The £2.25m eco-house for sale that ‘blends in’ to the Nidderdale countryside

Nidderdale’s countryside conjures up images of farmhouses and stone cottages peppered across the sweeping rural landscape.

So Fringill Dike House in Darley certainly catches your eye.

However, the £2.25 million property isn’t invasive, as it has been intentionally designed to “blend in” to its natural surroundings.

The five-bedroom eco-house has been designed by Skipton-based Rural Solutions and took more than two-and-a-half years to build.

Underground

The property, which spans more than 6,000 ft, has been constructed using a mix of traditional dry stone walls and sedum living roofs. It is fitted with ground source heating, as well as an underwater storage tank, which collects rainwater.

A third of the house is also built underground.

Owner Paul Chapman lives on a nearby farm. He explained that the home had originally been built for him and his wife, Caron, on land owned by the couple.

Mr Chapman, who has eight children, said:

“We built four houses for our sons in one field and built this house in another. The intention was my wife and I were going to move into it.

“However, we decided we didn’t want to swap 13 acres for one. So we made the decision to sell it rather than move in.”

The property is back on the market with joint agents Knight Frank and Carter Jonas after an original sale fell through.

An aerial view of the house.

Despite it’s £2.25 million price tag, Mr Chapman said there had been a lot of interest in the property, which he put down to it being located in an affluent area.

However, he admitted he had spent too much on the build, which was hit by delays due to the pandemic.

He said:

“The difference between the build cost and the sale price is the price of the land, that’s all. It might not even be that much.”

But there is no denying the house is impressive, with no expense spared.

Private driveway

The property is approached via a lengthy private driveway over a bridge, which gently winds past a grassed field.

Upon entering the house, oak steps lead down from the hallway into a huge kitchen space. A wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing frames uninterrupted views of Nidderdale.

The huge kitchen that boasts incredible views across Nidderdale.

The lower ground floor features two large spaces, which have yet to be transformed.

Cinema room

Mr Chapman said:

“We were going to put a bar in one of the rooms, but when we decided we weren’t going to move in, we left them empty. So whoever moves in can build a bar, cinema room or a gym.”

Despite being underground, the lower floor features high ceilings with glazed panels in the terracing above, flooding the space with natural light. In addition to the two rooms, there is a shower room with a sauna, separate cloakroom and plant room.

One of the underground rooms.

Upstairs, a landing provides access to five bedrooms, all with their own ensuite facilities.

One of the bathrooms.

The gardens and grounds surrounding the property extend to just under 1.5 acres. A large paved sun terrace spans the entire width of the rear of the property.

Locally-sourced

Mr Chapman said:

“We had discussions with the architect and when the plans were designed, we were able to do a virtual tour of the house.

“We made sure everything was where we wanted it to be. We put in the best appliances and units and everything was sourced locally. For example Woodhouse, in Harrogate, designed and fitted the kitchen.

“It is named after the beck – or dike – that runs through the property.”

Mr Chapman, who has owned race horses for 15 years, has also named one of his horses Fringill Dike, a champion at that.

He said:

“He’s running again at Hexham this weekend and we are hoping he will win again.”

The sauna in the underground space.

Asked if he would build any more houses in the future, Mr Chapman, who moved to Darley from Howarth 12 years ago, didn’t seem overly keen.

He said:

“It went on too long. We did it for ourselves, but I wouldn’t want to build any to sell. If you employ a middle man, it’s hard to make a profit. Especially if you have to buy the land.”

‘Anchored in nature’

A statement on the Rural Solutions website, which features some impressive architectural drawings of the property, said:

“Working with the client, we produced a design for a new house on an open, sloping site in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

“Incorporating a dynamic, landscape-based concept we used indigenous dry-stone walls as a device to structure a single ‘ribbon’ design. In this way the project was designed deliberately to blend into the landscape, using local, natural materials; a beautiful home anchored in nature.”

You can watch a video of the property here.

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Delight as Summerbridge school rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted

A Nidderdale primary school has been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.

Inspectors visited Summerbridge Community Primary School in February and have now given the ‘Good’ rating across all five areas assessed, as well as for its overall effectiveness.

They highlighted pupils’ behaviour and concentration, after-school clubs and residential trips, and the ambitious learning opportunities, as among the areas where the school performed well.

The inspectors’ report said:

“Leaders want the best for pupils at this small village school. The school has a caring ethos where pupils are taught to develop skills and knowledge to maximise their potential… Positive relationships between staff and pupils are evident throughout the school. Pupils feel safe, happy and well cared for.”

The report praised the school’s teaching across numerous subject areas, as well as the special educational needs and disabilities provision. It also recognised the leadership team’s effectiveness, and said staff were positive about their jobs and enjoyed working at the school. It added:

“Staff feel valued and say that leaders are considerate of their well-being.”

To improve further, the school was advised to offer staff the opportunity to refresh and update their knowledge of the method chosen to teach phonics, and to support subject leaders to ensure staff understood how best to deliver lessons that match the intended learning outcomes.

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Reacting to the new Ofsted report, headteacher Nick Coates said:

“I am delighted with the outcome following a four-year journey of hard work by everyone involved with the school.

“The parents, the governors, the staff, the local authority and of course the children have all had a significant part to play in the success of the school and given the challenges of the last two years, this hasn’t always been easy, but we are thrilled that all our hard work has paid off and has been recognised by the inspection team.”

At its last inspection in 2018, Summerbridge Primary School was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’.

Mr Coates became headteacher in September 2016. He has also been headteacher at Darley Primary School since January 2009 and the two schools have formed a federation, with a total of 160 pupils.

Work to begin on new boules court in Darley

A new boules court will be built in Darley next week to add to the growing community facilities.

The project is being organised by Darley Playing Fields Association, which already manages the nearby children’s play area and football pitch as well as leasing out the pavilion to farm shop Crimple Valley Fresh.

Using volunteers from nearby Menwith Hill and the Men’s Shed at Pateley Bridge, the group hopes most of the work will be completed next Friday, ready to open the new court in time for Easter.

Chairman Mark Simpson told the Stray Ferret:

“We only have a relatively small area and we wanted something different that’s not very common and would appeal to people of all ages.

“We know someone who has played boules in the past, and the landlord of the local pub is French, so we thought, ‘let’s see if there is interest’.”

A survey of villagers followed at the beginning of this year, with an impressive 99% of those who responded supporting the idea of a boules court on the Station Road site. The playing fields association then sought funding and materials from their contacts to bring the project together.

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As well as money from the National Lottery Community Fund, Darley and Menwith Parish Council has supported the work and will fund two benches by the courts to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee. The project could cost up to £12,000 in total, though the committee is hoping to use its contacts to get discounted materials.

Once open, the court will be available to play on free of charge. With no other boules courts in Nidderdale, players could travel from around the area to enjoy the new facilities, which the playing fields association hopes will also bring more income to the shop in the pavilion.

Mr Simpson added:

“We’ll have sets of boules in the shop to rent. If people are keen and want to start a competition, we will happily facilitate that with hire of the court for a charge.

“If there’s interest, we could end up with people joining leagues too.”

Harrogate drug dealers sentenced after being caught with £2,500 worth of cocaine

Two drug dealers have been sentenced after being caught in Harrogate with cocaine worth £2,500.

Darren Walker, 44, and Hannah Sharrett, 32, admitted to possessing the drugs and a small amount of cannabis.

The pair were stopped by police in a car on Leeds Road on April 16, 2020, heading into Harrogate.

A search located two bags of cocaine in the glove box and a further bag under the passenger seat – with a street value of more than £2,500. 

A further small amount of cocaine was found in Sharratt’s possession, and a small amount of cannabis in a car door pocket.

Police seized and examined Walker’s phone, which showed him arranging the sale and transportation of drugs for street-level distribution.

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Walker, of Darley, Harrogate, was sentenced to 44 months in jail for possession with intent to supply cocaine. 

He was also disqualified from driving after being found to be under the influence of cocaine.

Sharratt, of Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, was given a suspended sentence totalling 24 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and possession of cocaine and cannabis.

PC George Frost, from North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite Team in Harrogate, said: 

“We are working tirelessly to combat criminal exploitation and drug supply in the area, and will continue to proactively target those who would seek to gain from the sale of harmful illegal drugs in our communities.

“This court result sends a clear and robust message that the sale of Class A drugs on the streets of North Yorkshire will not be tolerated.”

Nidderdale landowner sets up curlew conservation project

A Nidderdale landowner has been awarded a grant to set up a curlew conservation project.

Clive White, who has farmed in Darley for 35 years, received the grant from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme run by Nidderdale AONB.

The programme is funded by the government’s Agricultural Transition Plan.

It supports schemes that promote nature recovery, mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide better access or engagement with the land, or increase the business resilience of nature friendly farms.

The Darley Beck Curlew Project will aim to reduce curlew egg and chick losses to predators and farming techniques.

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Farmers who have signed up will permit bird surveyors to perform studies on their land on the success of curlew breeding in the area and the effects of predation and farming activities, such as silage.

They will then consult to find out what needs to be done to help the curlews and how much it will cost.

Mr White said;

“Most of the farmers who have joined this cluster, especially the older ones, have noticed the decline in curlew numbers over the last three or four decades and are willing to find out how they might be able to help reverse this decline.”

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He will be working in partnership with Nidderdale’s FIPL officer, Matthew Trevelyan, who said;

“As a farmer, I know that if these projects are farmer-led, it will be of great advantage. My experience of this fund to date is that, with a little imagination and passion, it can be used to support brilliant and realistic projects that partner farmers with ecologists and conservation organisations.”

Curlews have been listed as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species since 2008.

Participants aim to have the conservation project up and running in time for this year’s breeding season.

Harrogate district community groups encouraged to apply for £2,500 grants

Groups and organisations in the Harrogate district are being invited to apply for grants of up to £2,500 to help support local communities.

The Knabs Ridge Wind Farm community benefit fund helps to fund projects which benefit local people, such as renovations to buildings and new equipment for playgroups.

It has also helped fund public Internet and computers at Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall.

The fund is aimed at organisations in Hampsthwaite Felliscliffe, Hampsthwaite, Birstwith, Norwood, Darley and Menwith, Haverah Park with Beckwithshaw and Fewston in Nidderdale.

It is available to small local charities and voluntary and community groups in those areas.

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The fund, which is operated by Two Ridings Community Foundation, has grants that are awarded to “enhance quality of life for local residents” and “contribute to vibrant, healthy, successful and sustainable communities”.

RWE Renewables, which set up the fund, said:

“The Knabs Ridge Wind Farm Community Fund is designed to help voluntary organisations, community groups and small charities and other types of not for profit organization that support charitable, educational, community, environmental, energy efficiency or general community amenity projects in the local area.”

Those applying for the grant must be a voluntary organisation, community group, small charity or other type of not for profit organisation and have been in existence for six months.

They must also have a governing document or a constitution. The deadline for applications is May 9, 2022.

More information can be found on the Two Riddings Community Foundation website.

Fears Nidderdale could become ‘barren’ unless more affordable homes are built

A lack of affordable homes in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is forcing young and low-paid families to move away, a meeting has heard.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission last night called for greater action to bring forward more affordable homes in the area, which has seen average property prices climb to around £320,000, according to Zoopla.

The AONB covers around two-thirds of the Harrogate district but only has 9% of its population and councillor Tom Watson, who represents the Nidd Valley ward, expressed fears that it could become “barren”.

He said:

“If we don’t have small developments in the area, village schools are going to close, pubs are already on the way out and village shops are also going to go.

“The AONB is there to protect the countryside, but we have got to make sure the area is a living one and not barren.”

227 households on waiting list

Created in 1994, the AONB was introduced to conserve the countryside with levels of protection from developments.

A total of 253 homes were recently proposed at sites in Darley, Dacre, Summerbridge and Pateley Bridge under the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35. But government planning inspector ruled that they would have had too great an impact.

Since then, a growing number of residents have struggled to get a footing on the property ladder with 227 households currently on the council’s waiting list for social housing in Upper Nidderdale.

And with an average of just 20 vacancies becoming available each year, the waiting list would take around 10 years to clear if no more households came forward.

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Councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrats, described the situation as “really sad” and said efforts to build affordable homes on small plots of council-owned land were only a “tiny drop in the ocean”.

Council planners said they were also demanding affordable homes be built at developments of more than 10 properties to try tackle the problem.

Smaller profits

However, Jenny Kerfoot, executive officer for housing growth at the council, said landowners were often reluctant to bring forward plans for affordable housing because of the smaller profits involved.

She added the council was hopeful these landowners have “given up hope that their land is worth a lot of money” now that the Local Plan has been adopted and any large developments have been ruled out.

She said:

“There won’t be any of these big sites in the AONB or predominantly for market housing so it’s our intention now to approach those landowners.”

Councillor Victoria Oldham, a Conservative who represents the Washburn ward, said another possible solution would be the conversion of disused farm buildings, but she added any new developments were often met with opposition from locals.

She said:

“We all know little pockets of land in the area where a pair of semis could easily go, but half of the problem would be the negativity from parish councils or people in the immediate vicinity.

“I’m pretty much against large developments in the AONB because we haven’t got the transport facilities. A lot of places don’t even have shops or post offices – and you can forget banking.

“But one or two houses in areas would be of benefit as something needs to be done.”

 

Councillor’s ‘white lives matter’ comments ‘deplorable’, says council leader

The leader of Harrogate Borough Council has described comments made by a parish councillor for a “white lives matter” protest as deplorable and shocking.

More than two weeks ago, Cllr Ernest Butler, who sits on Darley and Menwith Parish Council, posted comments on his Facebook page suggesting that people moving to the UK were “taking over”.

The borough council received complaints about the remarks, but pointed out that its code of conduct does not extend to social media comments made by councillors.

Cllr Matthew Webber, Liberal Democrat councillor, asked council leader Richard Cooper at a meeting of the authority’s full council last night about the council’s position on the matter.

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Cllr Cooper said:

“First thing to say is Cllr Butler, who I had never heard of before this, his comments are deplorable and just really shocking.

“But there is a legal position here about what the borough council can and cannot do and I will ask the council’s solicitor to forward a copy to you of that legal position which has been supplied to those people in the media.

“You will be able to see for yourself. In fact, after so many years on the council, you should understand the standards procedure and what is and is not possible.

“But I will ask for your benefit for the council’s head of legal and governance services to forward that to you and copy all councillors in as well.

“If I was Darley and Menwith Parish Council, I would have thought twice about co-opting this gentleman in the first place and I would certainly be putting pressure on him to stand down.”

Councillor Richard Cooper (bottom right) told a full council meeting that Cllr Butler’s comments were deplorable.

It comes as Cllr Butler’s comments sparked controversy with anti-racism campaigners who took complaints to his employers.

When The Stray Ferret approached Cllr Ernest Butler he was not apologetic about his comments and said he had not done anything wrong.

He said:

“I am not a racist person. What I said online is true, there are just people out there that disagree with me and want to bring me down. I just stick my head above the parapet and say what other people can’t. It’s not racist to say people from European countries are taking jobs here and driving down the wages.”

Strayside Sunday: Harrogate Borough Council must act in councillor race controversy

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political column written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communication for the Conservative Party

This week, two politicians, one an obscure local parish councillor, the other a Labour MP of some note, have both fallen foul of unwise activity on social media.  The very ‘White British’ Harrogate district parish councillor Ernest Butler took to Facebook to claim that (sigh) “White Lives Matter” and, to boot, that Jonny Foreigner is taking over.  Meanwhile, Rebecca Long-Bailey MP couldn’t resist attaching herself to the celebrity twitter coattails of actress and activist Maxine Peake, when retweeting the antisemitic claim that Israeli arrest methods caused the death of George Floyd.

Following multiple complaints from the public about the content of his statements, an unrepentant Mr. Butler has been suspended from work by his employers, Nidd Hall, while Ms. Long-Bailey’s unwillingness to take down her retweet gave Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer the excuse he needed to rid his Shadow Cabinet of a leading and unreformed Corbynista.

Ms. Long-Bailey is a professional politician, working under the constant scrutiny of the British political media, and should know better.  In fact, I believe she does know better, and that she provoked a deliberate stand-off with Sir Keir in order to cement her position as Momentum’s torch bearer.  But to have done so with two such incendiary topics as Mossad and the murder of George Floyd demonstrates a deeply troubling triumph of ambition over reason.

Ernest Butler doesn’t know any better.  He is an amateur politician, bustling around Darley’s rather lovely parish, trying sincerely to do his bit for his community.  No one questions that.  His ignorance of the evil ways of social media (once you publish your views they exist on a global media platform and can never be taken back) is not a sin and should be forgiven, especially of someone not born into the generation of so-called ‘digital natives’.  However, ignorance of the current cultural context in which you make your rather fruity views known when using social media deserves less charity; the views Mr. Butler expressed are wrong.

Harrogate Council too has received complaints about Mr. Butler’s views, but has washed its hands of the affair, notwithstanding that its own code of conduct (to which, as a district councillor, Mr. Butler is subject) makes it entirely plain that, to paraphrase, you don’t get to publish your views in a purely personal capacity on social media.  And that has to be right, doesn’t it?  The very reason these pages have covered this story this week is because Mr. Butler is a Councillor, and therefore a representative of the Council.  As such he is not free to publish his views absent of Council oversight and censure.  One might have thought that, at the very least, the council would have taken the opportunity of Mr. Butler’s indiscretion to voice it’s support for a world in which Black Lives Matter, even here in Harrogate.  True to form, the council said nothing, and did nothing.  It pains me to say that Labour’s Sir Keir has this week shown our own Richard Cooper what real leadership looks like.

This is difficult and sensitive territory I know. Surely a right to free speech is part of what defines our democracy and our society?  For my part I believe in a public discourse that celebrates a person who, in the brilliant words of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, “would advocate at the top of their lungs that which I had spent a lifetime opposing at the top of mine.” I believe in passionate arguments well-made. But I don’t get to decide. And neither, individually, do you.  It’s too late for that.

In order to support a business model based on targeted advertising, we have allowed companies like Facebook and Twitter to beg ‘platform,’ rather than publisher status.  If they had been subject to the rules traditional news and content publishers comply with we may not have seen the hate-filled, mudslinging, tear it down, free-for-all that such social media platforms enable.

In reaction, a new tyranny has taken hold, one in which social media is a megaphone to rally like-minded support and to shout down the targets of ire.  It gives expression to an ugly need to condemn, to shame, to bully and it gives an outlet to the primary school playground impulse to “all pile on.”  Worst of all it is reductionist and intellectually lazy. If you can’t hashtag it then it’s not worth saying.  Social media offers no space or inclination to inform and educate those who, like Councillor Ernest Butler, sometimes get things wrong.

Social media is but one area of contemporary life where personal responsibility is now at a premium.  This week the Great British Public has reacted to the easing of lockdown measures with wanton abandon. From the packed beaches of Bournemouth to the packed green spaces of Harrogate’s Stray, we have seen a total disregard for social distancing guidelines as lovely weather and the frustrations of lockdown seem to have overwhelmed any sense of self-control;  Dorset and North Yorkshire Police both have complained of large and rowdy gatherings of people drinking, drugging, littering and using common outdoor space as a toilet.

Boris Johnson’s strand of conservatism places personal responsibility at its core.  He believes that the right to freedom (speech and otherwise) is balanced by the responsibilities of individual citizenship.  It has been the compass he has used to guide his decision-making during the coronavirus crisis; so, when possible, Boris has chosen the path of least restriction and asked, rather than required people to change their behaviour.  This worked well initially.  However, it seems increasingly clear to me that, whether on Twitter or on the Stray, we can’t be trusted to behave.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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