Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

Try as I might, my rudimentary internet research skills have not yet uncovered the criteria for Harrogate currently residing in Covid-19 Medium Tier Alert.  With some application I can discern the do’s and don’ts of the category: 10pm curfew, the Rule of 6, non-attendance at the monthly swingers club, that sort of thing.  It’s just that, for the life of me, I can’t uncover the triggers that would mean Harrogate might be promoted to High Alert, alongside near neighbours Leeds, or even catapulted into Very High Alert, there to rub shoulders with Liverpool.

I think the alert level might be something to do with the R-rate, the number of positive Covid-19 tests, the size of the city or town’s student population, relative levels of social deprivation, areas of health inequality, the proportion of people over the age of 60, ethnicity and pre-existing and underlying health conditions.  No one is able to say for sure.  In fact the alert level decision is of course about all of these things and more.  Myriad factors discussed and negotiated between a national government (the authority of which has lost its wax and found its wane) and local government leaders, in full voice, newly ‘bold as Beauchamp.’  Or, should I say, given I write this in Yorkshire about the North’s crop of elected Mayors, ‘bold as brass.’

What’s going on?  The Conservative government is, of course, in a terrible stew.  The decisions it faces hour-by-hour must balance the ongoing threat to our health with further damage to our already grievously wounded economy.  It is making life or death decisions, affecting health or wealth, in real-time, with only instinct and imperfect information as a guide.  But, as the number of clangers, screeching hand-break turns and misfires mounts up, even those, like me, sympathetically minded toward the government, are beginning to lose patience.  It’s not only about poor decision making and obvious political incompetence, it’s about the glaring lack of a guiding principle, a north star, so to speak.

By backing Brexit (opportunistically and at the last moment) and, through the good offices of Dominic “The Brainiac” Cummins, by turning it into a conversation about immigration, Boris earned a hearing from the white working-class north of Watford Gap.  So, when Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson won his stonking parliamentary majority in December 2019, he did so with what seemed a strong, if, from Boris, counterintuitive promise to “level up” the North.  No longer the posh London metropolitan  ‘hug-a-hoodie’ Tory party of Dave and Sam Cam, the Conservatives were striking out beyond the M25, prioritising the forgotten industrial waste lands of post-post-Thatcherite Britain and, BBC-like, placing new emphasis on regional accents.  Man of the people BoJo promised us investment in jobs, skills, infrastructure, a brave and bold future grown rich on newly minted international trade deals.  But, then, Covid, only Covid.

We know that people in the North of England went into this crisis earning, owning and saving less than those in the South.  Nothing new to see here.  We also know now that Covid hits hardest in densely populated urban areas with high levels of social deprivation.  And we know that Covid seeks out and punishes those in ill health.  We know too that Covid disproportionately impacts BAME nationals.  All these matter more in the urban multi-cultural north.

The northern mayors have a point; Covid, and the government’s developing economic response to it, are widening the gap between north and south.  Its hitting hardest those who can least afford it, whether they are working in low paid jobs, or not working at all.  Yes, the mayors are being politically partisan, they scent a real opportunity to regain lost ground and build again in red brick.  But they are most certainly representing the feelings of their constituents, secondary modern kids snubbed once more by their betters in gowns and mortarboards.

It was announced during the Conservatives’ virtual conference last week that it was going to open a northern party headquarters in Leeds.  This the better to emphasise its un-swingeing commitment to the region.  But unless the Conservative Party genuinely hears and urgently acts upon the grievances being aired now by mayors like Andy Burnham from Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram from the Liverpool City Region and Jamie Driscoll from North Tyne, it won’t just receive a cool welcome when it opens for business in Leeds (Labour Leader Judith Blake is said to be spitting at the prospect), it will surely lose the north at the next election.

So I propose that Boris doubles down on levelling up, to counterpoint my metaphors.  If he doesn’t, he leaves the Conservatives open to the easy charge that they don’t care about the north after all.  It’s not too late for him to tack and change course.  As St. Augustine said, “repentant tears wash out the stain of guilt.”

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

The forge gives off a warm glow as sparks fly into the air. The hammer is coming down on a new sharp blade at the hands of this Harrogate bladesmith.

It is an art that may have all but died out in Britain but a handful of bladesmiths are trying to keep this special flame alive.

Dominic Banks, the founder of Forge Art Online, started his craft about three years ago, inspired by the blades in films like Lord of the Rings.

While there is not much of a market for swords, many professional and home chefs want to use homemade and unique knives.

Just some of the knives he has finished recently.

Prices range from £150 to £200 for Dominic’s blades. He keeps a high standard for himself, which means that not every knife makes it out of the workshop.

A perfect storm of increased interest in British manufacturing along with the power of social media has fuelled Dominic’s passion.

He started taking commissions three years ago but the business has really started to boom over the last year.

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On a brisk autumn morning with a new blade freshly forged, bladesmith Dominic told the Stray Ferret:

“You do have to get over that barrier where you avoid using the knife because you have spent so much money on it. But the thing is: If the knife is made right and the heat treatment is really good then it should be really sharp and strong. When you use one of these knives you realise how bad most knives are.”

Working away with the hammer over the anvil.

Dominic makes his knives out of carbon steel. They are more durable and can be sharper than stainless steel but can rust without proper care.

They are not to be left in water or put through a dishwasher for that reason, but that tendency to stain also means it can tell stories.

“Carbon steel has a lot of character. Say if you use a lot of onion in your cooking it stains the knife brown, whereas if you cut really acidic food like fruit the knife can come out in greens, purples and blues. Those colours all mix together and people really like that.”

Carbon steel has a unique look.

Stray Foodie is a bi-monthly food review written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Grantham Arms, Milby, Boroughbridge YO51 9BW

Frances’ Meal: Starter: Garlic Prawns with Samphire £9.95 Main Course: Steak Pie £14.95  Glass of Picpoul: £4.30

The Grantham Arms is a grey painted building that stands on a roundabout as you enter Boroughbridge. I suspect it was once a charming coaching inn but now at the side of a very busy road – not the most salubrious positions. Its fake grass and fairy lights make a statement.

The welcome I received from the young man behind the bar, Sam, was exemplary. It was a busy bar with guests of all ages.

I was with a friend who is the head of a hospitality department at a university. A young lady called Jess showed us to our table and looked after our experience for the duration of the evening. There were brown leather chairs, square tables, candles and bric-a-brac throughout. I imagine in the evening it would be very atmospheric.

The front room of Grantham Arms.

Jess was warm, friendly, with an extensive knowledge of the menu, which catered for all tastes.

To start with we shared Garlic Prawns with Samphire. The Samphire would have welcomed a little less heat.

She advised us that the Pies were a speciality and the thing to have. So, I had the steak pie which was well-made with good pastry and generously presented. I am not sure if the blue cheese in the gravy worked with such good ingredients; it might suit someone with a more robust palate. The cooking of the vegetables was excellent which is a rare achievement.

Would you like Frances to review your restaurant or cafe? 

From pop-up to fine dining, Frances would like to hear from you. If you’d like her to write a review on your food, send her an email to: foodie@thestrayferret.co.uk.

The Chicken Supreme, which my friend ordered, was of grand proportions with a well-made sauce. I was assured it tasted good. However, I would have liked to have seen it looking more comfortable in the sauce with thinly sliced mushrooms, chopped chives and sliced to add a little elegance.

The choice of wines were very limited and they would have benefited from a wider selection of grape variety to balance with the dishes on offer.

The Dessert Menu looked tempting but unfortunately, we were too full. It looked interesting and was the sort of menu that meant no waste for the kitchen. Perhaps a seasonal weekly dessert might be a thought. A Syrup & Apple Sponge or similar nursery pudding for the winter the months might be a popular idea for their regulars.

The atmosphere was young and vibrant and made by the service staff. Such courtesy is always a pleasure to receive.

The outside seating area.

The kitchen, given suitable direction, has the makings of a successful brigade, although, I was disappointed to find the Head Chef was not on duty at the time of my visit, nor was any form of senior management.

If you are hungry the pricing is of very good value and you won’t be disappointed. I am sure it will increase in popularity as a neighbourhood restaurant. In these difficult times, it is a place to be valued.

To find out more about Grantham Arms click here. To read more about Frances’ fantastic career click here.

Read More: 

• Stray Foodie:  Frances visits the Bistro at How Stean Gorge, Nidderdale
• Italian bar and restaurant closes in Harrogate

This column is written for the Stray Ferret by Kimberley Metcalfe. Kimberley has an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Her company Pooches Galore is based in Harrogate and specialises in dog training and resolving canine behavioural problems.

After seeing Gracie on the Stray Pets Rescue Club my heart went out to her. Although I don’t know about Gracie’s situation personally sometimes rehoming ex-breeding bitches can be challenging.

Gracie, if you haven’t read about her, had been used for breeding to make money and was abandoned after reaching the maximum age for reproducing. She’d given birth to around 30 puppies in her lifetime – as a result she has been left with a large caesarean scar. She was featured in the Stray Pets Rescue Club seeking a new owner.

Often dogs who are kept purely for breeding haven’t had the same start in life as other dogs. They haven’t had the same life experiences and so don’t have the same expectations.

Although there is a great divide between bitches who are family pets, loved and treated like queens while they are pregnant and beyond, there is a darker side to breeding where dogs are kept as commodities. Used purely to make money from the puppies, once they have made the owners enough money they are discarded.

This latter group of dogs often struggle in new homes. They often haven’t lived in a family home before, they haven’t even had a comfortable bed to sleep in, so everything is new to them. It does take them some time to settle in to this new, luxurious life.

There are a number of things to consider when you take on an ex breeding bitch, all of which can be overcome with patience and love.

Often these dogs are not housetrained, having never lived in a house before so they have no understanding that there are areas that they can toilet and areas that they cannot.

They may never have been on a walk. Going out on a lead and collar is completely alien to them, as is the big outside world. This can be very overwhelming: the sights, smells and textures that they experience for the first time. I remember working with a standard poodle who had been used as a breeding bitch in a puppy farm who had never walked on grass before, the joy that it brought not only her but me also when she was leaping about was one of the best moments of my career!

Sometimes they are just shut down, they don’t know what to expect, that people can be kind to them, that they are safe as this not been the case in the past.

But I promise it is not all doom and gloom. Bringing home such a dog to live with you is one of the most rewarding experiences. All they need is some time and space to feel safe and to feel loved and they make the most loyal and caring of dogs.

We are delighted that Kimberley is to become a regular monthly columnist for The Stray Ferret. If you have any doggy questions please contact her by email on kim@poochesgalore.co.uk For more information on Pooches Galore click here.

Bilton Conservation Group is one of a number of volunteer groups that will be planting crocuses on West Park Stray over the coming days.

Five volunteers from the group began planting 5000 bulbs this afternoon.

The team were enthusiastic to take part in the council’s project to plant 60,000 crocuses across West Park Stray.

Other organisations will take over planting as it continues over the weekend and into next week.

Bilton Conservation Group has been involved in several similar projects with the council. Normally a project like this would include 20-30 volunteers from the group but due to covid restrictions they could only invite five.

Keith Wilkinson MBE, Secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, said:

“This is our contribution to the town effort. It’ll look fantastic at Easter. This is what we do in Nidd Gorge principally with the trees and footpaths but this is something different and you’ll see the benefit.

“We’re putting 5000 bulbs in two hours. It’ll be a great benefit there’s been a lot of adverse publicity with this part of the Stray with the problems with the flooding after the cycling event. But we’ve been having a lot of positive comments as people walk by. They just start to be seen in February.”

This is one of several groups who volunteered to help plant the 60,000 crocuses.

Read more:

• The Harrogate Green Party is continuing to campaign to improve the biodiversity of the Stray. 
• The West Park Stray drainage system has been defended after heavy rain caused flooding onto the walkway. 

The council has said it received a huge number of responses to its call for volunteers.

West Park Stray was damaged by the UCI World Championships a year ago to the dismay of many residents. It has gone under extensive landscaping work since then and the council is hoping the crocuses will create an impressive display for next Spring.

A unique lights installation kicked up into life last night to highlight the power of the arts ahead of the Harrogate Literature Festival.

The Station Parade office of Raworths, the title sponsor of the festival, was covered in a selection of quotes from popular books.

Those behind the display chose quotes to reflect the difficult time for the arts and their hopes for the future.

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise” by Victor Hugo, and “Books are a uniquely portable magic” by Stephen King were included.

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Harrogate’s literature festival is now in its 12th year but will, like many events, move online due to social distancing requirements.

The festival will run from October 23 to 25. It will be streamed on HIF Player on the Harrogate International Festival’s website.

Ten word stories appearing in Harrogate town centre

Meanwhile the literature festival organisers have also started to publish ten word stories on posters around the town centre.

The Stray Ferret enjoyed this ten word story by Ruby Fisher, one of the competition entries:

“Fat Rascals make the world go round. Breakfast of champions.”

Zoe Robinson, Raworths managing partner, said:

“We are looking for all kinds of story, funny, personal or evocative, it just has to involve Harrogate! I had great fun writing mine and hope everyone else has as much fun with theirs!

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 2020 National Libraries Week and can’t wait to read the entries.”

Some ten word stories posted near Raworths in Harrogate.

Arts charity Harrogate International Festivals usually creates 300 live event a year but saw its entire programme cancelled from March.

Sharon Canavar, the chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said:

“Whilst the coronavirus pandemic may have cast a dark shadow over the world and forced the cancellation and re-invention of our entire 2020 calendar of events, this installation is a beaming example of the light that literature and the arts can bring in the darkness.”

To recognise the hard work of NHS staff during the coronavirus pandemic a Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity calendar is being released. 

Now on sale, the calendar is raising money for the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT). 

The calendar showcases the winning entries of a photo competition run by the charity. The selection includes uplifting images of staff at work, as well as photos of the Harrogate district. 

The HHCC team with some of the new calendars.

Ben Windass, materials management procurement officer at HDFT, took the winning image on the front of the calendar. He said:

“I named this piece of work ‘Rainbow’ because of the general theme around national support for the NHS and I feel this picture really encapsulates this. Incidentally, these crocheted rainbows were kindly donated to the Trust, which also reinforces the theme of support and positivity towards HDFT, and the NHS as a whole.

“Any money raised by the sale of these calendars would be greatly appreciated. On a personal level, it feels warming that I have been able to contribute towards this project and hope that it will in turn contribute to supporting our fabulous Trust and all the communities we serve.”

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• Harrogate hospital unveils LGBTQ+ rainbow crossings
• Sneak peek: Colourful charity crafts store opens in Harrogate

Sammy Lambert, business development, charity and volunteer manager, said: 

“We are so proud to be launching the 2020/21 calendar. The images used to develop it are absolutely amazing and really capture the spirit of the NHS in the north and what it means to be a part of team HDFT.

 “It’s been a tough year for both colleagues and service users at the Trust, and we are really keen to raise as much as we can following the success of last year’s calendar in order to continue improving what the Trust can do for its local communities.”

The calendars are available for a suggested £10 donation, with all proceeds going to HDFT. This is thanks to sponsorship from Living and Home, a homeware store based in Manchester, whose director has strong ties to the trust after his daughter was born at Harrogate District Hospital. 

The Trust will use the funds to provide electronic tablets for patients to video call relatives while in hospital. It will also use them to improve its services, training and facilities. 

Harrogate District Hospital is set to ease restrictions on pregnancy visits next week.

From Monday October 19, partners will be welcome to attend the consultant antenatal clinic appointments.

The hospital has asked partners to arrive on time and not early so they don’t crowd the waiting area.

Previously, partners have only been allowed to be present at the 20 week scan – and before mid-September were not allowed at any appointments during pregnancy.

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• Harrogate district in lowest tier of new local restrictions
• Harrogate hospital unveils LGBTQ+ rainbow crossings

There are still visiting restrictions on midwifery antenatal clinics and drop-in clinics, which the hospital says is out of its control.

A spokesperson for the hospital said:

“We appreciate how difficult it has been for pregnant women attending the consultant clinics in the hospital at Harrogate without their partners. After careful consideration and discussion we have made this plan.”

The home birth service was suspended from August in Harrogate due to increased sickness absence levels in the hospital’s midwifery team.

It will remain suspended until the end of October, for which the hospital has apologised.

A Harrogate woman campaigning for care home visits to be allowed said she does not see a government pilot scheme as a significant step forward.

Speaking to MPs this week, care minister Helen Whately said a pilot scheme to give relatives ‘key worker status’ – testing them for covid and allowing them to visit care homes – is being planned.

However, Judy Bass, whose 99-year-old father lives in a Harrogate care home, said more urgent progress needs to be made across the country for the sake of residents’ well-being.

“I don’t think it’s particularly a step forward. I think it’s placatory, because they have known about this for so long. It just needs to be put in place.

“Piloting it – I don’t even know how that would operate or if it would have any effect. They just need to put it in place. Relatives need to be given key worker status and tested and allowed to visit.”

Ms Bass also questioned whether the project would even be possible, given the struggle to deliver testing around the country.

Last month, introducing a ban on visitors across the county throughout October, North Yorkshire County Council’s head of health and adult services, Richard Webb, said although he was in favour of testing relatives to allow them to visit, the lack of tests available made that “unrealistic”.

Read more:

• Task group meets to discuss care home visits
• North Yorkshire districts could be placed in different covid tiers

Ms Bass and her brother are being allowed to visit their father this week for the first time – but only to see him through a window. As he has dementia, she is concerned the visit will distress him or, even worse, that he will not recognise his children.

“We will try and see how he copes with it, but he might not understand what’s going on. He might not know who I am, he might be exhausted by the whole thing. I go with trepidation.”

This week, care homes have reacted strongly to the suggestion that they could be asked to take in patients from hospitals who have tested positive for covid. Some councils have approached care homes to ask them to provide separate space for people recovering from the virus after being discharged, away from other residents.

Sam Monaghan, the chief executive of MHA, which runs care homes across the country including Berwick Grange in Harrogate, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “highly concerned” about people with the virus being brought into close contact with vulnerable communities. Speaking about the logistics of accommodating them separately, he added:

“Unless you are talking about care home providers who have got buildings that aren’t yet occupied, it will be moving people out of their home, their room that they have got, if you are trying to cohort part of the home.

“You would be having to separate your staff group into those who are working with people without covid and those who are working with covid, and what the arrangements and protections for those staff at the heightened level of risk would be.

“And then there is the risk of transmission within that geographic space, even if you managed to create an artificial barrier between the two.”

Judy Bass and her father, a few years ago.

For Ms Bass, who has not seen her father since March, introducing covid patients to a care home while still preventing relatives who have tested negative for the virus from visiting, is beyond comprehension.

She told the Stray Ferret action needs to be taken quickly for the sake of residents who may not have long left to live and whose families are missing vital time with their loved ones.

“It’s going to be a hard enough winter for everybody, but to make things harder for us and our relatives is so unfair. We speak as often as we can, but conversation is very limited. He is stable, but it’s very difficult for me to tell how he is mentally without sitting with him and being with him to get those vibes.

“I don’t think we have seen a particular mental deterioration, but it’s just he shouldn’t be in that situation and we shouldn’t either.

“Ours is very minimal compared to a lot of people, but if my father has deteriorated and doesn’t know who we are, we’ve lost that little window of time with him that we had.”

Harrogate Borough Council could take enforcement action against Stonebridge Homes’ 130-home Castle Hill Farm development on Whinney Lane in Pannal Ash, after complaints from residents.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, Conservative councillor John Mann, who represents the Pannal ward, said several residents had contacted him with concerns about issues such as early morning working, mud on roads, parking on pavements and construction traffic.

Cllr Mann asked HBC’s cabinet member for planning, Cllr Rebecca Burnett, if any enforcement measures could be taken against Stonebridge Homes to reduce disruption.

Cllr Burnett said HBC’s compliance officer was speaking to the developer about the issues and added:

“If it’s persistent, the council’s team can take stronger enforcement action.

“Our compliance officer is raising these issues with the relevant people and trying to deal with them. There’s a lot going on at the site that’s upset residents.”

The Stray Ferret asked Stonebridge Homes to comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Read more:

• Whinney Lane lights ‘like Leeds Bradford Airport runway’

• Residents mobilise against Whinney Lane developments

Whinney Lane is closed until February due to the construction of two site access points for the Castle Hill Farm housing development, as well as a new roundabout.

The lengthy closure has proved controversial: the manager of the Squinting Cat pub told the Stray Ferret it “could kill” his business.

Cllr Burnett said she sympathised with the residents’ concerns.

She added:

“We know it’s difficult for anyone living next to a building site and we hope as a council we are doing all we can to support the residents.”