Ripon man who helped Ukrainian refugees set for hero’s return
A month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lewis Edwards is planning to return to his home city of Ripon with Ukrainian partner Tanya Bogdanovska.
Teachers Mr Edwards and Ms Bogdanovska fled Kyiv, where they had been working at a private school, on February 25.
Joining the mass migration of refugees who sought safety in neighbouring NATO countries, they arrived in Slovakia.
There, they and eight friends created a shelter to help Ukrainian women, children and men over 60 find sanctuary in other parts of Europe.
This morning Mr Edwards told the Stray Ferret:
“We are awaiting the outcome of Tanya’s application to travel with me to the UK and once all is in place, our plan is to head straight to Ripon.
“That will give us time to find our feet again, while being with family, friends and meeting some of people who have been so generous in supporting our work with refugees.”
Former soldier Mike Heelan is also returning home to Harrogate after travelling to Slovakia to help. Mr Edwards said:
“I would like to say a massive thank you to Mike Heelan, who came over from Harrogate when he read about what we have been doing in Slovakia.
“His help has been invaluable and we will be wishing him well when he heads off back to the UK later today.”
Former soldier Mike Heelan is returning to Harrogate.
Fundraising for Ukraine to continue
Their efforts have been supported by a gofundme page launched by Mr Edwards’ family. More than £19,000 has been raised.
Though they are leaving Slovakia, the fundraising will continue.
Mr Edwards’ mother, Ali, said:
“We are excited that he will be returning to the UK with Tanya and look forward to their safe arrival in Ripon.
“Though they leaving Slovakia, we are committed to continuing the fundraising for the people of Ukraine, who face a desperate situation for the foreseeable future. The monies raised will go to other groups who will be providing humanitarian assistance.”
The flag of Ukraine flies above Ripon Town Hall
The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, supported the gofundme appeal through an event staged this month at The Magdalens Pub, which he owns and runs with his consort, Nigel Guy,
Cllr Parkin, said:
“We already have the flag of Ukraine flying on the town hall and Lewis and Tanya will be welcomed as heroes, when they arrive in the city.”
Funds raised in Ripon have been used to source ambulances, buy and transport vital medical supplies and food and provide shelter.
This work will continue, through the increased involvement of the Slovakian government, acting in liaison with humanitarian aid agencies and on-the-ground volunteer groups.
Harrogate schoolchildren hold peace walk for UkraineMore than 200 children from a Harrogate primary school took part in a peace walk for Ukraine this morning.
Pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, on Coppice Rise, walked from the school to St John’s Church on Bilton Lane to raise money and awareness for those fleeing the conflict.
Children were encouraged to come to school dressed in yellow and blue, the colours of the Ukraine flag, for the walk and to make a donation to the UNICEF campaign to support children in the country.
Beforehand, they took part in a liturgy led by pupils from years three and five.
Pupils at St Joseph’s with their banners which they created for the Ukraine walk.
Children sang peace hymns for Ukraine, held prayers and read from passages in the Bible.
Rachel Rouse, headteacher at St Joseph’s, said:
“We do a lot of fundraising for other things.
“We felt as a whole school that we needed to do something for Ukraine.”
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On the walk, pupils were given blue and yellow ribbons and waved banners at passing drivers on Skipton Road.
Once at St John’s, the whole school gathered to sing a hymn to show they were united for Ukraine before returning to finish with further prayers and singing.
You can donate to Unicef’s campaign for children here.
Harrogate stolen bank cards: police release CCTV image of suspectPolice are appealing for information about a man suspected of withdrawing hundreds of pounds on stolen bank cards.
The man is believed to have stolen a purse from an equestrian event at Rudding Lane near Harrogate between 11am and 1.30pm on Sunday, February 6.
Officers believe the purse was stolen from an unoccupied horsebox.
Police enquires have uncovered CCTV footage of the cards being used at cash machines in Wetherby between 1.50pm and 2.15pm the same day.
Cash was taken from the Halifax bank in the Market Place and Sainsbury’s on Crossley Street.
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A North Yorkshire Police statement added:
“If you can help identify the man in the CCTV images, please call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Colin Baker. Or email colin.baker@northyorkshire.police.uk.
“If you would prefer to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
“Please quote reference number 12220021901 when providing details.”
Drink-drive charge after car crashes into Harrogate gardenHarrogate roads policing sergeant Paul Cording has published photos of a car that crashed into a Harrogate home over the weekend.
Sgt Cording, who regularly tweets about police life on the road, said the driver, who has not been named, had been charged with drink-driving and would appear in court next month. He tweeted:
“Thankfully no injuries and no one was in the garden at the time.”
He posted about the incident at about 7am yesterday morning.
During two busy weekend night shifts, Sgt Cording also tweeted about a car driver in Ripon refusing to stop when asked by police and the recovery of class A drugs.
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Plan to convert disused Harrogate church into seven homesPlans have been submitted to convert the disused Church of St Mary on Harlow Terrace in Harrogate into seven homes and office space.
The homes would have either two or three bedrooms and 9 car parking spaces would be added.
The grade II* listed Gothic building was built in 1916 but has structural problems.
Mineral felt in the roof is leaking and the stone is deteriorating. It was designed by renowned architect Sir Walter Tapper.
In October 2020 it was placed on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ register.
Previous plans
A different application to convert the church into office space was granted by Harrogate Borough Council in 2017 but it never materialised.
Shaw and Jagger Architects bought the church in November 2018 with the intention of turning part of the church into its offices with a business partner.
These plans were approved in 2020 but building work did not start.
The latest proposals for the church still include office space intended for the architect firm, but most of the building would now be turned into housing.
The council will decide on the plans at a later date.
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New hair salon opens in Harrogate tomorrowAllertons hair salon will open its fourth location, Allertons Harrogate, tomorrow.
The salon is located on Montpellier Street and will offer haircuts, colouring, treatments and styling.
Beauty treatments including massage and manicures will be available from the summer.
The company has two other locations in Leeds and one in Nottingham.
Founder Nicholas Nicola said:
“We think it will be well received. We aren’t led by fashion but what the clients want from root tints to bright blue. Harrogate already has so many lovely salons and hopefully we can bring something different.”
You can book online now by visiting this website or by calling us on 01423 608868.
Knaresborough-based maternity brand to launch next month
The Mum Collective is a Knaresborough-based maternity and nursing clothing brand that promises to offer “something different”.
Based in Knaresborough and set up by Sophie Baldwin, the online brand is launching with an essentials collection comprising of a t-shirt, sweater and hoodie. Each item has hidden zips for feeding.
Ms Baldwin said:
“When I fell pregnant one thing I found is that there wasn’t a great deal of clothes I actually wanted to wear that I would feel good in, that would also see me through my entire pregnancy as I was growing, and then through to my breastfeeding journey as well.”
“It was created with a mum and mum-to-be’s entire journey in mind.”
The new essentials range
Sneak Peek: New brasserie and bar will offer ‘a taste of Harrogate’One thing Harrogate isn’t short of is restaurants.
However the team behind Samsons brasserie and bar, which opens its doors tomorrow, is confident their new venture will stand out from the crowd.
Executive chef Josh Whitehead, who is known for his work with the Harewood Food and Drink Project, is heading up a talented kitchen team. He was also a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals 2016.
The bar will serve a range of beverages including cocktails, beer and spirits.
His menu will focus on “real cookery”, using quality British produce that has been mainly sourced from within a small radius of the restaurant, which is based at the former Le Bistrot Pierre site on Cheltenham Crescent.
Mr Whitehead said:
“We are buying really good, really local produce and presenting it in a really accessible way for everyone.
“It’s British ingredients, British cooking and finding a way to replace what you would normally get from other countries. For example instead of olive oil, we will use rapeseed oil from Wharfe Valley Farms in Collingham.”
The menu will offer a taste of the local area and ingredients will include Harrogate’s iconic Stray cherry blossoms.
Dishes start from £4 for small plates, classic starters from £6 and mains from £14.
Signature dishes will include duck crumpets.
The dining area seats up to 80 people.
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Mr Whitehead said:
“We will be offering a taste of Harrogate, which you won’t be able to get anywhere else.
“It’s a really exciting time. My first ever kitchen job was in Harrogate around 10 years ago in what was Restaurant Bar and Grill on Parliament Street, which is now Piccolinos.
“I’ve always thought something like this needs to be in Harrogate. I don’t want to say it’s like a homecoming, but it’s quite cool that this is the biggest job I’ve had thus far in the same place I started.
“I was looking for next challenge and this one just stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mr Whitehead will be reunited in the kitchen with his best friend and former colleague Andy Castle, who was head chef at the Ox Club in Leeds.
The famous cherry blossoms will also feature as garnish on the extensive cocktail menu, which will feature 12 classic and 15 signature cocktails, all of which have been given Harrogate-themed names.
The name of the restaurant is also linked to the town.
Managing director of Samsons, Mark Morrison, who moved to Harrogate from London seven years ago, said:
“There was a chap called Samson Fox who brought the first street lights to the world. He was also quite philanthropic, he did a lot of work helping the poor. He built the Royal Academy of Music, which happens to be in London, not far from where I grew up. So there’s a nice link there.
“But when I was looking around for things about Samson Fox, there was one brown plaque 12 streets away on his old house at Grove Road and that’s it.
“And this is the only three-time mayor of Harrogate, a significant figure, and nothing really to celebrate him or his life.
“It’s a nice name for a restaurant.”
Samsons, which is described as “a light, airy design-led space”, seats up to 80 people in the restaurant and 20 people in the bar area. There is also additional seating on the outdoor terrace, which is set to launch in the warmer months.
£5,000 grants available to schools and parish councilsBettys and Taylors Family Fund is inviting parish councils and schools to apply for grants of up to £5,000.
The fund supports Yorkshire-based groups working to improve the lives of local children and young people through food.
Cookery courses, healthy eating initiatives and food hygiene are examples of the kind of schemes eligible for funding.
Grants range from £500 to £5,000 and must benefit people living in Yorkshire.
Parish councils and schools are eligible to apply providing the grant is used for purposes outside their usual remit.
As Bettys and Taylors is a food and hospitality business, the fund aims to support local food-based projects.
The fund opened for applications this week and closes on April 28. Groups will find out by mid-June if they have been successful.
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Festival date marks new era for Harrogate thrash metal bandA thrash metal band founded by schoolmates in Harrogate more than 30 years ago is enjoying a renaissance in the digital era.
Acid Reign was set up in the mid-1980s by Howard ‘H’ Smith, Mark Ramsey Wharton, Garry Jennings and Ian Gangwer.
All pupils at Granby High School, they would rehearse every Sunday at Calcutt Village Hall. Because of its remote location, their classmates rarely visited to listen in and the band didn’t develop much of a following.
However, Howard said this allowed them to hone their craft – later joined by Kev Papworth and Adam Lehan – and ultimately led to them getting a record deal with Metallica’s former record label, Music For Nations, after sending out their second demo tape.
Their first and only gig in Harrogate followed shortly after, at the Lounge Hall – now Wetherspoons on Parliament Street – before they went on to record two studio albums, touring the UK and Europe.
Stand-up comedy
When the band members went their separate ways in 1991, Howard moved north to Newcastle and joined another band. He had an urge to try his hand at stand-up comedy and applied for a course in London.
The morning after his new band broke up, Howard received a letter confirming he had a place on the six-week comedy course. However, after several years of success on bills with the likes of Al Murray, Catherine Tate and Jimmy Carr, he began to feel differently about the job.
“I just wasn’t enjoying it. I failed to find my voice. I was getting lots of laughs and bookings, but I thought, ‘I wouldn’t pay to see me’.
“Eventually I realised, despite the fact that it’s a cool job, if you aren’t happy, it doesn’t matter what job it is.”
The next few years were spent writing, including for BBC Choice. Then, with the break-up of a long-term relationship, Howard returned to stand-up – and inspiration struck.
“I was on a trip to France, in a beautiful patisserie. The three of us were going ‘look at that!’ at all the incredible, delicate creations.
“I just put this voice on and said, ‘I bet they haven’t got any pasties, have they?’”
A new comedy character, Keith Platt, Professional Yorkshireman, was born. A charity shop raid created his costume and, at his first gig, Howard even impressed comedy legend Frank Skinner.
For the last 16 years, he has continued to perform as Keith, having finally found his comedy voice. Unexpectedly, the character brought him back into the metal scene: he performed stand-up at the Download festival in 2014, where he closed his set with a cover of Pantera’s Walk, complete with a plastic guitar to smash up.
Reforming Acid Reign
There was talk of a reunion in 2015 to mark 25 years since their final album. However, now each had their own lives and commitments, the band members struggled to find time to rehearse and drifted apart again.
Members of the original Acid Reign line-up, formed at Granby High School: Mark Wharton, Adam Lehan, Ian MacDonald, Howard Smith and Kev Papworth
Howard invited friends – all former fans – to join him for some rehearsals and soon realised he could bring Acid Reign back in a new form for a new era.
Now made up of members from around the UK, the band put out a new album in 2019 and Howard said it was a completely different experience.
“Originally, when you put something out, if the critics didn’t like it you had no real way of knowing what the fans thought. Now, because of social media, they tell us directly. It’s great – you feel much more connected to what they think and how your album is being received.”
Covid put paid to hopes of a tour of South America, but Howard said the first festival they played last summer, Bloodstock, was an incredible experience. They are now lined up to play Dominion Festival in July and are looking forward to writing and recording their next album.
The sudden death of original band member Ian Gangwer last year was “devastating” for Howard, bringing back memories of how close they all were in their teens and early 20s. However, he has taken comfort in seeing the impact he has on other people, whether they know Acid Reign from the early days or a new fans.
“Nothing will ever touch that kind of feeling when people come up and stop me and say, ‘I just want to say thank you for doing this and making me feel 16 again’. My response is always, ‘thanks for coming and making me feel 16 again too’.”
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WW2 nurse from Bilton who served in Dunkirk, Africa and HiroshimaSister Florrie Prest from Bilton saw remarkable service in the war, tending to injured service people across three continents.
Florrie served in the Territorial Army Nursing Service and was attached to Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS).
Elizabeth Smith from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission shared her research on the nurse with the Stray Ferret. She is buried at Stonefall Cemetery,
Ms Smith found two historic newspaper reports about Florrie in the now-defunct Harrogate Herald.
According to a report from 1946, Florrie worked as a dressmaker in Harrogate in the years before the war. She then trained as a nurse in London and worked at Harlow Wood Orthopedic in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
When war broke out, Florrie served at Dunkirk, northern Africa, Japan and in the Atlantic and Icelandic waters.
The report says she was of modest disposition and refused to speak about her service but admitted to once saving a person’s life from a blazing building in Iceland.
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Her second mention in the Herald was her obituary a year later. She died in York Military Hospital aged just 46 on October 26, 1947.
Florrie had been assistant matron on the hospital ship Dorsetshire. She was also mentioned in dispatches for service in the Middle East.
Ms Smith suspects this was when she was on the Dorsetshire when it was attacked several times in the Mediterranean despite being a hospital ship.
In North Africa, Florrie was in charge of field dressing station.
A dear sister
Later she was matron on the hospital ship Principessa Giovanna that was seized from Italy by the Royal Navy in 1944.
Her last appointment had been in Hiroshima, Japan before she was flown home.
Her parents lived at Bachelor Gardens in Harrogate and died before her. The personal inscription on her headstone was written by her brother. It reads:
“I HAVE LOST A DEAR SISTER BUT HEAVEN HAS GAINED ONE OF THE BEST THE WORLD CONTAINED.”
Free Stonefall tours
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission runs free tours and events at Stonefall Cemetery throughout the year that give visitors fascinating insights into some of the graves.
The next tours will be during War Graves Week and will shortly be available to book via Commonwealth War Graves website.
Harrogate International Partnership is also organising an ANZAC Day service at Stonefall on Sunday April 24.
It is shaping up to be an interesting event with local dignitaries, representatives from the RNZAF and the RAAF, local cadets, a brass band and potentially a haka.