New Harrogate muffin café reveals opening date

A  new café chain is to open on Harrogate’s Cambridge Street later this month.

Muffin Break is a franchised chain of cafés, with stores across the UK, serving sweet treats and coffee, as well as savoury breakfasts and light lunches.

News of the store, which will be housed in the former Hotter shoe shop,  came to light after notices appeared in the window for a pavement licence application.

The notices were registered to FoodCO UK Franchising Ltd – trading as Muffin Break.

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The franchise originated in Canada, but now hosts around 60 UK branches – the closest one being Bradford.

Muffin Break UK told the Stray Ferret:

“Fit out of the shop has begun.

“We have everything from flat breads to bagels, and everything is made fresh in store each morning.”

The Harrogate branch will be open from Monday, July 17.

From Harrogate to New York to the World Cup – Rachel Daly’s ‘whirlwind’ career

Before finding fame on England’s national team, Rachel Daly started out playing for a village club near Harrogate.

The Aston Villa Women striker began her career on the pitches of the Killinghall Nomads JFC, playing for the boys’ squad until she was 12.

Recounting her grassroots story on the official website for England Football, she said:

“No one could believe that I was a girl. I used to have really short hair and people would think I was a boy. I remember there was a local report on it as I was banging in hat-tricks and stuff at that age.

“I was the only girl playing for the boys’ team at that time, but there were never any issues because I’d been playing with all of the boys for years before that anyway.”

Eventually, the junior club formed a girls’ team, which Rachel joined soon after.

She was then invited to join the Leeds United Girls Centre for Excellence. Being a huge fan of the club, Rachel was overjoyed to have the chance to train there.

During her time at the centre, she attended Rossett School, where she found encouragement and support from her PE teacher Mike Sweetman.

She praised her former teacher and said:

“Once I got to high school, I met Mike Sweetman who played a really big role in my development

“He really believed in me, when I didn’t want to do PE with the girls playing netball, he’d let me play football with the boys.”

After she left Rossett, Rachel travelled to New York for a sports scholarship, where she played for her university team and was later drafted to play for Houston Dash.

She added:

“It was such a whirlwind, to go from Harrogate to a place like New York City for college.

“In the end, I was over there for nine years playing for what was a large chunk of my life before returning home last summer to join Aston Villa.”

The 31-year-old has now risen to the highest level of women’s football.

She was a key member of the Lioness squad that won the Euro 2022 Cup and on May 31 was chosen to represent England at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

She also won the 2022-2023 Women’s Super League golden boot, a prestigious award given to the top goal-scorer of the season.

The football star’s home town is immensely proud of her and in March the Killinghall Nomads honoured Rachel by opening a café named after her at the club.

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Harrogate Town unveil new kit for upcoming season

Harrogate Town have unveiled their new home and third kit for the upcoming season.

Town will embark on their fourth campaign in EFL League Two from August.

Ahead of the new season, the club has revealed a new yellow home kit and black third kit.

Modelled by Matty Daly and Matty Foulds, the shirts are sponsored by Strata Homes.

Matty Daly and Matty Foulds in the third kit.

Matty Daly and Matty Foulds in the third kit.

Both kits will be available to purchase from the club’s shop on Commercial Street in Harrogate town centre from today.

Town are set to start the 2023/24 season away at Doncaster Rovers on August 5.

They will then entertain Forest Green Rovers in the first home league fixture of the season on August 12.

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Sneak peek: Transformed Harrogate hotel to re-open on Monday

A new chapter in the history of one of Harrogate’s most famous hotels will begin on Monday when it reopens with a new name and completely fresh look.

The Harrogate Inn, formerly known as the St George Hotel, is one of three major local hotels to have undergone multi-million pound renovations by the  Inn Collection Group.

Ripon Spa Hotel and Dower House will re-open shortly under new names the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn.

The Harrogate Inn has a new main entrance on Crescent Gardens that leads into a bar called the Barking George — a nod to its former name.

Visitors will walk into the Barking George bar.

The adjoining area, which used to serve food to hotel guests, has been transformed into a food and beverage area called Stray Away, which the owners hope will become a destination for local people.

It will serve breakfasts, morning and afternoon teas and coffees, lunches and evening meals in the hope of attracting customers for 18 hours a day. It also has a separate Sunday menu.

Six new ground floor suites have increased the number of rooms from 90 to 96.

One of the new suites.

The outdoor terrace has been redeveloped and the Ripon Road entrance will lead to another smaller bar. The existing rooms have undergone only minor changes.

An Inn Collection Group spokesman said:

“The reason we pitch ourselves as inns rather than hotels is because we make the space work from breakfast to night.

“It’s a new place to come and eat and drink. We want it to become a destination for locals to enjoy as much as hotel guests. Ultimately, that’s what will make us successful rather than just relying on high season visitors.”

Andrew Robson, senior communications and marketing executive and Louise Stewart, property director at the Inn Collection Group outside the Harrogate Inn.

The Newcastle-based Inn Collection Group has 32 venues in northern England, including eight in North Yorkshire.

Henry White, who previously managed the company’s Commissioners Quay in Blyth, has been appointed general manager.

The new name is displayed.

It will be the first of three local Inn Collection Group properties to reopen this summer.

The Knaresborough Inn — formerly the Dower House — is scheduled to reopen on August 20. It will have 57 rooms, compared with 41 previously, largely due to the closure of the spa.

The reopening of the Ripon Inn — formerly Ripon Spa Hotel — was scheduled for August 20 but may not happen until early September. The number of rooms will increase from 41 to 57.

The domed roof remains.

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Missing Harrogate woman found

A missing woman from Harrogate has been found, police have confirmed.

She was missing since Wednesday, June 14.

North Yorkshire Police issued a statement yesterday to confirm that the woman had been found.

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Olympic champion to present prizes at Sunday’s Harrogate 10K

About a thousand runners will take part in the Harrogate 10K on Sunday.

The event, organised by running club Harrogate Harriers, starts and finishes at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Club on Hookstone Road.

Olympic triathlon champion Jonny Brownlee will present medals to the winners of the adult races, which starts at 10am.

The adult event will be preceded by a fun run for children, which includes a 1.3 km route for children in school years 2-5 will and a 2.5 km course for those in years 6-9.

The event, sponsored again by Knaresborough renewable energy firm Harmony Energy, takes runners on around Crimple Valley, finishing with the notorious Crimple killer last uphill kilometre.

A total of 486 adults and 70 children took part last year. This year, more than 800 adults have already registered.

However, local running star Cal Mills, who set a men’s record of 33 minutes and 13 seconds last year, won’t be defending his title.

Harrogate 10k

Cal Mills (green vest) on his way to victory last year.

The women’s race last year saw Emily Gibbins, of Ilkley Harriers, destroy the female record by more than four minutes in a winning time of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Entry for the 10k race can be done here https://racebest.com/races/375cy

Online entries, which can be booked here, close at 10am tomorrow. If places remain, you can enter on the day.

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Lack of special need provision in schools ‘failing children’, says Harrogate mother

A Harrogate mother has criticised special educational needs provision in North Yorkshire as “failing children” after her four-year-old was placed into a mainstream school.

Emily Mitchell, whose daughter Elsie is non-verbal, has been diagnosed with autism and of high need, said schools for special educational needs lacked funding and staff to cope with demand.

Ms Mitchell made the comments after she said her daughter’s needs were “disregarded” during a placement process.

Ahead of applying for schools last year, Elsie was given an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which detailed her needs and was submitted to schools to consider.

Ms Mitchell, who runs a support group for neurodiverse children and their parents, said she was turned down by five mainstream schools and two specialist schools ahead of the school year starting in September.

The specialist schools, which included Springwater School in Starbeck, said they were up to capacity for pupils.

Meanwhile, the mainstream schools were unable to meet Elsie’s need.

Following the process, Ms Mitchell took North Yorkshire Council to mediation in May in order to resolve the issue.

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However, despite assurances from professionals and Elsie’s pre-school that she would require specialist care, Ms Mitchell said the council decided to place her into a mainstream school.

Ms Mitchell said:

“After all that time and effort I get a phone call from the local authority to say because they can’t find anywhere to put Elsie, she will be placed in her local catchment mainstream school, who have already told the local authority they can’t meet need.

“But they have over ruled this and not given me any other choice.”

Emily Yeates and her three-year-old daughter Elsie at the first Neurodiverse Stay & Play event in Oatlands Community Centre.

Emily playing with her daughter Elsie.

Ms Mitchell has since taken the decision to appeal and submitted a formal complaint.

She said she feels the provision for special educational needs in North Yorkshire is failing children and described it as “unfair”.

Ms Mitchell said:

“This is so ridiculously unfair on poor Elsie as they are just disregarding her needs. 

“There are no spaces for special educational needs children in the schools, not enough funding, not enough staff and the whole system are failing these children. 

“I know for a fact Elsie isn’t the only child that is suffering because of this. It’s going to be traumatising for Elsie, so I’m fighting and taking this further.”

The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire Council for a response, but had not received one by the time of publication.

Increase in demand

The council said in its own reports that it has a shortage of places for special educational needs and disabilities pupils.

According to a report in May this year, the authority estimated that since 2016 the number of children and young people with SEND and an Education, Health and Care Plan has increased by more than 110% across the county.

Currently, there are 4,500 children with an EHCP in North Yorkshire and the council estimates it will need an additional 350 SEND school places over the next three to five years to meet demand.

In a report, it said:

“The growth in numbers of autistic children and other communication and interaction needs is the single largest area of growth and the local authority has a duty to have a range of provision to meet those needs including mainstream schools, resource bases and special schools.”

Last month, the council launched a consultation on converting the former Woodfield Primary School in Harrogate into a school for children with autism.

It also announced plans to expand Springwater School in Starbeck by an additional 45 places in February.

Headteachers unite to support 20mph speed limit near Harrogate schools

The leaders of 13 schools and education settings in Harrogate have called for councillors to commit to urgent road safety improvements when they meet on Tuesday

The road safety group, which also includes campaigners and local councillors, met yesterday at Ashville College as part of its ongoing bid to create safer streets for 9,000 pupils.

North Yorkshire Council will consider on Tuesday how to respond to a petition calling for a maximum speed of 20mph across south and west Harrogate — covering Oatlands and parts of Pannal, Stray, Hookstone and St Georges areas in Harrogate. The agenda for the meeting is here.

Councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee passed a motion supporting the measures last year. But it requires the support of the council’s ruling Conservative-controlled executive to proceed.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive councillor for highways, appeared to dampen hopes this week when he said the council planned to draw up a speed management strategy rather than agree to 20mph limits.

Cllr Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat chair of the area constituency committee, described the move as “kicking the can down the road”.

But school leaders and campaigners remain hopeful of a successful outcome. In a joint statement, they said:

“There is strong evidence from studies of the positive impacts of maximum speeds of 20mph, and we urge the members of the executive to approve the motion, so safer roads can be created for our schools and the wider community, with a clear programme and timeframe for delivery.

“A maximum speed of 20mph is a key foundation in creating a safer urban environment for all and it encourages healthy active travel choices, from door to destination, around the community. “

The road safety group added whatever the outcome, it will “continue to push for investment in the safety of the roads around our schools, including: maximum speeds of 20mph, upgraded crossings, better use of double yellow lines, and repairs to damaged or outdated pavements, barriers and kerbs”.

Hazel Peacock hands the road safety petition to Elizabeth Jackson of North Yorkshire Council

Campaigner Hazel Peacock handing the road safety petition to North Yorkshire Council in May.

Cllr John Mann, a Conservative who represents Oatlands and Pannal, said he welcomed the council’s recommendation “to undertake a series of planned speed limit reviews delivered over a period of time, which will generate a pipeline of schemes”.

He added:

“Given the tragic road accidents that have recently occurred near to schools in Oatlands this year, I am calling for my recent applications for 20mph limits for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane and Hookstone Road to be given a high priority in the highways pipeline of schemes for the introduction of 20mph limits.”

Cllr Mann said he would allocate his £10,000 locality budget, which each councillor receives to spend on local initiatives, for road safety schemes.

The school leaders who attended yesterday’s meeting were:

  1. Richard Sheriff, chief executive, Red Kite Learning Trust
  2. Jane Goodwin, interim chief executive, Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust
  3. Dave Thornton, interim headteacher and Iain Addison, deputy head at St Aidan’s CE School
  4. Neil Renton, headteacher, Harrogate Grammar School
  5. Tim Milburn, headteacher, Rossett School
  6. Rhiannon Wilkinson, headteacher and Richard Rooze, bursar at Ashville College
  7. Corrine Penhale, headteacher, Rossett Acre Primary School
  8. Tim Broad, headteacher, Western Primary School
  9. Zoe Anderson, headteacher, Oatlands Infant School
  10. Estelle Scarth, headteacher, Oatlands Junior School
  11. Steve Mort, headteacher, St John Fisher’s Catholic High School
  12. Dr Helen Davey, headteacher/Emma Mitchell, business manager, Willow Tree Primary
  13. Jane Turner, headteacher, Pannal Primary School
  14. Victoria Kirkman, executive headteacher, Admiral Long and Birstwith CE schools and interim executive headteacher, Ripley Endowed CE, Beckwithshaw & Kettlesing Schools
  15. Danny Wild, principal and Kate Herbert, performance and projects co-ordinator, Harrogate College

Campaigners who attended:

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Pannal’s controversial ‘skyscraper’ begins to take shape

An apartment block that will replace the now-demolished Dunlopillo offices in Pannal is beginning to take shape.

Plans submitted by Echo Green Developments to build 38 flats on the site at Station Road were approved by Harrogate Borough Council in February 2022.

However, it will be two-storeys taller than the previous structure which led to ill feeling in the village. Pannal historian Anne Smith said residents would be lumbered with a “skyscraper-type building”.

The decision to approve the scheme was made at officer level and without a vote from councillors.

The frame of the new building.

This provoked Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones to say the now-abolished council made a mistake with the process by not putting the application before the planning committee.

But the plans weren’t considered by councillors because the application was made under permitted development rights, which were brought in under the Conservative government and can be used by developers to fast track the redevelopment of disused offices.

Cllr Howard West, chairman of Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council, said at the time that planning officers “made errors” and that the parish council had written to the government about it.

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How the building will eventually look.

It ultimately led Harrogate Borough Council to launch an internal review into how it handled the application.

The review found it should have acted quicker and a “longer period of time than ideal” was spent on parts of the process.

It also said residents should have been consulted sooner and this could have allowed time for a vote from councillors. Despite this, the council concluded the plans were still “appropriately considered”.

The former Dunlopillo building

Dunlopillo – which makes pillows and bedding – moved out of the site in 2008 when the company went into administration and its former office building fell into disrepair, with residents describing it as a “monstrosity”.

Other parts of the vast site have or currently are being redeveloped, including the construction of the Vida Hall Care Home which opened in 2013 and a residential development by Bellway Homes.

Heather Parry steps down from top job at Harrogate’s Yorkshire Events Centre

The managing director of Harrogate’s Yorkshire Events Centre has stepped down after 30 years in post.

Heather Parry was credited with creating Fodder shop and cafe at the Great Yorkshire Showground in 2009 and overseeing the multi-million pound refurbishment of the events centre in 2016.

She joined the events centre after working in London at Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

Ms Parry was soon promoted to managing director of the commercial arm of the showground, overseeing the Pavilions of Harrogate and the Yorkshire Event Centre.

She also led the transformation of a disused area on the showground into what is now the Harrogate Caravan Park, with 67 pitches for caravans, motorhomes and tents.

On her decision to step down, she said:

“I am so proud of the things that have been achieved working with an amazing team.  When I arrived the income from activities outside the Great Yorkshire Show was £40,000 so we have come a long way to the current £7m.  There have been so many highs: from welcoming President Bill Clinton and Sir Elton John, among many others, to creating Fodder and building Hall 1.  

“My career here has been wonderfully diverse; with people at the heart of it all; I feel so lucky to have worked with a myriad of clients, dedicated suppliers and a phenomenal team who have been a joy to nurture and develop.  After 30 years it is now time to hand the baton on and seek new adventures.”

Allister Nixon, chief executive of the Yorkshire Events Centre, said: 

“Heather has had a huge impact on the business, being instrumental in shaping and forming what we are today with vision and sheer hard work. Heather will leave an amazing legacy to be proud of.

“She has been part of the fabric of the society for so many years and I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Heather for her hard work, dedication and significant contributions and wish her the very best in her future endeavours.”

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