A Ferris wheel has started to be installed in Harrogate as the countdown to the town’s Christmas activities begins.

The 32-metre wheel, which is being assembled alongside the war memorial, will be one of the highlights of Harrogate’s Christmas offering.

Other highlights include an ice rink in Crescent Gardens, a Christmas market featuring about 50 stalls, the Candy Cane Express road train and a carousel.

The wheel, also known as an observation wheel, previously stood in York.

Harrogate’s seasonal festivities are due to get underway on Friday. The market will operate until December 11 but the other activities will continue into the New Year.

Harrogate Borough Council is organising the festivities with a range of partners.

John McGivern, destination events manager at the council’s tourism body Destination Harrogate, told Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce this month the ambition was to “position Harrogate district as a first choice Christmas destination” and to attract high spending visitors on day trips and overnight breaks.

The view from Bettys this morning.

Read more:

• York Ferris wheel coming to Harrogate for Christmas
• Judges cast their votes on Ripon’s Christmas windows

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that a missing man has been found following an appeal.

Officers said they were “extremely concerned” for the welfare of the 36-year-old.

A police statement said the man was found safe and well.

Read more:

• Owners of Harrogate trophy store retire after 40 years
• Panto legend Tim Stedman brings Christmas magic to Harrogate again

Two girls from Harrogate will cut and donate their hair to charity to raise funds for The Candlelighters Trust charity.

Holly, 7, and Heidi, 5, will have their locks removed next month and donate their hair to the Little Princess Trust, which will turn it into real hair wigs.

The two girls have been growing their hair since last November in support of their friend Sophia Felgate, 7, who has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Sophia was first diagnosed in 2018, just a week after her third birthday. She finished treatment in August 2020, however the cancer returned last November.

The idea came from Holly wanting to give Sophia her own hair to “make her feel better”, after Sophia lost her hair due to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Read more:

• Pateley Bridge turns pink to fundraise for baby Arlo with leukaemia
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The Candlelighters Trust provides practical, emotional and financial support to families of children with cancer.

They have been helping the Felgate family since Sophia’s diagnosis in 2018. They have provided the Felgates with counselling, family fun days, massages/haircuts/manicures for Sophia and pizza nights.

The fundraiser has already raised almost £1,000. If you would like to donate to the cause you can do so on the JustGiving page.

With Christmas just one month away, many of us are starting to think about our looks for the party season, as well as special gifts to buy or our loved ones.

Fortunately in the Harrogate district we are blessed with some fabulous independent fashion boutiques.

We asked four business owners what was currently flying off the shelves as we approach the big day.

Infinity & Co boutique, Harrogate

Sam Gallagher, owner of Infinity & Co boutique, which has just launched its newly-refurbished store at the Victoria Shopping Centre, said the key word for Christmas was “sequins – and lots of them!”

She said:

“We have trousers, tops, blouses, dresses and jackets in and they are so popular. They can be worn dressed up but it’s also fun to wear them casually too. We have them in lots of metallic shades of gold, champagne, copper black and rose gold, along with some brights too.

“We have also been selling chunky oversized cardigans to wear with boots and PU (synthetic leather) joggers, ideal for walking around a Christmas market.

“Colours this season are lots of neutrals of camel, winter white and black and for the bright colours we have had a strong reaction to raspberry, teal, emerald and cobalt.”

Porters, Harrogate

Andy Shuttleworth, manager of Porters, on James Street, said shirts and dresses were selling fast ahead of the party season.

He said:

“We have got a great selection of occasion shirts and party dresses. They are always very popular this time of year.

“Accessories, which can be bought for gifts and stocking fillers, like socks and underwear, are popular too.

“Brands people particularly like at the moment are Traffic People, which does wonderful party dresses, and shirts from Guide London and Claudio Lugli.

“The trend is currently ‘glitz’ and the shirts are bright and bold – ready for the party season.”

Fennec & Darwin, Harrogate

Aideen Fox, owner of Fennec & Darwin, on Montpellier Mews, said accessories to help you keep warm were currently proving the most popular.

She said:

“I’m finding gift items, such as my slippers and scarves which retail for £19.99, have been my top-sellers on the run-up to Christmas.

“Especially with energy prices going up so much, it’s important to keep warm.”

Read more:

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Wild Thing boutique, Knaresborough

Dianne Houghton, owner of Wild Thing boutique on Knaresborough’s High Street, said it was currently all about the sparkle.

She said:

“Sparkling dresses are popular at the moment, but they are not just for Christmas. You can make outfits sparkle by accessorising jewellery and layering-up, but still being comfortable.”

Besides Father Christmas, nobody has brought more festive joy to Harrogate this century than Tim Stedman.

This week’s opening of Aladdin marked the start of Tim’s 22nd pantomime season at Harrogate Theatre.

The success of the production is down to the quality of acting and scripts that combine slapstick, double-entendres and audience participation — but it just wouldn’t be the same without Tim.

A youthful 52, he says he is happy to keep playing the fool as long “as long as i can still throw my body on the floor”.

Born in Chester, to a mother from Leeds, he appeared in panto in Hornchurch before getting his chance in Harrogate.

He lives in Newbury and for 10 months of the year is, in his own words, a “jobbing actor” until he heads north in November.

Tim as Wishee Washee. Pic: Karl Andre 

Showbiz isn’t all it’s cracked up to be though. He rents a room in a family house in Harrogate and, with two performances most days, gets little spare time. He says:

“The pantomime is probably the hardest job in acting. We are acting, singing and dancing — and we are not all graced with great amounts of talent in all three — and we are working against a wall of noise. Besides that we are trying to get through a plot and a script and a story.”

But he loves the Harrogate panto as much as the town loves him. What’s the secret to the show’s success?

“I wouldn’t come back unless it was special. The pantomime here has style. First and foremost there is always a good story. If the story didn’t work we wouldn’t be able to keep the kids interested.

“The theatre also employs real actors. I’ve been to so many pantomimes where there might be a celebrity and it isn’t the same.”

Some of the ingredients — an audience singalong, a skit that involves running around the venue and Tim’s gentle humiliation of a man in the front row — are standard ingredients. How does he find his victims?

“If they look normal, that’s why I pick them.”

Favourite character to play

His first Harrogate pantomime was Sleeping Beauty. His favourite character to play is Buttons; this year he is Wishee Washee in Aladdin, which runs until January 15.

Away from the theatre, he likes to visit Fountains Abbey near Ripon and takes his in-laws to Bettys in Harrogate when they visit.

He looks different out of costume and generally moves around town unnoticed but sometimes gets recognised, usually by children.

Read more:

• Tim Stedman returns for 22nd panto at Harrogate Theatre
• Harrogate Theatre misses out on Arts Council funding until 2026
• ‘Irreplaceable’ Harrogate Theatre pantomime director Phil Lowe dies

One of his favourite pantos was when his wife worked backstage and they both stayed in Harrogate. They now have three children and she stays home.

A shadow hung over last year’s show when Phil Lowe, who had directed and co-written the panto since 2007, died suddenly at the age of 44.  A fundraising page has been set up in his memory.

Tim outside the theatre’s Circle Bar.

There are no pantos on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day so Tim will drive home to Newbury on Christmas Eve before heading back to Harrogate on Christmas Day night, and do similar at New Year.

It’s a gruelling schedule at the time of year when most people relax. A keen football fan and Liverpool supporter, he went on stage last night just as England were kicking off in the World Cup. Thankfully, he doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon.

“I do get a little bit typecast. You go to drama school and want to do all these big roles but I guess I’m known for being the silly man, the fool. But that’s OK.”

Tickets for Aladdin are available here.

Two people were taken to hospital following a three-vehicle collision on Skipton Road in Harrogate last night.

Harrogate firefighters were alerted at 7.02pm to the incident, which was also attended by police.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says:

“Crews liaised with police on scene and administered initial first aid to occupants whilst awaiting the arrival of ambulance crews.

“Crews stabilised one vehicle to enable the occupant to be assisted out. Occupants of two vehicles transported to hospital via road ambulance. Crews left the incident in the hands of the police to await recovery of the vehicles.”

North Yorkshire Police has not given any details about the incident, which was the second one attended by Harrogate firefighters in little over an hour.

At 5.49pm they were called to Menwith Hill Road to reports of a vehicle fire. The incident log says:

`’Crews extinguished the fire and dampened the vehicle down before isolating the battery and making the vehicle safe. Crews cordoned off the area and left the incident with the police to await recovery.”

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Men live 10 years longer in Harrogate than Knaresborough, according to a new report.

The North Yorkshire Director of Public Health annual report 2021-22, published today, shows male life expectancy in Harrogate is 85 compared with 75 in Knaresborough.

Women live on average to be 87 in Harrogate and 79 in Knaresborough. In Ripon, men and women live on average to 79 and 84 respectively.

The commentary in the report suggests the difference is down to deprivation. It says:

“Large parts of North Yorkshire have better than average life expectancy when compared with England as a whole. However, there are areas where life expectancy is worse, particularly in Scarborough, but also in parts of Selby, Harrogate and Richmondshire.

“The gap in life expectancy between our most deprived and least deprived wards can be as much as 11 years for men and 10 years for women.

An image from the report showing life expectancy.

The report says there was a “marked decrease in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 for both England and Yorkshire and Humber”, adding:

“This has improved slightly for 2021, but the longterm impact of the pandemic on mortality is yet to be fully determined.”

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• ‘Intimate gem’ Knaresborough pub wins rare award for beer quality

In a section on ‘lessons learned’ the report says the rural nature of North Yorkshire presented challenges responding to covid.

It says:

“For North Yorkshire in particular, we learned to adapt our response to the pandemic to ensure that the rural nature of large parts of the county did not create additional barriers to access covid support.

“For example, we had to adapt the standard covid testing model of having a small number of large testing centres in urban areas to provide multiple mobile options that could travel across the county to rural areas.

“Similar issues were seen with access to vaccination sites; more sites opened up across the county as the pandemic progressed, but additional services eg voluntary transport provision were required to expand access to those unable to travel, and weekend clinics were added to help enable working age population to attend.”

Report author Louise Wallace, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, said in her foreword:

“The pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of everyone in North Yorkshire. The ways in which we work, interact, travel, socialise, learn, live, bring new life, experience illness, loss, and death, have all been affected.

“However, there remain parts of our population who experience more than their fair share of the burden of these impacts, with the pandemic only widening pre-existing inequalities across our society.”

A new co-working space, meeting area and café have opened in Harrogate’s Windsor House.

The facilities were created during the second phase of a refurbishment of the imposing building, which overlooks Valley Gardens.

Owned by property firm Boultbee Brooks, Windsor House is home to more than 115 businesses, and includes 75,000 sq ft of flexible workspace.

Harrogate borough mayor, Cllr Victoria Oldham, officially opened the new facilities at an event attended by more than 100 dignitaries.

Mayor Victoria Oldham cuts the ribbon.

The refurbishment, which included repairing the leaky roof and installing new furniture, has been overseen by interior design firm and Windsor House tenant RU Creative, which sourced and installed the main focal point — an olive tree.

The new space seats 110 people, who can visit the renovated café, which has been renamed The Pantry at Windsor House. The pantry is run by husband-and-wife Antonio and Jo Nobile.

Read more:

• Business Breakfast: Executive search firm moves to Harrogate’s Windsor House
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The building, formerly the Grand Hotel, is a short walk from the town centre.

Karen Winspear, Boultbee Brooks’ building manager for Windsor House, said:

“After four months of intense work and much anticipation, we are delighted to have opened this beautiful new space for our tenants.

“The grand foyer, which has been returned to its former glory, is a luxurious space for workers to meet clients, to work together, or just relax over a coffee or lunch.

“There is more to come at Windsor House, with plans to open a new yoga studio in the new year.”

Does your business or workplace have a good story to tell? We’re looking to recognise the best and the brightest in the Harrogate district’s business community.

On March 9 next year, the Stray Ferret Business Awards will celebrate those businesses at a glittering black tie ceremony in the Pavilions of Harrogate and we want your entries.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023, sponsored by local financial advisers Prosperis, are for businesses across all sectors in the Harrogate district including Ripon, Masham, Boroughbridge, Harrogate, Pateley Bridge and Knaresborough.

We are delighted to announce four of the region’s most influential leaders are on the Stray Ferret Business Award’s judging panel:

• James Farrar:  COO, York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership
• Charlene Lyons: CEO, Black Sheep Brewery 
• Marcus Boardall: CEO, Reed Boardall 
• Martin Rae: CEO, Cloud Nine

There are 10 award categories − from Dynamic Leader to Business Growth and Inclusivity.

It doesn’t matter if the business is large or small − the awards are to recognise excellent organisations, their leaders or unsung heroes.

It’s free to nominate and we will profile the great work of all the winners, so we would encourage you to put forward your business today.

You can see a full list of award categories on our Awards page. Entries close January 16.

In tough times we need, more than ever, to celebrate success and give individuals and teams the recognition they deserve.