Few people have done more to beautify Knaresborough than Ollie Ward.

Ollie was appointed the first town ranger this year with a mission to tidy up the town.

It’s a job he knows well: he used to clean the streets for Harrogate Borough Council, where he started as an apprentice 26 years ago. Now, in a sign of times changing, he is paid to clean them by Knaresborough Town Council.

The basic requirements haven’t changed much. He still does all those tasks people think need doing, but nobody else does, such as picking litter, removing graffiti, trimming hedges and smartening up ginnels.

Small jobs make a big difference to a town like Knaresborough that is known for its beauty.

Ollie's job might not seem glamorous, but when we met on Waterside last week it was difficult to think of a better place to work than in the shadow of Knaresborough’s famous viaduct, in glorious autumn sunshine.

Ollie was there to spruce up Viaduct Terrace, the pedestrian walkway alongside the River Nidd, but in the community spirit of the role he was helping a resident reverse out of their drive when we arrived.

He says:

“People appreciate what we are doing. It provides a better welcome to Knaresborough. Every place should do it.”

When he isn’t tidying up the town, he runs his own landscaping and garden services company OJW Services.

Knaresborough Town Council initially employed Ollie on a six-month contract to work five hours a week at £25 an hour.

Town council clerk Angela Pulman said residents had requested the role and feedback has been “very positive”.

She added:

“Due to this positive response from residents the town council has resolved to not only extend the contract but to increase the weekly hours from five to eight.”

Ollie says most people are delighted to see him going about his work — but also question why the town council has to fund it.

“People do ask why North Yorkshire Council doesn’t do it and isn’t that what they pay their taxes for,” says Ollie. “But that’s not realistic anymore.”

Tighter funding and the decision to abolish seven district councils — including Harrogate Borough Council — to create the unitary North Yorkshire Council has led to cut backs to services like street cleaning. 

With further cuts expected, there is little prospect of change, which has left towns and cities seeking alternatives.

Businesses in Harrogate and Ripon voted to create business improvement districts — organisations set-up to improve town centres and increase footfall.

Harrogate BID employs two street rangers and Ripon BID undertakes street cleaning. Knaresborough firms, however, rejected creating a BID.

The job therefore falls to Ollie and, with his local knowledge and professional background, he seems well suited. 

Although he focuses mainly on the town centre, he goes out almost as far as the McDonald’s restaurant.

He keeps Knaresborough Town Council business cards in his van and hands them out to anyone who wants to report grot spots. 

One of his recent jobs, he says, has been getting rid of weeds and nettles in a ginnel off the High Street that’s regularly used by schoolchildren.

Little jobs that add up to a cleaner, more attractive town.

“It’s been a learning curve for Knaresborough Town Council and myself,” he says. “But it seems to be working well.”