This story is sponsored by Rooster’s Brewing Co.
Brewers from across the UK and the United States have been invited to bring their finest beers to Harrogate for Rooster’s Brewing Co’s first ever Suds With Buds festival of beer, street food and music.
The event on Saturday, July 1 will see more than 20 breweries converge on Rooster’s Hornbeam Park home, spanning the brewery and yard, Taproom, beer garden and The Sample Room upstairs.
Tom Fozard, commercial director at Rooster’s, said:
“Suds With Buds is an event we’ve been wanting to put on for several years, but one thing or another has stopped initial ideas from becoming reality… until now! On the back of Rooster’s celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2023, we’re biting the bullet and making it happen.
“Some of the UK’s most respected and talked about breweries will be descending upon our little corner of the world, as well as a handful travelling from much further afield, creating a truly unique, combined line-up of over 100 beers.”
Brewers and food from across the world
Joining brewers from Britain, such as Burning Sky in Sussex and Cromarty Brewing Co in Scotland, will be Colorado brewers Odell Brewing Co and Crooked Stave, and Stiegl from Austria. Some brewers will even be flying in specially to pour their brews in person, including: Jeremy Grinkey, co-owner of California start-up Everywhere; Kevin Smith, head brewer at Bale Breaker Brewing Co in Yakima, Washington; Evan Price, owner of Green Cheek Brewing Co in California; and Jaakko Saivosalmi, managing director of Finnish cider company Brinkhall.
On top of the beers, some of the tastiest street-food the North has to offer will be served up by local legends Paradise Tap & Taco and Jack In A Box, as well as Knead Pitta and the Pizza Bus from further afield.
There will also be live music on a specially-built stage in the beer garden, featuring Sheffield two-piece Hot Soles, Ralph Pelleymounter, David Broad, Ramona Rose, The Silver Reserve and Trainer Trouble.
Tom said:
“To say this is the first event of its kind we’ve decided to put on, we can’t quite believe the quality of the musicians we’ve managed to secure! It really is just a ridiculous line-up.
“As with the previous annual open days we used to host back on our old site in Knaresborough, we’ll have Tony Safari spinning his ever eclectic collection of funky vinyl in The Sample Room throughout the day too.”
Suds With Buds will run from 2 to 8pm on Saturday, July 1. Tickets cost £25 and the price includes a souvenir Suds With Buds glass, as well as an event programme with full beer menu. The price of the tickets will also cover all of the associated costs of putting on the break-even event, including staffing, equipment, the provision of a wellness area, security, the musicians and additional facilities.
Find out more:
To secure your ticket for this unprecedented celebration of modern UK and US brewing and to sample some of the finest beers in the world, some of them never before served on this side of the Atlantic, just head to the Suds With Buds page of Rooster’s website.
Use code FERRET_10 at checkout and save 10%!
UN report questions Harrogate army college’s recruitment of ‘child soldiers’
The United Nations has called for the army enlistment age to be raised to 18 — which would have significant implications for Harrogate’s Army Foundation College.
The recommendation was contained in a report published this week by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The committee cited multiple concerns over children’s rights and welfare in the British armed forces and urged the government to investigate all forms of abuse against children in the armed forces.
The Harrogate college, which trains junior soldiers aged 16 and 17, has been hit by a spate of recent allegations of abuse and bullying.
The UN committee heard evidence that, in 2021 alone, investigations were opened into the sexual abuse of 22 recruits at the college.
Jim Patrick Wyke, campaigns coordinator at the campaign group Child Rights International Network, called on the government to end recruitment at 16 in light of the evidence.
He said:
“The UK government’s continued recruitment of under-18s into the military is unnecessary, harmful and puts the UK well outside international norms.
“The government must heed the UN’s warning and end the recruitment of children into the armed forces immediately.”
Read more:
- Parents call for Harrogate army college to be closed after abuse claims
- Harrogate Army Foundation College instructor demoted for punching teenage soldiers
- Former Harrogate Army Foundation College instructor sentenced for sex assault
The Stray Ferret approached the British Army for a response and to ask what the implications would be on the college if the age was raised.
A MOD spokesperson said:
“We are proud of the opportunities serving in the Armed Forces affords young people, from upskilling in literacy and digital skills and support for postgraduate degrees, to high-quality accredited training and unique employment prospects.
“Recruitment of under-18s into the Armed Forces meets all legal and policy requirements, both national and international. We take our duty of care for all personnel extremely seriously and ensure under-18s are not deployed on operations that would expose them to hostilities.”
Last month, a government minister told the House of Lords that the Ministry Of Defence introduced new policies to deal with sexual offences, which had helped to improve the situation at the college.
Baroness Goldie, a minister in the MOD, said that the Army Foundation College had a “much improved climate” since 2021.
She said:
Harrogate councillors renew calls for public involvement in Station Gateway plans“The MoD has introduced new policies and changes to deal with sexual offences and unacceptable sexual behaviour below the criminal threshold.
“It has taken steps to improve the complaints system, has created the Defence Serious Crime Unit and has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual offences and sexual relationships between instructors and trainees.
“All of that now reflects a much-improved climate at the college.”
Councillors from Harrogate and Knaresborough have reiterated calls for “meaningful” involvement in the £11.2 million Station Gateway scheme.
The request followed the news that representatives of the Department for Transport and West Yorkshire Combined Authority visited Harrogate yesterday.
They were given a tour of the town centre and shown through plans for major changes to Station Parade and surrounding routes.
Speaking at today’s meeting of Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, North Yorkshire Council‘s head of major projects and infrastructure Richard Binks said:
“It was the first time they had actually visited the site in person. They were really taken with what they saw.
“They really think the scheme’s fantastic and were showing a great deal of support for the project.”
However, members of the committee expressed surprise that they were unaware the visit was taking place.
At a heated meeting on May, the same committee had agreed to support the project, provided the committee was given “meaningful involvement” in its execution.
NYC’s officers were also asked to meet face-to-face with local residents and businesses, which today’s meeting also heard had not yet happened.
The committee members were presented with a petition of 2,000 signatures opposing the Station Gateway project by local resident Rachel Inchborough, who told the meeting:
“We feel we’ve had a lack of any in-person consultation for residents and it is of a key significance. We’ve been offered a quick Zoom session online, at short notice, to tick boxes.
“Residents feel this was a complete insult.”
Councillors voted in May to support the Station Gateway scheme
Some of the committee members queried the petition’s veracity, saying its signatories included people from as far away as South Africa.
They also pointed out that even 500 local signatures – the threshold needed to have the petition debated by the committee – were not representative of all views from local residents.
Several Conservative members of the committee said they did not want to undermine the original vote in May to support the proposal.
Cllr Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, added:
“There’s a fundamental point here that this committee passed a resolution that we wanted a meaningful role in the implementation of the scheme.
“The chair is against the scheme. The chair wants to stop the scheme. The chair, despite what this committee said, went to the executive committee and implored them to stop the scheme. The petition wants to stop the scheme. The two things are at odds.
“We’re talking about people who want to stop the scheme, not who want meaningful input in the scheme. You can say what you like, but that’s the fact of the matter.
“I’m quite happy to have a meaningful role in implementing the scheme but we’re kidding ourselves if we think this is what this is.”
Read more:
- North Yorkshire councillors back £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway project
- As it happened: Councillors vote to SUPPORT Harrogate Station Gateway scheme
However, other councillors called for officers to uphold the wishes of the committee to engage with the community about the detail of the proposal.
Cllr Monika Slater, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bilton Grange and New Park, said:
“This isn’t about trying to overthrow a motion we already passed at the previous meeting.
“This is genuinely about looking at the concerns of specific individuals and seeing if there are ways of mitigating and therefore bringing more of the public on side of actually supporting a scheme and involving the local councillors much more in that process.”
Councillors voted by eight to four in favour of asking for a full list of meetings to be held with local groups and for committee members to be invited as well. They also supported the proposal of a working group being set up, with representation from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to focus on the Station Gateway project.
Cllr Chris Aldred, the Lib Dem representative for High Harrogate and Kingsley who put forward the motion, said:
Brew Bar owner opens new Harrogate coffee shop“This is not designed to stop the scheme. It is designed for a scheme to continue.
“I voted for the original proposal and I’ve always said there are some parts of this scheme I find really attractive, One Arch being one of them.
“I do sincerely believe that we need to demonstrate that we’ve listened to the voices of the people who came to the last meeting, the people who’ve signed this petition.”
The owner of Brew Bar has opened a new coffee shop in the centre of Harrogate.
Simon Somerville-Frost, who has operated his original venture on St Winifred’s Avenue since 2018, opened the new coffee shop on Royal Parade this week under the name &… Harrogate.
&… Harrogate provides lunch and brunch as well as a wide range of coffees, pastries and bakes. It plans to transition to also operate as an evening bar in the weeks ahead.
It took about nine weeks to transform the former Gron building, which closed last year.
Mr Somerville-Frost said &… Harrogate was designed to look and feel completely different to Brew Bar, which has established a reputation as a community coffee shop in the saints area of Harrogate.
He said:
“We just decided to something totally different. It’s a completely different look from Brew Bar and a really nice space.
“It’s a natural evolution from Brew Bar. I didn’t want the space to look too ‘coffee shop’.We’ve gone for a quite darker aesthetic so we can transition easily into an evening bar.
“People feel comfortable in both environments and we are excited to get going.”
Read more:
- Plan for new cafe on Harrogate’s Cambridge Street
- A-ha’s sound man opens record shop and bar in Harrogate
Former Harrogate solicitor jailed for indecent exposure in Knaresborough
A former Harrogate solicitor has been jailed for four weeks for indecent exposure.
Richard Wade-Smith, 67, was charged with exposing his genitals on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough.
York Magistrates Court heard the incident happened between May 7 and May 10 this year.
Wade-Smith, who appeared in court via link from HMP Hull on Monday, pleaded guilty to the offence.
He was jailed for four weeks and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and court costs of £85.
A court document detailing the sentence said the offence was serious because it caused a “distressing experience in presence of children and occurred on multiple occasions”.
It added that Wade-Smith’s guilty plea was taken into account when sentencing him.
Read more:
- Former solicitor breached restraining order in Harrogate
- Harrogate solicitor jailed after breaching restraining order
Wade-Smith, who worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and later ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, had previously been jailed for breaching a restraining order in December 2022.
The 67-year-old was given the order by York Crown Court after he rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate on Boxing Day 2021 and subjected her to “mental torture”.
He was jailed for 10 months after he breached the order, which banned him from going near his wife’s address, by knocking on her door just four days after being spared jail.
Business Breakfast: Home care company opens Harrogate officeIt’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm.
Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
A home care service has set up a new office in Harrogate.
Radfield Home Care, which was founded in 2018, opened its new headquarters on Tower Street in the town centre this week.
Matthew Nutting founded the company after leaving the NHS five years ago when he saw a “gap in the market for premium care”.
Radfield, which employs 55 staff, offers a range of services including home care, dementia care and personal care.
The new offices on Tower Street include a day care centre on the ground floor, offices on the second floor and a training centre on the top floor.
Mr Nutting said the move to Harrogate would help the care service grow.
He said:
“Our ambition is to be the home care provider of choice for this area and to grow.”
For more information on Radfield Home Care, visit their website here or call 01423 895766.
New Swinton Estate bar opens for the summer
A new bar has open at the Swinton Estate.
The Swinton Rose Bar, which is based in the Terrace Gardens at the Terrace Restaurant and Bar, opened its doors to the public this week.
The new bar offers a range of wines including Château la Gordonne de Provence and Champagne Pommery Brut Rosé Champagne NV.
It will be open until August 31 this year and no booking is required.
For more information, visit the Swinton Estate website here.
Read More:
- Business Breakfast: Sales manager celebrates 20 years at Harrogate district estate agents
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Bulgarian martial arts experts jailed for dealing cocaine in Harrogate
Two Bulgarian martial arts experts have been jailed for peddling cocaine in Harrogate after delving into the UK drug market within a week of arriving in the country.
Emilov Andonov, an expert in the Russian combat sport sambo, and his sidekick Stanislav Stefanov, a professional judo trainer, were stopped by police in the Asda car park where officers suspected a drug deal was taking place, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Rachael Landin said Stefanov, a part-time bouncer in his home country, had been driving an Audi, and Andonov was in a Toyota. Police suspected something was amiss when one of the men got into the other’s car.
Officers searched both vehicles and found 11 wraps of cocaine, worth £550, under the gear stick in the Audi.
They found a further 19 wraps of high-purity cocaine under the covering of the gear stick in the Toyota. Those drugs were worth £950.
They also seized three mobile phones which showed that text messages had been pinging back and forth between the two men in the four days preceding their arrest on January 28.
It appeared that Andonov and Stefanov, both national-level martial artists in their homeland, had been working under orders from people higher up the drug chain who provided them with “post codes and instructions” to deliver their illicit wares.
They were each charged with possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply but initially denied the offence, claiming they had “bought in bulk” for their own personal use.
However, they ultimately changed their pleas to guilty and appeared for sentence yesterday after being remanded in custody. They were assisted by a Bulgarian interpreter.
Just arrived in England
Defence barrister Matthew Harding, for Andonov, said both men, of no fixed address, had only been in the country for a week before they got involved in the drug trade.
He said they had been “sent up to the Yorkshire area” to deal cocaine by their drug overlords in London, adding:
“They are clearly delivering under (instruction).
“At times they don’t know where to go or what they are doing.”
He claimed when the two men arrived in the country on January 20, they had no intention of lurching into crime.
He said Andonov, 21, was a judo expert who studied sambo at the national academy in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. Mr Harding added:
“He and his co-accused have competed in (national) competitions,”
“He will inevitably receive a sentence that means his deportation from this country is automatic.”
Read more:
John Batchelor, for Stefanov, said his 21-year-old client was a professional judo trainer and part-time doorman who had studied at the same sports school as Andonov. The barrister added:
“He’s competed at national level and they’ve known each other from school.”
He said the two men arrived in London initially where they were “offered an opportunity” to deal drugs in Yorkshire.
He added Stefanov would go back to judo training and study upon his inevitable deportation to Bulgaria.
Judge Sean Morris told the defendants:
“Within days of arriving in this country you were breaking the law in the most serious way.
“You were being directed where to sell drugs and that meant you were putting the citizens of this country at risk for your own greed.
“I recommend, on the completion of your sentence, (that) you are immediately deported back to Bulgaria.”
Each man was jailed for two years and three months.
Dropped cigarette causes late night shed fire in Harrogate
Firefighters from Harrogate dealt with a shed fire that spread to a garden fence last night.
The incident happened shortly before 11pm on Skipton Road,
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log said two appliances from Harrogate and one from Knaresborough were summoned.
The fire spread to a conservatory, approximately 15 metres of garden fencing and 20 metres of plastic guttering . The log said:
“Crews used two breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets, two thermal imaging cameras and lighting to extinguish the fire.
“The cause of the fire was accidental, due to a dropped cigarette.”
A ventilation fan was used to clear light smoke damage in neighbouring properties.
Shortly afterwards, at three minutes past midnight, Harrogate firefighters were mobilised again to a Ford Mondeo engine fire on Grove Park Avenue.
Crews used breathing apparatus to extinguish the fire. The incident log said:
“The cause of the fire is believed to be an electrical fault. Advice was given to the vehicle owner.”
Read more:
Business Breakfast: Harrogate brewery to host 10th anniversary beer festival
It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm.
Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
A Harrogate brewery has announced it is to host its first beer festival to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Harrogate Brewing Co, which is based on Hookstone Chase, is set to hold the event from August 11 until August 13.
It will include pop-up bars from Northern Monk, Amity Brew Co and Bini Brew Co, as well as live music and street food vendors.
A family day will be held on the Sunday (August 13) where outdoor games and a face painting will take place.
The event will be an all-ticket event and admission prices will be £8 for adults and £3 for children aged between five and 14. A full weekend ticket is priced at £15.
The brewery was originally founded by Anton Stark in 2013. It was taken over by current owners Julie and Joe Joyce four years ago.
For more information on the anniversary event, visit the Harrogate Brewing Co website here.
Harrogate private health group donates to skin charity
A Harrogate private health group has donated £10,000 to the British Skin Foundation.
Circle Health Group, which runs the Duchy Hospital, has made the donation to help fund further research into skin conditions.
As well as the Duchy, the group runs Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield and the Huddersfield Hospital on Birkby Hall Road in Huddersfield.
On making the donation, David Uregbula, head of business development and partnerships at Circle Health Group, said:
“With specialist dermatology services available across our national network of hospitals, we understand the importance of the British Skin Foundation’s work.
“We are delighted to be playing a pivotal role in supporting their drive to improve research and treatment for future generations.”
Matthew Patey, chief executive at the British Skin Foundation, said:
“We still have lots of work to do to improve the lives of patients in the UK and across the world.
“This substantial donation from Circle Health Group gives the scientific community’s most talented researchers more resources to continue their ongoing mission.”
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Plan for new cafe on Harrogate’s Cambridge Street
A plan has been submitted to open a new cafe on Harrogate’s Cambridge Street.
The proposal, which has been submitted by Doncaster-based Imyco Construction Ltd, would see the cafe created next to beauty and toiletries shop Bodycare in the town centre.
The allocated space is currently a staircase, which has been “mothballed”, according to planning documents.
The cafe would be situated on the ground floor and be accessed from Cambridge Street.
Further details on the cafe, including name and opening hours, have yet to be revealed.
North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.
The site is currently subject to plans for 14 new apartments above the planned cafe and Bodycare.
The proposal, which was approved in June 2020, will see the first floor of the building converted into accommodation.
Read more:
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- Knaresborough’s ex-crime commissioner sells marketing firm
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