TV presenter Nick Knowles has hailed the news that thieves have been jailed for stealing bicycles belonging to NHS staff at Harrogate District Hospital.

Mr Knowles, who stars in DIY SOS, offered to buy a new bike for Naresh Gnanasekaran, a doctor at the hospital whose bike was stolen during the first wave of covid in April last year.

Halfords eventually agreed to give Dr Gnanasekaran a new electric bike for free.

Last week John Roddy, 24, from Headingley, Leeds and his partner-in-crime, who could be named for legal reasons, were jailed for stealing bikes worth almost £7,000 from 11 NHS workers in Harrogate and Leeds.

The court heard Roddy had battled drug addiction.

Most of the thefts occurred outside Harrogate District Hospital when staff were having to deal with huge workloads due to the pandemic, said prosecutor Chris Moran.

Mr Moran said one NHS worker in Harrogate had been so “damaged” by the theft of her £400 bike she no longer cycled to work.

Michael Smith, a consultant at the hospital, tagged Mr Knowles in a tweet that contained a link to the Stray Ferret article about the two men being jailed.

Mr Knowles replied that he was glad the men were caught and thankful to the NHS for their efforts over the last 18 months.

I do
Glad your guy got his bike replaced
Glad they were caught
Sad what drugs do to peoples lives and judgement
Thanks to all your colleagues for all you e done over the last 18 months

— Nick Knowles (@MrNickKnowles) June 25, 2021

Read more:

• Thieves who stole NHS workers’ bikes at Harrogate hospital jailed
• Harrogate hospital emergency department treating ‘unsustainable’ patient numbers

A section of Wetherby Road in Harrogate reopened this morning after a burst pipe forced it to close for three days.

The busy section between Masham Close and Hookstone Road is now open. The road has also been resurfaced.

Its closure on Friday just before rush hour caused misery for motorists. North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, said it hoped it would reopen over the weekend.

But Yorkshire Water said the burst pipe caused “significant damage” and engineers needed more time to complete repairs.

It was thought the road could be closed until tomorrow.

This was the road on Saturday while repairs were ongoing.

Long delays were reported across the weekend with commuters having to find alternative routes.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said:

“Our teams have worked hard throughout the weekend to ensure disruption caused by the burst pipe on Wetherby Road were kept to a minimum. Our work has been completed ahead of schedule and the road has now been reopened.”

Read more:

• Delays are expected as works start on the Ripon Bypass this evening until July 10
• Yesterday’s Stray Views sparked anger over the “dangerous” queues at the recycling centre on Wetherby Road

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.

Wetherby Road recycling queue is dangerous

Nick Bentley, Knaresborough

Council pay rises would be a joke

Your piece on Harrogate Borough Council pay rises is an insult to the people who live in the town.

Harrogate Borough Council is the worst council for spending money on its ‘vanity project’ council buildings. It is a joke.

The council ignores important issues that its council tax payers have. The people sitting in their ivory tower don’t deserve anything.

Susan Mitchell, Harrogate

Stop these proposed changes to Harrogate

My husband and I enjoy the articles from the Stray Ferret: they are accurate, to the point, and echo the views of people like myself who have lived most of my life within a five-to-seven mile radius of Harrogate town centre.

We have, nevertheless, travelled abroad many times during our 52 years of married life living in close proximity to this lovely town. Some of the proposed changes to the town are just not appropriate – if only Councillor Mackenzie would listen to the views of residents of Harrogate and its outskirts. Surely, the government cannot allow them to go ahead?

Pat Perry, Kirkby Overblow

The great rewilding debate: grass-cutting or cost-cutting?

I love the long and lovely wild verges – they don’t need to be cut at all, except at junctions to let drivers exit side roads safely.

Helen Barclay, Harrogate

Do you really believe that this is anything to do with being eco friendly? It’s about cost-cutting.

The grass verges where l live are prime dumping ground for dog excrement. The verges are unsightly and the result looks like we live in a dump.

Jen Dent, Harrogate

I love the council’s efforts to allow biodiversity to gain ground on the Stray! Keep it up!

Ann Broderick, Harrogate

Deliberately planting colourful wildflowers brings the Stray to life. Looks fabulous.

Leaving roadside verges uncut and scruffy is just another lazy wheeze to short-change council taxpayers.

If you park your car next to them you get wet trying to get into your car in the morning. Several residents on Coppice Drive have taken the obvious action.

Tim Emmott, Harrogate

Wild verges looks amazing, nature always needs more help these days.

Perhaps a few wildflower seeds added will give it a lift for those who think it is just a scruffy look.

Encouraging wildlife in the centre of town is is very uplifting.

Jen Mackay, Harrogate

Read more:

• Harrogate district’s wild grass verges continue to divide opinion
• ‘Victory for the people!’: Harrogate’s plastic grass removed this morning

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.

A porter at Harrogate District Hospital has had his hands honoured as part of a new NHS pin to thank staff for their efforts during the pandemic.

Faisal Yousaf, known as Faz, is one of just six people who have taken part in the project to support NHS charities.

TMB Art Metal has developed an initial run of 5,000 of the special fundraising pins. A total of £10 from the sale of each £25 pin will go to NHS Charities Together.

The pins, which are cast in metal from a 1939 Spitfire that flew in the Battle of Britain, are available exclusively by clicking or tapping here.

Read more:

• Is the future of farming in the Washburn Valley?
• The poppies blow in a field near Knaresborough

Colleagues of Faisal put him forward for the project. He was on the frontline in the emergency department and the admissions unit taking patients to and from the intensive care unit.

He works all around the hospital transporting patients, blood supply and equipment, as well collecting items from nearby villages and Leeds.

Faisal said:

“I feel overwhelmed to be a part of this project. I’ve been here for around two years, and to me, my colleagues are not colleagues but friends and family.

“I was seeing first-hand the doctors and nurses who’d been in full PPE for 12, 13 hours coming out of intensive care, their expressions, body language and the scars the equipment made.

“Then in the days and weeks that followed it became a really proud achievement to have all my colleagues around me and to be a part of that team.”

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

“I am delighted that we are involved in such a monumental project. Faz is an incredible colleague and a real asset to #teamHDFT.

“All of our colleagues across the trust are so grateful to be part of such a lovely initiative to thank the NHS.

“I see first-hand the difference the monies raised through donations from projects such as this can make – thank you.”

Before the Second World War, Harrogate Corporation ran many of the amenities that were considered essential for the regular life of the municipality, including education, electricity, water and highways, but the provision of transport was left with the private sector. The story of Harrogate’s early bus services has been brilliantly told by Trevor Leach in his meticulously researched book Twopenny Single to Starbeck, published in 2000.

In 1898, local businessman Charles H Burgess came to an agreement with another operator, Ernest Hepper of Crown Hotel Mews, and businessman A E Wynn, who ran the Cairn Hydro, to set up the new Harrogate Carriage Company. After acquiring a second-hand horse bus in June 1898, and four additional horses, the business took off. Double-decker motor buses were reported as being on Harrogate’s streets in 1905 and steam bus services were introduced in 1906 by a Mr A H Marshall of 25 Leeds Road, whose Clarkson “Chelmsford” steam-powered bus began to run on November 29 1906. A full account of these proceedings may be found in Mr Leach’s book.

Harrogate Corporation had, in 1902, toyed with the idea of obtaining powers to enable it to construct an electric tram system of its own, one suggestion being that a central tram station could be built on the garden of the Prospect (now the Yorkshire) Hotel, where the War Memorial now stands. This would have provided stops right around the commercial heart of the town, which would have enabled the Corporation to ban all private vehicular traffic from the centre of Harrogate. There were, however, strong objections to a tram system, which was considered to be noisy and too redolent of Blackpool, so the proposals were dropped, to the advantage of the private bus companies.

Read More: 

• Malcolm Neesam History: The heyday of Harrogate’s cinemas
• Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s once lively street theatre scene

By 1914, the Harrogate Road Car Company was running not only local motor buses, but also motor “chars-a-bang” tours around Yorkshire beauty spots, which were popular with visitors. The outbreak of the First World War on August 4 1914 forced changes on the Company, and many of the motor chars-a-bang were impressed by the War Office for conversion to military use.

Fuel supply was a further problem for the Company. The so-called Clarkson Steamer Buses were abandoned in 1916, and in 1917, the Company came to an agreement with the Harrogate Gas Company to supply town gas for four of its McCurd buses. The gas was stored in huge bags that were fastened to the roof with ropes. Re-filling points were provided in Station Parade, at Queen Victoria’s monument, Victoria Avenue, Starbeck and New Park. Gas meters were set into the pavement, and could be connected to the converted buses by means of pipes.

The huge, gas-filled bags must have made the vehicles very unstable, and they could not be driven into their garages when inflated. Mr Leach’s book relates that on more than one occasion it was the driver’s misfortune to see his gas bag blowing across the Stray when high wind broke the securing ropes! The accompanying photograph shows one of Harrogate’s gas buses outside the Victoria Park Methodist Church in Station Parade, which today is the site of the Everyman Cinema.

In writing this piece for the Stray Ferret, Malcolm Neesam would like to acknowledge the original research of Trevor Leach.

Harrogate Borough Council has told a grandmother that she needs to remove her trampoline after a noise complaint.

Angela Hutchinson, who lives on a council estate in the Jennyfields area of town, has until the end of today to take it down.

The trampoline is in the communal garden. Ms Hutchinson believes all the neighbours who share the garden are OK with it.

But a council officer has told her that it has received a noise complaint so she needs to remove the trampoline.

Read more:

• Thirty-four covid cases reported in Harrogate district
• Wetherby Road in Harrogate closed in both directions

A rather upset Ms Hutchinson told the Stray Ferret:

“So it’s really sad that we have to take this down, just because one person does not like the noise.

“It’s not that it’s every day, but I’ve got to take it down. This is a shame, I wanted to resolve it peacefully.

“I would happily have a conversation with the person who has complained, to make sure it is not used when they are sleeping or anything like that.”

Harrogate Borough Council has confirmed that it has asked Ms Hutchinson to take down the trampoline and said the noise levels are “not acceptable”.

“A trampoline, placed on a communal garden area that is owned by the council, is being used by a number of individuals not associated with the residential property in question.

“It is being used for extended periods of the day, both during the week and at weekends. The noise levels created are also not acceptable.

“Therefore, we have requested that the owner of the trampoline needs to remove it.”

Up to nine cars have been vandalised in the space of a few minutes on the same street in Bilton.

Three young people in hoodies are being blamed for the incident, which occurred at about 5am yesterday on Dene Park.

The Stray Ferret visited the area last night and saw several car windows smashed.

Residents said the youngsters were seen running up the street damaging the cars during the early morning spree and that police had subsequently been in the area taking statements.

The residents added there had been a spate of attacks on homes and cars lately but this was the worst so far.

One Dene Park resident, who asked not to be named, said:

“How do I know it won’t be my front window that gets smashed next?

“This has been going on for a while and we know who the culprits are. It’s very worrying.”

The resident said nine cars had been damaged but another person in the area said they believed the number was seven.

The Stray Ferret contacted North Yorkshire Police about the incident yesterday but has not yet had a response.

Read more:

• Man arrested after four-hour police incident in Bilton
• Self-combusting linseed oil causes freak house fire in Bilton

Harrogate’s food and drink festival returned to the Stray today to become the town’s first major event since the coronavirus pandemic.

The event dodged the bad weather of the last week, as the sun shone on the Oatlands Drive part of the Stray that hosted the event.

The festival will be open again tomorrow to offer people the chance to enjoy international cuisine, independent bars, artisan stalls, live music and a fun fair.

The organisers have once again partnered with the mental health charity Mind, with the Harrogate district team stationed on the exit.

Read more:

• Wetherby Road expected to reopen on Tuesday
• Harewood House takes the lead with Big Dog Walk tomorrow

Mike Gibbs, chair of Harrogate district Mind, told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s fantastic. We are so grateful to the event organisers who have helped over the years to raise money for Mind.

“Like other charities we are having a tough time with coronavirus. Events like this are going to help save lives.”

Amy Griffin, who is working on the Doe Harrogate stall, told the Stray Ferret:

“It feels amazing, Harrogate is such a great place to be. It feels a bit more normal doesn’t it? Everyone is here.

“We’ve got party rings, rainbows, Victoria sponge cake, the crowd favourite Biscoff and plenty more.”

Adele Wrightson, on the Fire and Dough stall, told the Stray Ferret:

“This is the first time we have been down here, we are from Northumberland. It’s great weather so lovely to have it outdoors.

“It’s odd to have so many people in one place. This is the biggest event we have done in recent times, they have gradually been getting more busy over the summer.”

If you miss the Stray event, it will be back at Ripley Castle on August 28 to 30.

More pictures:

Coronavirus cases continue to climb in the Harrogate district with another day where nearly 50 cases have been reported.

The seven day average for the district has risen suddenly from 103 two days ago to 133 today.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire rate is 111 and the England average is 128.

According to Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of infections since last March to 8,253.

However, no covid-related deaths have been confirmed at Harrogate District Hospital since April 11.

Harrogate District Hospital also has a low number of coronavirus patients. The total number, as of June 24 is three.

The death toll at the hospital since the pandemic started remains at 179.

Read more:

• Wetherby Road expected to reopen on Tuesday
• Harewood House takes the lead with Big Dog Walk tomorrow

Wetherby Road in Harrogate is expected to reopen on Tuesday after a water pipe burst yesterday.

The part closure of such a busy road caused long delays yesterday as drivers sought alternative routes. This looks set to continue all weekend and Monday.

Wetherby Road remains closed from Masham Close to the junction with Hookstone Road.

Yorkshire Water has confirmed that its engineers have now fixed the broken pipe.

North Yorkshire County Council previously said the aim was to reopen the road this weekend.

However, that has been pushed back. The road has suffered “significant damage” so workers need more time to fix it.

Read more:

• Wetherby Road in Harrogate closed in both directions
• Yorkshire Warrior obstacle challenge to go ahead next month

It’s unclear at this time whether Wetherby Road will be open for the morning commute on Tuesday at this time.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:

“The burst pipe on Wetherby Road has now been repaired. It caused significant damage to the road surface in the area and our teams will be working throughout the weekend to reinstate the road and reduce disruption to a minimum.”

An eyewitness told the Stray Ferret:

“They were working on it on Friday morning and they said they might have to close the road, I think they left it as late as they could.

“But it was the worst timing really, on a Friday afternoon.”