Editor's Pick of the Week: Theresa May upstaged in Harrogate, Northern Lights and an unholy row in Ripon

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It isn’t easy to upstage a former Prime Minister at her own event — but Knaresborough man John Cooper achieved it this week.

John whipped off his jacket when the audience was invited to ask questions during Theresa May’s opening night interview at Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival to reveal the most fabulous T-shirt he’d had made showing the ex-Tory leader dancing at her party conference.

Even Baroness May seemed impressed. John’s account afterwards of why she is a gay icon is pure gold. 

No sooner had I arrived home from the festival than I was off out again. Social media was buzzing with photos of the Northern Lights, which I’d never seen before.

I drove for an hour up Clint Bank, past Brimham Rocks and near to Ripon before heading home to Killinghall only to see three people standing in my drive with their camera phones. Turned out the best view all night was from my garden. The amount of people I passed searching for the astral phenomenon was incredible. Check out our gallery of some of the best shots here.

The literature festival wasn’t the only arts news this week: a first-ever Finzi Festival was announced for Harrogate to celebrate the life and music of Gerald Finzi, who lived in the town during his formative years.

The Dean of Ripon may have had some unholy thoughts this week when no less a figure than Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, urged Ripon Cathedral to think again about felling trees as part of its plans to build an £8 million annexe.

It may have been a bad week for Ripon Cathedral, but it was a belting one for museums in the city. A new one is coming to The Old Chapel on Coltsgate Hill and Ripon Museums Trust, which runs three museums, received a whopping £2.5 million national lottery grant. The trust appears extremely adept at securing grants at a time when many arts and cultural organisations are struggling for funding.

The most heartwarming moment of the week came during Harrogate and District Community Action’s annual general meeting, when two schoolgirls talked about how volunteering had changed their lives.

One girl said she’d learned not to worry about what others thought and just do what makes her happy. A great example of the value of community action and of groups like HADCA, which supports the work of more than 200 community groups in the Harrogate district.