Luke Armstrong signs long term contract with Harrogate Town

Luke Armstrong has extended his contract at Harrogate Town until the end of the 2024/25 season.

Armstrong finished his first season at the club as top goalscorer, netting 14 times since arriving from Salford City in June 2021.

The 25-year-old forward opened the scoring against Rochdale in August in the first five minutes of the game, leading to a nomination for Football League World EFL2 Player of the Month.

He went on to score six in his first eight appearances, earning further League Two Player of the Month nominations in September from the PFA and SkyBet League Two.

Armstrong was instrumental in Town’s historic run to the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup too, scoring a memorable goal at Fratton Park in the second round.

He said today:

“When I first signed here last year I knew it was somewhere I wanted to tie myself down to for a long time so I’m over the moon that the Gaffer has shown his faith in me and offered me a long term contract.

“We want to show what we can do again like we did at the start of last season, we want to be up there challenging and trying and get out of this league and into League One which we are capable of doing.

“Personally I want to do better than last season and get back to the form I showed in the first half of the season.

“Myself and the team had started off really well and I had never felt more at home at a club.

“Even through the tough times we had towards the end of last season I still really enjoyed playing which is a rarity, the lads here are great and the Gaffer believed in me throughout so it was a no brainer to sign again.”

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Rags to riches: stray dog from Harrogate stars in Legally Blonde musical

From the streets to the stage, Coco the Chihuahua went from wandering the streets of Harrogate as a stray to starring in Legally Blonde: The Musical.

In June 2019, Coco was found abandoned in Harrogate. She was handed into Dogs Trust Leeds and after just a week at the centre was adopted by husbands Andrew Fretwell and Andrew Ashley.

The pair said they “fell in love” with five-year-old Coco and she has lived with them ever since.

In April, Coco took on the role as Bruiser Woods in the hugely popular film turned musical, Legally Blonde. She was part of the cast performing at the Theatre Royal in Wakefield.

Bruiser Woods is the iconic handbag best friend of Elle Woods who after heartbreak goes from sorority sister to successful lawyer.

Dogs Trust was chosen as the charity beneficiary of the Legally Blonde production and £800 was raised.

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Andrew Fretwell said:

“In 2019 after losing our two Labradors my husband and I were heartbroken, so we decided to rescue a dog from Dogs Trust Leeds.

“When we arrived, we looked around and fell in love with this tiny little Chihuahua. We don’t know what life she led before, but we have made sure she lives like a queen now.”

The funds raised from the show will go towards helping other dogs find their ‘furry-tail’ endings.

Are you looking to adopt a furry friend? Take a look at our monthly Stray Pets Rescue Club showcasing animals up for adoption in and around the Harrogate district. 

Long Lands Common organisers aim to create food forest on Harrogate green belt

The team behind Long Lands Common is set to unveil plans to create a food forest on Harrogate’s green belt.

Long Lands Common is Harrogate and Knaresborough’s first community owned woodland and nature reserve.

It was established after around 3,000 people bought shares in Long Lands Common Ltd and raised almost £400,000 to purchase 30 acres of land near Nidderdale Greenway at the end of 2020.

Now organisers want to spend the small amount of surplus money they raised to buy an extra four acres of Harrogate green belt and plant a forest that would be a source of local food.

The company, which is a community benefits society, is to hold its AGM on Saturday, June 25, when the proposal will be put to shareholders for approval.

Secretary of Long Lands Common Ltd, Chris Kitson, told the Stray Ferret :

“The aim is to expand Long Lands Common, bring more green belt into local ownership and produce food for the local community.

We need a more sustainable world and a more localised, resilient economy.

Never in my life have I seen so much insecurity. We need to return to a more sustainable way of producing local food for local people.”

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What is a food forest? 

Kate Wilkinson is a horticulturalist who specialises in permaculture design and is advising the Long Lands Common team.

She says at one point the ancient forest of Knaresborough would have been a food forest — local people would have had the right to forage for naturally grown food such as mushrooms and blackberries.

She said the concept is the same when you create a modern food forest:

” A food forest is based on observing natural ecosystems. Trees are planted with scrubs underneath that copy natural systems . The plants are perennials and stay there for years enabling invertebrates, animals and birds to thrive.

“It’s aim is to be a social project too – the forest is accessible to everyone. People can forage with permission and feel that they belong there. The forest is owned by the people”.

The Annual General Meeting will start at 11am at Long Lands Common where the committee is also organising a picnic day.

Man arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure in Valley Gardens

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of indecent exposure in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

Officers were alerted to the incident, which happened in the gardens on Sunday (June 12).

A 67-year-old man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

North Yorkshire Police added in a statement:

“Officers would like to thank the quick-thinking members of the public who alerted us to the man and helped detain him.

“He remains in police custody whilst enquiries continue.”

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Ghostbuster wish granted for Harrogate boy with half a heart

Ghostbusters super fan George Hinkins, who lives with half a working heart, can now live out his dream of being one of his heroes for the day.

George lives with a rare congenital heart defect called Ebstein’s Anomaly and had his first open-heart surgery at just 36 hours old.

The defect means his heart can’t pump blood to his lungs as well as other people and he struggles with oxygen levels.

In April, the Stray Ferret published an appeal for funds from Make-A-Wish UK to grant the wishes of 62 children living with a critical condition in the North East.

For eight-year-old George, it was a success. Leeds City Council will be helping to grant his wish to be a Ghostbuster for the day by transforming Leeds Central Library into a ghoul-infested haunted house.

The Yorkshire Room, in particular, will be decorated to fit the spooky theme and ghosts will be projected onto the walls. Members of fan group East Midlands Ghostbusters will also be there, dressed up to add to the adventure.

George will also travel from Harrogate to Leeds in the Ghostbusters’ iconic car, Ecto-1.

George Hutchins dressed as a ghostbuster

George said:

“When I’m in hospital, it’s a bit scary. But just like the Ghostbusters, I try to face my fears. I try to be brave.”

George’s love for the Ghostbusters franchise started when he was six years old. He took his Ghostbuster figurines into his third surgery in March 2020.

Rhian Isaac, senior librarian for Leeds City Council, said:

“It has been a pleasure to work with Make-A-Wish to bring George’s wish to life. George’s story touched the hearts of the Leeds Libraries team from the moment we heard it, and we hope that we can help create a memory that George and his family will remember forever.”

George’s family said more surgeries are inevitable and a transplant may be considered when George is older.

To find out more or donate to Make-A-Wish UK, click here.

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Harrogate Sainsbury’s set to replace some manned tills for self-service

Sainsbury’s supermarket on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road looks set to remove eight manned checkouts to make way for more self-service tills.

Over the past decade, self-service tills have become increasingly the norm for shoppers.

A survey published by The Grocer last year found that manned checkouts were still the most popular choice for both men (42%) and women (39%), but 31% of shoppers now prefer to pay using self-service.

The Stray Ferret understands from a source at the Wetherby Road store, which is the largest supermarket in Harrogate, that it plans to replace eight manned tills with self-service checkouts later this summer.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson confirmed it plans to introduce more self-service checkouts, which it said would meet customer demand for the service.

She said:

“We regularly review the services available in our stores to make sure we offer the most convenient experience to our customers.

“This summer we will slightly increase the number of self-service checkouts at our Harrogate store so that we can meet customer demand for this service.

“Our colleagues are on hand to help anyone who may need support using them and we continue to offer manned checkouts for our customers who wish to use them.”

The spokesperson added that no jobs will be lost in the Harrogate store but staff that did work on the checkouts will be working “in a slightly different way”.

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Self-service checkouts are now ubiquitous in every major supermarket but they are not always popular, particular with older shoppers who like to have a chat with the person serving them.

This year a pensioner in London called Pat McCarthy launched a petition against Tesco, which is also replacing manned tills with self-service checkouts.

At the time of publication, it’s been signed by over 170,000 people.

Ms McCarthy, 69, wrote:

“What used to be a great shopping experience has now become physically difficult, overwhelming, and a ‘nightmare’.

“I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away.”

Teens left in tears by Northern train guard’s ‘heavy-handed’ fine

The parents of three teenagers left “in tears” after being issued with a fine on a train journey have criticised the guard’s “heavy-handed” approach.

Freddie Fulford, 15, and his friends Evie and Oscar Bartle were travelling from Cattal to York on Saturday, June 3.

It was the first time the three had gone into York together and Freddie’s dad, Tony, said they were looking forward to a day out on their own.

“They jumped on the train with no tickets because it was in the station when they arrived.

“There is a ticket machine at the station, but they didn’t know you couldn’t pay on the train.”

Cattal Station

Once the guard realised the teens didn’t have tickets, he issued them with fines of £20 each. The teenagers said they were told in an “intimidating and frightening” way that the maximum penalty was three months in prison.

Upset by the fine and the threat of a criminal record, the teens called their parents from York station in tears.

Mr Fulford, who lives in Harrogate, said:

“They could have paid there and then or the guards could have said ‘buy at ticket on the app and we’ll come back in a minute’. It was just so heavy-handed.

“The obvious answer would have been to let them buy the tickets on the train and explain what they should do for next time.”

He said both families have submitted complaints and appealed against the fines. They had heard from other parents whose children had been fined for similar situations and had successfully appealed.

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Both sets of parents are in a position to pay the fines, he said, but he was concerned about other families who were not. He added:

“The main point is to stop it happening again.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Northern for a response to Mr Fulford’s concerns about their handling of the situation.

In response, Tony Baxter, regional director for Northern, said:

“Customers have a duty to buy a ticket for travel before they board a train.

“They can do so in advance via our app and website or, if they wish to purchase at an un-staffed station, they can do so from one of the more than 600 ticket machines we have installed across the network – one of which is at Cattal station.

“Customers should arrive at the station in time to purchase their ticket before they travel. Anyone issued with a penalty fare has the right to appeal the decision to an independent appeal service.”

Experienced fundraiser joins Harrogate mental health charity

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Experienced fundraiser joins Harrogate mental health charity

A new head of fundraising has been appointed at a Harrogate counselling and training charity.

Kennie Cheung, whose experience includes time at Oxfam and a cancer charity in her native Hong Kong, joins Wellspring Training and Therapy in Starbeck.

Emily Fullarton, the executive director of Wellspring, said demand for mental health care had risen and was continuing to grow since the covid pandemic. She added:

“In the UK, 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health issue at least once in their lifetime. According to local research, many people in Harrogate assume because it is a ‘nice town’ people don’t struggle with these issues. That simply isn’t true.

“There is a huge demand in Harrogate for our services and it’s increasing. The NHS, which is responsible for mental health care, simply can’t cope.”

Wellspring offers affordable counselling from just £5 per hour to people who cannot afford to pay for private appointments and who face long waiting lists on the NHS.

Clients can have short-term support or a long-term course of sessions with a qualified counsellor, depending on their needs.

Kennie said:

“This is a dream job for me. The political situation in Hong Kong, combined with the fact that our son Samuel is studying at University of Leeds, meant that we wanted to relocate to England and, in particular, Yorkshire.

“Harrogate is the most wonderful town – and I count myself incredibly blessed to have found a job here, which is suited to my skills and which is so worthwhile. I look forward to making new friends and contacts here and to reach out to individuals and businesses who are keen to help such a brilliant mental health charity like Wellspring.”

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Great British Menu chef appointed at Ripon hotel

A leading Yorkshire chef has been appointed to lead the pan-Asian restaurant at Grantley Hall.

Samira Effa will be head chef at Bar & Restaurant EightyEight, joining the five-star hotel from TRUEfoods where she was a senior production chef.

She is widely known for competing in the 2019 and 2020 series of Great British Menu, showcasing Yorkshire produce as well as her love of diverse cooking techniques and flavours thanks to her Iranian mother and Nigerian father.

Samira Effa of Bar and Restaurant EightyEight at Grantley Hall

The Huddersfield-born chef said:

“I’m honoured for the opportunity and so excited to be joining the Bar & Restaurant EightyEight team and know that with my breadth of knowledge across the industry, I’m ready to showcase some exciting flavours and bring new ideas to the EightyEight menu.

“I’ve always had a passion for food and with my parents’ rich backgrounds, it was common for us at home to cook together using traditional Iranian and Nigerian recipes – both of which are bursting with flavour. I can’t wait to get stuck in at EightyEight and bring my own flair to the restaurant which I know is a popular spot for hotel guests and diners alike.”

Simon Crannage, executive head chef at Grantley Hall, added:

“We’re thrilled to welcome Samira to the Grantley Hall family and are very excited to see what she brings to Bar & Restaurant EightyEight.

“Samira has an exceptional culinary track record, along with having a genuine passion and love for food that I know will translate into her dishes for our diners to enjoy.”

Pateley Bridge drama group puts on play about wartime bombing of Majestic Hotel

Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society returns next week with a play set in 1940 questioning the cause of the Second World War bombing of the Majestic Hotel.

‘The Stray’, a play written by Nidderdale playwright and member of the society Keith Burton, explores what might have happened in Harrogate during the week before the hotel was bombed on September 12, 1940.

The play begins on Sunday, September 8 when Buckingham Palace was bombed. This triggered The Coats Mission – a top secret plan for the evacuation of the royal family from London.

One of the proposed temporary homes was Newby Hall, Ripon, with Winston Churchill staying at Grove House across from Harrogate Fire Station.

On Thursday, September 12 the Majestic hotel was bombed by a ‘stray’ plane as part of a larger raid. This was the only bomb to fall on Harrogate during the war and questions have surrounded its motive ever since.

The play centres around one possible scenario with the added drama of love, betrayal, heroism and espionage during the Second World War.

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Writer and director Keith Burton said:

“The Stray was originally commissioned as part of North Yorkshire’s calendar of events to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe. These celebrations were massively disrupted by covid but it does mean that the second ever production of this play about the secrets of the Second World War in Harrogate will be by my local dramatic society – which thrills me enormously.”

During rehearsals

The play was previously performed by Harrogate Dramatic Society in November.

The play is being performed at Pateley Bridge Memorial Hall whilst renovations continue at the playhouse between Tuesday, June 14 and Saturday, June 18. Tickets can be booked here.

Stray Views: How did Woodfield school end up in this mess?

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.

Woodfield’s school’s planned closure a sad reflection of times

Woodfield Community Primary School is going through a consultation process to close at the end of this year. There is to be a public meeting on Wednesday 15th June at 6pm at the school.

Woodfield is, as the name suggests, a community primary school which serves the local population. It has been extensively refurbished over the last few years, has a large playground and extensive playing fields, It has a community library and children’s centre at the same site.

Why then is it closing? This is, like many things, complex. It is to do with poor management by North Yorkshire County Council, inexperienced acting headteachers, social media, Harrogate parents exercising their ‘choice’ to go to the ‘better’ schools, and finally Ofsted rating the school in 2020 as ‘inadequate’.

The Ofsted rating was the death blow for Woodfield. It meant the school had to join an academy but no academy wanted to take it on, due to small pupil numbers, leaving the school in a catch- 22 situation.

There was no attempt to alter this situation by the education authorities, who could have stepped in at this point as far as I am aware. The school is now almost certain to close.

Many people do not know of the existence of Woodfield. Many people will not be bothered. It is not the school that the affluent of Harrogate send their children to, it was a good, caring school around the corner with teachers and teaching assistants that cared for the children, but didn’t get the best SATs results.

I think it is important sometimes to reflect on what do we really want for our children.

Vicky Lack, Bilton

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Trying to order a drive-through coffee without a car

Yesterday whilst walking past Costa Coffee in Pannal I decided to go for a coffee. The restaurant part was closed due to lack of staff.

Upon walking away I noticed that the drive-through was open so I decided to ask for a coffee at the drive-through whilst there were no cars queueing. I was informed that due to not being in the car I could not be able to get a coffee. How does that work ??

Needless to say, I accepted that I was not driving a car. My options would have been to pretend I was driving a car or jump in the next car and ask to be a passenger.

We live in a seriously mad world where common sense has gone totally out of the window.

Amanda Finney, Pannal

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.