Thieves steal cash and stamps from Birstwith post office

North Yorkshire Police is investigating a burglary at a rural post office in Nidderdale.

Thieves entered the Dales Stores Post Office in Birstwith at nine minutes past midnight on Friday (August 5).

The suspects smashed two panes of glass on the front door and stole cash and a large amount of stamps with a high value.

A North Yorkshire Police statement added:

“Officers are asking members of the public to get in touch if they have any information, saw anything suspicious or can identify the person recorded on CCTV.

“In particular, offices are asking local residents if they have any CCTV or dash cam footage of vehicles in the area at the time of the burglary.

“Anyone with any information is asked to email leah.fitzsimons@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC 950 Fitzsimons.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number 12220137553 when passing on information.”

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Appeal for missing Leeds man who may be in Harrogate

Police are appealing for information on a missing Leeds man who may have travelled to the Harrogate area.

Jesus Moreno, 41, is described as of Spanish origin with long curly brown hair, a long brown beard and wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

He is 5ft 7in tall and has an orange octopus tattoo on his upper left arm.

West Yorkshire Police believe he may have travelled to the Harrogate and Knaresborough area.

Officers have urged the public to call 101 referencing log number 1061 02-08.

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Yorkshire Water submits Swinsty parking machines plan

Yorkshire Water has submitted plans for payment machines and number plate recognition cameras at Swinsty reservoir.

The moves comes as the company is set to trial parking charges at three reservoirs within the Harrogate district.

Charges will also be introduced at Thruscross and Fewston.

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

As part of the plans submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, automatic number plate recognition cameras and machines on the existing Swinsty car park.

The company said in documents submitted to the authority:

“The car parking itself provides an important functional element to ensure the management of parking to Swinsty Reservoir and the wider area.

“The site is a long-established car park, and it is not anticipated that the introduction of pay and display facilities would generate a greater use of or cause any greater impact than that arising from the current usage of the site by visitors.”

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Those who use the car park will be able to pay via car payment on site, by using the RingGo app or telephone.

Emergency services and blue badge holders will be exempt from the charges.

The proposed tariffs will be one hour at £1, two hours at £2, six hours at £3, an all day pass for £5 and an annual pass for £30.

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

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Harrogate mental health crisis team remains in Ripon

Harrogate’s mental health crisis team is still operating out of Ripon, two years after health bosses closed the town’s Briary unit.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services for the district, moved the team to The Orchards at Ripon following the closure of the Briary unit at Harrogate District Hospital in May 2020.

The crisis team provides specialist inpatient care for adults and children with mental health problems who may otherwise need to go to hospital.

The 29 staff were relocated after managers were unable to find alternative accommodation in Harrogate.

At the time, health bosses said the move was a short term solution until a new base in Harrogate was found.

The Stay Ferret asked the mental health trust whether a new base had been identified for the crisis team and if it had returned to face-to-face consultations.

A spokesperson for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust said:

“Following the transformation work associated with adult and older adult mental health services, there was a requirement for services other than hospital liaison to move out of Harrogate District Foundation Trust.  

“In the planning of this, the adult and children’s crisis teams were accommodated at the Ripon community base at The Orchards from May 2020, as the crisis team coverage included Harrogate, Ripon and the rural district areas. The crisis team continues to operate from their own office spaces in Ripon.”

They added:

“Because of the nature of the crisis and home-based treatment team, the way we met the needs of patient and carers did not change, in that, we retained face-to-face contact throughout covid balanced with telephone or video contacts, depending on patient choice and level of need as we had done before.”

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In March 2021, health bosses told the Stray Ferret that the team needed to return at the “earliest opportunity”.

When the Briary Wing closed in April 2020, inpatient mental health services transferred to York.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which buys medical services for the county, said the transfer of inpatient beds “released £500,000”, which could be invested in community mental health services.

Have you been affected by this change in mental health services? Get in touch at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Business Breakfast: New Head of Early Years at Harrogate Ladies’ College

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate Ladies’ College has appointed a new Head of Early Years at Highfield Pre-School, the school’s associated nursery setting.

Kathryn Wilson, who is originally from Ripon, is returning to her Yorkshire roots after teaching in Long Eaton, Derbyshire where she was an Assistant Head.

Mr Wilson, who has young children of her own, and was previously Deputy Head at new Park Primary School in Harrogate, said:

“I am very much looking forward to coming home to my roots and I know what an amazing place Highfield Pre-School is.  The ethos of the whole school and its close and caring community attracted me back.

The facilities are outstanding, particularly the outdoor space which the children clearly love.  I am looking forward to getting to know the children and their parents and building on the school’s already excellent Early Years provision.”

Sylvia Brett, Principal of Harrogate Ladies’ College, said Kathryn would be an enormous asset to the Pre-School department.

“The first few years of a child’s educational journey are so important and Kathryn has superb credentials and a vast amount of experience in Early Years provision.  We are all looking forward to welcoming her into our school community,”

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Ripon auction house inaugural art sale 

Elstob & Elstob in Ripon is to have its first pictures and sculpture auction featuring some of the region’s greatest artists.

The sale, on August 10, has been put together by the auction house’s newly appointed Paintings and Sculpture Specialist Rohan McCulloch.

It includes Leeds-born artist George Wright, the popular Staithes Group of artists and County Durham miner Tom McGuinness together with paintings of iconic Northern landmarks.

Mr McCulloch said:

“Until now, paintings and sculptures have been included in our Fine Art and Antiques sales but such has been the growing extent and quality of consignments that we have decided to introduce a dedicated auction that will give them their own platform.

“I am particularly pleased with this first collection, which has a broad offering of paintings, drawings and sculpture from the last 600 years of British and European Art.

There is something to suit all tastes and pockets with attractive pieces valued under a hundred pounds to the work of prestigious artists with price estimates of several thousand.”

 

 

Woman who lost 12 stone launches crowdfunder to remove loose skin

A Harrogate slimmer who lost almost 12 stone has launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for surgery to remove her loose skin.

NHS worker Debs Smith embarked on her epic weight loss after her dad died in December 2019.

Ms Smith, from Jennyfields, started off weighing more than 21 stone and had 68-inch hips at less than five feet tall. She said:

“I was literally wider than I was tall.”

Over the next two years she shed eleven-and-a-half stone, now weighing just below 10 stone, and says she’s never felt happier.

Debs Smith, right, before her weight loss

But she has already spent £35,000 dealing with the impact of her dramatic weight loss by paying for two operations to get rid of what she describes as “the loosest skin I’ve ever seen”. She says:

“I looked and felt like a tiny skeleton stuck inside a giant hot sleeping bag made of skin.

“Not how anyone wants to live, this affected my mobility, daily hygiene and dignity.”

The two operations, which took 16 hours in total, lifted and reconstructed everything on her upper body. Removing the loose skin from her stomach alone got rid of one-and-a-half stone.

She flew to Cairo for the operations because the cost is far less in Egypt than the UK, but her funds are now depleted.

She said:

“To make those earlier operations happen I took out a bank loan and an extra mortgage.

“The two procedures would originally have included my thigh areas but I have bleeding issues, which slowed down what could be achieved each time.

“A final procedure is needed for the huge amount of sagging skin on my thighs.”

Debs Smith

Ms Smith, who was helped in her weight loss by Slimming World in Jennyfields, has launched a £5,000 crowdfunding campaign. So far it has raised almost £500. She said:

“Before I lost weight I could walk only a few yards before becoming breathless; I now often walk with my dog for two to three hours and its still a wonderful experience.

“However, my thigh skin hangs like big loose curtains flopping around inside trousers, so I can’t wear patterned trousers without looking very odd.

“Either leg can easily get stuck to or under the other leg in bed.”

You can donate to Ms Smith’s campaign here.

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Stray Views: Who benefits from Maltkiln?

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.

Who benefits from the Maltkiln development? 

Will our local councils come clean and explain to us why they are proceeding with Maltkiln after refusing, right up to the High Court, the development of Flaxby with the following consequences:

Can they tell us who are the beneficiaries of this decision?

Dr Terry Bramall CBE, Harrogate

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Chain Lane/York Road junction, Knaresborough

Having read Mr Payne’s letter regarding this junction and the poor signage, I was compelled to write. I asked North Yorkshire County Council why the temporary right turn sign suddenly appeared. This makes life difficult for residents on The Paddock trying to get home from Wetherby Road. The diversion down Manse Lane is nothing short of dangerous!

I have waited patiently for weeks for a reply…still waiting. I also contacted our Town representatives….they are also still waiting for a reply.

Is this the service we can expect when we all come under North Yorkshire Council. It makes me shudder!

Please Highways, can I have an answer?

Regards

Jayne Jackson, Knaresborough 

Opening Beech Grove wont solve anything

Dennis Richards says the Beech Grove scheme has made Victoria Road more dangerous because of speeding traffic.

Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood hasn’t made drivers go faster on Victoria Road but it has meant there are more of them. That is going to be tackled by making the junction with Otley Road one way only.

Drivers will be able to enter Victoria Road but not exit onto Otley Road.

Opening up Beech Grove to through traffic won’t solve anything but will make the road much less pleasant for residents and no longer a safe oasis for cyclists.

Malcolm Margolis , Harrogate District Cycle Action 

Knaresborough man appeals for help to bring Christmas cheer to Ukraine

It may still be the height of summer but a Knaresborough man is asking people to donate Christmas presents as he prepares to travel to Ukraine for the fifth time.

Bob Frendt, 71, has already made four trips with medical supplies and other aid since the country was invaded by Russia in February.

Now, he is hoping to bring a little cheer to families still stuck in the war-torn country in time for the festive season. The retired truck driver told the Stray Ferret:

“People have been so generous up to now so I could make the trips to get supplies where they were needed.

“I took an old tour coach over earlier in the year and it’s now being used as a triage unit. It’s great because it means they can put casualties in the beds and evacuate them.

“Apparently Kylie Minogue used the coach many years ago when she was on tour — and now look where it is.”

The former tour coach is now being used as a medical triage unit.

Donations have rolled in for his previous missions, with Medequip and Andway Healthcare both contributing medical equipment and other businesses giving cash to cover the cost of the trip.

As the cost of living crisis hits the UK, however, Mr Frendt said he is struggling to get enough donations to cover petrol, tax and insurance for his next six-day trip in October.

To make up the funds, he has been collecting prizes from local businesses to raffle off, and already has vouchers and hampers from several well-known firms including Bettys, Mother Shipton’s Cave, Goldsborough Hall and Harrogate Theatre.

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The trip usually costs around £2,500 to complete – though rising costs are affecting this too. However, Mr Frendt is determined to do what he can for the volunteer army of citizens defending their country.

“The main aim this time is to take things for the kids. It will be the first Christmas for them since this began.

“I’m looking for toys particularly, but also old laptops and even solar panels and small power packs. They often have no electricity so they need ways to generate power and charge things up.

“They’re mechanics and butchers and bakers and street sweepers. They’ve been left on their own. The civilians are being looked after by all the usual aid agencies, but these guys have been left to fend for themselves.

“When I first got involved, I was talking to the commander of 204 Squadron and he said ‘we’re desperate for medical stuff’. They were using upside down brooms for crutches and people were sleeping on cardboard boxes.

“It could reduce you to tears, some of the things I’ve seen.”

To donate to Mr Frendt’s fundraising or contribute something for his next trip in early October, click here to send him an email.

District girls’ football teams see rise in enquiries following Lionesses’ win

Enquiries to join girls’ footballs teams in the Harrogate district have surged following the Lionesses’ historic Euro 2022 victory.

The impact of the team’s success have been felt across the area, with coaches and players labelling England’s success as “inspiring”.

And it is hoped the win will now open doors for young girls in the future.

Rachel Daly’s pathway to the Lionesses began at Killinghall Nomads.

Rachel Daly (centre) with girls from Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club and their manager David Terzza (right).

Ms Daly played and trained in a boys’ team, but the club now teams for both girls and boys.

The club also runs non-competitive weekly Wildcats sessions at Killinghall Moor. They allow girls, aged five to 11,to try out playing football before committing to a team.

David Terzza, Killinghall Nomads girls’ football manager, who was a coach when Rachel Daly played at the club, said:

“On Monday night I ran a session and there were six new girls who signed up straight away.

“We have up to about 32 girls who take part in the Wildcats sessions, which cost £3 and are run by qualified FA coaches. I give out information about clubs in the area. We hope they come to our club at Killinghall, but that’s not always the case.”

Chris Fahy,  Boroughbridge Juniors Football Club’s chairman and coach, said England’s success was “massively important” for girls’ football.

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A year ago he applied for tickets to the Euro 2022 final — and it paid off as 70 members of the club got to see the Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday.

Boroughbridge girls at the Euro 2022 final at Wembley.

He said:

“I’ve been doing girls’ football for eight years and at the moment we’ve got three teams – a small group aged from five upwards. I’m hoping what happened on Sunday will have an impact. We had a couple of enquiries just on Monday from people wanting to join.

“It’s good for the future. The publicity has been absolutely fantastic. There has been so much build-up and media attention.”

Mike Collier, women and girls football lead at Scotton Scorchers Junior Football Club, said the club was “so proud and emotional” about what it means for the Lionesses to win the Euros.

He said:

“It’s not just the winning but also the way they have gone about doing it.

“They are role models and superstars and yet still ordinary people in touch with their fans.

“This isn’t overnight success though and it’s great that the current players have given credit to everyone who has gone before them, including recognition for their grassroots clubs, reminding everyone that every England player started their football journey there.

“We hope the game continues to grow and become securely established so that players really can have football careers, but it’s also really important to remain accessible, relatable and likeable.”

Scotton Scorchers is the club of footy-mad Tess Dolan, eight, who was gifted tickets by the BBC after she was filmed dancing to the unofficial anthem Sweet Caroline following last Tuesday’s semi-final victory.

Scotton Scorchers under 14s girls team on a charity fun run last year.

The youngster stole the nation’s heart again when she was interviewed on TV before the victorious final on Sunday.

Mr Collier said:

“We have had many of our players at the games and are proud of all our girls, with good luck messages on social media and local radio etc.

“But also our little dancing superstar Tess, who summed up the nation’s great joy with her celebrations at the semi-final and went on to join the BBC on match day in the studio and lift the trophy too!

“We  have over 150 girls and women playing football, we are all inclusive, and it’s about fun and friendship, respect, health and wellbeing. We also have some fantastic players and teams competing at the highest levels in the county. Our Women’s team  trained recently with the Lionesses!”

Strayside Sunday: Is the £540m Devolution Deal good enough?

Strayside Sunday is our political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

This week my former colleague Greg Clark, then Director of Policy for the Conservatives, now Secretary of State for the tongue-twisting Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government signed-off and handed down North Yorkshire & York’s much anticipated devolution settlement.  The 32-page document awarded the area £540m over the next 30 years, along with devolved powers to help the region develop the skills, housing, and transport infrastructure it needs.  Whether this represents, as the government claims, “a once-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural area,” remains to be seen.

What we do know is that the money comes with the promise that we’ll get a Combined Authority, likely next year, with an elected Mayor to follow in 2024.  This must be a good thing, with the shining examples of Tees Valley’s Ben Houchen and the West Midland’s Andy Street demonstrating the positive leadership possibilities an elected Mayor can bring.  Both have used the special powers of the office to create special purpose Mayoral Development Corporations to buy land and assets to drive local economic regeneration and employment, to great effect.  Houchen famously returned Teeside Airport to public ownership and, just this week, Street announced Birmingham as the new home for a large portion of the BBC’s production capabilities, testament to investments made in vital property infrastructure. Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire’s elected Mayor, still relatively new in post, is yet to find her feet.

Whether or not North Yorkshire’s Mayor is a success will rest on strength of personality and imagination. Will they have the vision, communication skills and drive to push the limits of their newfound powers and make the most of them?  Let’s hope so.  They’ll need to be more persuasive than North Yorkshire Council’s representatives who made the bid for devolution.  Last week’s settlement was significantly less than the “ask”.  £750m over 25 years had been requested, versus the £540m over 30 years received.  Net, the new Mayor will have £18m per year to spend on their agenda, rather than the £25m per year hoped for.  The bid also hoped for £47m to redevelop the much-maligned Harrogate Convention Centre.  Much to Harrogate Borough Council Leader Richard Cooper’s disappointment this was turned down flat – with Westminster civil servants giving a “very strong steer” it would not be funded and should not be part of the devolution settlement.  The money for that will now have to be found from other means, with an application to Boris Johnson’s Levelling Up Fund in the works.  The Convention Centre’s future remains uncertain, not least because with the coming change in Conservative Party leadership there is no guarantee that existing spending commitments will hold.

And that’s part of the problem here.  £540m sounds like a big sum but, in truth we can’t be certain it represents new money.  We have little idea how it fits with the existing local government grant and public spending commitments.  What we do know is that it seems certain that tax cuts will be on the government’s agenda following the change of Prime Minister.  That, plus the most ominous macro-economic climate in a generation (recession, soaring inflation and rising interest rates) means that coming downward pressure on public spending seems locked in.  Whoever becomes Mayor of North Yorkshire and York will have their work cut out for them.

The same of course is true for the new Prime Minister.  It now seems likely (if polls are to be believed) that Liz Truss will win comfortably the Tory Party leadership contest and assume office.  Assuming I get a non-hacked voting paper from the Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative Association I’ll be putting a cross next to Rishi Sunak’s name.  If Liz Truss does win it will be another example of the maxim that “he who wields the dagger never yields the prize”, Sunak having led with Sajid Javed the avalanche of ministerial resignations that finally put paid to Boris Johnson.

For the life of me I can’t see the logic of the aggressive tax cuts that Liz Truss proposes.  To paraphrase Maurice Saatchi’s famous “Labour isn’t working” political advertising slogan from the 1980’s, an argument can be made that “Britain isn’t working.”  The NHS has moved beyond perpetual ‘crisis’ and is now in real trouble, with waiting lists soaring for everything from cancer treatment to mental health treatment, nary an ambulance in sight when you need one and chronic staff shortages.  It takes an age to get a passport and, when you do, the airports are carnage.  The DVLA can’t get a driver’s license organised for love nor money and with a series of national train strikes and 7-hour queues to take a ferry to France, travelling in this country is becoming a Kafka-esque challenge. Planes, trains, and automobiles indeed.  I haven’t even mentioned the disaster that is immigration policy and our handling of the small boats influx on our shores.  Reform may well be part of the answer but setting all these right needs real money and competent grip.  Economists who support Ms. Truss’ plan to tax cut our way to economic growth to fund all this are thin on the ground.  Like North Yorkshire’s coming new elected Mayor, Ms. Truss’ real task is to find imaginative policy solutions to our problems, from skills to housing, from transport to health and then find a way to run them properly.  And that takes public money, gobs of it.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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