A quirky café where you can grab a slice of cake and cuddle a chihuahua is set to open in Harrogate this month.

Billed as ‘England’s first interactive chihuahua experience’, The Chihuahua Lounge is aimed at boosting mental health with pet assisted therapy.

The venue, on Knaresborough Road, is expected to open on weekends from Saturday, May 14.

Customers will be able to book a 50-minute session at the café, on Knaresborough Road, and chill out with a coffee in the company of six cute long-haired chihuahuas.

Picnic and her puppies Badger, Lambie, Potter, Peony and Lucy, all bred and raised by café founder Caroline Leather, will roam free within the building.

Ms Leather said she wanted to share the benefits that she gains from her own affectionate pack of chihuahuas.

She explained that this is how the concept of a ‘home-from-home interactive chihuahua experience’ with lounge seating, coffee, cakes and cuddles was born.

Ms Leather said:

“The Chihuahua Lounge is a friendly, safe haven, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

“We are passionate about animal assisted therapy, which has shown that spending time with dogs not only reduces your heart rate and blood pressure, but is good for mental health.

“We offer an extensive menu of hot and cold drinks, freshly baked cakes and have cosy sofas, arm chairs and foot stools, so you can kick off your shoes and curl up for a cuddle.”

The experience costs £10 per person. This contributes towards the cost of the specific qualifications needed to exhibit the animals, as well as the strict animal welfare and licensing laws.

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For the safety of the dogs, only children over the age of six are permitted.

Ms Leather said:

“Our dogs love human attention and we have made sure that the café is a home-from-home for them.

“They also have their own private room where they are free to wander in and out as they please.

“We do not force our dogs to be in the lounge area with our guests. When the dogs are in the lounge space, they are there out of choice, and we intend to always keep it that way.

Ms Leather explained that the dogs also have weekly health checks and  behavioural studies are conducted on each animal regularly to ensure their behaviour in the café demonstrates that of a happy and relaxed dog.

She added:

“If it does not, we take them out of the café environment.

“We have a set of house rules to protect the dogs welfare that have to be adhered to by all customers.

“We also limit the capacity of our café to ensure the dogs are not overcrowded.”

A Harrogate man with motor neurone disease is to scale Snowdon to raise funds for Leeds Hospitals Charity and the MND Association.

Ian Flatt, 56, was diagnosed with the terminal illness in 2019 and needs a ventilator for 16 hours a day.

Despite his diagnosis, he’s already completed two 100-mile trips to raise money for a new state-of-the-art MND facility in Leeds.

His latest challenge will see him ascending the highest mountain in Wales, which is 1,085 metres tall and the equivalent of climbing 4,610 steps.

The Leeds-based hospital charity is raising money to build a new Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease at Seacroft Hospital, where both men are cared for.

The former Leeds Rhinos player Rob Burrow MBE has become an ambassador for the disease since his own diagnosis in 2019.

Mr Flatt said:

“The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease is very important to us as a family. We’re passionate about supporting other families going through this difficult disease.

“The support of the team at Leeds and their specialist help is so crucial for us to live as well as we can as a family. Whilst my mobility, dexterity and respiratory functions are failing, my sense of adventure remains intact.”

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Mr Flatt’s wife, two daughters and around forty friends will be joining him on the Snowdon trek. Staff from both the MND Centre and Leeds Hospitals Charity will also be climbing the mountain.

The charity’s appeal has raised £2m of the £5m needed to build the new centre.

To donate visit: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/ian-flatt-whats-your-mountain

Harrogate-based marketing agency to represent Henry vacuum brand

Harrogate digital marketing agency Extreme has won a contract to handle marketing for the Henry vacuum brand.

The Henry brand, which is known for colourful vacuums with faces, is manufactured by Numatic International.

The Harrogate team will focus on search engine optimisation, pay per click and paid social advertising.

James Brunyard, client services director at Extreme said:

“We’re really excited to have the chance to work with such a legendary brand. Henry is an icon and one we’re all familiar with, so our team is revelling in the opportunity to help get these products in front of new audiences in a variety of creative ways.”

Extreme has worked with other well-known brands, such as Nisa and Black Sheep Brewery.

Harrogate Borough Council supports free Federation of Small Businesses membership

Harrogate Borough Council is giving 200 businesses the opportunity to have a fully-funded membership to the Federation of Small Businesses.

The offer is available to those who are self-employed, as well as to micro and small businesses with up to 250 employees in the Harrogate district.

FSB members gain access to a range of services, including legal help, advice on cyber protection, free banking and help to access funding.

This is another scheme funded by the government’s covid business recovery funding. Last week, the council announced it was supporting free memberships to the Institute of Directors for all small and medium sized businesses in the Harrogate district.

Trevor Watson, the council’s director of economy, environment and housing, said:

“FSB membership will offer up to 200 businesses with employment advice and protection and one-to-one legal advice, and a wide range of benefits from the FSB, which should help speed their recovery from the crisis.”

Carolyn Frank, development manager York & North Yorkshire, FSB, said:

“We are seeing more demand than ever for our services as small businesses and the self-employed find themselves needing advice and guidance, financial support and a powerful collective voice with government.

“We are very grateful to Harrogate Borough Council for their support, they have rightly identified the importance of the smallest businesses to the local economy and we look forward to supporting these businesses by welcoming them to the FSB.”

Business who are not already members of the FSB can apply via email by contacting Nick.Bradley@fsb.org.uk with the reference ‘HBC’. They will be then be contacted by a membership advisor who will help them unlock the funding and sign them up to start using the benefits.

Film crews were in Harrogate again over the bank holiday to film the latest series of All Creatures Great and Small.

The road outside the former Harrogate Borough Council offices at Crescent Gardens was closed to enable filming to take place for the third series of Channel 5‘s adaptation of the books by James Herriot.

Filming began in March and has taken the cast and crew around the Dales to areas such as Grassington, Summerbridge and Pateley Bridge for the programme about the life of a vet in the Yorkshire Dales.

Reader Holly Chaplin sent us some images over the weekend after spotting a classic car and multiple men in tweed being filmed outside Crescent Gardens.

This is the second time in a few weeks the former council buildings have been used as a backdrop for a TV series. At the beginning of last month it was used as a location for Netflix’s new show Bank of Dave.

Plans to redevelop Crescent Gardens, which include a two-storey extension, rooftop restaurant, gym and new office space, are recommended for approval next week.

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Harrogate has been visited by numerous film crews and stars in recent weeks.

Ms Chaplin also sent us a photo of wildlife presenter Steve Backshall, taken when he appeared at a show at Harrogate’s Royal Hall yesterday.

Steve Backshall in Harrogate yesterday. Pic by Holly Chaplin

Rail campaigner Brian Dunsby has said his pleas to reinstate the cancelled 6.07am train from Harrogate to Leeds have been ignored by publicly-owned rail operator Northern.

The Stray Ferret reported last month that the weekday service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

Mr Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group, branded the move ‘disgraceful’ and called for a rethink. He said the service is vital for commuters and voiced his concern that losing it will damage Harrogate’s business community.

Since the decision, he said he’s been lobbying Northern as well as Transport for the North and local Conservative MP Andrew Jones, but he’s been left disappointed.

He said:

“There’s been no progress at all. It’s quite unjustifiable. We can’t understand why they are cancelling them. It’s very unsatisfactory.”

Northern blamed lower passenger numbers, issues with rolling stock and staffing problems for the cuts, which has seen a raft of services across Yorkshire withdrawn.

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Northern will put on a bus to replace the lost early train service from Harrogate to Leeds, but it could be December at the earliest until Northern will look at reintroducing the rail service. Mr Dunsby said this was “not good enough”.

He added:

“That’s eight months away. People need this train for business trips.”

Tony Baxter, regional director at Northern, said:

“Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and the new timetables are designed to deliver high levels of reliability.

“We’ve made decisions about our timetables based on the levels of resource we have available and prioritising the routes with the highest customer demand, and which support the region’s economic growth.”

A Knaresborough teenager has been ordered to do 300 hours of community work after pleading guilty to having a knife in Harrogate bar Mojo.

Arterus Moisejevas, 19, was accused of having a flick knife in the venue on Parliament Street on April 10.

Moisejevas, of Colebrooke Meadows, admitted the charge at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday.

He was also ordered to pay a £95 surcharge to fund victim services and £85 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

His case is one of a spate of recent knife crime offences heard in court in Harrogate recently.

Harrogate Pubwatch revealed on Thursday that it had imposed a life ban on someone found carrying a knife in a town centre venue.

The organisation represents about 40 licensed venues in town. Members share information on troublemakers and jointly impose sanctions.

Sadly we have had to impose a lifetime ban on someone found to be carrying a knife in one of our town centre venues a couple of weekends ago. The possession of weapons in Harrogate's pubs, clubs and bars simply won't be tolerated #Harrogate

— Harrogate Pubwatch (@hgpubwatch) April 27, 2022

Police: knives produce ‘false sense of security’

Asked whether knife crime in the Harrogate district was increasing and, if so, what action it was taking, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“Carrying a knife is a completely false sense of security. Producing a knife does not de-escalate a confrontation, it makes a bad situation worse and drastically increases the chance of you yourself being injured by that blade.

“As part of our efforts to tackle knife crime, we support Operation Sceptre, which is a twice-yearly national coordinated week of activity where police forces across the country help keep knives off the streets and deter people from carrying them, and through information and intelligence, proactively target knife-related offences.

“In July last year, changes to the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 were introduced which mean it is an offence to possess certain items such as knuckledusters, throwing stars and zombie knives, even in private.

“To anyone who is concerned for a friend or family member who they think maybe carrying a knife, please speak to them and explain the dangers. Tell them the safer and smarter thing to do is to put the knife down or come and surrender it at one of our police stations. You could be saving a life.

“Anyone with information on knife crime in their local community can always contact police on 101 or can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always dial 999.”

Plans to redevelop Harrogate Borough Council’s former headquarters have been recommended for approval next week.

The proposals for Crescent Gardens, which has sat empty for five years, include a two-storey extension, rooftop restaurant, gym and new office space.

The plans have been recommended for approval at a meeting on May 10 after the council’s planning department released a report saying the redevelopment would “increase the vitality of this town centre site and prove beneficial in boosting Harrogate’s economy”.

Harrogate-based property developers Impala Estates are behind the proposals after purchasing the building for £4 million in 2020.
This came after the council moved to its new Knapping Mount headquarters in 2017.

At the time, the council announced it would sell Crescent Gardens to property developer Adam Thorpe who had plans for a £75 million redevelopment including luxury apartments, an art gallery, underground car park, swimming pool and restaurant.

But two years later, Mr Thorpe’s company ATP Ltd fell into administration with debts of almost £11 million, including £24,394 owed to the council.

Crescent Gardens

Crescent Gardens then went back up for sale and was eventually bought by Impala Estates.

Historic England objection

In the report to next Tuesday’s meeting, the council’s planning department said the latest plans from Impala Estates would “alter the locality but on balance are considered acceptable.”

An objection by Historic England questioned the public benefits and said the roof extension should not exceed one storey. The body also said the plans relate “very poorly” to the existing building.

However, the council has argued this view contradicts a previous assessment from Historic England’s predecessor body, English Heritage, which described the building as “poorly proportioned in classical terms” because it was originally restricted to two storeys.

These comments came when English Heritage refused listed status for the building in 2002.

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Meanwhile, the latest proposals have already won the support of Harrogate Civic Society which described the scheme as “excellent”.

The civic society previously said:

“The existing roof lends itself to a two-storey extension, something that was advocated many times to Harrogate Borough Council, making use of the original design that envisaged future extensions at roof level.

“We are pleased to see that the building will be retained and refurbished as offices, with a restaurant on the roof and meeting rooms within the historic core, as this will retain a degree of public access and use of the building.”

A YouTube star with nearly 500,000 subscribers has given glowing verdicts to two takeaways in the Harrogate district.

Danny Malin, the man behind Rate My Takeaway, visited the The Roast Inn, which is a roast dinner food truck at Knaresborough’s St James retail park and Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen in Harrogate last week.

Mr Malin’s reviews can have a significant impact on trade, as occurred when he recently visited Harrogate’s Thug Sandwich.

His video review of The Roast Inn went live on Friday and already has 124,000 views. He gave it a glowing endorsement, describing the food as “a solid 10 … heavenly”.

The food truck, which has been based on the retail park for 17 years, sells roast sandwiches and roast dinners. Mr Malin opted for a turkey and stuffing sandwich and a roast pork loin dinner with a side of pigs in blankets for £14.

Sitting on his signature camping chair, he said:

“If you’re like me and you like a roast dinner, this is spot on. The gravy is beautiful, nice and thick, the pork is cooked to perfection and absolutely gorgeous. The whole dinner is smothered in gravy with bit of apple sauce, just delicious!”

“To me it’s just like eating heaven, my kind of meal.”

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Moving onto the sandwich, he said the proportion of turkey to sauce and stuffing was “spot on”:

“That’s the one, you know what the thickness of the turkey is bang on, it’s not dry with all those sauces. Oh wow that is spot on, just amazing.”

Giving his final verdict on the Roast Inn, Mr Malin said:

“For me it’s probably one of my favourite takeaways for a while, a solid 10. I’m going to be coming back next time I’m here.”

Rate My Takeaway reviews Starling

On Saturday, his review of Starling went live and by today had 118,000 views. Mr Malin ordered a meat sweats pizza, Philly fries and a Mars bar slice for £22.50.

Mr Malin tucks in at Starling Bar and Kitchen last week.

Starting with the pizza, he said:

“That meatball topping is absolutely quality and the sauce is spot on. I’m getting a proper Italian vibe from those meatballs.

“The only thing is because the base is so thin the toppings can slide off but the flavour, oh my god. I’d describe it as a messy one.”

Whilst sat outside Mr Malin was approached by lots of local fans all keen to know where he’d been to review locally.

The Philly fries, which are skin-on fries topped with pulled pork, gherkins, barbecue sauce and cheese, also won praise:

“Ooh they’re nice them, the chips have got a bit of a crispiness and with the sweet barbecue sauce and the pulled pork its a beautiful flavour buzzing around my mouth.”

Describing the whole meal as “delicious “he gave Starling a 9.5 rating and said it only missed out on the 10 because the toppings fell off.

Harrogate Civic Society and the Friends of Valley Gardens have called for new smart bins at Harrogate’s Valley Gardens to be moved.

The bins use sensors to identify different types of waste, as well as how full the receptacles are and whether they have been damaged.

But Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to site two of them immediately outside the main entrance to Valley Gardens, in Harrogate’s conservation area, has been criticised.

Stuart Holland, co-chair of the civic society, said it welcomed receptacles to collect waste and recycling but described the smart bins as ‘eyesores’.

Mr Holland added:

“What is unfortunate is that these particular ones have been positioned in such a way that they spoil the entrance to the gardens and have been laid on a crude base of concrete over paving slabs with no regard for quality of installation.

“This location is at the heart of Harrogate conservation area, opposite a Grade 2* listed building and at the entrance to a designated area of significance.”

A conservation area is defined as an area that has special architectural or historic interest, the character and appearance of which it is considered desirable to preserve or enhance.

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Some planning applications are rejected because of the impact on the conservation area.

Mr Holland added:

“Valley Gardens itself is Grade 2, included within the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest by Historic England, for its special historic interest.

“The paved area on which the bins have been positioned is land incorporated under the Stray Act and as such is subject to strict controls.

“There is no evidence that these controls have been respected. The civic society would welcome meeting with local councillors to look at satisfactory ways of re-positioning these bins.”

The smart bins in the play area. Pic: Harrogate Civic Society

‘Consider moving them’

“The existing bins are constantly overflowing, leaving rubbish blowing around;  the gardening team had to spend many hours removing the rubbish, and this will now be done by a different team.

“The new bins are being trialed in the gardens, and we will be keeping a watching brief.

“We are however concerned about the pair of bins at the entrance on aesthetic grounds, as they are in a significant heritage area. We have asked the council to consider moving them inside the entrance, to the area near  the signboard.”

Plans to increase outdoor dining space at West Park Hotel

Outdoor dining areas could be created in front of shops along West Park if plans by West Park Hotel are approved.

The owners of the hotel and restaurant have applied to place six tables and 19 chairs in front of 17a and 18 West Park, where Moda in Pelle and Georgie’s trade.

The furniture would only be used outside the shops’ opening hours, no later than 10pm, and would be in addition to the furniture already outside West Park Hotel itself.

As part of the application, the owners said:

“The outside dining does create a pleasant ambience and enhance the attractiveness of the street, thereby making a positive contribution to the vitality and vibrancy of the area…

“The portable barriers will prevent encroachment into this pedestrian space.

“The facilities for pedestrians are maintained. Additional outside dining serviced by the West Park Hotel will help meet the increased demand from customers concerned about, or with vulnerability to, Covid 19. Allowing access for all to outside dining in an attractive and serviced location.”

Full details of the proposal can be found via Harrogate Borough Council’s planning website, using reference 22/01593/FUL.

Director leaves accountancy firm to pursue financial coaching role

The founder of a Harrogate accountancy firm is stepping down in order to take on a new challenge.

Teresa Hitchens, pictured left, who founded CCF Accountancy in 2010, will be turning her hand to financial coaching, after building up her own company for more than a decade.

She said:

“This is all about helping people get their business and personal finances in order and using this as the base to help them get to the position they want to be in their business, either working smarter, working less, or exiting and doing something completely different.”

CCF Accountancy will continue trading under the direction of co-owner and operations director Kelly Chadwick, pictured right, and Andy Lock.

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