Car crashes into traffic lights at busy Harrogate junction

A car crashed into a set of traffic lights at the junction of Claro Road and Skipton Road in Harrogate this morning.

The white Vauxhall hit the lights at around 8:46am.

Police were called to the scene, but no other emergency services were present.

Harrogate traffic sergeant Paul Cording later tweeted nobody was injured.

The car was towed away just before 10am and traffic levels returned to normal shortly afterwards.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said North Yorkshire Council is dealing with the traffic light repair.

 

Harrogate woman celebrates 103rd birthday

A Harrogate woman celebrated her 103rd birthday last weekend.

Phyllis Elldrige, who is a resident at Manor House care home, on Cornwall Road, was born on November 18 1920, in Hampshire.

Phyllis worked as a nurse and trained in infectious diseases, before moving to the North in the 1950s and working in a handicap hospital in Wetherby.

Ann Lazenby, manager of Phyllis’ ward, told the Stray Ferret Phyllis initially went to Manor House for a two-week respite period in early 2022, but “enjoyed the company so much” she decided to stay.

Ms Lazeby added:

“She was walking up until six months ago. She was even doing her washing just before she came to us.”

Phyllis, who is the oldest resident in the care home, marked the occasion with a party.

Residents and staff gathered to enjoy a Bettys-themed afternoon tea and a singer to entertain them all.

Phyllis’s children, who are now in their 70s, live in Australia but visited her a few weeks prior to her birthday to celebrate.

Ms Lazenby added:

“Phyllis is very comical, very loving and very caring.

“It is an honour to care for her.”

Read more

 

Business Breakfast: Lucy Pittaway to host ‘meet the artist’ event at Harrogate gallery

Are you already thinking of how to reward your employees this Christmas? Why not choose the Harrogate Gift Card?

The Harrogate Gift Card can be spent in over 100 businesses in Harrogate town centre including retail, hospitality and leisure, whilst keeping the spend locked into the local economy.

Complete a corporate bulk order of over £250 and receive 15% discount from November 1 to 15 with the code ‘HGT15’.

Lucy Pittaway is hosting a ‘meet the artist’ event this weekend at her Harrogate gallery.

The Yorkshire-based artist, who is known for her colourful depictions of the county, will be at the Prospect Place gallery to sign and discuss her work.

Her homeware and gift collections will also be available to buy.

The event will take place from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday, November 25.

Read more:

Tockwith-based Pink Moon to offer “all-in-one” events service

The UK’s largest supplier of festival tents and equipment, Pink Moon, is to offer a new events service.

The Tockwith company, which has the largest collection of accommodation structures in the sector – about 5,500 – currently services up to 45,000 customers a year at events such as Formula 1 at Silverstone and music festivals.

It is now offering all-in-one events services to businesses,

Pink Moon managing director Harry Lister said:

“Pink Moon Events is an all-in-one events solutions company.

“It is not just the tent that we can provide, we can also provide everything else.

“We can provide a restaurant and bar on site, toilets and showers, mobile charging, pamper parlour and coffee stands.”

Council threatens to remove mystery ‘no parking’ signs in Harrogate

Several unofficial ‘no parking’ signs have been put up on a grass verge on Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

The signs, which are outside Harrogate Town Football Club, appeared about two weeks ago. It is not known who erected them.

The grass verge is part of Duchy land and is managed by North Yorkshire Council, which is also the highways authority, However, the council has not authorised the signs.

Barrie Mason, the council’s assistant director of highways and transport, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are aware of ‘no parking signs’ being placed on Wetherby Road, close to Harrogate Town Football Club.

“We are investigating the matter and if the signs are found to have been erected without proper authorisation, they will be removed.”

Parking is notoriously difficult around Wetherby Road, particularly on match days. These signs appeared during work to build a new stand at the Envirovent Stadium.

However, the club is not aware of who is responsible for the signs on the verge.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Town AFC added:

“Parking has never been allowed on it.

“Vans/cars were getting parking tickets for a long time before this, but it’s just got worse of late.

“There are several builders’ projects nearby adding to ours, so likely a combined problem and more deliveries etc.”

Read more:

 

Autumn statement will boost business and pay in Harrogate and Knaresborough, says Andrew Jones MP

Andrew Jones MP has said today’s autumn statement will “benefit businesses here in Harrogate and Knaresborough and boost the pay packets of tens of thousands locally”.

However, the Liberal Democrat hoping to replace him at the next general election said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s statement amounted to “empty promises and stale nonsense”.

Mr Hunt’s hour-long statement this afternoon included cutting the main rate of National Insurance contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, increasing the state pension by 8.5% from April 2024 to £221.20 and a reduction in business rates.

But next year’s economic growth forecast was downgraded from 1.8% to 0.7%.

Andrew Jones

Mr Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“This was an impressive autumn statement delivered by a Chancellor who understands his brief.  Mr Hunt announced a series of measures which will benefit businesses here in Harrogate and Knaresborough and boost the pay packets of tens of thousands locally.

“The cut to national insurance contributions and the increase to the national living wage will put more cash in the pockets of the least well-paid.  This is very important in an area like ours that depends on the often less well-paid hospitality sector.

“The hospitality industry will be further supported with a freeze in alcohol duty and by the changes to business rates and hospitality and leisure relief.”

Read more:

 

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next election, accused the government of being “content with local health services crumbling” by failing to provide additional funding for local health services.

The party had called on the Chancellor to invest in a NHS rescue plan and inject £20 million into repairing crumbling concrete at Harrogate District Hospital.

Mr Gordon said:

“This Conservative government seems completely content to sit back and allow Harrogate and Knaresborough’s local hospital to crumble. They are either so out of touch they cannot see how many people are struggling to access healthcare, or they simply do not care.

“The Autumn Statement was an opportunity to get people off NHS waiting lists and allow them to return to work so we can rescue our flatlining economy. Instead we got empty promises, stale nonsense and a tax cut that’s not even a drop in the ocean compared to what people have already paid.”

 

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2023: How dementia led two carers to become best friends

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is to raise £30,000 for a much-needed minibus for Dementia Forward in the Harrogate district. 

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Please give generously to support local people and their families living with dementia. Let’s not forget those that need help this Christmas.

Today, Flora spoke to two women who met at the wellbeing café.

“It’s about knowing there’s someone at the end of the phone who understands what we’re going through.”

Cynthia Storie and Eileen King’s are both carers for their husbands, who are living with dementia, and have found comfort in each other through Dementia Forward’s wellbeing café.

Before their husbands’ diagnosis, Cynthia was a secretary and Eileen was a nanny. They were just like anyone else. But two years ago, everything changed.

Cynthia said:

“Your livelihood is taken from you – it’s a shocking blow.”

She was given a Dementia Forward leaflet following her husband Mike’s diagnosis. Eileen used the helpline service to work out their next steps.

Cynthia added:

“I wanted to make sure Mike could still socialise – he was so used to doing everything for himself.

“He didn’t want to come at all, but after I’d convinced him, and someone brought him a cup of coffee, he was chatting away. Two years later, he’s still here.”

The women said the café is an environment where their husbands feel understood. It combats the loneliness those living with dementia can often feel.

Carers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing their loved one is safe at the café, and can share their experiences with with others facing similar challenges.

She continued:

“You find that friends who you have spent so long going out for dinner and socialising with are so sympathetic at first, but after they realise they don’t understand, you become so isolated.”

 

The café has helped Eileen and her husband more than she could have imagined. She said:

“It helps so much coming here. It’s frightening – you don’t know what’s around the corner.

“It means I’ve got support, and you can offload to people that understand. The staff here don’t judge at all, and they take the guilt away from the carers.”

The women also call each other regularly to check in, visit each other for a cup of tea, and even bake cakes for each other.

Eileen said:

“We, as carers, put on a front. When you’re on your own, you pick up the phone and tell a friend that you need to talk.

“It’s nice when somebody says, ‘how are you?’.”

Dementia has been life-changing for both ladies and their husbands, but the café has brought them some level of peace.

Cynthia added:

“We want people who are reading this to know it takes courage to walk through the door of somewhere like this, but they’re not alone and it’s so worth it to come to these groups.”

Thousands of local families are fighting a long battle with these horrible diseases – and they need your help.

Every donation to our campaign will go directly to Dementia Forward, helping us hit our £30,000 target to buy the charity a new minibus and bettering the lives of those living with dementia and the people around them.

Dementia Forward’s current bus is old and urgently needs to be replaced. The charity would seriously struggle to afford a new one, which is why they need your help to keep this vital service going. Without it, many people living with dementia wouldn’t be able to access the help and support they need. 

Please click here to donate whatever you can – you never know when you, your family or a friend may be in need of Dementia Forward’s help too.

Thank you.

The NHS found that one in 11 people over the age of 65 in the UK are living with dementia. If you need urgent help or have a dementia-related enquiry, call 0330 057 8592 to speak to a helpline adviser.

Ex-solicitor died of hypothermia in Harrogate cabman’s shelter, inquest hears

A former Harrogate solicitor died of hypothermia in a cabman’s shelter on the Stray, an inquest has heard.

Richard Wade-Smith, 67, was found “unresponsive” in the distinctive green shelter on West Park, opposite Hotel Du Vin, at 7.15am on September 15.

Besides hypothermia, Mr Wade-Smith’s cause of death was also attributed to alcohol dependency, bipolar affective disorder, hypertensive heart disease and coronary artherosclerosis, the opening inquest in Northallerton heard yesterday.

He worked for a number of Yorkshire law firms and ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House. But his life descended into a downward spiral after a string of criminal convictions.

He was subject to a restraining order after ramming his car into his wife’s Harrogate home and subjecting her to “mental torture” on Boxing Day 2021.

He was later jailed for 10 months for breaching the order and was jailed again in June this year for indecent exposure on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough.

The inquest was adjourned to a full hearing at a later date.

Read more:

 

Harrogate dry cleaners could be converted to bar

Plans have been submitted to convert the former Golden Dry Cleaners on Cheltenham Crescent in Harrogate into a bar.

Designs drawn up by architect Reader Tinsley Designs suggest the bar could be called Elysian.

It would be split into four rooms to offer drinkers a bar area, booths, toilets and a seating area.

Also proposed is an outdoor patio with more tables.

The area is close to Harrogate Convention Centre and is home to several bars and restaurants.

The building, which has also been a women’s fashion shop, is next to Buon Gusto and opposite Jinnah.

Planning documents state the aim is to create a “relaxed comfortable place” for all ages.

Documents add:

“With three very different spaces there will be a choice of environment to suit different people, high stools, a place in the window to watch the world go by, a comfortable sofa and a cosy booth area. The more intimate feel of the different rooms will allow people to hold conversations with one another without over bearing music.

“If the premises were to get busy, they would employ a door person to regulate numbers and entry. High spec CCTV and alarms will be installed that will go directly to the police.”

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Harrogate ice rink installation gets underway

Work to install the Harrogate Ice Rink in Crescent Gardens is underway ahead of its return for the festive period.

Crescent Gardens has been fenced off to prepare the site for its opening in 10 days.

The rink, which debuted last year, was set up by Events by Cynosure in collaboration with Destination Harrogate – the North Yorkshire Council tourism organisation.

Events by Cynosure has a three-year deal to operate the rink as part of the Harrogate Christmas Fayre, which will also be returning next week.

Read more:

This year, there will also be an outdoor bar, food stalls and a tipi with an indoor seating area.

A carousel, bungee trampolines, a frozen swing and game stalls will also be on offer for children to enjoy.

The ice rink will run daily from Friday December 1, to Sunday, January 7 2024.

Skating costs £10 per person for a one-hour session and bookings can be made now.

Harrogate street closure: police investigation ‘ongoing’

North Yorkshire Police has said the closure of a street in Harrogate town centre on Friday night is part of an “ongoing investigation”.

Back Cheltenham Mount was cordoned off for several hours on Friday afternoon and evening.

The closure led to speculation about the nature of the incident but the force had not disclosed any information until today.

Officers also sealed off the steps on Cheltenham Mount and King’s Road that cut across Back Cheltenham Mount.

The steps starting on King’s Road.

A police officer on patrol on Back Cheltenham Mount.

In response to a media enquiry from the Stray Ferret, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said this morning:

“A police cordon was put in place in Harrogate town centre as part of an ongoing investigation.

“Enquiries are at an early stage, and a further update will be provided when possible.”

Read more: