Organising an official street party with North Yorkshire County Council and closing a road takes a bit of paper work and bureaucracy.

Neighbours Jilly Adams and Angela Palladino in Westminster Grove, Burn Bridge, were undeterred.

Both work for the NHS and thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring their neighbours together post covid.

This afternoon that happened as the cul-de-sac closed and neighbours brought food, drink, tables and chairs to meet and celebrate the jubilee.

Angela said:

“The local community is so important. We’ve lost looking after each other. Covid has highlighted how important it is to look after one another”

Angela Palladino (left) and Jilly Adams (right) 

Angela is a relatively new resident of the road, her neighbour Jilly Adams has lived in Westminster Grove for a long time:

“I think a lot of us have forgotten how important the Queen is. I’ve lived here for 18 years and have never done anything like this before.

“It’s taken our lovely, lovely Queen to get us together”

Both neighbours feel the Queen’s example of dedication and care is important for future generations.

Indeed sitting the shade was great grandmother, Margaret Holtby who is 80 years old holding her great grandson, Cooper, who is only two months old (pictured below).

As the sun shone in the afternoon the Stray Ferret left the Westminster Grove party in full swing. S Club 7 was playing loudly on the sound system and the bubbly was in full flow.

Leadhall Lane in Harrogate will close for two weeks later this month for resurfacing.

The works will begin on Thursday, November 11, until Wednesday, November 24, and will take place between 7.30am and 5.30pm.

North Yorkshire County Council is set to close the road in order to carry out resurfacing work.

The road connects Leeds Road with Burn Bridge and Pannal and is currently in a poor state of repair due to potholes.

Residents have been warned there may be periods when vehicle access will not be possible but pedestrian access will be maintained.

Read more:

• Pannal left with ‘eyesore’ Dunlopillo apartments, says parish council
• New book reveals storied history of Pannal and Burn Bridge

By the roadside on Brackenthwaite Lane near Burn Bridge, you might spot an umbrella and table outside a house with perhaps the best jam and marmalade in Harrogate for sale.

It’s all been homemade by former dairy farmer Elaine Church, who has lived there for 47 years.

If you leave £2 in her postbox, you can pick up a jar of orange, lemon, apricot, plum or pineapple jams or marmalades all made without preservatives. 

Ms Church said:

“I’ve always made it but I started selling it 12 years ago to see if I could, and I just kept going. 

“It’s seen me through lockdown. I think I’d have gone mad if I hadn’t had it.”

When Ms Church is in the garden she enjoys chatting to customers and said she meets people from all walks of life.

She said:

“Usually they tell me it’s alright, They go mad for the piccalilli, I can’t sell enough piccalilli! They say it’s lovely.”

‘Not out too fancy’

Ms Church also bakes cakes, which she describes as “not out too fancy”, on request. She had two delicious Bakewell tarts fresh out of the oven waiting for the Stray Ferret when we visited.

“Last week a lady said I made the best Bakewell tarts she’d had in her life. That was nice”

Read More:

• Bilton father and son supply top shops from ‘hidden gem’ allotment plot
• Harrogate man’s mission to grow record-breaking jumbo pumpkins

Ms Church grows as much of her own produce as she can to make the preserves. However, a recent experiment growing raspberries failed to bear fruit after some cunning voles climbed the stalks to eat them. She is philosophical.

“You have to share these things with wildlife.”

At the end of the day, when she brings her table inside, she’s pleased to see an empty box and is even happier when people return their used jam jars.

“I hadn’t sold anything for three days this last weekend, for some reason nothing went. I thought I wonder why? But then on Monday the whole lot went.

“I want people to bring to bring jars back. I like to recycle.”

The secret to her recipes is nothing elaborate, just good old-fashioned Yorkshire cooking.

“Chuck some fruit in a pan, add sugar and Bob’s your uncle.”

A new book has been written about the history of Pannal and Burn Bridge.

Its author is former Harrogate Advertiser journalist and Pannal historian Anne Smith, who has lived in Pannal for many years and raised her family there.

The book is called Pannal and Burn Bridge, Their Stories and includes history of the two villages dating back to the Domesday times. 

Ms Smith has written three books on Pannal previously and said her new effort “is my best book yet”. She added:

“The reason I did it is I want people who live Pannal to like Pannal and know about where they live.”

The name Pannal was first recorded in 1170 and the village has been a settlement for centuries. It developed in the middle of the former Knaresborough Forest and is believed to date back to the Bronze Age

By the early fourteenth century, Pannal had become a thriving village with weekly markets and an annual four-day fair.

Read more:

• Pannal residents ‘erupt in fury’ at Dunlopillo housing plans
• Pannal man accuses council of acting ‘unreasonably’ over leaning willows

Personal accounts

The book includes personal accounts from current Pannal residents, histories of important buildings such as Pannal Village Hall and the Black Swan pub in Burn Bridge, maps and walks of the area, and other interesting tidbits.

Ms Smith said:

“It includes contributions from a lot of the characters and friends that live in the village.

“They put their memories of how wonderful it was growing up in Pannal.

Despite Pannal changing over recent decades, Ms Smith insisted “It’s still a good place to be.”

She added:

“I’m really pleased with the book and hope everyone buys it to see the area they live in because I love Pannal.”

The book costs £10 and is available from annesmith.pannal@yahoo.co.uk

Anne Smith launched the book at an event in Pannal earlier this month.

Malcolm Neesam, Anne Smith, Howard West

There have been 633 covid infections recorded in the Harrogate district in the last seven days, according to government statistics.

The infection rate has rocketed over the last month and the current seven-day average rate is now 494 people per 100,000.

But there are considerable variations within the district.

The government breaks each district into smaller areas known as middle super output areas, each with a population of about 7,200 people.

According to the latest figures, the middle super output areas with the most current infections are central Harrogate and central Knaresborough.

The more rural Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley, which has been consistently less affected throughout the pandemic, has the fewest current infections.

Most infections

1 Central Harrogate 76

2 Knaresborough Central 61

3 Harrogate West and Pannal 59

4 Killinghall and Hampsthwaite 53

5 Starbeck 47

Read more:

• All over 80s in Harrogate district to be offered vaccine by end of month
• Three Harrogate Town players test positive for covid

Fewest Infections

1 Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley 13

2 Hookstone 17

3= Dishthorpe, Baldersby and Markington

3= Spofforth, Burn Bridge and Huby 19

5 Masham, Kirkby Malzeard and North Stainley 21

With unprecedented levels of housing planned for the western fringes of Harrogate, a new campaign group has called for developments to have a greater focus on sustainability and infrastructure.

The Western Arc Coordination Group brings together organisations including Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, Duchy Residents’ Association, Hampsthwaite Action Group, Zero Carbon Harrogate, Harrogate District Cycle Action and Pannal & Burn Bridge Parish Council.

As many as 4,000 houses could be built in the area by 2035. Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan includes 800 homes at Windmill Farm on Otley Road and 200 homes at the former police training centre on Yew Tree Lane.

Several other sites have either been recently completed or are under construction, such as Persimmon’s 600-home King Edwin Park development on Pennypot Lane and Stonebridge Homes 130-home scheme on Whinney Lane.

With construction set to continue in the area for at least the next 15 years, the group has produced a document warning of “serious disruption” to people living in what is one of Harrogate’s most popular areas.

Read the document in full here.

Read more:

• Major Pannal Ash development could lose football pitch for more housing

• Council to appoint external consultant for Harlow Nurseries housing

‘Severe’ congestion

Queueing traffic in Burn Bridge this year.

The new group predicts the majority of developments in the western arc of Harrogate will be car-dependent, which will require a “major upgrade” of roads.

It says since North Yorkshire County Council scrapped plans for a controversial “relief road” last year, there has been little progress in tackling congestion.

It warns “accepted congestion problems” have been left unaddressed and says nearby villages such as North Rigton, Burn Bridge and Pannal will bear the brunt of increased traffic in and out of Harrogate. The document says:

“All the communities we represent already experience severe congestion and the environmental and road safety problems from existing volumes of traffic.”

Tackling climate change

A key focus of the group will be putting pressure on developers and the council to ensure homes are future-proofed to mitigate the effects of climate change.

However, it says current housing developments in Harrogate fall short of the mark when it comes to the environment. It says planners, developers and house builders have a “huge responsibility” to do their bit and recognise that the decisions they take will have ramifications for climate change.

It calls on house builders to ditch their dependence on old fashioned building techniques and move towards renewable energy and off-site construction methods, which it argues will slash carbon emissions during the production process and after residents move in.

The document says:

“We would like to see that any developments in this area are exemplars of the way in which new housing addresses the net zero challenge of the next decades.”

What do local councils say?

A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council told the Stray Ferret that the Local Plan provided a “clear and robust” framework for developments, including the requirement for a “parameters plan” that will organise infrastructure.

He added:

“North Yorkshire County Council are carrying out a series of sustainable transport improvements following investment from central government, ourselves and developer contributions.

“These improvements, that will include smart traffic lights, improvements to the junction of Harlow Moor Road and Otley Road, a new off-road cycle route on Otley Road and new or improved pedestrian crossings, will help to improve safety and alleviate the current level of congestion and accommodate the future growth.”

Members of WACG spoke at North Yorkshire County Council’s area constituency committee this morning.

NYCC’s executive member for highways, Cllr Don Mackenzie, said the authority hopes to work together with the group going forward.

He said:

“I did comment on the contents of their Campaign for Sustainability of Development publication, asking for more clarity on the group’s precise aims, since it seemed to be calling for new highways infrastructure and downplaying the effectiveness of sustainable travel measures at the same time as advocating low carbon dependency infrastructure.

“I assured the delegates that NYCC wishes to continue the dialogue with their group and to work with them to introduce effective measures in the west of Harrogate to address the challenges of congestion which the high level of residential development in that area will bring.”

Police are appealing for help finding the owner of a Cockapoodle that bit a man near Burn Bridge.

The man was attacked about 50 metres from the path entrance to Crimple Meadows woodland playing fields.

According to North Yorkshire Police, the dog was one of two large brown Cockapoodles with thick brown curly hair. One dog was light brown and the other dark brown.

They were with a white man who is described as stocky, 5ft 9 inches tall and in his late fifties. He was wearing a dark green coat and did not have the dogs on leads. A North Yorkshire Police statement said:

“The darker brown dog started jumping up at a member of the public and bit the male victim on the arm, causing minor injuries.

“We are requesting the public’s assistance to help establish who the man with the two dogs was.”

The incident took place at about 10am on October 7.

Anyone with information can contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101 and selecting option 2. Ask for PC Thornborrow. You can also email jackie.thornborrow@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12200176089.