Rossett Adult Learning returns to pre-pandemic levels with 160 courses

After 18 months of online classes and a reduced timetable, Rossett Adult Learning will return to pre-pandemic levels for next month’s new autumn term.

The adult learning centre, which is a division of Harrogate’s Rossett School, has been providing courses since the 1970s.

It has operated online with just 70 classes during the pandemic but it today announced it will be back up to 160 courses next month.

About 75% of courses will now be held in-person at the school and some 25% will remain online.

Courses include art, music, exercise, history and languages and cover a diverse offering, including ukulele for beginners, tai chi, furniture restoration and French culture.

The centre welcomed 4,500 to 5,000 students a year pre-covid.

Melissa Horberry. manager of Rossett Adult Learning, said:

“After a tough past year where the centre, tutors and students have had to adapt to a different way of learning, we are now excited to be offering a range of courses online and back in the classroom.

“We have missed seeing our students in the centre on a weekly basis but have been encouraged by the feedback that we have received from our online students on how they have enjoyed their continued learning in the past year, especially during the lockdown periods.”

Class sizes can vary from 15 for arts and craft courses to up to 25 for the evening pilates classes.

The centre also offers 56 language classes offering eight languages at all levels, beginners to intermediate.

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Classes range in price; a 10-week language course costs £95 and a five-week crafts course costs £63.

Profits from the classes go to Rossett School.

‘Strong support’ for more Harrogate bus lanes

Harrogate councillors have signalled their strong support for ideas including more bus lanes and a smart ticketing system to boost use of public transport.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission will put the ideas to North Yorkshire County Council to support a multi-million pound bid for government cash, which could help pave the way for a greener transport.

The ideas, which also include more electric buses and more frequent services in rural areas, are part of a wider move to reduce car travel.

But after years of cuts to services and declining passenger numbers, there are questions over how willing motorists will be to make the switch to public transport.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Cllr Michael Harrison, the Conservative representative for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite, said: 

“All these ideas to make buses more attractive are clearly welcome but we must not kid ourselves that if people do not use them and they are just running empty tins of fresh air, then eventually they will fail.

“We need to be realistic about running empty buses because the funding will always run out if no-one is using them.”

£7m a year on bus passes

North Yorkshire County Council is the area’s public transport authority and subsidises around £1.5 million a year to keep services running.

It also spends about £7 million a year on bus passes for the elderly and disabled, as well as their carers.

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The county council is currently drawing up bidding proposals for the government’s new bus strategy, under which £3 billion is to be made available to make buses across the country cheaper and easier to use.

The bid is being prepared through a Bus Service Improvement Plan and so-called enhanced partnerships where the county council will agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

Cllr Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability at Harrogate Borough Council, said the proposals would play a key part in funding a greener future and highlighted the importance of collaboration between Harrogate’s two bus companies – Transdev and Connexions.

He said: 

“These two key pieces of work will unlock the potential of future funding via the national bus strategy, so it is vital that the county prepare these and that we feed in Harrogate Borough Council’s views.

“We have particularly discussed the integration of tickets and had a long debate about trying to resolve the impasse between Transdev and Connexions.

“I’m no miracle worker and I can’t guarantee we will be able to overcome that problem.

“But it is important that we do get this integration moving forward and get collaboration between bus providers in the district if we are going to persuade people to discard their cars and use public transport more frequently.”

Park and ride

Under the plans for smart ticketing, passengers would be able to use their tickets on different modes of transport and with different travel companies.

Councillors have also signalled their strong support for a Harrogate park and ride scheme, which county council officials are currently looking into. There are two potential sites for this – land near Pannal Golf Club and another site near Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of the village.

It comes as the county council is currently piloting its on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track services on-demand in the Ripon, Bedale and Masham areas.

Since its launch in July, 726 journeys have been completed with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5.

Harrogate district unemployment falls by 30% in 6 months

The number of people on out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district has fallen by over 30% since the height of the third covid lockdown in February, latest government figures show.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 2,720 people were claiming out-of-work benefits as of August 3 — down from 3,625 on February 11.

Currently, 3.4% of the local population are claiming the benefits, which is below the UK average of 5.4%. Financial support for those out of work includes Universal Credit and Job Seekers’ Allowance.

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Commenting on the latest figures on his website Community News, Conservative MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough Andrew Jones said predictions of “soaring unemployment” following the end of the furlough scheme have not come true.

Mr Jones said:

“The worst-case predictions of soaring unemployment as the furlough scheme was rolled back have not materialised.  At the end of September, ten weeks after most restrictions have been lifted, the furlough scheme ends completely.

“Although the Office for National Statistics say that there is no sign of redundancies starting to pick up ahead of this, we should remain cautious.”

“It is clear though that our local economy has bounced back strongly and empty shop rates in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge are lower than pre-pandemic.“

Still no TV or radio services for district residents after transmitter fire

Thousands of homes across the north of the Harrogate district remain without TV or radio freeview services, a week after a major fire at a transmitter mast.

The blackout was caused by the fire last Tuesday that put the 315-metre Bilsdale transmitter out of action.

The loss of the transmitter is affecting parts of Harrogate, Boroughbridge, Kirkby Malzeard, Knaresborough, Masham, Pateley Bridge, Ripon and other locations that rely on a signal that serves the Tyne Tees region.

An update issued on Friday by Arqiva, owners of the transmitter, estimated that the repair work will take up to 14 days.

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As viewers and listeners ask questions about when they can tune in once more to freeview on TV and radio,  one resident has contacted Julian Smith MP requesting that the government look at the bigger picture, in relation to critical infrastructure that serves millions of people.

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

James Thornborough, who lives in Sharow and whose work saw him specialise in disaster planning, recovery and business continuity, told the Stray Ferret:

“I emailed Mr Smith to raise wider concerns about the potential ramifications of the loss of the service from the mast.

“There is clearly a need to have robust contingency plans in place that anticipate the potential for this kind of occurrence at the Bilsdale transmitter and how to resolve it. ..

In my email to Mr Smith, I said – I am sure you will concede that a TV service being lost to one million viewers qualifies as the loss of a critical national infrastructure service, not least because it deprives the broadcasting companies of the ability to share public safety communications (breaking safety news) by TV or Radio to the design scope audience.”

In an email response, Mr Smith said:

“I note the concerns you have raised in this respect, and have sent a copy of your email together with an email of my own, to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, to pass your points on to him.

“I will write to you again as soon as a reply is received.”

In its statement on Friday, Arqiva, provided an update on on-going reinstatement works at the existing site and efforts to bring a television signal back to thousands of properties.

It said:

“We have had some success during phase 1 of our recovery plan using the Eston Nab site to restore services for some areas.

“Eston Nab is unfortunately unable to reach all the areas served by the larger Bilsdale mast, as broadcast signals rely on line-of-sight between transmitter and receiver (your rooftop aerial).

“This is the reason why masts such as the one at Bilsdale need to be so tall, and why they are located where they are – to reach as many homes as possible.”

For many avid TV watchers and radio listeners, a two-week wait is too long and they are looking for other means of tuning in to their favourite programmes.

This can range from re-setting digital TV boxes, to calling in professionals to have their aerials turned to pick up the signal from the Emley Moor Transmitter, which serves the Yorkshire television area.

People can also tune in via the BBC iPlayer.

 

Crunch talks to save Harrogate Christmas Market

Harrogate Borough Council and the organisers of the Harrogate Christmas Market are set to hold crunch talks to try to save the event for this year.

It will be the first time that the two groups have held a meeting since the council refused a licence for the market on Montpellier Hill just over two weeks ago.

The meeting will take place tomorrow morning and will centre on alternative locations for the Harrogate Christmas Market.

Brian Dunsby and his team of directors are set to talk with Alison Wilson, the head of parks and environmental services at the council.

Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the Lib Dems at Harrogate Borough Council, set up the meeting but has been told by the council not to attend. She said:

“I felt very upset and saddened that this annual event would not be going ahead.

“I contacted the council to see if a meeting could be set up to resolve the issue, either by getting the event licenced or looking for alternative sites.

“Harrogate needs this market, it is a part of Harrogate’s events calendar and we cannot and should not lose it.”

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This comes after council leader Richard Cooper formalised talks with a new set of organisers and described Mr Dunsby’s team as the “former Christmas market organisers”.

If the council were to proceed without Mr Dunsby’s team it is unclear what would happen to the 170 traders and 53 coaches which are already booked to attend this year’s event.

Brian Dunsby told the Stray Ferret ahead of his meeting:

“The agenda is alternative locations. I don’t think there are any other locations which are suitable for the Christmas market.

“We have got everything set up and ready to run at Montpellier Hill.

“I am hoping they will explain why the event is not suitable on Montpellier Hill, that is something the council have not yet done.

“We just have to wait and see.”

Council to reject 42 requests for extra gritting despite warnings

More than 40 requests for extra gritting on North Yorkshire’s huge roads network are set to be rejected despite warnings over “dangerous” conditions and salt bins running empty.

North Yorkshire County Council, which spends about £7m every winter to treat more than half of the county’s 5,753 miles of roads, considers requests for routes to be added or given greater priority on an annual basis.

This year it has received 42 requests from residents, councillors and businesses, but none have been recommended for approval at a meeting on Friday.

These include 14 requests in the Harrogate district, 15 in Richmondshire, seven in Craven and six in Hambleton.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said the authority already treated a large proportion of roads and that routes are rarely added due to the time and costs involved.

However, he added safety and efficiency were always priorities when deciding how to use resources.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“An efficient winter gritting service is one of our top priorities.

“We are in a part of the country with some very remote and exposed roads, but we still have got to make sure people can go about their daily lives safely in bad weather conditions.

“We have not often made changes simply because we already treat a bigger proportion of our highways network in a routine winter than any other local authority.

“And of course, we do have to prioritise in order to keep the main roads and bus routes open in periods of bad weather.”

Motorways and trunk roads are the responsibility of Highways England, while the county council looks after all other routes.

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The county council is also responsible for treating pedestrian footpaths and aims to cover all busy shopping areas and main footpaths before 9am in severe weather.

Between October 1 and April 30, road gritters are on call 24 hours a day, while farmer contractors, duty managers and overnight patrols are all on standby when necessary.

Roads are treated with rock salt on a priority basis and where icy and snowy conditions are at their worst.

But some residents believe more roads should be added or given greater priority, with one resident describing Regent Road in Skipton as “dangerous” during bad weather conditions.

They said in a request:

“Regent residents wishing to travel to work are faced with a hazardous task. I would imagine some people will be genuinely fearful for their safety.”

Another resident said salt bins in Harrogate are often running empty, while another claimed cars were abandoned on Kent Road in the town last year due to a lack of gritting.

Councillor Mackenzie added:

“We will always look very carefully at requests, especially if there are concerns about safety on busy routes or travel to school.

“But generally speaking, officers will recommend rejection of a request if there are perfectly good alternative routes for a person to get from A to B safely under the current gritting routes.”

The Harrogate Clinic staff go litter picking to ‘spruce up’ Harrogate

Staff at The Harrogate Clinic were out litter picking in Harrogate town centre yesterday after seeing an increase in discarded rubbish.

The colleagues said they have seen an increase in litter since lockdown was loosened and finally decided something had to be done.

In just a few hours the team collected bags of rubbish filled with food packaging, wine and beer bottles and drug paraphernalia.

Walking into work each day, Dr Shoreh Ghasmi, says her and her colleagues often comment on the amount of litter and wanted to get a group together to tackle it.

Dr Ghasmi said:

“We wanted to take it upon ourselves to do something. We are so lucky to work in such a beautiful town and its really disappointing to see some people take it for granted.

“We are just wanting to give it a bit of spring clean.”

The litter pickers in Harrogate yesterday.

The team, from The Harrogate Clinic on Prospect Crescent, have said they plan to make this a monthly scheme with other local businesses already saying they want to get involved.

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Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning, I hope you’re good this morning. It is Leah here with you today. The roads have been a little quieter this week in terms of traffic but numerous roadworks are adding time to people’s journeys.

This blog, brought to you by the HACS Group, brings you live travel updates until 9am.

Please give me a call on 01423 276197 or join our Facebook group ‘Harrogate district traffic and travel’ to give any updates.

9am – Full Update 

That is it from me this morning, Connor will be back with you tomorrow morning from 6.30. Have a lovely day.

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

B6161 Pot Bank is closed at Beckwithshaw – Diversion in place

Traffic is building in these areas:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

B6161 Pot Bank is closed at Beckwithshaw – Diversion in place

Traffic is building in these areas:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

8am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

B6161 Pot Bank is closed at Beckwithshaw – Diversion in place

Traffic is building in these areas:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

B6161 Pot Bank is closed at Beckwithshaw – Diversion in place

Traffic is building in these areas:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

B6161 Pot Bank is closed at Beckwithshaw – Diversion in place

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, today’s traffic hotspots are likely to show up a little later. Keep checking in.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

Stray Views: Let’s do more to help travellers

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. See below for details on how to contribute.

Let’s do more to help travellers

What a good idea for districts to provide stops for travellers en route to Appleby Horse Fair.

Having lived in the area for 80 years, I see the slight inconvenience of a couple of nights encampment en route or return as no problem.

Travellers have always stayed in the district. In my youth we had the fair at Boroughbridge. Traffic slowed to let the horses and caravans go along their slow and steady way. We have seen the steady decline in public houses over the years (a very English tradition) and we are in danger of losing our identity.

Yes, hold the travellers to account over how they leave the site and make arrangements for them to pay for a clear up, or block their exit if it is not done, I am sure they would comply as a safe stopover is better for all if put into place. Councils should think twice about costly court orders and put common sense into the mix.

Sandra Theobald, Harrogate

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We need new blood on our councils

Councillor Carl Les talks about fairness but what people want to know is: by how much their bills are going to reduce and what economies he is going to introduce?

There is no mention of this and no plan so until he can produce this, it’s not convincing. We also need new blood in our councillors, not just a reshuffle.

Harrogate people also want to know that their payments are actually spent in the town and not elsewhere in the region e.g. our roads are bad and North Yorkshire County Council’s highways department has consistently dragged its feet about traffic improvements whilst locals have told them how to improve matters.

What we really need, is for Harrogate to become a city and control its own affairs — we are certainly getting to this size.

Until we do, our cash can be siphoned elsewhere with little or no say about it.

John Holder, Harrogate

Harrogate Christmas Market is tacky!

I’m glad the Harrogate Christmas Market has been declined permission.
Harrogate is supposed to be posh but the market, along with the Christmas decorations, make it really tacky.
Susan Monk, Harrogate

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.

Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s thriving working men’s clubs

This week the National Reserve Working Men’s Club closed on East Parade after more than 100 years. It’s prompted celebrated Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam to look back at the birth and growth of Working Men’s Clubs in the district. 

Harrogate’s first known club for working men was set up shortly after the 1841 Harrogate Improvement Act, which stimulated the town’s urbanisation, which in turn attracted numbers of working men to the town. 

This club does not seem to have thrived, as the press for November 9, 1867 reported “…On Wednesday evening last, a grand amateur concert was given by members of the funds for liquidating the debt remaining on the late Working Men’s Club…”  However, attitudes appear to have changed by the end of the century, and between 1899 and 1913 no fewer than eight working mens clubs sprang into existence in a remarkable burst of enthusiasm.

The first seems to have been the Oatlands Working Men’s Club, which first met on 16 October 1899 in Oatlands Board School, before moving into Florence House in Hookstone Road. By the 1960’s it had a membership of 420 men and 110 women. Then, a year later in 1900, Starbeck Working Men’s Club was founded, which had a high number of railway workers in its membership, which by the middle of the century had reached 1,250, including ladies. In 1901, the High Harrogate Working Men’s Club opened in a local public house before moving into no.5 Devonshire Place, and by the middle of the century, it had 682 members, including 200 women.

Step forward two years to 1903, when Trades Hall opened in Westmoreland Street, originally founded for members of Trade Unions only. By the middle of the century, this Club had a total of over 400 members, and the spacious building was thoroughly renovated a couple of years ago.

High Harrogate Working Men’s Club 1911

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There is some uncertainty as to the founding date for the Londesborough Club, one source stating it was founded in 1911 as the Legion of Frontiersmen Club, the premises of which were in the Westminster Arcade, before the move to 19 and 12 Bower Road was made in c.1914. Another version has the club founded by workers at the Royal Baths. The name Londesborough was adopted in 1916, and at one time, only people whose fathers had been members were allowed to join.

Oatland’s Working Men’s Club 1967

The next working men’s club to be established was the Harlow Hill Working Men’s Club, which opened in 1912. Finally, April 12 1913 saw four detachments of the Harrogate Battalion of the National Reserve marching to East Parade for the opening of the National Reserve Club at 29 East Parade, the closure of which has just been announced. In its day, this Club had many distinguished members, such as Prince Christopher of Greece, and it would be fascinating to examine any archive the Club may possess. In this same year of 1913, the impressively Gothic building of 1868, located in Skipton Road, became home to Bilton Working Men’s Club, an institution which like so many of the above, continues to thrive.

In my short account of these clubs, I have ignored such special organisations at the political clubs, or the Home Guard Club, which are equally deserving of examination. The greatest change with all these clubs over the last century must be the increasing participation of ladies in their membership, which in some cases began earlier than some might have guessed.

Did you know that the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Malcolm to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate? The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to the Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa and a walk through the Commercial Heart of Harrogate. Why not take a walk back in time and learn about Harrogate’s glorious past. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here.