Cherry blossom in full bloom on Harrogate’s Stray

The cherry blossom on the Stray in Harrogate is in full bloom once again.

The colourful annual display makes walks on Harrogate’s 200-acre parkland even better than usual. Visiting it is a ritual many people engage in each year.

Douglas Young, a photographer from Killinghall who enjoys capturing local wildlife is among those who make the annual pilgrimage.

He captured this year’s cherry blossom beautifully in this well composed photo.

If you have any great photos of the Harrogate district, send them to us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Read more:

 

Green Shoots: Keeping Harrogate district trees healthy

If there is one thing the people of Harrogate can actually agree on, it’s that our trees make it a healthier and better place to live.

Beech trees help soak up pollution from cars on Otley Road and the cherry blossoms provide a brilliant show at this time of year on the Stray.

David Humberstone has been a tree surgeon all his working life and owns The Tree People in Harrogate. A tree surgeon is responsible for the care and general treatment of trees to keep them healthy.

He said people are passionate about their trees here:

“What I love about my job the most is the variety. I enjoy all of it. You can be climbing up a majestic tree that’s been there for 100 years.”

Trees face many threats, from diseases like Ash Dieback to the recent storms, but often it’s people’s own tastes and preferences about how they look that can put them at risk.

Harrogate Borough Council receives around 1,400 planning applications a year from residents wanting to prune, chop or cut down trees, often in their gardens.

Mr Humberstone said part of his job is persuading people that sometimes less is more, and not intervening can help a tree live a longer and healthier life in the long run.

“Harrogate residents usually are quite passionate about gardens but too many people want a clinical garden where everything’s perfect. 

“I find nature finds a better way, man’s intervention is not always desirable. We encourage trees to be thinned, but if you over thin, wind speed can increase and it loses leaves.”

“A lot of people want to cut back as hard as they can to maximise light. But you can shoot yourself in the foot as a tree can react not always in a good way.”

Cherry blossoms on Harrogate Stray.

Read more:

Plant more trees

The Climate Change Committee says the UK should be planting 30,000 hectares of trees a year, but we’re still some way off that target.

Harrogate Borough Council is currently planting 10,000 trees in Bilton Fields as well as at Upper Horse Shoe Fields in Knaresborough.

The planting is part of the government’s White Rose Forest initiative to create 10 community forests in England. Oak, hornbeam, hazel, alder, cherry, crab apple and other native trees will be planted.

Mr Humberstone said it’s vital that more trees are planted in the district, whether on a large scale or in someone’s back garden.

He said:

“One mature beech tree can take the pollution from two houses.

“Yes, it also takes a long time for a tree to establish. It gets comfortable for a few years before roots take off and grow. When it gets to 50 years old it is just getting out of its teenage years, it’s very important to maintain our big trees.

“The planet needs more trees and we need to plant more. It breaks my heart when I have to take a good tree down.”

And whilst the equation that more trees will improve the environment is straightforward, they have other benefits that you might not know about.

Mr Humberstone added:

“A beech tree has a pubescent leaf. It has hairs on it that help catch dust particles in the air. So not only does it provide oxygen, it filters dust out of the air. When it rains that dust is washed to the ground. Trees have so many benefits.”

Built environment

Like many of us, Mr Humberstone has a couple of favourite trees that he likes to admire as he works around Harrogate.

“On Granby corner there is a beautiful elm on the corner. On Devonshire Place there’s another beautiful elm. I’m a bit nostalgic as when I started I was cutting down lots of elm.

“Elm doesn’t rot in water and they used it to build Victorian piers.

“I am also very passionate about the yew tree. There’s whole books written about them. Its rock hard and is poisonous. They use it in drugs to fight fight cancer.”

And as Harrogate’s built environment has continued to grow with new housing developments and buildings, sometimes leading to conflict with the natural environment, Mr Humberstone said he will always be fighting the tree’s corner.

Sneak Peek: New brasserie and bar will offer ‘a taste of Harrogate’

One thing Harrogate isn’t short of is restaurants.

However the team behind Samsons brasserie and bar, which opens its doors tomorrow, is confident their new venture will stand out from the crowd.

Executive chef Josh Whitehead, who is known for his work with the Harewood Food and Drink Project, is heading up a talented kitchen team. He was also a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals 2016.

The bar will serve a range of beverages including cocktails, beer and spirits.

His menu will focus on “real cookery”, using quality British produce that has been mainly sourced from within a small radius of the restaurant, which is based at the former Le Bistrot Pierre site on Cheltenham Crescent.

Mr Whitehead said:

“We are buying really good, really local produce and presenting it in a really accessible way for everyone.

“It’s British ingredients, British cooking and finding a way to replace what you would normally get from other countries. For example instead of olive oil, we will use rapeseed oil from Wharfe Valley Farms in Collingham.”

The menu will offer a taste of the local area and ingredients will include Harrogate’s iconic Stray cherry blossoms.

Dishes start from £4 for small plates, classic starters from £6 and mains from £14.

Signature dishes will include duck crumpets.

The dining area seats up to 80 people.

Read more:

Mr Whitehead said:

“We will be offering a taste of Harrogate, which you won’t be able to get anywhere else.

“It’s a really exciting time. My first ever kitchen job was in Harrogate around 10 years ago in what was Restaurant Bar and Grill on Parliament Street, which is now Piccolinos.

“I’ve always thought something like this needs to be in Harrogate. I don’t want to say it’s like a homecoming, but it’s quite cool that this is the biggest job I’ve had thus far in the same place I started.

“I was looking for next challenge and this one just stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mr Whitehead will be reunited in the kitchen with his best friend and former colleague Andy Castle, who was head chef at the Ox Club in Leeds.

The famous cherry blossoms will also feature as garnish on the extensive cocktail menu, which will feature 12 classic and 15 signature cocktails, all of which have been given Harrogate-themed names.

The name of the restaurant is also linked to the town.

Managing director of Samsons, Mark Morrison, who moved to Harrogate from London seven years ago, said:

“There was a chap called Samson Fox who brought the first street lights to the world. He was also quite philanthropic, he did a lot of work helping the poor. He built the Royal Academy of Music, which happens to be in London, not far from where I grew up. So there’s a nice link there.

“But when I was looking around for things about Samson Fox, there was one brown plaque 12 streets away on his old house at Grove Road and that’s it.

“And this is the only three-time mayor of Harrogate, a significant figure, and nothing really to celebrate him or his life.

“It’s a nice name for a restaurant.”

Samsons, which is described as “a light, airy design-led space”, seats up to 80 people in the restaurant and 20 people in the bar area. There is also additional seating on the outdoor terrace,  which is set to launch in the warmer months.