Riverdale actress Camila Mendes is filming in Harrogate today.

Film production vehicles have been parked on Beech Grove alongside the Stray today.

The vehicles included an actor’s trailer and double decker bus.

Crew members told the Stray Ferret the production company was called Upgraded, which may also be the title of the film.

Camila filming on The Stray in Harrogate today.

They said Ms Mendes was one of the stars of the movie, which is being produced for Amazon Prime and is set in the modern day.

They added that it would be shot on the Stray at the top of Montpellier hill, as well as in the town centre.

They also said they would be filming at a hotel in the town tomorrow and the film was also being shot around Leeds and Bradford.

Filming on The Stray.

Camila Mendes is an American-Brazilian actress and singer. She made her debut portraying Veronica Lodge on the teen drama series Riverdale.

Her Instagram story shows the actress recently visiting Fountains Abbey, near Ripon.

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss will visit Harrogate tomorrow as she continues to tout for votes from the party’s membership.

The foreign secretary will speak to local members at an undisclosed venue at lunchtime in what is being described by organisers as “an informal gathering in a central Harrogate location”.

Tickets have been sold in advance by Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Party, with even those booked to attend not being told the location of the event until tomorrow morning. Organisers have cited “security reasons” for the secrecy.

Last month, Ms Truss’s opponent, Rishi Sunak, spoke to party members at an event at the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham.

Attendees included Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, who has declared his support for Mr Sunak. Some of those present told the Stray Ferret there was a “warm” reception for the candidate, and that many present were already predisposed to him.

Great to welcome @RishiSunak to a packed @BlackSheepBeer in #masham today. Excellent feedback from @conservatives members across North Yorkshire #Ready4Rishi pic.twitter.com/aCY9s3gZy2

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) July 24, 2022

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has also given his backing to the former chancellor.

Nigel Adams, whose Selby and Ainsty constituency covers the Harrogate district’s southern and eastern rural areas, has not declared his allegiance. A close ally of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he has said he will stand down at the next election.

Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are the final two left in a long-running race to lead the party and become the next Prime Minister.

Ballot papers have now been issued to party members, with the winner of the contest set to be announced on Monday, September 5.

Read more:

• Rishi Sunak ‘warmly received’ in Masham
• Second Harrogate district MP declares support in Conservative leadership battle
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak visits Harrogate

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.”

Read more:

• Harrogate mental health crisis team remains in Ripon
• Ripon’s Jack Laugher wins second gold medal at Commonwealth Games

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.

Read more:

• Police search for missing Ripon man, 85
• Developer granted time extension over 30-home plan in Ripon
• Harrogate police accused of incompetence over attack on cleaners’ car

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.”

Read more:

• Parking meters installed in Ripley car park
• Reservoir parking costs could cause ‘tremendous problems’ on nearby roads

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’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.”

Read more:

• Harrogate needs mental health crisis team ‘at earliest opportunity’
• Harrogate families describe anguish of mental health problems and impact of Briary Unit closure
• Bilton man says government is failing young people with mental health issues

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 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,”

Read More:

• Business Breakfast: Ripon BID launches training hub for teenagers
• Beech Grove road closure in Harrogate to end in 10 days

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.”

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.”

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.

Read more:

• Beech Grove road closure in Harrogate to end in 10 days
• No hosepipe ban for Harrogate district despite falling water levels

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:

• Destruction of farmland
• Two years of construction aggravation on the A59
• Permanent reduction in capacity on the A59 between York and the A1(M)
• Continued underutilisation of existing A59 roundabout just to the west of the A1(M)

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

Dr Terry Bramall CBE, Harrogate

Read More: 

• ‘Let’s make the best of it’: Hopes and fears for 3000-home Maltkiln settlement
• Beech Grove road closure in Harrogate to end in 10 days

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 

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.

Read more:

• Harrogate teenagers to embark on 48 mile walk in aid of Ukraine
• Harrogate man gives garden a Ukraine-themed makeover

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.