Three men have been charged with wounding after a man was stabbed in Harrogate on Thursday night.

It happened in the Dragon Road area, where police were called just after 9.30pm to reports a man had suffered stab wounds.

The victim’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The men, all from West Yorkshire, were arrested by North Yorkshire Police and are due to appear at York Magistrates Court tomorrow (Monday).

All three were charged with wounding with intent, while one has also been charged with possessing a knife in a public place.

Another of the trio faces a further charge of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possessing a knife in a public place.

Detective Chief Inspector Fionna McEwan, of North Yorkshire Police, said:

“I hope members of public in Harrogate are reassured by the swift police response in this case, which has resulted in three men being charged.

“Incidents like this are extremely rare in our area. Officers from the local Neighbourhood Policing Team have increased local patrols, and will be happy to speak to residents if they have any further concerns.”

Read more:

• Police alerted after travellers set up camp at Ashville College
• Second arrest in Pateley Bridge petrol station attempted arson

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 insulting it is that Yorkshire Water blame a shift in “expectations” for their failure to maintain clean and healthy water?

What they meant to say was, “the public have finally cottoned on to the fact that most water companies in the UK are doing an inadequate job of protecting this precious resource and the natural biodiversity that makes the British countryside so very special”.

It sounds like the cliche: you’re not really sorry. You’re just sorry you got caught. 

Mark Fuller, Harrogate

Harrogate is ‘dying slowly’

Why are we not talking about the closure of shopping businesses and the lack of keeping retail businesses and putting in place a Wilkinsons or a Home Bargains. Places people want to shop at. 

Also the lack of entertainment, there’s no bowling or crazy golf. There is nothing fun to do except for drinking and eating. There’s a cafe opening every week, a bar opening all the time but no real shopping opportunities. Empty retail shops are either going to be a bar or flats. 

The council don’t want to do anything, they are just wanting money and that’s it. It’s okay saying go to Leeds, but it doesn’t help people when the trains are always on strike and the traffic is absolutely dreadful. This town is dying slowly.

Chris Firth, Harrogate

Different parties, different policies

Andrew Jones likes to say it’s ‘Yah boo politics’ when someone points out the massive problems created by his party’s policy.  

Has Andrew heard that political parties have different policies? That is why there are different parties.    

The Conservatives promote privatisation: Margaret Thatcher pushed for the privatisation of water, so England and Wales became the only countries in the world to have fully privatised water and sewage systems.  

Tories believe that it’s OK for profits to be made from a basic service like water (or health, or energy, or  transport, or education ). Greens don’t.

Tories also believe in removing ‘the red tape’ and ‘the green crap’ (removing regulation and sustainability considerations).   

Well, now we are seeing the consequences of 13 years of Tory government.    

Trumpeting that he is saving the Nidd is pure hypocrisy, when Mr Jones’s voting record supports privatisation and its dire consequences: including the destruction of nature and theft from the public purse.  

He knows perfectly well that Greens would never have let the rivers get into this state in the first place, and we work full-time at all levels to right the wrongs created by his party’s short-sighted policies.

Shan Oakes, former Green Party European parliamentary and local candidate. Currently serving on Knaresborough Town and Scriven Parish Councils

Read more:

• Stray Views: Concern over potential accidents on Boroughbridge Road
• Stray Views: Negative views about Station Gateway ‘outdated and unrealistic’

Harrogate College is hosting its first Afghanistan Day next Tuesday.

The college is seeking to shine a light on Afghan culture in a variety of forms. Artwork and traditional dress will be on display, and poems and songs will be performed throughout the day.

There will also be traditional Afghan food available for a small fee to raise money for women’s healthcare and education.

Afghan refugee Sabreyah Nowrozi is organising the festivities.

Sabreyah said:

“I think most people just know about the war and troubles we’ve had in Afghanistan, but this day will be a chance to show the other side and share information about our culture and the country’s positive qualities.”

Sabreyah is currently studying English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) at Harrogate college after being forced to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021.

She was captain of the Afghan women’s development football team, so was targeted by the Taliban which has banned all women from playing sports.

Sabreyah said her escape was fraught with danger due to the numerous Taliban checkpoints. She managed to flee with help from former captain of her team Khalida Popal, Leeds United F.C and a flight funded by Kim Kardashian.

She has since managed to continue her footballing career at Harrogate Town AFC Women.

Now with herself and her family settled in the UK, she has set her sights on a psychology course at the University of York.

Afghanistan Day on 13 June comes just before refugee week beginning June 19. The theme selected for this year is compassion.

If you are interested in booking a free place at Afghanistan Day click here.

Read more:

• Harrogate council wins £2.5m from government to house Afghan and Ukrainian refugees
• Harrogate College sets 2035 carbon neutral target

Brazilian jiu-jitsu changed the life of Harrogate instructor Lewis Matthews.

The 33-year-old has been practising the martial art for 17 years and owns the Gracie Barra club at The Zone on Hornbeam Park.

Lewis is a black belt grade one in jiu-jitsu and has competed in the British Open, where he won a silver medal just last month and has an ambition to achieve gold.

To get to this point, Lewis has had to make choices in his life from work to family life.

Despite having a steady job in construction which took him around the country, he decided to settle in Harrogate to pursue his love of jiu-jitsu.

‘It was something to do’

Lewis grew up in the village of Scackelton, a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire.

He started karate before he caught the jiu-jitsu bug after he went with his mum to Ampleforth College, where he was initially taking up swimming.

“It was something to do, really. I lived out in the sticks.

“My mum used to go this gym at Ampleforth College on a Friday. I used to go with her to go to the swimming and then there was a karate class on and I got signed up to that.”

To help himself get around, Lewis got a moped and began to go to the next village over to another karate class.

After finishing the session, he noticed more people turning up for another class – it was jiu-jitsu.

“I turned up, did the karate class and a couple of guys started piling in for this next class.

“I remember asking ‘what’s that?’ And they said ‘it’s jiu-jitsu’.”

Lewis (right) with coach and programme director, Jack.

Lewis was asked to stick around and join in the practice. From that moment, he started to take up the martial art as a hobby.

He left school and took up a joinery apprenticeship in Malton.

After completing his apprenticeship and a higher national certificate in construction at college, he took a career break and went travelling to South America.

At this point, he was a blue belt in jiu-jitsu – the first belt in the martial art – and he continued to practice and compete on his travels.

When he returned to the UK, he worked his way up to become construction manager at a firm in Leeds.

It was here that Lewis had a sliding doors moment.

‘I’ll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu’

After tendering a project for Bettys and Taylors at its factory in Starbeck, he allowed himself more time to commit himself to jiu-jitsu at the club in Harrogate – which was part time.

“That project allowed me to put the time in here on an evening.

“I was so close [to the club], I had never been so close before. I had always had to dot around to different clubs wherever I was working.

“But because I was two-and-a-half years in Harrogate, I was there every day and would come here on a night.”

Lewis demonstrating jiu-jitsu. Picture: Gracie Barra Harrogate.

After he finished working in Starbeck, his wife became pregnant. 

At the same time, the club on Hornbeam Park, which Lewis founded with his friend Geoffrey Cumbus, had also grown while he was working on the project.

“It had become something that I was really passionate about. We had built a community with a lot people training.

“If I had continued to work for this company, I wouldn’t have been able to continue to do this.

“It was kind of a fork in the road. We’re going to have a family, so you can’t work all day and do jiu-jitsu all night anymore. Your next project might be an hours commute away. You won’t be able to get back to do all these classes that are two minutes from your current job.

“So, I handed my notice in.”

Lewis had already long been considering going full time at jiu-jitsu.

During the covid lockdowns, he was furloughed for eight-weeks and took time with his wife to consider what he wanted to do.

“We sat down in the garden and we wrote down what was most important to us if we were to do our perfect day.

“We wrote it down separately and told each other. It wasn’t having a massive expensive car and a flash holiday. It was time with each other, train jiu-jitsu, family and community. The things that we have already.

“I remember my wife saying at the time ‘you can’t continue to work two jobs and have a kid’. I looked at her and said ‘I’ll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu’. That’s when I decided to leave.”

Jiu-jitsu for everyone

The club on Hornbeam Park became affiliated with global martial arts organisation Gracie Barra in October 2017.

It forms part of a network of schools across the world offering the highest standard of BJJ instruction.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy allows people to develop the martial art and earn belts as part of their development.

The belt grading is at the discretion of the jiu-jitsu professor – Lewis was awarded his black belt in December 2017.

Read more: 

• How Pateley Bridge man won two league titles with Leeds United
• Knaresborough Town pair championing women’s football after remarkable season
• Harrogate cricket club captain aiming for success after relegation survival

Lewis took over the club fully after the covid pandemic and is now head instructor.

He takes pride in welcoming new people to the martial art.

“The good thing that we do here is that we teach people of all levels.

“You might get the 21-year-old who comes in. He goes to college and lives and breathes jiu-jitsu.

“Then you get the 40-year-old professional who has got two kids. He trains two nights a week and has got a mortgage, a wife, kids and a business to run.

“The 21-year-old might come in and kick his butt on the mat in a rolling session and think that he deserves to be a higher grade than him, but it’s all relative because their individual journeys are different.”

The club caters for all abilities and needs. It teaches self-defence, physical fitness but also offers a social element.

Techniques taught within BJJ focus not on striking, but on grappling and defending yourself, without the need to punch or kick someone.

But, for Lewis, jiu-jitsu is more than the martial art itself.

While he continues to compete in competitions, such as winning silver in the British Open last month in Coventry, and has ambitions beyond that – jiu-jitsu has always meant something more.

He said:

“It’s provided me with something through my life that’s kept me on a path all the time.

“We all have choices to make, don’t we? Every time we want to go for a beer, get drunk or buy that something that we don’t need.

“Jiu-jitsu has always been ‘you can do that or you can do this’. I want to do this more, so I’m not going to do that.

“It has kept me on a good path to where I am now.”

This is the fourth article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Questions have been raised over whether the planning process is democratic after a controversial housing application in Harrogate was deferred for a third time.

The 53-home proposal for Knox Lane was discussed at a planning committee meeting at the end of May, but councillors were told this week that residents were unhappy about the way it had been conducted.

The plans were recommended for approval, but councillors did not follow planning officers’ advice.

Instead they voted to defer it again because the developer, Jomast, had not carried out the land contamination report requested at the last meeting.

This week, nearby resident Adele Laura Wilson asked North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee why the report had been brought to the planning committee again by officers when the requested information was still not available.

She also said a motion was put forward at the meeting to reject the application, but officers advised them they needed to have planning reasons for turning the plans down otherwise the decision would be overturned at appeal, with costs to the council.

Ms Wilson added:

“That motion was not allowed to be voted on. This surely is in contravention of the democratic process.”

She also said incorrect information was given to the committee about the site, which an officer said was only partially in a special landscape area (SLA). The whole site was in fact part of the SLA, Ms Wilson said, but there was no opportunity for this to be corrected during the planning meeting.

She said:

“I would ask this committee to consider if the current planning committee is being given the powers to truly consider and question planning applications or are they redundant? And are planning applications being decided by just the planning officers and the solicitors?”

Read more:

• Controversial Knox Lane 53-homes plan deferred for third time
• Plans approved for Kingsley Road and Tesco — but Knox Lane decision deferred

Resident Alison Hayward said she was addressing Thursday’s area constituency committee on behalf of residents in Knox and Bilton, who were “extremely disappointed and outraged” by the situation.

Ms Hayward said:

“We believe that it was unconstitutional and contrary to the principles of fair representation of the community.

“Although we are disappointed in the result [of the vote to defer the application again], this statement is relating to the process of the meeting rather than that result.

“We ask this constituency meeting to reflect on the failures and the conduct of the planning meeting and consider how to correct the injustice to the local community and democracy.”

She said the meeting had been held during the half-term holidays, when fewer local people were available to attend.

Ms Hayward also raised concerns about the fact the planning meeting had not been streamed live, as it would usually be, because of “technical problems” on the day. She said this meant there was no “proper record” of the meeting, as the minutes did not record everything discussed.

In a statement read by clerk Mark Codman, NYC’s legal, planning and democratic services departments responded:

“The council does apologise for the lack of a live stream. The issue was only discovered on the morning of the meeting and it couldn’t be resolved.”

The statement said there was no legal requirement for a meeting to be recorded and minutes were never verbatim. Live streaming was only introduced in Harrogate during the covid pandemic, and was not used for all meetings across North Yorkshire.

The statement also said:

“It was made clear to members of the committee that they were free to vote in whichever way they wanted, but were advised of the implications of their choosing to do so on the basis of inadequate material planning reasons.”

A sports enthusiast is looking for the perfect partner to play padel with in Harrogate – with one particular requirement.

Andrew Simister has only recently tried the sport, but was immediately a fan after his first session at Surge in Harrogate.

However, because he lost his leg last year following an accident and now uses a prosthesis, he needs to find another amputee to join him on the court.

Mr Simister said:

“I tried padel a few weeks ago and I loved it, but I can’t play it unless there is someone to play against. My friends play it, my son plays it, but I can’t at the moment.

“It’s doubles, so I need at least one other amputee on the other team to make it fair.”

Mr Simister’s right leg was amputated above the knee after he was involved in a collision last February.

Read more:

• Harrogate Spa Tennis Club unveils new pavilion and padel courts
• Harrogate’s Olympic hopeful from a famous sporting family

The company director said he still has “good days and bad days” after the operation to remove his leg in March 2022, adding “on the whole, it’s good”.

He was previously a keen sportsman and has got back to doing as much as he can.

While he is no longer able to run – though is hoping he may be able to use a blade in future – he has a good level of fitness and hopes he can find someone of a similar level to play against.

He added:

“I would like some sort of competition – someone that’s going to be of a similar standard.

“I don’t suppose they have to be amputees, but some sort of disability that means they would be a good match for me.”

Anyone interested in playing padel with Mr Simister can find him on Instagram, or contact the Stray Ferret.

Selby and Ainsty Conservative MP,  Nigel Adams, a key ally of Boris Johnson, has announced his resignation with immediate affect.

Mr Adams resignation will trigger a third by-election in a Conservative held seat in the past 24 hours- following the shock resignation yesterday of former Prime Minster, Boris Johnson, and former culture secretary, Nadine Dorries as MPs. Mr Adams was minister without portfolio in Boris Johnson’s cabinet.

On Friday Mr Adams was not nominated for an honour on Mr Johnson’s peerage list.

Mr Adams said he wanted to “thank my constituents for their wonderful support since 2010”.

Last year Mr Adams had said he would not be standing again as an MP at the next general  election- today’s announcement means his departure forces an earlier by-election.

Mr Adams was first elected in 2010 and has defended the seat in three subsequent elections. He currently holds the seat with a majority of 20,137.

Posting on Twitter, Mr Adams announced he was leaving politics immediately.

Yesterday, Selby Conservatives selected an excellent new parliamentary candidate.

I’ve today informed the chief whip that I will be standing down as a Member of Parliament with immediate effect.

It has been an honour to represent the area where I was raised, educated &

1/2

— Nigel Adams (@nadams) June 10, 2023

• Harrogate district MP Nigel Adams to step down at next election
• Nigel Adams MP resigns from cabinet

A group of traveller families has set up camp on Ashville College’s sports field off Yew Tree Lane in Harrogate.

The independent fee-paying school said is was alerted at 9.00pm last night to their arrival and that police have attended the scene.

In a statement the school said it was working closely with the police to remove the travellers and their vehicles as soon as possible.

This not the first time travellers have pitched up on Ashville’s sports fields. In August 2021 travellers parked on the school’s land and demanded money to leave. They left only to return weeks later. The school then started legal proceedings against them before they eventually departed.

Today Ashville College said:

“Naturally, our priority is to ensure the safety of our pupils and to minimise disruption to normal School life. We have taken a number of precautionary measures today including postponing home sports fixtures and ensuring close supervision of our boarders as they move around the campus.

“All parents were contacted on Friday evening and we will continue to update them as we monitor the situation.

“We are grateful to our families for their understanding, and praise our staff for making every reasonable effort to prevent the break-in. The continued vigilance of our staff and supervision of pupils on-site is of paramount importance”.

Read More:

• Travellers set up camp at Harrogate’s Ashville College – and demand £5,000 to leave
• Harrogate school takes legal action after travellers return

Yorkshire Water has said no date has been set for the introduction of parking charges at Harrogate district reservoirs.

The company is to introduce payment machines and automatic number plate recognition at Swinsty, Fewston and Thruscross car parks.

It said previously that the revenue generated will help to pay for an in-house rangers team, which would undertake maintenance jobs and tackle anti-social behaviour at its sites.

Proposals for parking machines at both Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs were approved by Harrogate Borough Council in September last year.

The Stray Ferret asked Yorkshire Water this week if it had confirmed an implementation date for the machines.

A spokesperson said a date had yet to be confirmed and that the plans were “still in progress”.

While no date has been set for when charges will come in, Yorkshire Water said they will include season tickets for one or multiple sites.

A spokesperson told the Stray Ferret previously:

“There will be an option for visitors to purchase a ‘season ticket’ for the year which can cover just one car park or all car parks in the Washburn Valley, obviously this will work out cheaper than ‘pay as you go’ option, depending on how frequently people visit.

“The prices for the season tickets will be £30 per annum for a single site and £45 per annum for multiple sites. Blue badge holders, as previously stated, will be able to park free of charge.”

Read more:

• Reservoir parking costs could cause ‘tremendous problems’ on nearby roads
• Swinsty and Fewston parking charges to include ‘season ticket’

Car park users will be able to pay via card payment on site, by using the RingGo app or telephone.

The proposed tariffs will be one hour at £1, two hours at £2, six hours at £3 and an all day pass for £5.

Bransby Wilson Parking Solutions, based in York, has been appointed to operate the parking meters. 

In June every year, something close to a miracle occurs in a small village 11 miles from Harrogate.

Major names in the international arts world converge for 10 days on Aldborough — a beautiful and historic place but hardly known for capturing the zeitgeist.

For arts lovers, however, an annual pilgrimage to the Northern Aldborough Festival has become part of the summer arts scene. They park in fields, drink Pimm’s in a churchyard marquee and get to see the kind of names who usually appear in less soulful venues in Leeds or York.

The festival, which grew out of a fundraising initiative to restore the church organ in 1994, consistently attracts major international talent.

This year’s line-up, from June 15 to 24, includes the likes of South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim, TV historian Lucy Worsley, trumpeter Matilda Lloyd and a singing competition judged by a panel that includes Dame Felicity Lott.

Lucy Worsley is among those appearing this year. Credit Hay Festival / Paul Musso 

Festival director Robert Ogden, who overseas the programme, is best known locally for running Ogden of Harrogate, the fifth generation family jewellery business on James Street.

But Mr Ogden has strong credentials in the arts world: a former chorister at Westminster Cathedral Choir School in London, he completed a choral scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge before forging a successful career as a countertenor, singing around the world in major productions alongside the likes of Jose Carreras.

Since he became festival director in 2010, the festival line-up has broadened and this year includes spoken word events and jazz as well as classical music and culminates with an outdoor pop music party and fireworks in the grounds of Aldborough Manor.

Mr Ogden says the change reflects his own wide tastes but also acknowledges “we can’t rely on our core audience”.

Robert Ogden

Festival planning is year-round but he takes a two-week break from the jewellery business to focus fully on the festival in the immediate run-up.

He says things are shaping up well this year ahead of Thursday’s opening night. Asked for his personal highlights, he cites Matilda Lloyd, the opening night Haydn opera double bill, Monteverdi’s Vespers and the new £7,000 singing competition. He says:

“Of all the things we have done in the last 15 years this competition is perhaps the most exciting. I’m certain at least one or two of the semi-finalists will be household names in the next few years.

“There’s nothing a festival wants to do more than to unveil and support new talent.”

How does he persuade occasionally temperamental artists to head to the eastern side of Boroughbridge? He says it’s a combination of the festival’s reputation, the St Andrew’s Church acoustics, the setting and the welcome. Aldborough, he says, is the “perfect chamber music space” and there is something undoubtedly magical about it.

St Andrew’s Church in Aldborough

Mr Ogden says he never feels the festival is in competition with the year-round Harrogate International Festivals and thinks there is scope for another local summer arts festival “if it’s marketed well”. Besides Ryedale Festival and Swaledale Festival, competition isn’t fierce.

But it isn’t an easy time in the arts world. Brexit, he says, has denied many emerging artists the opportunities he enjoyed to develop his craft in Europe. The cost of living crisis had had an impact on ticket prices, but Mr Ogden says Aldborough hasn’t made “any major price rises”.

Future festival ideas include live streaming, although digital connectivity in the village isn’t great, and recording music under the Northern Aldborough label.

Read more:

• Northern Aldborough Festival reveals 2023 line-up
• Brew Bar owner opens new Harrogate coffee shop

He plans to stay at the heart of things, reporting to festival chairman Sir Andrew Lawson-Tancred:

“As long as I feel I still have that creative urge and impetus I will aim to do it as long as they allow me to.”

What is his message for anyone thinking of attending, perhaps for the first time?

“Aldborough is not far to drive from Harrogate. It’s an oasis of calm, the acoustics are wonderful and the welcome is wonderful. Try something new.”

Further information on the Northern Aldborough Festival is available here.