Two charities that provide much-needed support for local people are benefiting from the £7,000 raised through the Mayor of Ripon’s annual appeal.

Dementia Forward‘s community fundraiser Amy Senior visited Ripon Town Hall on Tuesday to accept a cheque for £3,500 and the same amount will be presented shortly to Harrogate District Mind.

Dementia Forward, which operates throughout North Yorkshire, opened its flagship community hub in 2017 at George Armitage House in Burton Leonard and a further five have followed across the county.

Ms Senior said:

“This donation is greatly appreciated and will support the day services that we provide through our hub club for people affected by dementia.”

Mind’s Harrogate District association was founded in 1973 and over the past 50 years, the charity run by local people, for local people, has been a constant source of support and confidential services including befriending, counselling and outreach.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, said:

“We are delighted to support two great charities and have been able to do so because of the generosity of the local community and the tremendous work of the appeal committee, which organised and ran fundraising events throughout the last mayoral year.”

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It was a day of tradition, ceremony and civic pride in Ripon, with the Royal Engineers’ freedom march and the installation at the cathedral of councillor Sid Hawke as city mayor.

Among those in attendance for both of yesterday’s events  was Major-General Eldon Millar who, as Defence Services Secretary, played a key role in the organisation and delivery of this month’s coronation celebrations for King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Involving more than 6,000 armed forces members, it was the UK’s largest military ceremonial operation in 70 years.

Major-General Eldon Millar, Defence Services Secretary, in Ripon yesterday

Although the freedom march was on a much smaller scale, hundreds of soldiers from 21 Engineer Regiment accompanied by the British Army Band from Catterick ensured a spectacular display as they marched to the beat of a drum with bayonets fixed.

The mayor and mayoress on their way to the cathedral with sergeant at mace David Coates and hornblower Allison Clark.

Ripon City Council has announced that the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, has been nominated to serve a third mayoral term.

He was the city’s mayor in 2008/09 and has now been nominated as mayor elect for 2023-24.

Cllr Hawke’s wife, Linda will accompany him during his year in office as mayoress.

Elected to Ripon City Council in 2002, he represents the Ure Bank Ward on both Ripon City Council and on Harrogate Borough Council.

Cllr Hawke said:

“I am delighted to be nominated by Ripon city councillors in the selection for the position of mayor for the second year running.”

Born and bred in the city, Cllr Hawke is semi-retired and has previously served in the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Ripon.

The current mayoral year has proved a busy one for the mayor and mayoress, including the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June, the mourning of Her Majesty’s death in September and the subsequent proclamation of King Charles III – all of which involved major civic events in Ripon.

The city’s annual mayor making ceremony will take place on May 10 and on May 21. Cllr Hawke will be installed as mayor in a service at Ripon Cathedral.

On becoming mayor for the third time, he will be matching fellow Independent councillors Eamon Parkin and Pauline McHardy, both of whom served three terms in mayoral office.

Cllr Parkin will serve as Cllr Hawke’s deputy.

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Sid Hawke received warm applause from fellow councillors, civic dignitaries and family and friends when he received Ripon’s ornate and historic chain of office this week.

The newly-installed Right Worshipful The Mayor of Ripon, was born and bred in the city.

He previously served as mayor from 2008-2009, meaning his name now appears for the second time on a roll of honour dating back to 1604, when Hugh Ripley became Ripon’s first mayor.

The celebrated rollcall of former first citizens. includes George Frederick Samuel Robinson, the First Marquess of Ripon and Viceroy of India from 1880 to 1884 , who was born at 10 Downing Street on October 24, 1827 when his father, Viscount Goderich, was briefly resident there as Prime Minister.

After serving as mayor in 1895-1896 he presented Ripon Town Hall to the municipality in 1897 —  just one of his many acts as a major benefactor in the city, that also saw fittings from St Mary’s Church on the Studley Royal estate where he had lived, bequeathed to St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church on Coltsgate Hill, following his death in July 1909.

In a city steeped in history, the stately Regency period town house that became Ripon Town Hall, has been a fitting setting for the mayor making ceremony since it was first used as the location for council meetings,

Following age-old tradition, Cllr Hawke was ‘dragged’ into the elegant council chamber before accepting his place in the hot seat, with the unanimous approval of his fellow councillors.

Councillor Sid Hawke was ‘dragged’ into the council chamber by fellow councillors Andrew Williams and Peter Horton.

“I don’t think Sid will be winning any acting awards.

“Cllr Hawke’s heart and soul is in this city and I am delighted to propose him as mayor, sure in the knowledge that he and his wife Linda as mayoress, will represent Ripon with dignity in this year of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.”

Councillors voted unanimously to install Sid Hawke as the Mayor of Ripon.

Civic duties in much of his period in office were severely curtailed by covid lockdowns and Cllr Williams said:

“You and your consort Nigel have represented Ripon through a most difficult time and done so in a most gracious way. We thank you for all that you have done for this council and for the city.”

Cllr Parkin, who has accepted the post of deputy mayor, thanked the many volunteers and unsung heroes that supported the community during his term of office and also thanked those who supported his charity appeal, raising £14,000 to be shared between Vision Support Ripon and the city’s Christmas Lights fund.

The chain of office continues in the hands of newly-installed mayor Cllr Hawke, who said:

“The last few years have been hard for everyone because of covid, but I’m not going to look  back and instead, Linda and I are looking forward to representing Ripon and seeing our city go from strength to strength.”

Picture: Ripon’s newly-installed Mayor and Mayoress of Ripon, Councillor Hawke and his wife Linda, are pictured with their Chaplain, The Rt. Revd Bishop of Ripon Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the city’s serjeant at mace Jonathan Owens (left) and city councillors.

Ripon City Council is calling for urgent action and a detailed investigation led by the Environment Agency after Storm Franklin brought unprecedented flooding to Hillshaw Park Way last month.

The owners of 11 affected properties, who are still dealing with insurance claims, a clean up operation and months of misery and disruption ahead, are seeking answers about the causes of the flood amid concerns that the drainage infrastructure serving their area is not fit for purpose.

Residents were invited to an extraordinary meeting of the council called by Mayor and ward councillor Eamon Parkin and fellow ward councillor Sid Hawke.

Irwin Blenkiron and his neighbour Andrew Jarvis spoke on behalf of all residents to highlight their concerns and seek remedial action to ensure that a similar incident does not occur in the future.

Irwin Blenkiron (front, centre) and Andrew Jarvis (checked shirt) spoke on behalf of residents of Hillshaw Park Way at the extraordinary meeting.

Mr Blenkiron, an 80-year-old retired civil servant, told the meeting about an urgent pre-dawn phone call he received from a neighbour on February 21, warning that flood water was rapidly rising in the street in front of his home.

With the need for him and his wife Carol to evacuate their bungalow growing by the minute, cars were moved from the drive to higher ground and friends unaffected by the flood who live further down the street, welcomed them into their warm and dry home.

After the council meeting, Mr Blenkiron told the Stray Ferret:

“My wife and I have lived in the street since 1985 and we have never experienced anything like this before.”

Linda Beck, who has lived in the Hillshaw Park Way for 14 years, has written on behalf of affected residents to Yorkshire Water, expressing doubts about the pumping station and associated drainage infrastructure serving the area.

Yorkshire Water’s pumping station, which serves Hillshaw Park Way and Priest Lane.

She and neighbours believe it is no longer able to cope with increased capacity of water caused by more frequent stormy weather. exacerbated by run-off water from developments, including the nearby St Michael’s Retail Park at Rotary Way and the adjacent Cathedral Meadows residential development.

Linda Beck had to throw away items from her garage after they were saturated by flood water.

Her letter was sent to the developers, along with North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council, and Ripon’s MP Julian Smith.

The pressure of water, caused by the February 21 flood, blew the cover off one of a series of storm drains located on land to the rear of Mr and Mrs Blenkiron’s home.

Ms Beck, whose garage, drive and back garden were flooded, said:

“I haven’t suffered the same degree of damage that other neighbours have experienced, but it’s a mess, massive inconvenience and I could have done without this.

“We certainly don’t want to have to put up with this again and it is clear to us that action is required.”

Andrew Jarvis, like other neighbours, is facing months of misery ahead as he waits for his home to dry out.

Those views are shared by Mr Jarvis, who who has lived in Hillshaw Park Way for 30 years. He pointed out:

“We need the causes of the February flood to be sorted out before the next storm arrives.

“The flood waters were totally unexpected and rose so quickly that there was no way of keeping them out of my house and garage.

“Now, along with Mr and Mrs Blenkirion, Linda and other neighbours on the street, I’m having to deal with the clean-up operation, with dehumidifiers around my home on virtually all the time making it hard to sleep.

“I even had to find a temporary home for my tropical fish, because it’s not suitable to have the aquarium here in these conditions.”

Yorkshire Water’s response

In response to the the letter sent by Ms Beck, Anthony Sumner, Yorkshire Water operational complaints champion, said that the flooding in Hillshaw Park Way occurred after the River Ure burst its banks and “the main surface water line out of Ripon had nowhere to go”.

Mr Sumner added:

“We were called to the sewerage pumping station as we had a report from a customer who thought the flooding was as a result of our asset failing.

“We met with a customer and showed that the sewerage pumping station was pumping as normal (by lifting both pumps and checked (sic) the rising main discharge point) .The issue as far as the pumping station was concerned was that it was taking on flood water and surface water (and) as such therefore couldn’t cope.

“There has never been any question for needing to increase capacity at this pumping station under normal conditions.

“Regarding increasing the size of the pumps, when the system was designed it was determined that the size of the pumps would meet the needs of the area, as has been shown under normal circumstances our pumps meet the requirements they were designed for.

“We would not look to increase the size or capacity at this time. Increasing the capacity of the pumps would detriment (sic) residents and communities further down the system especially during exceptional rainfall and severe storms similar to the ones we have recently experienced.”

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