Welcome to Harrogate’s first gluten-free guesthouse

The new owners of The Coppice guesthouse on Studley Road have reopened it with a twist – it will be the first in Harrogate that caters primarily to coeliacs.

Coeliac disease is a condition where the immune system attacks human tissue when the body eats foods containing gluten, which can include bread, pasta, and cereals.

Coeliacs have to follow a strict diet but finding hotels that offer an exciting menu of appropriate food is difficult, as Joel Thompson and Mindy Shergill discovered on a road trip a couple of years ago.

The couple are both coeliacs and moved up to Harrogate earlier this summer after pursuing careers down south in HR and publishing respectively.

Joel said:

“We went on a very beautiful road trip of northern England and Scotland. It was our first experience driving through the country. 

“But even if you get basics right, you’re not being spoilt or celebrated with choices that you do get with. You feel like a burden.

“So we had a desire to set up a gluten-free guesthouse.”

Mindy said non-coeliacs will be welcome too, but every ingredient that will come from the kitchen will be gluten-free to avoid cross-contamination.

She said there is often a lack of understanding about the condition:

“A lot of people are undiagnosed, it can affect you quite badly. Symptoms vary – it can get quite serious and you have to be quite strict.”

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They will cook up everything you’d expect from a four-star B&B, including continental breakfasts, porridge and cereals, but all no ingredient will contain gluten.

They may even open up their kitchen for gluten-free takeaways to non-hotel guests if the demand is there.

Joel said he believes their refurbished Coppice is one of around 12 gluten-free hotels in the country, and he hopes he can win everyone over with his nutritious and unique fare.

“It might enlighten people. We’re very good at making gluten-free food, we might convert a few people!”

The guest house is open for bookings now. To enquire, contact info@thecoppiceharrogate.com or call Joel on 07858 840789.

Sunny skies set to stay for tomorrow’s Weeton Show

Weeton Show is set to go ahead under blazing sunshine tomorrow and organisers are encouraging people to book tickets before they sell out, as people cannot buy them on the day.

It is one of the only local district shows going ahead, with many others choosing to cancel due to covid restrictions.

Sharon Waring, a member of the show committee, said all the volunteers have been working for months to make sure the event could be held under social distancing restrictions.

Weeton Show sheepdog

Have you ever seen a sheepdog herd ducks? Just head to the Weeton Show…

She added the size of the village’s show ground meant visitors will be able to spread out.

Hand sanitising stands will be in place and this year tickets have been capped at 2,000 and must be pre-booked.

Mrs Waring said the family-friendly event has ‘something for everyone” – this year’s programme includes Yorkshire terrier racing, sheepdogs herding ducks and welly wangling.

‘Dangerous Steve’ – a show regular – will also be performing his daredevil stunt act.

Dangerous Steve is looking forward to appearing at Weeton Show – He promises a non-stop, thrill-a-minute show with Fire and Chainsaw juggling, Giant Unicycle, Ladder Balancing and Blindfold Motorcycle riding.#weetonshow #dangeroussteve #preparetobethrilled pic.twitter.com/fh0OpJ5ymw

— The Weeton Show (@WeetonShowNews) July 8, 2021

Stallholders will sell local food, drink and crafts and the Guiseley Brass Band is booked to entertain visitors in the afternoon.

Mrs Waring said:

“It’s incredible that we are going ahead. In its history the show has only been cancelled three times; foot and mouth disease, bad weather and last year due to coronavirus.

“It’s fantastic especially this year when so any others locally have cancelled.”

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The first show was held in 1945 and often attracts thousands of visitors from across the county.

Gates will open from 9am on Sunday. To book tickets, click here.

Leading Harrogate’s biggest school during covid

Neil Renton, the headteacher at Harrogate Grammar School, was in Marks & Spencer in Leeds on his wedding anniversary one weekend recently when his phone rang.

He was told a student on a coach trip to Flamingo Land had tested positive for covid and a decision had to be made on which children should isolate the next day.

He called Dr Dora Machaira, a health improvement officer in North Yorkshire County Council‘s public health team, who has been the go-to woman for schools needing advice on covid, and, after numerous calls, made the necessary arrangements.

The episode sums up what life has been like running a school during the last 16 months. Face masks, lateral flow tests, bubbles, test and trace and isolate have become as much a part of the lexicon of education as maths, English and science.

The lowest point came just before Christmas: the second wave was taking off and the school received news of more infections, which meant closing an entire year group. Mr Renton recalls:

“On a Sunday night I was wondering ‘how are we going to tell 290 students that they are not coming in tomorrow?’ There’s nothing more painful than having to go to parents and say, ‘your child will have to isolate’.”

At the same time Kirsty Moat, the associate headteacher who Mr Renton describes as “my co-pilot”, tested positive and about 50 other staff, some of whom were badly affected by the disease, were also absent.

Attendance fell to 47 per cent

Mr Renton thinks about the current academic year in covid phases rather than terms.

During phase one, in September and October, case numbers were low.

“There was a feeling of confidence that we had reopened and things were back to normal.”

November to January was the second and most difficult phase. At one point pupil attendance fell to 47 per cent as more and more children isolated. All of years 11 and 13, which have about 300 students each, were closed at some points.

The January lockdown that followed, which was the third phase, was almost a relief because the school had learned from previous remote learning and felt confident it could cope, especially as every student has an iPad.

The return-to-school fourth phase in March was relatively smooth, with low case numbers. But the fifth phase since half-term has been almost as tough as pre-Christmas. He says:

“We haven’t had any year group closures in the latest phase but today we have 159 students isolating.”

‘Pushed to the limit’

Mr Renton is fulsome in his praise for North Yorkshire County Council’s public health team; but less so for the Department for Education, which he says has “pushed headteachers to the limits” with last minute, complex guidance and U-turns.

“We hear the PM announce something then guidance comes out two days later.”

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Harrogate Grammar, which is one of 13 schools in north and west Yorkshire belonging to Red Kite Learning Trust, is one of the largest schools in the north of England with 2,018 pupils.

Its size means it has been better able to assimilate the financial cost of covid than some smaller schools. It has employed extra cleaners, had to cover for absent teachers and even put up a marquee to improve social distancing.

The remarkable generation

Throughout it all not one child has been seriously ill. Mr Renton mentions several times during the interview how selfless and mature pupils have been in responding to a pandemic that doesn’t predominantly affect their generation.

“We should call them the remarkable generation, not the covid generation.”

He acknowledges, however, there is a “growing sense of frustration” among young people at the sacrifices they’re making, especially when they watch packed crowds at football matches.

Terms ends on Friday and, with covid infections rocketing, he admits the school is “limping” towards the finishing line.

He’s looking forward to a week away during the six-week holiday and, hopefully, a quieter 2021/22 school year when the NHS will assume responsibility from the school for pupil test and trace.

Mr Renton, who hasn’t had covid although his son in year 10 at the school had to isolate for 10 days, started as headteacher in September 2019 in what now seems like a golden bygone pre-covid era.

He chuckles at the memory of an early planning meeting to discuss arrangements for the Tour de Yorkshire.

“Now we look back at that time and laugh because every week we are dealing with much bigger and more complex logistical problems.

“My first two years of being a headteacher has been a crash course in leading through crisis and changing circumstances.”

 

 

Councillor left ‘angry’ and ‘astounded’ at Starbucks drive-thru decision

A Harrogate councillor who fought against a plan for a Starbucks drive-thru on Wetherby Road says she has been left “angry” and “astounded” after it was approved.

The government gave the go-ahead for the development on the former 1st Dental Surgery site after an appeal hearing was held in June.

Euro Garages, the developer behind the plan, took Harrogate Borough Council to appeal. But the council later withdrew its objection and residents were left to oppose the application by themselves.

Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents the area of the site, led residents in the fight against the proposal.

She said she had been left angry at the decision and warned that residents lives would be affected as a result.

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Cllr Marsh added that the development would have an adverse impact on the entire Harrogate area, not just on Wetherby Road.

She said:

“Many people throughout Harrogate will be outraged by this. It is not an appropriate place to put a drive-thru.

“I cannot understand how they have come to this decision. I felt all our arguments had great strength to them.

“The residents could not have done better to put forward their arguments.”

The layout of the proposed Starbucks on Wetherby Road

The layout of the proposed Starbucks on Wetherby Road

Despite multiple residents speaking against the development, planning inspector Helen Hockenhull said she was not persuaded that the site would cause “significant harm”

She said in a decision notice published yesterday:

“I recognise that my findings will be disappointing to the local residents and ward councillor who gave evidence at the hearing.

“However, based on the technical evidence before me and all that I have seen and heard, with the proposed mitigation measures secured by planning conditions, I am not persuaded that the development would cause significant harm.”

Ms Hockenhull also awarded costs for the proceedings of the appeal against the borough council.

The decision to approve the development comes after almost a decade of planning applications from Euro Garages.

The approval means the former dental surgery will be demolished to make way for a drive-thru coffee shop with 19 car parking spaces. This would then be handed over to Starbucks to operate.

A spokesperson for Euro Garages said:

“We are delighted to have received planning permission and we are very pleased with the inspector’s decision.

“This development will help to create up to 20 local jobs for the area.”

Appointment-free vaccines available at pop-up clinics this weekend

District residents will be able to get vaccinated without appointments at a number of pop-up coronavirus clinics this weekend.

The clinics will open in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge tomorrow and Sunday, and are part of a final push to get younger people vaccinated.

First and second doses will be offered to anyone aged over 18, while any care workers and those aged over 50 who have not yet taken up the opportunity to get vaccinated are also being urged to come forward.

The Wesley Centre on Oxford Street, Harrogate will offer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Saturday between 10am to 4pm.

In Knaresborough, the Homecare Pharmacy Vaccination Centre at the former Lidl site on York Road will offer first doses of the Moderna jab on Saturday and Sunday between 9am and 5pm.

And in Pateley Bridge, both first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be available at Bishopside and Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road on Saturday between 8am and 5.50pm.

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Sue Peckitt, chief nurse at NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“These walk-in clinics are aimed at those people who have not taken up the opportunity to book their vaccine via the NHS National Booking Service or NHS 119.”

Driven by the faster-spreading Delta variant, Harrogate’s weekly infection rate is approaching record levels with a current average of 416 cases per 100,000 people.

The highest rate on record was 497 at the beginning of January.

The rise in infections has been followed by a slight increase in hospital admissions with five patients in Harrogate on Wednesday, although the hospital has not recorded a Covid-related death in more than three months.

Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said this was down to vaccines weakening the link between infections and serious illness, as she also urged people to make use of the pop-up clinics this weekend.

She said:

“Vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the risk of developing serious or life-threatening symptoms from coronavirus, as well as protecting others in the community.

“The vaccination programme in this country has been a huge success and the numbers of people becoming seriously ill, or dying, as a result of contracting the disease have fallen dramatically.

“That is why it is important for those who have not yet had a jab to do so and the walk-in clinics have been organised to make that as convenient as possible.”

‘We’re very worried’: Harrogate hospitality concerned by staffing isolation

Hospitality bosses in Harrogate have said they are worried after staff are being forced to self-isolate due to rising covid cases.

Increasing covid rates in the district and across the country have seen thousands of people pinged by the NHS Test and Trace app just days before remaining lockdown measures are lifted.

Currently, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 416 cases per 100,000 people and infections have soared with 127 reported yesterday – the highest since January 11.

In Harrogate, hotels and restaurants have had to either close temporarily or offer a limited service as a result of staff being told to self-isolate.

Neil Mendoza, general manager at The Studley Hotel and Orchid Restaurant, told the Stray Ferret that the current situation made it “twice as hard” to operate.

He said:

“It is indeed a difficult time for our industry as with others. On top of current staffing shortage, this self-isolating and quarantining make it even twice as hard for us to operate.

“We are very worried with the current situation of cases going high and I am personally concerned that it might be a repeat of August 2020 when the government encouraged everyone to eat out.”

Mr Mendoza added that staff would continue to wear face masks and social distance in the hotel and restaurant after July 19 when restrictions are lifted.

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Across England, 520,194 alerts were sent to NHS Covid-19 app users up to July 7 telling them they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus and to self-isolate.

But, the rules on 10-day self-isolation for those who have received two jabs and people aged under 18 will not end until August 16.

Meanwhile, William and Victoria Restaurant in Harrogate has had to close temporarily due to staff being told to self-isolate.

Some of our team have been instructed to self isolate after coming into contact with a positive Covid-19 case. Rather than take unnecessary risk and continue without a full operational team, we have made the decision to close for a few days.

— William & Victoria (@Will_and_Vics) July 15, 2021

In a post on its social media yesterday, the restaurant said it did not want to “take unnecessary risk and continue without a full operational team”.

Instead, it will reopen on Tuesday July 20.

Elsewhere in the town, Baltzersen’s cafe on Oxford Street posted on Facebook and Twitter that it would be operating a limited service due to staff being forced to self-isolate.

WE'RE SORRY
One of our team has had a positive lateral flow test and so much of the team need to isolate.

WE ARE STILL OPEN with limited service (Paul has dusted off his apron!) & outside only, serving from the coffee shop window.

Please bear with us – safety of all is priority pic.twitter.com/jHJnMQQkZw

— Baltzersen's (@Baltzersens) July 16, 2021

Government approves controversial Wetherby Road Starbucks

The government has approved a controversial Starbucks drive-thru on Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

Planning inspector Helen Hockenhull gave the go-ahead for the development after an appeal by the developer Euro Garages Ltd.

The move comes despite fierce opposition from local residents, who warned that traffic on the road was already at “breaking point” and that such a development would adversely affect those who live next door.

Residents were forced to defend Harrogate Borough Council’s own reasons for refusal at the appeal hearing in June after the authority withdrew its objection.

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Among the concerns were highways safety, air quality and living conditions for those in neighbouring properties.

But Ms Hockenhull said in a decision notice that was published today:

“I recognise that my findings will be disappointing to the local residents and ward councillor who gave evidence at the hearing. 

“However, based on the technical evidence before me and all that I have seen and heard, with the proposed mitigation measures secured by planning conditions, I am not persuaded that the development would cause significant harm.”

Retail firm Euro Garages has spent almost a decade trying to win permission to open the coffee shop at the former 1st Dental surgery on Wetherby Road, Harrogate, but has been refused three times by councillors and once by a government inspector.

The approval means the former dental surgery will be demolished to make way for a drive-thru coffee shop with 19 car parking spaces. This would then be handed over to Starbucks to operate.

The Stray Ferret has approached Euro Garages for comment.

Harrogate companies pay tribute to Captain Tom

Two Harrogate district companies have paid tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore at a newly unveiled memorial.

Horticultural services provider Ray Skelton (Harrogate) and Johnsons of Whixley, a nursery, both sponsored the walkway, which was opened at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate this month.

Captain Sir Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, her husband and children, visited the college on Pennypot Lane to cut a ribbon and unveil a plaque that includes details of his life.

Ray Skelton (Harrogate) commissioned Kris Elvidge, a local stone mason, to engrave the stones that can be found at the front and back of the college headquarters.

Meanwhile, Johnsons donated two Magnolia ‘Double Diamond’ 200-250 110L trees and 50 Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ worth a total of £765 to the memorial.

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Stuart Skelton, director of Ray Skelton (Harrogate), said: 

“It has been an honour and a privilege to be involved in the Capt Sir Tom Moore Memorial. Hopefully, this will continue to inspire future generations of junior soldiers”

Eleanor Richardson, Johnsons of Whixley’s marketing manager, said: 

“We were delighted to be part of this fitting tribute to Capt Sir Tom Moore, who was a true inspiration. 

“The donation is particularly fitting as the magnolia is native to Asia, where he served during World War Two.”

Captain Sir Tom was made an honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate last year.

He later visited the college to speak to junior soldiers and was invited back for their graduation in September.

He raised almost £33m for NHS Charities Together by walking lengths of his garden in Bedfordshire, hitting the headlines in the process. He died aged 100 in February this year.

Police tell of ‘extensive difficulties’ at two Starbeck homes

Police told a court yesterday there had been “extensive difficulties” at two homes in Starbeck due to drugs and anti-social behaviour.

North Yorkshire Police and Harrogate Borough Council jointly applied to Leeds Magistrates Court for closure orders on 19 and 31 Avenue Grove, Starbeck.

The court granted three-month partial closure orders on the properties, let by landlord John Willis, which means only Mr Willis and one person at each property can enter the premises until midnight on October 12.

Mr Willis was in court for the hearing.

Simon Mallett, a barrister acting for North Yorkshire Police, told the court there had been “a considerable amount of disorder in Avenue Grove” and drugs had been found in the two properties.

He added:

“There have been extensive difficulties arising from people in the properties or visiting the properties.

“We have received a very considerable number of complaints from residents about anti-social behaviour and drug use emanating from both properties.”

The court heard that all the tenants had left the properties except the two men allowed to stay.

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Julia Stack, community safety and CCTV manager at Harrogate Borough Council, said in a statement afterwards:

“This outcome should act as a reminder that we will not tolerate this type of anti-social behaviour.

“I want to reassure local residents that we will continue to monitor the situation and take further action if necessary.

Inspector Nicola Colbourne of North Yorkshire Police said in a statement afterwards:

“This action once again demonstrates our commitment to ensuring Harrogate remains one of the safest towns to live in.”

North Yorkshire Police and Harrogate Borough Council successfully applied for a three-month closure order on 38 Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, another property let by Mr Willis, in March. This order expired last month.

Police officer bitten after disturbance at Harrogate rail station

A man bit a police officer during a disturbance at Harrogate railway station that was so severe an armed response unit had to be sent out.

Thomas Spedding, 33, sunk his teeth into the officer’s arm after the victim, who was off duty, spotted what appeared to be a “family dispute”, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Charles Blatchford said the victim tried to break up the disturbance and told Spedding he was a police officer.

During the ensuing struggle on the station platform, the off-duty constable was bitten on the forearm which broke the skin, leaving an 8cm mark and bruising.

The train guard tried to intervene, but it needed armed-response officers to subdue Spedding, who had serious mental-health problems and a record for attacking police vehicles.

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The victim, who was named in court but we have chosen not to reveal his identity, was taken to Harrogate District Hospital for blood tests and precautionary vaccinations and had to be monitored for 24 weeks to ensure there was no infection.

Spedding, of no fixed abode, was arrested and charged with assaulting an emergency worker following the incident on March 1, 2019. 

26 offences to police vehicles

He was bailed pending further enquiries but four months later he was arrested again for 26 offences of damaging police vehicles, which resulted in a 10-month jail sentence in August 2019. 

Such was his mental state that after Spedding completed that sentence he remained in custody for the following two years while he received help for his mental health and psychiatrists assessed his fitness to face court proceedings on the assault charge. 

A trial of the facts had to be held in Spedding’s absence, which found that he did the act alleged and on Thursday he pleaded guilty to the offence after psychiatrists judged him fit to face the court following a vast improvement in his mental health during his time in prison.

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Mr Blatchford said the off-duty officer had just been on a course and was returning to Harrogate on the train when the disturbance occurred at the station. 

The court heard that Spedding’s two previous convictions for 26 offences all related to just two incidents of damaging property in June and July 2019.

Mental disorder

Timothy Jacobs, for Spedding, said his client had effectively been on custodial remand for two years and that his mental-health issues had “caused considerable concern in the past”.

He added:

“He is now responding to treatment and voluntarily co-operating with those who are trying to help him.”

Judge Simon Hickey said the off-duty officer would have felt “extreme concern” about the risk of infection following the bite to his arm.

He told Spedding: 

“Ordinarily, this would have been an immediate custodial sentence (but) you were labouring under a mental disorder at the time.

“You have served well over that sentence (already) and society is best served, and you are best served, by rehabilitation.”

Imposing a two-year community order, the judge said Spedding had made “great strides” in his rehabilitation while in prison.

The order includes a nine-month drug-rehabilitation programme and intervention by a community mental-health team.