One of the region’s foremost home care providers is now bringing its flexible, client-centred approach to the Harrogate district after opening a new base at Boroughbridge.
Vermuyden Care already has an excellent reputation for its elderly and dementia services in its home area of Doncaster, and now aims to provide the same high standard of home care in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Ripon, Thirsk and Easingwold, from its new premises at Ornhams Hall.
Director Gary Stapleton said:
“The difference with Vermuyden is that we are endlessly flexible and willing to go to great lengths to accommodate clients’ wishes.
“Clients can often feel they’re not very involved in their own care – they feel that things are being done to them, not for them – but we’ve never been like that.
“For example, some home care companies won’t come out to clients before 8am, but a lot of people who are used to getting up early don’t want to suddenly start having a lie-in just to please their carer. Whatever time you want to get up, we’ll be there.
“Similarly, other companies won’t come out after 8pm, but we think that’s treating clients like children, making them go to bed early. However late you want to go to bed, we’ll be there too.
“At Vermuyden, we are totally flexible. Whatever it is you want, we can do.”
Vermuyden – pronounced ‘Ver-moy-den’ – specialises in dementia care, but also works with clients with physical and learning disabilities, and offers mental health support. The company provides long-term home care services as well as short-term respite care, and aims to make sure people living in rural areas are not cut off from the help they need.
Vermuyden employs over 100 people, including 15 from its Boroughbridge office. It recruits locally and takes on permanent, experienced staff on high wages, ensuring it only employs the very best carers in the sector. This is important, said Gary, because employees need to be able to provide more than just personal care. He said:
“The care is the easy part – it’s all the other stuff that’s harder to get right, and we put a huge amount of effort into making sure that we do.
“We want clients to feel they’re getting the service they deserve.”
If you’re interested in receiving the very best in personal home care – or you know someone who might be – call us on 01423 800674, or take a look at our website, www.vermuyden.co.uk.
How to keep the whole family happy this May half-term
Whether you’re a parent worrying about keeping your children entertained this half-term or just looking for a bit of early-summer fun, the Harrogate district and beyond has lots on offer to keep a smile on the whole family’s face.
From a day at the races to castle tours, we have collated a list of activities taking place over and around the May half-term period.
Fun for all the family: Doncaster Races
Derby Day Rocks feat. Magic Queen
If you’re looking for something to keep both parents and children happy, Derby Day Rocks at Doncaster Racecourse could be the perfect way to spend the half-term weekend!
With 8 races to be enjoyed, as well as a live streaming of Epsom Derby to watch, and even a Queen Tribute act, it’s no doubt your day will rock.
Derby Day Rocks will take place on Saturday, June 3 – gates open at 11.30am.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Doncaster Racecourse to bring you discounted County tickets! Watch all the races from the second floor of the main stand – the perfect place to see your winning horse cross the finish line.
To buy your discounted tickets, click here – be quick!
Superhero Family Fun Day Raceday
If you’re thinking of merging some belated half-term fun with Father’s Day celebrations, then Doncaster Racecourse has another event which will be sure to make the whole family smile!
While parents can enjoy 7 horse races, children can meet their favourite superheroes, dance at the disco, and even go on the fairground rides! What more could you ask for?
Superhero Family Day will take place on Sunday, June 18 – the first race begins at 2.15pm.
The Stray Ferret has teamed up with Doncaster Racecourse to bring you discounted tickets Grandstand admission! This gives you access to public bars, eateries, betting outlets and views on the racing action including the parade ring and pre-parade ring.
Get your discounted adult tickets here — be quick! The tickets will sell out fast.
For a little bit of history…
Ripley Castle
If you’re interested in embracing both the history our local area has to offer, as well as some beautiful gardens in bloom, then Ripley Castle will be the perfect solution!
Enjoy six of the Castle’s rooms on your guided tour and bring a taste of history to life this half-term.
Take a stroll around the Castle’s Walled Gardens to discover the beauty nature has on offer, including an extensive collection of hyacinths, a variety of tree specimens and an abundance of spring flowers. The range of hot houses contain an impressive range of tropical plants, ferns and cacti, whilst ancient wisteria and clematis trail across the south-facing walls.
The Walled kitchen garden contains an extraordinary herb bed and many rare vegetables.
Get lost in the deer park in the grounds of the Castle and meet plenty of wildlife along your way — including fallow deer and herons.
To add to all the excitement, the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Ripley Castle to bring our readers 2-for-1 admission over the half term period — meaning two adults and two children can enjoy a guided castle tour, as well as the gardens and grounds for just £15! Now that will be a happy half-term…
If you’re a parent looking to let off some steam this half-term — or simply just love gin — then Whittaker’s Gin will be exactly what you’re looking for!
Whittaker’s Gin Distillery, the home of all things gin (and now whisky), is located in Dacre Banks, just outside Harrogate.
Enjoy a complimentary G&T on arrival followed by a tour with the Whittaker’s distillers around the distillery, where they will go through the gin and whisky production process, and then into the whisky barrel warehouse.
When you get back into the bar area, there will be a sit down tasting of 9 different gins with delicious nibbles of Weatherheads Butcher’s pork pies.
To round off, there is another complimentary G&T of your choice or alternatively you can take a 5cl bottle home to have your G&T later.
With our exclusive offer, Stray Ferret readers can enjoy two tickets for the price of one! The voucher offer grants you and a guest access to the guided distillery tour, as well as the extras mentioned above.
Click here to buy your ticket — hurry…these are selling fast!
For some summer air…
Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden:
May half-term Trail
For those that enjoy that great outdoors, Fountains Abbey’s May half-term trail may be a good option.
Visitors can explore the ‘sanctuary for nature’ in the Deer Park. Learn about the variety of wildlife that resides in the grounds by exploring grassland, freshwater, woodland and much more!
No booking is needed, and the trail is free to enjoy.
The trail will take place within the Deer Park from May, 27, to June, 4, between 10am and 4.30pm.
Fountains Abbey is also hosting a drop-in workshop in which visitors can design and create their very own bug house.
Once complete, attendees can explore the estate to gather some wriggly residents for their bug house! The perfect recipe to combine fresh air and crafts…
The workshop is free to attend but normal admission charges for the venue apply – a family ticket is £27.
The workshop will take place in Swanley Grange – located near the Visitor Centre – from May 27 to June 4, between 11am and 3pm.
To continue the mixture of fresh air and creativity, Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park, near Ripon, is inviting families to take part in its Flower Power Nature Weaving.
Visitors can pick up a collectors bag from the ticket office and venture through the park to see what nature provides to weave into the Earth Loom.
The event will take place daily from May 27 to June 4, from 10am.
For those of you looking for a potential rainy-day activity, Harrogate Theatre’s production of The ‘Not So” Grimm Twins could be a good option for you.
Storytellers, Jake and Will Grimm, will guide you through some re-worked versions of your favourite fairy tales and will need the audiences help along the way!
The play will take place on Saturday, May 27 at 11am and 2pm.
Tickets start at £12 – click here for more information.
Harrogate commuters set for fewer ‘leaves on the line’ delays?
Rail operator Northern is fitting new technology to its trains to combat leaves on the line, which can cause autumn frustration for commuters.
Leaves stick to damp rails and are compressed into a smooth, slippery layer, reducing the trains’ grip.
This can delay services so Northern is fitting what it describes as ‘leaf-busting’ technology to 16 of its 170 passenger trains operating between Leeds, Harrogate, and York.
Routes between Sheffield, Doncaster, Hull and Scarborough will also be upgraded. The locations were chosen because they are some of those most affected by leaves.
The technology – Water-Trak – creates rainy-day conditions on the rail surface by spraying a small amount of water from the train onto the track when a slippery rail is detected.
While this might appear counter-intuitive, researchers discovered that leaf-coated rails only become slippery when damp, and that trains stop safely in heavy rain.
Rob Cummings, seasonal improvement manager at Northern, said:
“This is the next step in finding a solution to tricky autumn conditions. One of the biggest risks to our performance during October and November is leaves on the line, but by helping to develop new innovative technology we aim to deliver the very best service for our passengers.”
Two of Northern’s Class 319s fitted with Water-Trak have been successfully operating in passenger service since late October 2021. The trials with Northern are being run thanks to funding from Network Rail’s performance innovation fund.
John Cooke, co-founder at Water-Trak, said:
“We are really excited to be working with Northern to show how Water-Trak can help to solve the age-old problem of leaves on the line.”
Tributes paid to Harrogate D-Day veteran, who has died aged 97
Tributes have been paid to a Harrogate’s D-Day veteran who has died at the age of 97.
John Rushton, who was also known as Jack among friends, passed away peacefully at Harrogate District Hospital after a visit from his family on New Year’s Day.
Mr Rushton not only fought in World War II but when he settled in Harrogate in the 1970s he carried on in public service with his work at Harrogate College and the Tewit Youth Band.
On VE Day in May 2020, he was the star of the town’s celebrations. Leaning out of his window, he watched performances and warmed the hearts of his neighbours. He told the Stray Ferret on the day:
“It’s very nice that they would do all this for me. I don’t deserve it, I just happen to be the one that has lived the longest.
“I have had a good life. It’s very good of them to have done this as if I am a hero. I am not, I am just an ordinary Yorkshireman.”
Mr Rushton was never one to command attention and always rejected the title of hero, but he was held in high regard by his peers and all that knew him.
Dave Rushton, one of John’s four sons, said:
“We are very sad but my dad has left a great legacy and history. We have had so many goodwill messages, which has been an enormous help.
“He fought the illness really hard, he fought right to the end. I want to put on record our thanks to the staff on Wensleydale Ward and at Lister House care home in Ripon.
“I think people will remember him for his character. So many people have told me how much of a character he was, even if he never thought he was a hero.
“We did manage to get in a trip back in 2019 to Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. We had hoped to go again but we certainly ended on a high.
“I already know a lot about his life but since his passing I have learned a lot more about the affection people held him in.”
A British Army spokesman said:
“We are indebted to the bravery of Mr Rushton and his comrades. Our thoughts are with Mr Rushton’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
David Houlgate, vice chair of the Knaresborough branch of the Royal British Legion, said:
“What I will say is clearly he was in a sense a true hero of this country. John defended this country and helped to free Europe from tyranny.”
The life of John ‘Jack’ Rushton
Mr Rushton was born in Doncaster on May 24, 1924, where he was brought up and educated before leaving school to become an apprentice joiner.
At the outbreak of World War II because he was too young to enlist, he joined the home guard before he volunteered for service shortly after his 18th birthday.
On the night of June 5, 1944, he set off from Portsmouth, having been sent in place of another marine who had taken ill.
The crossing was made in a flat bottomed tank landing craft, and as the weather was poor, he sheltered with a comrade underneath one of the tanks, lying on top of the ammunition.
It was such a rough crossing, he later said he preferred being shot at in France to staying on board.
Arriving on the Normandy beach at 6am on June 6 he proceeded to deploy and arm his unit’s tanks and guns and spent much of the assault without his helmet or rifle as they impeded his tasks.
During that day, he narrowly avoided death three times including running over an anti-tank mine several times. He often says with a wry smile that only the good die young. He also says that the real heroes are the ones who didn’t return home.
Jack ready to celebrate VE Day in 2020.
Having been promoted to Sergeant, Jack was then sent out to India, travelling by ship and often sleeping on riveted steel decks. On arrival in Bombay his unit was tasked with keeping the peace during the country’s internal struggles, and later training to join the war against Japan further east.
In 1945 he was sent to Malaysia to await deployment to the battlefront, however when the atomic bombs were dropped, he was spared the ordeal of the next fight.
Although the war was now over, his unit was sent back to India to help quell a naval mutiny, and as a result, he didn’t make it home until 1946, when he was demobbed, and returned to Doncaster.
He moved jobs and towns before he settled in 1972 with a final family move to Harrogate College of Further Education.
Jack retired in 1988 and turned to his interests in the local brass bands and the Royal Naval Association. He was widowed in 2012 after almost 61 years of marriage and has four children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Man jailed for murder of Harrogate woman
A Bradford man has been jailed for 16 years for the murder of a Harrogate woman.
Dale Tarbox was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court today for the murder of Susan Howells, who was a close friend.
A police investigation started in August 2019 when Susan, who was 51, was reported missing.
North Yorkshire Police passed the case onto West Yorkshire Police after its enquiries suggested she had been in the Bradford area at the time.
Dale Tarbox.
The police elevated the missing persons investigation into a murder investigation after officers failed to find her.
Officers arrested Tarbox in September 2019 in Doncaster and charged with the murder of Susan at his home address in Bradford.
Police enquiries led officers to a caravan park when Tarbox was living. A few days later the police found human remains.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Keith Wadsworth, who was convicted of assisting an offender in preventing lawful burial.
Tarbox, 40, of Independent Street in Little Horton, was jailed for 16 years for Susan’s murder and given two years to run concurrently in preventing her lawful burial.
He refused to attend court to hear the sentence.
Keith Wadsworth.
Keith Wadsworth, 61, from Doncaster, was sentenced to three years and seven months for assisting an offender in preventing a lawful burial. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Vanessa Rolfe, said:
“I hope today’s outcome provides some closure for Susan’s family, knowing that the man who murdered her has been given a significant prison sentence.
“Susan regarded Tarbox as a close friend and someone she could trust, but he showed no regard for her – taking her life in a cold and callous way and then teaming up with Wadsworth to try and dispose of her body.
“He is clearly a dangerous individual and the people of West Yorkshire should feel safer knowing he will be behind bars for many years.”
