the work completed, and Bilton is the first of the urban areas to start and receive the new bins.”
But Cllr Haslam said the policy needed to be reviewed and that’s what the council would do. He said:
“I’ll be meeting with street-cleansing officers on Monday and we’ll be going over the whole of the Bilton and Knox area and seeing how it can be improved.
“The council is not going to roll any more bins out until we’ve got Bilton and Knox right.”
Read more:
- Concerns over ‘undemocratic’ planning meeting on Knox Lane houses
- Harrogate council defends new ‘oversized’ bins
- Discarded dog poo bags leaving Harrogate ‘disgusted’
Fundraising appeal set up for Sophie Lambert’s funeral
The brother of Harrogate woman Sophie Lambert has set up a crowdfunding appeal for her funeral.
Sophie’s body was found in the River Nidd this week, five days after she wet missing from her home in Starbeck.
Hundreds of people took part in searches to find her.
Her older brother Craig Robinson launched a gofundme appeal yesterday to raise £3,000 to pay for ‘the best funeral for my sister Sophie’.
It was already over halfway towards its target last night.
Craig said Sophie was a bright girl who loved to laugh and had two dogs but had battled suffering every day for 10 years.
Craig shared this photo of his sister.
He added:
“This gofundme is for her funeral for us to be able to give her the best send off ever, please don’t feel pressured into donating as we have already set one up before for fuel and other resources,
“Sophie my little sister what can I say, you’ve grown your wings and flown away, I hope you’re safe up there.”
You can support the appeal here.
Read more:
Harrogate man to stand as independent in Selby and Ainsty by-election
Harrogate solicitor Andrew Gray announced today he will stand as an independent candidate in the forthcoming Selby and Ainsty by-election.
Today is the deadline for candidates to put their names forward for the by-election, which will take place on July 20 following the resignation of Conservative Nigel Adams.
Mr Gray is a solicitor who founded the Harrogate law firm Truth Legal in 2012 before a management buyout in 2022.
He said he was standing due to his “dissatisfaction with the current state of British politics” and pledged to engage with local people using artificial intelligence to find out what they wanted.
Mr Gray said he will use Polis AI to do this, adding AI has been used abroad in politics but this will be the first time it has been adopted in a UK election.
Polis AI allows users to anonymously submit short text statements or comments, which are then sent out randomly to other participants who can click to agree, disagree or pass.
Mr Gray said:
“I want to find these consensus points and use them as my policies.
“My only policy is to take my policies from the people.
“That’s what a representative ought to do.”
Mr Gray has previously been involved as a Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat activist, as well running the non-profit Crowd Wisdom Project which has used Polis AI since 2021.
The system will be used in every town and village within the constituency to gauge a general consensus, as well as cross-constituency conversations to discuss national issues.
Read more:
- Knaresborough man to contest local by-election for Lib Dems
- Tories select replacement candidate for Selby and Ainsty by-election
- Labour names candidate for local by-election
Mr Gray said:
“If elected, I will vote in Parliament in accordance with the consensus of the constituency.
“On election, the conversations will continue, and I will vote in Parliament as per the changing desires of my electorate, which means that I can respond to change quickly.
“If mandated, I will vote for the government, or against, or abstain.
“Therefore, by electing me, my constituents are getting more democracy, more power in their hands. Selby and Ainsty will be the country’s bellwether constituency.”
He added:
“Although there is some history in my family in politics, I want to be seen as not so much a political candidate, but a candidate for positive change.
“There is so much that we agree upon: let’s start there. I’m optimistic. Our many problems are fixable.
“Things simply can’t stay as they are. Many of us are rolling our eyes at what is going on in Westminster. Traditional party politics need consigning to the dustbin of history.”
Muffin Break cafe coming to Harrogate?
An empty shopping unit in Harrogate town centre looks set to host a Muffin Break cafe.
Notices have appeared in the window of the former Hotter shoe shop on Cambridge Street for a pavement licence application.
The notice says the applicant is FoodCo UK Franchising Ltd, known as Muffin Break bakery cafe.
Muffin Break is a franchise business of FoodCo that originated in Canada and now has about 60 UK outlets. The closest one is in Bradford.
The former Hotter shoe shop
They typically sell muffins, cakes and coffee and also provide breakfasts and light lunches.
The licence application is dated June 9 and says the deadline for comments is June 13 — four days later.
Read more:
- Harrogate High School ‘requires improvement’, says Ofsted
- Historic Harrogate home up for auction again with slashed asking price
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which determines licence applications, for further details.
The council displays pavement licence applications on its website here. But a spokeswoman said the Muffin Break application was no longer available because the objection expiry date had passed. She added the licence had been granted.
We tried to contact FoodCo UK Franchising but have not had a reply.
Harrogate High School ‘requires improvement’, says Ofsted
Harrogate High School‘s Ofsted rating has been downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ in a newly released report.
Inspectors said the quality of education had declined and older pupils in particular “do not achieve well in external examinations”.
They also said some parents had raised concerns about pupil behaviour and some students with bad attitudes were “not challenged quickly enough” and some truant pupils were “disrespectful to staff and cause disruption”.
However, the report acknowledges new school leaders understood the problems and their actions “have secured improvements in the quality of education”.
It also says arrangements for safeguarding are effective, staff are well trained and leaders have developed an “ambitious curriculum”, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities – and that pupils with additional needs are “well supported in lessons”.
Two-day Ofsted visit
Harrogate High, which was founded in 1973 as Harrogate Granby High School, has more than 700 pupils. It is part of the Northern Star Academies Trust – a partnership of nine schools across Harrogate, Skipton and Keighley. Ofsted visited the school on April 25 and 26.
The report, which the school has released but has not yet been uploaded onto Ofsted’s website, gave it an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ and awarded the same grade for all four sub-categories assessed: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.
The school’s last full inspection was 10 years ago, when it was rated ‘good’ overall. It retained the grading following a short inspection in 2017.
‘Good’ is the second highest of four possible ratings; ‘requires improvement’ is the third highest.
The report says leaders have prioritised improving the curriculum and changed the subjects pupils study at key stage 4 to offer a more broad and balanced curriculum. But it adds “the academic experiences that pupils receive continue to be mixed” and goes on to say:
“Teachers do not consistently check if pupils know or understand what has been taught. As a result, misconceptions are not always identified and addressed. In particular, older pupils, who have not benefited from improvements in the curriculum, do not achieve well in external examinations.”
Ofsted says there is a range of extra-curricular activities but “the wider development of pupils needs to be a sharper focus for leaders”.
It adds:
“Leaders recognise the need to improve behaviour across the school. They are working with external support to implement new systems to tackle poor behaviour.”
The report highlights “there have been many changes in leadership since the last inspection”, which “has led to delays in addressing some of the weaknesses in the school” and although there have been improvements “there is much more work to do”.
‘Exciting time for Harrogate High’
Sukhraj Gill
Responding to the report, headteacher Sukhraj Gill said:
“This is an exciting time for Harrogate High School. Inspectors have recognised the improvements we have already made and confirmed that we are on the right track to make Harrogate High a great school. We have achieved a great deal at Harrogate High School – with a lot more to do.
“We will continue our relentless drive to make Harrogate High the best school it can be for all the young people that we educate.
“We’re especially pleased that inspectors recognised that we provide good support for pupils with additional needs. We value every young person in our school, whatever their needs. Ofsted’s findings are a vindication of our values as a truly inclusive school.”
Read more:
- Ripon Grammar School rated ‘good’ by Ofsted
- Historic Harrogate home up for auction again with slashed asking price
Jenn Plews
Jenn Plews, chief executive of Northern Star Academies Trust, said:
“Harrogate High School has made massive strides forward under its new leadership. The Ofsted report is clear: leaders’ actions have improved the quality of education. The fact that the school is full and has been oversubscribed is a testament to the work our school and our trust across Harrogate.
“Inspections are always an opportunity to learn from the inspectors’ feedback and recommendations to help us develop and improve. We welcome this report as a positive contribution to continue Harrogate High School’s continuing journey to become a great school”.
The Great Yorkshire Show looks set to be a sell-out for the third year in a row.
The four-day show takes place from July 11 to 14 and all tickets for the Wednesday have already been snapped up. Standard adult tickets cost £32.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the farming charity that organises the event, adopted the four-day format and capped the number of tickets at 35,000 a day during covid due to social distancing requirements but has continued with it since. Tickets are now only sold in advance too.
Allister Nixon chief executive of the society, said:
“We have seen unprecedented demand for tickets, selling out Wednesday already and our membership sold out in April.
“It shows the depth of support and love for the show and we can’t wait to welcome visitors in less than three weeks’ time. At this stage, we have tickets remaining for the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of the show which we do expect to sell out so please, if you are planning to come along, book now to avoid disappointment.”
Huge range of activities
The Great Yorkshire Showground is always packed with stalls and activities during the event and this year will be no exception.
A new free Great Yorkshire Show app, which will be available to download next week, includes an interactive map and schedule of events.
The Cock O The North competition in the main ring on the Thursday will feature some of the UK’s best showjumpers. The main ring will also host flying Frenchman Lorenzo, who last appeared in 2018.
The best of British livestock will be on show as the Beef Shorthorn, Charolais and Longhorn Cattle Societies all host their national competitions. The show will also feature several thousand sheep, all vying for the top title.
The pole climbing championships is returning and sheepdogs will be held each day .
Read more:
- Royal visitor to Great Yorkshire Show revealed
- Great Yorkshire Show organisers put faith in First 4 IT
Business Breakfast: Grantley Hall opens Nordic Spa Garden
Staff well-being and culture have rapidly risen up the priority list for many employers. At the next Stray Ferret Business Club we’ll hear from award winning employer, LCF Law, on how organisations can ensure their teams are productive and happy.
The lunch event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
Luxury hotel Grantley Hall has opened a Nordic Spa Garden, which has ice baths and an outdoor steam sauna.
The garden has two ice baths where guests at the 47-bed hotel near Ripon can try cold-water immersion therapy.
The sauna, on the other hand, allows people to enjoy warmth in a picturesque outdoor setting.
Gillian McGraffin, spa and wellness manager at Grantley Hall, said:
“We have worked hard to create a relaxing outdoor area that not only looks beautiful but also provides guests with a range of health benefits.”
Dental practice takes oral hygiene message to schools
Oral health educators from Coppice View Dentalcare have been handing out free toothbrushes, tooth paste and brushing charts in local schools in support of National Smile Month.
The dental practice, on Kings Road in Harrogate, visits schools each year during the awareness-raising month to educate children on the importance of looking after their teeth and gums. We ensure every child at each presentation received a goody bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste and brushing charts.
Staff visited Rossett Acre Primary School, Oatlands Infant School and Darley Community Primary School during the latest initiative.
Read more: