Today is the last day before all children at Harrogate district secondary schools return. Tomorrow will see a sharp increase in morning traffic.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Rayleigh Road in Harrogate is closed today due to roadworks.

Dunkeswick Lane near Kirkby Overblow is closed until September 18 due to roadworks. Diversions are in place.

Havikil Lane in Scotton is also closed until tomorrow in order to widen a footpath.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

A number of buses this morning have been cancelled by Transdev. The affected routes are below:

The 1
Starbeck to Harrogate 7.04am

The 1A
Harrogate to Aspin 9.41am
Aspin to Harrogate 10.06am

The 1B
Harrogate to Eastfield 8.31am
Eastfield to Harrogate 8.57am

The 1C
Harrogate to Carmires 6.51am
Carmires to Harrogate 7.18am

The 1D
Harrogate to Pastures 7.21am
Pastures to Harrogate 7.49am

#The7
Harrogate to Leeds 6.25am
Leeds to Harrogate 8.20am

#The36
Harrogate to Leeds 6.23am, 9am, 10.55am, 12.55pm, 2.55pm
King Edwards Dr Post Office to Leeds 6.56am
Leeds to Harrogate 7.40am, 8.40am, 9.55am, 11.55am, 1.55pm
Leeds to Starbeck 4pm

Read more

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• Some Harrogate train tickets sold for £1 in Northern ‘flash sale’

North Yorkshire Police has pledged to take “swift and decisive action” against anyone who assaults an officer after shocking pictures emerged.

A police officer suffered head injuries when he was called to reports of a disturbance in York on Sunday night.

A 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and possessing a Class B drug.

Police said in a statement that a full investigation is underway, and the teenager remained in custody.

Chris Brumfitt, Chief Inspector of York and Selby, said:

“An attack on a police officer or an emergency worker is an attack on our family, and we take this extremely seriously.

“Officers and emergency service workers are trying to protect the public and do not come to work to be assaulted.

“Anyone who assaults an officer in York or North Yorkshire should expect swift and decisive action.”

Read more:

• Harrogate woman sentenced for assaulting three police officers
• North Yorkshire Police 999 response times ‘unacceptable’, says superintendent

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Italian restaurant Pranzo is to expand its premises on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate. The company has taken a lease on the former hairdressers next door.

The new larger restaurant will see an extra 25 covers inside, a private dining area and double its capacity outside.  Work to convert the building is expected to take a couple of months.

The Harrogate restaurant is the second Pranzo – the first was opened in Ilkley and the company plans to open a third in Horsforth outside Leeds in the near future.

Stephen Peace, operations manager, told the Stray Ferret that despite the gloomy economic outlook the business was resilient:

“I think hospitality is always going to be a struggle however, because of our business model where we make and produce all our own pasta daily, it has allowed us to remain competitive.

“We have a small intimate venue and are always fully booked.

The former hairdressers which will be converted into the larger Pranzo restaurant

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Consultancy firm expands role in Ripon Spa Hotel redevelopment

Silverstone Building Consultancy is to project manage the transformation of the Ripon Spa Hotel, in a multi-million-pound construction contract.

The 43-bedroom Edwardian hotel was acquired by The Inn Collection Group in 2021 and is due to re-open in the spring of next year. 

Silverstone Building Consultancy, is a specialist firm of chartered building surveyors and project managers, with offices in Newcastle and Leeds.

Ben Rennocks, director at the Leeds office of Silverstone Building Consultancy, said:

“We have a long-standing relationship with The Inn Collection Group and we were initially brought in to act as project manager when it came to preparing pre-tender estimates, managing the necessary planning permission and appointing both a contractor and design team on behalf of the client.

“As well as the project management appointment our role, has now developed into a contract administrator. The work has started on site with the main contractor, STP Construction appointed, following a competitive tendering process.

“This is a 40-week construction programme which will see the hotel undergo extensive internal and external works.”

Louise Stewart, property director at The Inn Collection Group, said:

“We’re excited to be working with Silverstone Building Consultancy again for this project. We have worked together on numerous projects and look forward to continuing our ‘eat, drink, sleep, explore’ brand with its help.

Its team shares our commitment to reaching the highest of standards and has a proven track record of producing fantastic refurbishment projects.”

Frog bar and restaurant on King’s Road will change its name to Lilypad after a legal challenge from a London restaurant with a similar name.

Frog opened in April by friends Charlie Moorby and Tom Moxham to rave reviews.

The area is not known as a foodie hotspot but they have hopes it could help turn King’s Road into a destination hub.

But around a month ago they received legal contact on behalf of Michelin-starred Frog by Adam Handling Restaurant Covent Garden, which said the Harrogate eatery had used its trademark.

The news came as a personal blow to the owners as they named the bar and restaurant after their favourite amphibian and there are around 70 images of frogs around venue. Mr Moorby told the Stray Ferret:

“Frustrating is one way to put it. We named it Frog because of personal connections.”

He said they were aware the London restaurant owned a trademark on the name ‘Frog’ before they opened, but said: “we did not think we would be perceived as a worry or would be confused with themselves.”

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Whilst the owners will shortly be removing all signs with the name Frog, Mr Moorby says the new name, Lilypad, retains the DNA of its former title.

He assured customers that nothing about the restaurant will change, except the name.

Mr Moorby added:

“We’re a fledgling business so it wasn’t welcome, but we’ll take the challenge on and roll with the punches.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Frog By Adam Handling Group for a response but we did not receive one at the time of publication.

North Yorkshire County Council has published a closure notice for Woodfield Community Primary School that proposes to shut the school for good on December 31.

The document, which is available to read here, said governors have “exhausted all options” to keep the school in Bilton open.

It gives reasons that led to the decision, which it says began when the school was rated inadequate by Ofsted in 2020 and placed into special measures.

The rating meant the school had to become a sponsored academy, but it failed to find a backer.

A proposed merger with Grove Road Community Primary School fell through this year.

The notice says there were 36 pupils enrolled at the school as of July 4, as well as 9 children in its nursery.

Just four applicants put Woodfield as their preferred school for reception entry in September.

The notice also proposes that should the school close, the catchment areas of Bilton Grange Primary School and Grove Road Community Primary School would be expanded to include the current Woodfield school catchment area or parts of it.

A consultation will run until October 6 on the closure. Comments can be made to schoolorganisation@northyorks.gov.uk

Read more:

• ‘No option’ but to close Woodfield school, says council
• Fears more Harrogate schools could follow in footsteps of closure-threatened Woodfield primary

The search for missing Harrogate woman Judith Holliday is once again focusing on North Rigton after a possible sighting on a bus to Ripon was ruled out.

Judith, 73, was last seen on Saturday, August 27, when she left her care home in Harrogate and walked to the bus station and Library Gardens.

A further sighting the same day in North Rigton has been confirmed by North Yorkshire Police.

Another sighting was reported on September 1 by a passenger on a bus to Ripon but this was ruled out today.

Judith Holliday

Judith’s family had been anxiously awaiting CCTV footage from the Harrogate Bus Company to confirm whether or not it was her.

Lucinda Edwards, Judith’s niece, appealed to the company on social media over the weekend to speed up the process of checking the CCTV images.

Lucinda told the Stray Ferret it was frustrating to have to wait until after the weekend for the footage to be assessed.

Ms Edwards, a charity fundraiser from Harrogate, said:

“There’s a vulnerable woman out there. I just feel let down that it’s taken days and days to check the footage.

“We are not looking for a stuffed bunny that’s been lost on a bus, we are looking for a 73-year-old lady and it’s not good enough.”

Read more:

• Fell rescuers assist in search for missing Harrogate woman
• ‘Help us get Judith home’ plea from family of missing Harrogate woman

A spokesman for the Harrogate Bus Company said:

“We are co-operating fully with the police investigation, as we have done throughout, including provision of CCTV footage.”

Pub sighting

Lucinda, who has been back in North Rigton today searching, said Judith was spotted at the Square and Compass pub in the village early in the afternoon on the day of her disappearance.

She appealed to anyone who may have seen her, or who may have offered her a lift, to come forward.

Relatives spent the weekend giving out flyers in Otley, Ilkley, North Rigton and Wetherby.

In addition, hundreds of posters have gone up across the Harrogate district appealing for information.

Posters have gone up across the district.

Judith is described as being of thin build, approximately 5ft in height with medium length grey hair.

She has a condition which presents like vascular dementia, meaning she can get a bit confused, but often comes across as being as sharp as a tack.

Lucinda said:

“The kindness of people helping us to find her has been astonishing.”

North Yorkshire Police said anyone with any information that could assist with the search should call 101 and quote reference number 12220153505.

Any immediate sightings should be reported via 999.

An actor from Harrogate is to make his debut in a horror film produced by a local independent filmmaker.

Damien S Fear starred in Joe Cash’s horror-comedy Calling Nurse Meow, a follow-up to his 2021 film Carnal Monsters.

The film will premiere at the Dead Northern horror film festival in York on September 24.

The film is an anthology based around one of the main characters from the first film, who Mr Cash said proved popular with the film’s audience.

One of the film’s shorts was filmed in Harrogate. Initially intended as a test run, it was included after the filmmakers thought that the filming process had gone well.

In total, filming took over four months – longer than normal for an independent film. Scenes were also shot in Nottinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

Read more

• Harrogate man’s journey from Hollywood stunt performer to horror film director

Mr Cash, who is also from Harrogate, previously made props for Fantastic Beasts and played a stormtrooper in Star Wars: Episode VII.

He believed making the film as an anthology had been a different experience to a regular film. He said:

“There’s so many more cogs and people involved with an anthology. There’s a lot more creativity in there… It’s been a lot of fun but it’s been a lot of work.”

A TV series based around the film’s characters in also set to be produced and released in 2024.

Damien S Fear made his acting debut in Joe Cash’s anthology film (photo: Joe Cash)

Yorkshire horror

The Dead Northern festival started out as the Harrogate Horror Film Festival in 2019.

This year, it is showing a mix of classic horror films as well as independent films made by local and international producers.

A live séance will also feature as part of the event, which is running between September 23 and 25 at York’s City Screen Picturehouse.

A Vietnamese teenager has denied being concerned in the production of Class B drugs after police discovered a cannabis farm in Harlow Hill, Harrogate.

Manh Nguyen, 18, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court today (Monday, September 5) when his case was adjourned for a trial in January next year.

Mr Nguyen was arrested after police raided a property in West Lea Avenue, in the Harlow Hill area, last month.

It’s understood that during a search of the property, they found about 500 cannabis plants and other items linked to drug production.

Mr Nguyen was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation when he appeared in court via video link today, aided by a Vietnamese interpreter.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial starting on January 25 next year. A further case-management hearing will be heard on November 11 this year.

Mr Nguyen was remanded in custody until that date.

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Drone shots taken of Plumpton Rocks over the weekend reveal the newly restored site is looking better than ever.

The Grade II* listed visitor attraction reopened on Saturday after being closed to visitors for almost three years.

The site fell into disrepair towards the end of the last century before Historic England added it to the “Heritage at Risk Register” in 2012.

Since then Historic England has worked with the current owners and spent more than £400,000.

Plumpton Rocks closed again in October 2019 to do further work on the dam and bring it up to standard for the Reservoirs Act 1975, but covid further delayed the works.

Much of the work has been to restore the lake back to how it looked in the 18th century.

Credit – Darren Leeming

The owner of the site, Robert de Plumpton Hunter, told the Stray Ferret that he used artwork created by one of the most famous ever English painters to inspire the restoration.

Turner painted a watercolour of Plumpton Rocks in 1797 and more sketches of the site are stored at the Tate in London, which were used to inspire the refurbishment.

Mr Hunter said:

“You really got a feel of what the landscape looked like 200 years ago, and we were able to use those sketches to aid the restoration. If Turner turned up now he would absolutely recognise the landscape, that is special.”

Read more:

• New headteacher for Harrogate primary school
• Council rejects Flaxby eco-home plan for second time

Hookstone Chase Primary School in Harrogate is set to welcome a new headteacher this term.

Joe Cooper joins from All Saints’ Primary School in Ilkley where he spent three years as deputy headteacher.

Mr Cooper settled in Harrogate in 2005 from London. He has since developed his career in North Yorkshire, with short periods teaching in New Zealand and as a music specialist.

Mr Cooper said:

“It is a great privilege to have been asked to lead Hookstone Chase Primary School.  We have a proud history as an inclusive school for all children – with space for everyone to grow and develop their knowledge, skills and abilities.

“Straight away this term we will be opening a brand new outdoor play and learning area for our youngest children who are just joining us. We are a school that is investing in the future.”

Mr Cooper shares a ukulele lesson with pupils. Pic: John Furlong

Hookstone Chase is part of the Northern Star Academies Trust, which includes four other Harrogate schools, as well as schools in Skipton and Keighley.

Its other Harrogate schools are Harrogate High School, New Park Primary Academy School, Starbeck Primary Academy and Willow Tree Community Primary School.

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Craig Goold, chair of Hookstone Chase’s local governing body, said:

“Joe has hit the ground running.  It’s going to be a busy year ahead.  Joe has a huge amount of energy and drive. We are definitely a school that is going places in 2023.”

Jenn Plews, chief executive at Northern Star Academies Trust, said:

“It is great to have Joe on board. Joe has really embraced our trust’s deep commitment to sustainability, the environment and outdoor learning. He is just the kind of creative leader that schools need to bring education to life”.