Teenager dies after crash at crossroads

A teenager has died after a car crash on the edge of the Harrogate district at the weekend.

The collision happened at 2.15pm on Saturday on the B6265 at the crossroads between Whixley and Thorpe Underwood, south of Boroughbridge.

It involved a blue Ford Focus and a silver Volkswagen Touran.

An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Ford, died as a result of the collision. He has not been named.

Six other occupants of both vehicles were taken to hospital with injuries.

North Yorkshire Police have urged witnesses to come forward.

A force statement today said:

“Police are urging anyone who saw the collision or either car involved prior to it to get in touch. They would also like to hear from anyone who may have relevant dashcam footage.

“Anyone with information is asked to email PC Julie Brown. Julie.Brown@northyorkshire.police.uk or phone North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Julie Brown. Please quote reference number 12230116638 when passing information.”

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Calls for urgent action to stop North Yorkshire children vaping

Calls have been made for urgent action to tackle children vaping across North Yorkshire amid an “explosion” in young people using e-cigarettes.

A meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee heard the authority’s annual health and wellbeing survey concluded more than one in three of children aged 13 to 15 years old had at least tried vaping, while 9% said they used them regularly.

Smoking of traditional cigarettes was continuing to decrease and the use of illegal drugs remained low, the meeting was told, but some children were starting to vape while still at primary school.

The study found some 5% of 10 and 11-year-olds pupils responded that they had at least tried vaping.

However, councillors were warned the vaping statistics in its Growing Up In North Yorkshire study were “woefully out” and the actual prevalence of vaping was likely to be much higher.

Earlier this year Dr Mike McKean, of the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, said vaping was becoming “an epidemic” among teenagers.

He said if the growth of youngsters vaping continued at the same rate, almost all children would vape within five years.

Dr Tom Cavell-Taylor, who is a governor at Ripon Grammar School, told the scrutiny meeting: 

“I don’t think young people appreciate the dangers of vaping.

“Vaping was seen as a better alternative to smoking, but there is a bit of a health time bomb going on with vaping and I don’t think that message is fully appreciated with young people.”

Cllr Kirsty Poskitt, who is also a youth worker, added it was “not unusual for year five and six pupils to be vaping”.

She said: 

“What I’m really concerned with is how fast the public health is getting out. I have conversations daily with young people that vape that have no clue that it is in any way dangerous.

“The parents see it as a much better, they taste and smell nice, they’re trendy, you’re not going to have that first hacking  experience of cigarettes.

“It’s a huge explosion and it’s one of my biggest concerns with young people.”

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The meeting heard councillors call for the government to step up campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of vaping in the way that it has highlighted the risks of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol or ban the sale of single-use vapes.

Councillors said by looking at the images in the windows of vaping shops alone, it was obvious children were being targeted.

The authority’s director of children and young people’s services, Stuart Carlton, said while he appreciated the immediate need to raise of the risks of vaping, it would be worse to launch a campaign that wasn’t accurate.

He said one of the issues with tackling vaping was that “the market moves really quickly”, so it was important to get messages precise.

Mr Carlton said: 

“I would just ban them. I think they should only be available on prescription as part of a smoking reduction programme to adults only. That’s how you get them out of the system.

“Some of the things that are giving us the most concern aren’t the ones sold in shops, it’s the illegal market. These are black market vapes with cannabinoid additions which are causing horrendous incidents to children who experiment. You can do something about vaping, but then miss the thing that’s doing to most damage.”

The scrutiny committee was told public health officials were teaming up with a range of bodies, including the NHS and Trading Standards, to tackle the issue in a coordinated way.

Shadow chancellor joins local by-election campaign trail

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves joined Labour candidate Keir Mather on the by-election campaign trail in Selby on Saturday.

Selby and Ainsty will go to the polls on July 20 following the resignation of Conservative MP Nigel Adams.

The constituency includes villages close to Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, including Spofforth, Follifoot, Ouseburn and Little Ribston.

The Conservatives hold a 20,137 majority but Ms Reeves’ visit indicates that Labour, which finished second last time with 25% of the vote, regards it as a winnable seat.

Ms Reeves joined Mr Mather to launch his five-point plan, which he said would deliver ‘a fresh start’ for the constituency.

Ms Reeves said:

“Across Britain, people are being hit hard by a Tory mortgage penalty, and here in Selby and Ainsty over 12,300 households will see their repayments go up by an average £2,700.

“Meanwhile, the Conservative MP abandoned his constituents in a cost of living crisis, leaving them without a voice and a Conservative government too distracted to deliver.”

Mr Mather’s five-point plan is to support residents through the cost of living crisis; tackle antisocial behaviour and rural crime; make the local NHS fit for the future; protect communities from flooding and sewage and restore frequent, reliable public transport.

He said:

“This brilliant constituency deserves a fresh start and a dedicated MP who will deliver on their promises to local people.”

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate’s Ashville College appoints head of prep school

Staff well-being and culture have rapidly risen up the priority list for many employers.  At the next Stray Ferret Business Club  we’ll hear from award winning employer, LCF Law, on how organisations can ensure their teams are productive and happy. 

The lunch event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

Harrogate’s Ashville College has appointed Philip Soutar as head of prep school.

Mr Soutar will take up the role in September, having previously been head at Rosemead Prep School and Nursery in Dulwich, South London, for the past six years.

He is currently national chair of the Independent Schools Association. In this role, he serves on the Independent Schools Council, the overarching body of the seven associations representing over 1,400 independent schools nationwide.

Rhiannon Wilkinson, head of Ashville College, said:

“Philip’s passion for preparatory education, and inspiring and nurturing young people, shines through.

“He has dedicated the whole of his successful career to preparatory education and this unrivalled experience, coupled with his national high-level insight, makes him ideally-placed to lead Ashville through the challenges and opportunities in our sector.

Mr Soutar added:

“This is a return to the north of England for my family and I and we cannot wait to become part of the Ashville community.

“My philosophy is based around high academic expectations whilst achieving the balance of opportunity through art, sport, music and drama.

Founded in 1877, Ashville is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 2-18 years.

Johnsons of Whixley supplies £130,000 worth of plants for holiday parks

Plant nursery Johnsons of Whixley has supplied £130,000 worth of plants for two luxury holiday park developments

The local horticultural business has been chosen as the primary supplier of plants for the project by Darwin Escapes, which will see one, two and three-bedroom lodges constructed in the grounds of the Blenheim Palace estate.

Johnsons has also received an order to supply the grounds of Plas Isaf Lodge Retreat in North Wales, another project by Darwin Escapes.

Eleanor Richardson, marketing manager at Johnsons of Whixley, said:

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Darwin Escapes.”

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13 candidates to contest local parliamentary by-election

Thirteen candidates will contest the Selby and Ainsty parliamentary by-election next month.

Nominations for candidates closed on Friday and voters will go to the polls on Thursday, July 20.

All 13, except the Conservative candidate Claire Holmes, are male.

This will be the first local election to require photo ID following recent changes introduced to prevent fraud.

The candidates are:

Although Selby and Ainsty is centred on Selby and reaches almost as far south as Pontefract, its northern portion includes Spofforth and many of the villages in the Vale of York, such as Great Ouseburn, Green Hammerton and Tockwith.

Voting will take place from 7am to 10pm with the election count taking place in the evening after the close of polling.

The by-election has been called following the resignation of Conservative MP Nigel Adams, who had held the seat since 2010. The Tories will be defending a 20,137 majority.

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The electorate in the Selby and Ainsty constituency have until midnight on Tuesday, July 4, to register to vote and until 5pm on Wednesday, July 5, to apply for a postal vote.

If someone is unable to vote in person or by post, they have until 5pm on Wednesday, July 12, to apply for a proxy vote.

Voters will need to bring photographic identification to be able to vote.

Accepted forms of ID include a UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence, full or provisional, a UK passport or a passport issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man, or any of the Channel Islands, and some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or blue badge.

Voters will be able to use expired ID if they are still recognisable from the photo.

Anyone without an accepted form of ID can apply for a free voter authority certificate by 5pm on Wednesday, July 12.  You can do so here.

You can register to vote here.

More information on the by-election is available here.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Making the most of honey

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.  

 

The past couple of weekends have been full of food adventures involving honey which is always a staple in my kitchen, given its many health benefits.

From having lemon-ginger-honey drink to stave off a chest infection, drinking honey and balsamic vinegar water before bed, to replacing sugar in many savoury and sweet dishes.

Louisa’s honey has been a feature in my past two weekends as I got to work with other chefs to create dishes using their many varieties of honey including the Acacia Ginger, Coriander, Lime, Citrus, the award winning Bosco, Acacia and Chestnut honey.

Food allows one to be creative and there’s nothing better than creating on the fly without recipes. The first event required the chefs including Gennaro Contaldo,  of ‘Two Hungry Italians’,  to create dishes from a range of different vegetables and meat with access to wood fired pizza oven, multiple wood fired grills and stoves.

The beetroot immediately caught my eye. I put some beetroots on the open fire and while they were roasting, I finely sliced some red onions and cooked them in olive oil with grated ginger and some pink Himalayan salt. Once the onions were deeply caramelised, I grated and added the roasted beetroots and finished this with black pepper, whiskey balsamic vinegar and ginger honey.

This is a simple and quick relish to make and goes really well with grilled meat, burgers, hummus and flat bread.

I then cooked a spatchcock quail dish using a simple marinade of Bosco honey which has a woody and intense flavour mixed with fresh oregano and thyme, lemon juice, grated habanero chilli, salt and olive oil. This was a real crowd pleasing dish ( see image below) and all it took on a really hot grill was about 9 minutes depending on the size of the quail.

My final savoury dish was squid cooked with some shallots, roasted peppers, Louisa’s lime honey, chilli, lime juice and fresh herbs. This was a really quick dish and one that I would recommend for a mid week dinner. Squid is a protein that needs to either be flash cooked in 2 – 3 minutes or slow cooked for hours.

This would be perfect as a side dish, topping for salad, couscous, rice, or an appetiser whilst waiting for the main meal. It’s a healthier alternative to battered squid rings.

The following weekend found me and a few other chefs at the BBC Good Food show in Birmingham,  where I created a couple of honey inspired savoury canapes – toasted sourdough topped with prosciutto, drizzle of acacia honey, fresh thyme and micro herbs. The second one was toasted sourdough  topped with labneh which is a strained cheese, sundried tomatoes, a drizzle of acacia honey and micro basil. I find the saltiness of the tomatoes and the sweetness of the honey make for one of those marriages made in heaven.

My dessert creations included carrot, ginger and coconut cake using Bosco and Ginger honey, strawberries and cream canape with ginger honey and chestnut honey crumb, whiskey balsamic and citrus honey macerated strawberries served with mascarpone on sourdough cracker.

My final creation inspired by middle eastern flavours was sourdough cracker topped with mascarpone, roasted pistachios, citrus honey and rose petals and this was tasted and complimented by Katy Truss from Fabulous Food Finds.

I hope you do more with the honey in your cupboard and you don’t just relegate it to being a drinks sweetener or toast topping. Try some of the amazing honey products that our local shops have to offer and have a go at making marinades, cocktails, sauces and bakes.

If  you want to catch Yemi in action she will be giving a demonstration at The Harrogate Food Festival today at 4pm. 

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Harrogate man to stand as independent in Selby and Ainsty by-election

Harrogate solicitor Andrew Gray announced today he will stand as an independent candidate in the forthcoming Selby and Ainsty by-election.

Today is the deadline for candidates to put their names forward for the by-election, which will take place on July 20 following the resignation of Conservative Nigel Adams.

Mr Gray is a solicitor who founded the Harrogate law firm Truth Legal in 2012 before a management buyout in 2022.

He said he was standing due to his “dissatisfaction with the current state of British politics” and pledged to  engage with local people using artificial intelligence to find out what they wanted.

Mr Gray said he will use Polis AI to do this, adding AI has been used abroad in politics but this will be the first time it has been adopted in a UK election.

Polis AI allows users to anonymously submit short text statements or comments, which are then sent out randomly to other participants who can click to agree, disagree or pass.

Mr Gray said:

“I want to find these consensus points and use them as my policies.

“My only policy is to take my policies from the people.

“That’s what a representative ought to do.”

Mr Gray has previously been involved as a Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat activist, as well running the non-profit Crowd Wisdom Project which has used Polis AI since 2021.

The system will be used in every town and village within the constituency to gauge a general consensus, as well as cross-constituency conversations to discuss national issues.

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Mr Gray said:

“If elected, I will vote in Parliament in accordance with the consensus of the constituency.

“On election, the conversations will continue, and I will vote in Parliament as per the changing desires of my electorate, which means that I can respond to change quickly.

“If mandated, I will vote for the government, or against, or abstain.

“Therefore, by electing me, my constituents are getting more democracy, more power in their hands. Selby and Ainsty will be the country’s bellwether constituency.”

He added:

“Although there is some history in my family in politics, I want to be seen as not so much a political candidate, but a candidate for positive change.

“There is so much that we agree upon: let’s start there. I’m optimistic. Our many problems are fixable.

“Things simply can’t stay as they are. Many of us are rolling our eyes at what is going on in Westminster. Traditional party politics need consigning to the dustbin of history.”

 

Boroughbridge performers pick a pocket or two

Boroughbridge theatre company, The Hightimers,  are returning to the stage this weekend with a new performance of Oliver Twist.

The Hightimers are named after Boroughbridge High School where they held their first performances back in 1985.

Director, Marlo Lomas, described the company as a family, with many members joining as kids before growing in experience and talent and landing bigger roles.

The company has got “bigger and bigger”  according to Lomas and have members ranging from 8-80 years old playing a part in the production.

Oliver Twist was picked as it combines the talents of both younger and more senior actors.

Christopher Bishop, playing the titular Oliver was described as “incredible” by Lomas. He compared his singing voice as “identical” to Kathe Green’s, the woman who’s voice was dubbed over the boy Oliver in the 1968 film version “Oliver!”

The theatre’s previous performances include Grease and Cinderella.

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Performances at Coronation Hall in Boroughbridge are on every Friday and Saturday until 1 July. You find tickets here starting at £10 with concession tickets available.

They’re a self-funded organisation with the profits going towards future productions and local charities.

Hightimers Oliver Twist debuting this weekend.

Hightimers Oliver Twist debuting this weekend.

 

 

 

Business Breakfast: £660m investment fund to be launched

Staff well-being and culture have rapidly risen up the priority list for many employers.  At the next Stray Ferret Business Club  we’ll hear from award winning employer, LCF Law, on how organisations can ensure their teams are productive and happy. 

The lunch event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A £660 million investment fund to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in northern England is set to be launched early next year.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will offer a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million.

The fund, which is being launched by the British Business Bank  will address a funding gap in the north and increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses.

Ken Cooper, managing director of venture solutions at the British Business Bank, said the launch of the fund “will further increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses in the region, providing finance for firms that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance”.

Mr Cooper added:

“We know that the levels of private debt lending and equity investment in the north of England remain below expectations given the region’s share of the UK’s smaller business population and that is something this next generation of the fund will continue to address by backing ambitious businesses that will drive sustainable economic growth.”

The fund will operate across three tiers: smaller loans (£25,000 to £100,000), debt (£100,000 to £2 million) and equity (up to £5 million).

Transdev offers free military bus travel

Bus operator Transdev, which includes the Harrogate Bus Company, is offering free travel for Yorkshire’s serving military and veterans on Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

All journeys on the bus firm’s network will be free throughout the day to current forces personnel, cadet volunteers and veterans from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

Armed Forces Day in June each year salutes the service of men and women in the military.

Those eligible must show a forces ID card, wear their uniform or display their medals.

 

Cost of living crisis prompts Boroughbridge café to close

A Boroughbridge cafe has announced it will close its doors for good within the next two weeks.

Fourth Stone Café serves breakfasts and brunches on Church Lane.

The business, which has been open for 18 months, posted the news on its Facebook page this week.

It cited the cost of living crisis and rising prices as factors in its decision.

Jack Pinder, the owner, said on Facebook:

“It is with a heavy heart I am having to write this.

“Unfortunately, we will be open for only the next two weeks before closing our doors for good on Saturday, July 1.
“The cost of living crisis and continued rises in cost, have caught up with us and like so many small businesses it means we can no longer continue to carry on.

“This has not been an easy decision to make but sometimes you have to acknowledge when enough is enough, not just financially but also for the good of your own wellbeing!”

The post prompted numerous messages of support. One customer said:

“It’s so sad to see such a wonderful business close.”

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