This week’s photograph was taken by Julie Addyman, capturing  the sun rising over Harlow Carr.

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(Image: Julie Addyman)

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week. We reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Bamber & Brown is in an ideal location for a drink or bite to eat pre- or post-walk through the wooded valley of Birk Crag, but many don’t know that it exists. Until now.

And given the last few weeks the news in the locality has been all about the opening of The Harrogate Arms, which is only open to RHS visitors, this will be welcome news to many.

Other than Betty’s Harlow Carr or The Pine Marten, you might not think there’s anywhere else to eat and drink in the area. But fret not, there is Bamber & Brown.

And even though it’s been open since 2021 and was Highly Commended in the 2023 Stray Ferret Business Awards for Business Growth, you might not have heard of it as it’s still somewhat of a hidden gem to some.

To find it, simply follow the road that leads you to Betty’s Harlow Carr – Crag Lane – and continue, and you’ll find it on the right-hand side. It’s hard not to miss as there’s a huge tipi in the grounds from which you can enjoy food and drink.

Selling freshly brewed speciality coffee from a converted horse box along with other hot drinks, it also serves homemade cakes – its carrot cake is one of the most popular offerings – while ice cream, pastries, smoked salmon bagels and bacon and egg sandwiches are just some of what else is on the menu.

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And if you fancy a tipple or two, its new bar serves wine and beer from another converted horse box.

And from this weekend, wood-fired pizzas can be enjoyed on weekends and special occasions over the summer on its new decking, and it will also be serving its ice lattes and milkshakes that prove popular over the warmer months.

Owner Phillipa Brown has also said she will open for ad hoc warm evenings over the summer – just keep an eye on its social media accounts as for when.

Philippa said of why she decided to start her business:

“I wanted to bring back the historical old tea rooms at Birk Crag in some way  – war veterans used to drink tea on the nearby Crag – and decided a few years ago that now that my children have grown up, to go for it. And since then, it’s just expanded and expanded.”

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The Harrogate Arms Café has opened to the public today.

The site, which sits in the Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Gardens, has been closed since 2014.

It was originally built in 1844 by the then-owner of the estate, Henry Wright, along with a Bath House.

During its time, it has seen many guises, including a hotel, Thai restaurant, nightclub and pub.

However, after the RHS bought the site in 2014, it set out to restore the two historic buildings.

Today, it reopened for the first time in a decade as a café.

The Harrogate Arms Café.

Conservative councillor of Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate and mayor of Harrogate, Michael Harrison, cut the ribbon alongside Clare Matterson, the director general of the RHS to mark the occasion.

The RHS was granted listed building consent in 2019 and has since spent “several millions” on the renovation process, head of site Liz Thwaite said.

Liz Thwaite.

Ms Thwaite told the Stray Ferret:

“The RHS didn’t have the internal funding for the works back in 2014, but by 2019, when we got the building consent, the funding was then in place internally.

“There has been a lot of unforeseen issues along the way and things popped up that we didn’t expect, like bats roosting and wet weather.”

Inside the café.

Ms Thwaite said the horticultural charity decided to take on the project to “link both the Harrogate Arms and the Bath House back to their historic landscape”.

It wanted to give visitors a garden café, as well as the teahouse and Bettys, and offer “more space” to enjoy the gardens, she added.

A spokesperson for the RHS said at the opening sustainability is “at the core” of the charity and has been central to the renovation process.

They added the café will not offer plastic water bottles or single-use coffee cups, and uses Brazilian coffee from “one of 200 regenerative coffee farms”.

The coffee kiosk.

Ms Thwaite told the Stray Ferret:

“We’re feeling really, really excited about the opening.

“We had hoped it would open sooner, but due to weather issues it hasn’t been possible. But nevertheless we’re still so excited.

“I think customers are going to be delighted with it and it will help grow visitors and memberships to the site. People can walk around the garden and have a lovely coffee or lunch here.

“It will showcase what we grow, as well as offer an important message to encourage people to grow their own produce.”

The RHS hopes to use locally sourced produce at the Harrogate Arms Café, and will source a lot of ingredients from the Harlow Carr kitchen garden.

The charity is also undertaking 2-acres of landscaping works around the café, which includes planting mature tree and digging swales to manage rainfall.

The Harrogate Arms Café is officially open to the public.

It offers indoor and outdoor seating, as well and breakfast, lunch and all-day menus. The cafe will be open during summer garden operating hours (9.30am to 6pm) every day.

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The historic Harrogate Arms is set to reopen as a café tomorrow.

The grade two-listed building, which closed a decade ago, will finally be brought back to working order.

Originally built in 1844 by Henry Wright, the then-owner of the estate, the Harrogate Arms and Bath House were set in pleasure gardens, which are now part of The Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden Harlow Carr.

The Harrogate Arms had several faces during its time, including a hotel, inn, nightclub, restaurant and pub, before closing to the public in 2014.

But the RHS was granted listed building consent in 2019 to convert the site into a café.

The horticultural charity today said it has been “working hard to restore the premises”, which will offer indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a menu focused on “seasonal ingredients”.

It added the café will offer a breakfast, lunch and an all-day menu, along with artisan coffee.

The new landscape of RHS Garden Harlow Carr by planners Gillespies.

In a press release, the RHS said:

“Each day will feature a special menu utilising produce directly from our Kitchen Garden to champion the use of fresh ingredients.

“It will also showcase some fantastic ways for preserving foods from the garden from the summer so they can be used in the colder and less productive months. Think anything from pickled cucumber to chilli oils and kimchi!”

New jobs will be created as part of the café opening, the charity said, adding it hopes to use as much locally sourced produce as possible.

Liz Thwaite, head of RHS Garden Harlow Carr, also said:

“We can’t wait to re-open this building which holds so many memories for members of the local community and really look forward to welcoming them back to the brand new Harrogate Arms Café.

“This project has been a long time in the making, as we wanted to create something fresh and exciting for our visitors that celebrates our rich heritage.”

The Harrogate Arms Café will open to the public from around 11am tomorrow (April 25), an RHS spokesperson said.

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RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate has announced it will close tomorrow and its Autumn Garden Weekend has been cancelled due to Storm Babet.

The Autumn Garden event was due to take place this weekend on Saturday (October 21) and Sunday (October 22).

However, the RHS said in an email today:

“The extreme weather means it will not be possible to set up the event as planned on Friday and therefore the garden will be closed in order to ensure the safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers.”

The announcement follows a weather warning issued by the Met Office earlier this week.

It said the Harrogate district will see heavy rain from 9pm on Wednesday to 6am on Saturday.

The RHS added it will “monitor the weather” and hopes to reopen the garden as usual on Saturday.

It added:

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this is likely to cause, and we thank you for your understanding.”