Seven must-visit gardens from those close to Harrogate to those further afieldBook Club Save the World at Park Playground in Leeds
This article is sponsored by Park Playground.
Who knew a group of eight middle aged women could have so much fun romping around a distant planet, fighting aliens and solving the world’s clean energy crisis in about an hour?
When I suggested a virtual reality experience at Park Playground to members of my Harrogate book club, it’s fair to say they were a little sceptical. This was tech that they’d no idea about but, I successfully argued, would make us pretty cool with our kids and grandchildren.
I had already been to Park Playground on a wet August day with an eleven year old and had a blast…literally. I was convinced Book Club would also find it hilarious.
Group of visitors to Park Playground in Leeds, Photograph provided by Park Playground
Off we set from Harrogate for a night out in Leeds, beginning with our session at Park Playground.
Ahmad was hosting us and we began by taking a virtual lift to the top of a sky-scraper. Once at the top, the doors opened and we each had to walk a plank off what felt like the top of the Burj Khalifa. If you can’t stand heights like me, it’s so real it’s terrifying. I couldn’t do it – but some of my fellow book lovers did it, egged on by the rest of us, shouting encouragement.
So the scene was set for our main session – a journey to a distant planet to collect a crystal which produces clean energy. We fought aliens (big and small) and an enemy army so we had to work as a team. Team work is very hard when you all start acting like teenagers and spend much of the session screaming and howling with laughter.
Our mission was eventually accomplished and we had saved the planet. Pheww. Book Club were awesome!
The technology is so impressive – you feel as though you really are jetpacking and the aliens who come at you are intimidating. It’s serious fun.
Park Playground is not just for the kids – it’s for everyone. I think every Book Club should go – as should every work team.
You enter another world, you are immersed in your new surroundings and it’s one of the best hours I’ve had this year.
Transport yourself to another world for half the price and double the fun, with our exclusive vouchers.
Enjoy 50% off a 60-minute VR experience at Park Playground in Leeds for 4 people!
Ripon City Council proudly presents the biggest free Platinum Jubilee celebration in the north
This article is sponsored by Ripon City Council.
Ripon City Council invites people of all ages from the Harrogate district and further afield to join its citizens in a once in a lifetime celebration in this Right Royal city, where the biggest free Platinum Jubilee party in the north is being held over four days to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and her selfless 70 years of service to this country.
Three days of continuous FREE musical entertainment from June 2 to 4 on a stage in front of Ripon Town Hall will see 24 of the country’s leading tribute acts perform, alongside FREE fairground rides for all the family and face painting, Punch and Judy and magic shows for children.
Full details can be found by clicking or tapping here to see Ripon City Council’s Platinum Jubilee brochure.
There’s something for everybody – from parents with a three-year-old wanting to have their face painted, to a 103 year-old great grandmother who wants to come and enjoy the nostalgic wartime songs made famous by forces sweetheart Vera Lynn.
All the fairground rides are free and there will also be a Twister ride suitable for adults
Seating will be provided on Market Square for the comfort of those wanting to take the weight off their feet while watching the tribute acts.
Music in Ripon’s Market Square
The extensive concert programme will feature just about every musical genre, from rock and roll to soul and Britpop to disco dancefloor fillers and popular classics.
Ripon’s Market Square will be in the national and international spotlight at 9.45pm on Thursday June 2, after Ripon Community Poppy Project successfully applied for the city to be be one of the 1500 locations included in the UK-wide chain of Platinum Jubilee beacons that will be simultaneously lit across the land.
Beacons will also be lit in Commonwealth countries.
During the three days of activities on Market Square, Jubilee celebrations, including the beacon lighting in London and elsewhere in the UK, can be seen live on a large TV screen.
Adding to the very special nature of the beacon lighting event, a lone piper will play Diu Regnare, which has been written specifically for the Platinum Jubilee.
The Platinum Jubilee Horn sounds
Another huge highlight will come at 9pm on Saturday June 4, when Ripon’s world-famous setting of the watch ceremony will be in the spotlight as the city council presents the Platinum Jubilee Horn, commissioned and made by craftsmen to provide a lasting memento of this history-making celebration.
The setting of the watch, which is the world’s longest unbroken ceremonial activity, will also be performed at 9pm on each concert night, by one of the city’s very-own ‘fab four’ hornblowers, resplendent in their distinctive uniforms and tri-cornered hats.
The concerts, with a programme that has been carefully arranged to include something for people of all ages and musical tastes, will start at 10.30am on Thursday June 2 and Friday June 3 and at 11am on Saturday June 4. They will go on into the night, finishing at 11.30pm on each of the three days.
Local residents and visitors to the city can enjoy three full days of free musical entertainment provided by 24 acts and going on until 11.30pm
Concert goers can listen to tribute acts singing the songs of Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Madonna, Little Mix, Phil Collins, George Michael, Katherine Jenkins and many more.
Music from Ripon City Band will accompany an afternoon of family fun in Spa Park on Sunday June 5. They will start at 2pm with a Jubilee Big Band welcome and conclude at 4.30pm with a rousing Last Night of the Proms performance, ending with Land of Hope and Glory.
Ripon Community Poppy Project – whose Knit and Natter group made the miles of Royal bunting that adorn the city’s streets – will be running the activities in the park, that also includes face painting, Jubilee-themed crafts and a treasure hunt for children,
Ripon, whose regal roots reach back to 886 and King Alfred the Great, is primed for the biggest royal bash in its long and distinguished history and 1,136 years after the first blast of his ceremonial horn, the city council, citizens and visitors, will celebrate and thank the most enduring member in a long line of monarchs – HRH Queen Elizabeth II – for her remarkable service.
For those who wish to celebrate by raising a loyal toast or two in Ripon’s many pubs and restaurants, the regular Transdev 36 bus service may be an advisable means of getting to and from this city that certainly knows how to throw a party.
Ripon museums launch summer programme of activitiesA summer programme of exhibitions and activities has been launched by Ripon’s museums.
The Workhouse Museum on Allhallowgate is one of three heritage attractions operated by Ripon Museum Trust.
On Saturday August 14, from 11am to 2pm, it will be the venue for Hazel Waite’s counted threads workshop.
Using motifs from features of the workhouse building, participants will be able to create a stitched sample, which could be used as a small picture, bookmark or greetings card.
For more details see the Ripon Museums website.
The Lives Unravelled exhibition is on display at the Workhouse Museum until Sunday 5 September.
Featuring five textile installations, located throughout the museum, the exhibition was inspired by the lives of women who lived and worked in Ripon’s former union workhouse.
Based on their research into the workhouse, textiles group 6-Ply has created crafted and unique textile pieces, which reflect the real experiences and imagined emotions of impoverished women.
Children will be able to explore the newly-created den in the Workhouse Museum garden
Over the school summer holidays, family-focused activities will be staged from Tuesday to Friday each week.
On Friday and from August 10 to 13, the theme is Make Your Mark.
Visitors can join in with the creation of a giant wall hanging depicting feelings and life during lockdown, as well as following a museum trail.
This includes the opportunity to bake in the Workhouse Museum’s Victorian kitchen and have a go at Rag Rugging.
During the second half of the school holidays, the theme for activities will be garden camp.
From August 17 to 20, 24 to 27 & 30 and September 1 to 3 , visitors can explore the Workhouse Museum garden and make and decorate a recycled plant pot holder to take home.
The trust will also be offering a museum trail, plus bird and bird call identification activities and a bird search game.
Children will also be able to play in a new garden den, with family activities included in the cost of museum entry.
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During the summer, the Prison and Police Museum is offering a creative walk through the criminal justice system with the My Path exhibition.
It showcases artworks from across Yorkshire, which were submitted to the 2020 Koestler Awards for arts in the criminal justice system.
Every work shown was made by someone in a prison, secure hospital, young offender institution or on probation. The exhibition runs until September 26.
Entrance to the exhibition is included in the cost of museum entry.
Ripon museums reopen today with new exhibitionThe death of Harriet Rodwell, who committed suicide in the city’s workhouse in 1855, features in a new exhibition opening in Ripon today.
Ms Rodwell’s hard life and sad demise is remembered in Fragments — one of five textile installations.
Created by 6-Ply — a group of North Yorkshire textile artists — it is part of the Lives Unravelled exhibition at Ripon’s Workhouse Museum.
The display, dedicated to Ms Rodwell and created by Eileen Sweeney, reflects the fact that only fragments of the former inmate’s life remain.
The Prison & Police Museum – one of Ripon’s three heritage attractions now reopened for visitors
The new exhibition marks the reopening of the city’s three heritage attractions.
The workhouse, along with the Prison & Police and Old Courthouse are operated by Ripon Museum Trust.
The custom-made Lives Unravelled exhibition is Inspired by historical research into the lives of workhouse women.
It will be on display until September 5.
Artists have used a variety of materials and techniques to convey the real experiences and imagined emotions of being a woman in the workhouse.
Pieces installed as part of the exhibition, also include Room for Mother and Infant, by Hazel Waite; Jane Button’s “Fancy Apron”, by Sarah Lowe; Veg, Glorious Veg, by Mary Exelby and Apron of Feelings, by Jenny Bradbury.
Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust said:
“It’s so exciting to be able to reopen our museums with this very moving and powerful temporary exhibition by local textiles group 6-Ply.
“We’re delighted to share these works with visitors and I hope they encourage people to consider the lives of people who lived and died here.”
Following today’s reopening, the museums will be open Tuesday to Sunday and on selected Bank Holidays, including bank holiday Monday, May 31.
Entrance to the exhibition is included in the cost of museum entry. All tickets to Ripon museums are valid for repeat visits over a 12-month period.
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Bookings can be made via the museum trust website or by calling 01765 690799.
Ripon Museums have covid safety measures in place and have been awarded the Visit Britain We’re Good to Go industry standard.
Three Ripon museums prepare for reopeningThree Ripon museums are preparing to reopen next month after receiving further government funding.
The Workhouse, Prison & Police and Old Courthouse museums plan to welcome visitors from May 17.
Before then, the Workhouse Museum gardens will be open until 3pm today.
Ripon Museum Trust, which maintains the attractions, has received two grants totalling £186,850 from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which helps cultural organisations recover from covid,
The latest grant of £69,350, announced last week, will help the trust develop digital learning for schools and reconnect with tour groups, older learners and communities.
The Police & Prison Museum – one of the three heritage attractions run by Ripon Museum Trust
This additional funding comes as visitor attractions and tourism destinations aim to make the most of the relaxation of lockdown restrictions and boom in staycations.
Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust, said:
“The Arts Council’s cultural recovery funding has been an absolute lifeline during a very challenging time.
“This grant puts us in a strong and positive position to reopen our museums again and welcome visitors back – which is what we love doing and what we are all about.
“It will be so wonderful having our doors open again on 17 May.”
The Workhouse Museum gardens will also be open between 11am and 3pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus Bank Holiday Monday 3 May.
To manage numbers and ensure social distancing, people should book timed ticket slots online for this and the ‘Inside Out’ Museum Trail. Visit riponmuseums.co.uk for bookings.
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Sir Nicholas Serota, chairman of Arts Council England, said:
“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.
“We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”
Last autumn, the trust was awarded £117,500 from the Culture Recovery Fund.
Date set for Ripon lights switch-onRipon’s largest-ever display of Christmas lights and decorations will be turned on on the evening of Saturday November 14.
Ripon City Council agreed to the switch-on arrangements this week after an update from council leader Andrew Williams.
Cllr Williams said North Yorkshire County Council had carried out the necessary adjustments to street lighting around the city to accommodate three miles of decorations.
This will take in Ripon’s main retail core and extend as far north as the Victoria clock tower on North Street – a principal route into Ripon.
The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin at the Victoria Clock Tower junction, where Christmas lights will welcome visitors
Cllr Williams, told the Stray Ferret:
“For the benefit of traders and residents, we would like to have the extended display turned on as soon as possible after Remembrance Sunday (November 8).
“This will give time for the superb displays put in place by the Ripon Community Poppy Project to be taken down.”
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The council has approved £65,000 of additional spending on the Christmas decorations.
The major extension, which now takes in side streets including Allhallowgate, Bedern Bank and Skellbank, ensures lights are in place on all gateways into the city centre, while also providing a circuit around a mixture of retail and residential streets.
Funding for the scheme is coming from the council’s events budget, which had originally been intended to support a programme of community events throughout the year in Ripon.
These included the 75th anniversary celebrations for VE and VJ Day, and the St Wilfrid’s Day procession, that had to be either cancelled or scaled back because of the coronavirus crisis and social distancing restrictions.
Councillors, who unanimously supported the switch on plans, hope that the extended lights will provide an end of year boost for retailers, by attracting greater footfall.
The Mayor of Ripon, councillor Eamon Parkin, said:
“The covid pandemic has made this a very gloomy year for many people and we hope that the lights display will give everybody a lift by adding to the attraction of the city over the festive period.”
Final race of season at Ripon Racecourse
For racegoers, the 2020 season at Ripon has been a non-starter, with the action on course staged behind closed doors.
Today the lockdown season comes to a close with a seven-race card.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down horseracing across the UK in March – a month before the course was due to hold its first meeting of the season.
When a curtailed calendar finally got underway on the evening of 20 June it, and all subsequent meetings, had to be held without racegoers present.
Before the coronavirus crisis dealt the horseracing industry a giant blow, Ripon’s garden course, in its 120th year at the Boroughbridge Road venue, was looking forward to a 17-meeting season.
Empty racegoer car parks tell their own story
In a normal year, the track attracts thousands of people through its gates – both local and from further afield – with the highlight of its calendar being the Great St Wilfrid Handicap in August.
As the season concludes with the 17.40 Lloyd Land Rover Ripon Apprentice Handicap, the public’s return to sporting events remains delayed, following announcements by the government.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), in a statement earlier this week, said that racecourses across the UK are facing a loss in revenue of between £250 million and £300 million this year, adding:
“Our industry is now facing a severe threat. We are the second most attended spectator sport in the country. Without the millions of people who normally enjoy a day at the races, many people’s jobs are at serious risk, as are the businesses they work in.
“We have kept the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments updated on the financial impact of COVID and the effects on the rural economies in which so many of our racing staff live and work.”
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Before the first behind-closed-doors meeting in June, clerk of the course and managing director of Ripon Racecourse Company, James Hutchinson told the Stray Ferret:
“There’s no point in looking back at what didn’t happen, we’d rather look forward and hope that it won’t be long before we can open our gates to racegoers once more.”
With the next season seven months away, all involved with running the course, are hoping the roar of the Ripon crowd will be heard yet again in 2021.
Karen takes to her bike after Ripley Pigfest cancellationAfter setting up in the face of a crisis 20 years ago, Ripley Scarecrow Pigfest has been cancelled this year – because of the pandemic.
The event was due to celebrate its 20th anniversary with plans to stage the biggest and best festival to date.
It was launched in 2001 to attract people back to the village and wider countryside in the wake of the foot and mouth crisis. Now, in an ironic twist, another crisis means it will not go ahead this year.
Organiser Karen Evans, who lives near Ripon, came up with the idea for a scarecrow hunt, featuring pig-headed characters with imaginative names given by their creators.
For consistency of look she has, in the previous 19 years, made the papier mache heads for each Pigfest character – providing a subtle nod to Ripley’s boar’s head emblem.
Karen told the Stray Ferret:
“Unfortunately, we have become victims of our own success and couldn’t risk public safety, with hundreds of people in the confined space of the village.”
Boarglar Bill, one of the imaginatively-named characters who has featured at Ripley Scarecrow Pigfest
It has also brought another financial setback for the All Saints’ Church fabric fund which, over the years, has benefitted from donations of thousands of pounds raised through the entry fee for participants.
Karen, who is a warden at the Ripley church, pointed out:
“Combined with the fact that we have not been able to have the Wednesday cafe at All Saints’ open this summer, we have seen a loss of revenue totalling around £11,000.”
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Rather than bemoan the losses, she decided to literally get on her bike to provide another means of raising money, both for the church and the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre at Harrogate Hospital, which is dear to her heart, having been treated there herself.
Between September 21 and 24, Karen and friend Judith Nickols will do a 137-mile sponsored cycle ride starting from Whitehaven on the west coast and finishing in Tynemouth on the east coast.
Both are keen cyclists and are training hard in readiness for the challenging and hilly coast to coast course.
Anybody wanting to sponsor Karen can find further details about her fundraising for All Saints’ Church Ripley and The Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre on her justgiving page.
Ripon heritage attractions reopen to the publicTwo of Ripon’s key tourist and heritage attractions have reopened their doors to the public and a third will re-open next month.
The Workhouse Museum & Garden and Prison & Police Museum, reopened yesterday (Wednesday) and the Courthouse Museum is expected to be open again from August 1.
Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust, said:
“I am so excited to be able to offer a warm welcome to visitors once again. The whole team here has worked extremely hard to get ready to provide an enjoyable and safe museum experience.”
She added:
“I hope people will be inspired by the fascinating history we have at Ripon museums and will have fun with their families exploring our beautiful gardens and discovering the amazing stories within our walls.”
The museums will open six days a week, closing on Mondays for a deep clean, as part of a package of measures designed to ensure the safety of visitors, volunteers and staff.
Numbers of people allowed in at any one time are being limited. Visitors must have pre-booked and paid for their tickets and should present their email ticket on a mobile phone or a printed copy at museum receptions.
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Ripon Museum Trust is also introducing additional cleaning and hygiene measures on its three sites, with social distancing markers in place to help visitors keep a safe distance apart.
Anybody displaying symptoms of coronavirus is asked not to visit.
The measures have been taken following government guidance and following Public Health England recommendations. The trust has received accreditation from Visit England, which recognises that government and industry Covid-19 guidelines are being followed, ensuring processes are in place to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing.
Visitors to the Workhouse Museum will be able to purchase refreshments and can bring a picnic to eat in the museum’s grounds.
Ripon Museum Trust previously received £40,100 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to safeguard its heritage buildings and provide much-needed support for essential costs during the coronavirus crisis.