Editor’s Pick of the Week: Roadworks rage continues in Harrogate and farewell to Nidderdale's curious sports tourism event

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It seems no conversation is complete in Harrogate these days without the subject of roadworks cropping up.

But besides cycling — an under-appreciated alternative — what can be done to ease matters? Night works, restricting road closures and increasing the fee to undertake roadworks have all been mooted but things aren’t as straightforward as they seem.

At least we should be spared the cones and temporary lights for a few days when the Great Yorkshire Show from July 8 to 11 brings its annual roadworks moratorium. Unfortunately, the sheer weight of traffic sometimes reduces vehicles to even more of a crawl than roadworks that week.

It’s been a mixed week for Knaresborough pubs. The Cricketers, which was gutted by fire this year, went on the market with the seller teasing the possibility of alternative use. The scale of the fire was evident in the marketing blurb, which didn’t include a floor plan, and said an energy performance certificate wasn’t available due to the lack of roof.

In the centre of town, the Old Royal Oak was forced to temporarily close when a car ploughed into the side. Staff maintained their sense of humour by saying it had become ‘Knaresborough’s first drive-through pub’.

Sadly, the end is nigh for a long-established Italian restaurant in Harrogate, which announced this week it will close after 27 years.

Time was also called on one of the district’s more curious episodes of recent years. The Long Course Weekend was hailed as a major sports tourism event that would bring 18,000 to 25,000 people to Pateley Bridge when it was first announced in 2023. North Yorkshire Council said it would pump £2 million into the local economy.

Gemma Rio, head of council-owned tourist body Destination Harrogate at the time, said she hoped it would “become a significant annual event like the Great Yorkshire Show".

But the event moved to Masham, under-exceeded expectations and has now been cancelled.

The news came in the week Ms Rio was appointed interim chief executive of Harrogate Business Improvement District.