Firefighters came to the rescue when a horsebox left the road in Killinghall today.

Crews from Harrogate and Ripon were summoned to the village at 12.07pm after a 7.5 tonne horse box left the road following a single vehicle collision.

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

“Crews stabilised the vehicle to allow the owner to remove the horse from the rear of the vehicle. Incident then left with police.

“Crews used a tirfor winch and stabfast stabilisation equipment.”

Five minutes after the Killinghall call, Harrogate firefighters attended flooding in the basement of a house in Beckwithshaw.

The incident log said:

“Crews pumped water from basement and gave advice to owner. A light portable pump and hard suction were used at this incident.”

The incidents were part of a busy day shift for the Harrogate crew, which at 8am dealt with a reports of a diesel leak on a road in North Rigton.

Firefighters carried out an investigation and requested a highways gully-sucker to unblock a surface water drain.  

Read more:

• Car destroyed by fire on A1(M) in Harrogate district
• Revealed: locations of 100 new electric charging bays in Harrogate district

One hundred new electric vehicle charging bays are due to be installed in the Harrogate district this year, bringing the total to 120.

The bays are expected to be available early this year but the dates for each locality have not yet been published.

Half of the district’s 120 bays will be in Harrogate, which will have 60. They include a dozen each at the Victoria multi-storey car park, the Odeon cinema and Hornbeam Park.

There will be 27 in Knaresborough, 19 in Ripon, six in Boroughbridge and four each in Pateley Bridge and Masham.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said the bays would help achieve a net zero-carbon economy by 2038, adding:

“These new charging points support the uptake in electric vehicles for both our residents and our visitor economy, and complement other sustainable travel options.”

Read more:

• Knaresborough business criticises electric vehicle parking ‘madness’
• Harrogate electric buses to be free on Sundays

Chapel Street car park in Knaresborough

The decision to block off existing car park spaces for the new bays before they were in use caused controversy in Knaresborough last month when one business said it was damaging trade.

Hairdressers Kelly Teggin said she supported the introduction of electric charging bays but couldn’t understand why it had been done in the run-up to Christmas when the new bays weren’t even in use yet.

Harrogate

Victoria multi-storey car park – 12 Bays

Hornbeam Park – 12 Bays

Odeon – 12 Bays

West Park – 8 Bays

Park View – 6 Bays

Dragon Road – 10 Bays

Knaresborough

Conyngham Hall – 12 Bays

Chapel Street – 10 Bays

Leisure Centre (new) – 5 Bays

Ripon (new)

Cathedral Car Park – 6 Bays

Blossomgate Car Park – 4 Bays

Ripon (existing)

Leisure Centre – 5 Bays

Phoenix Business Park – 4 Bays

Boroughbridge (Phase 2)

Back Lane Car Park – Up to 6 bays

Pateley Bridge

Southlands Car Park – 4 Bays

Masham

Market Place – 4 Bays

Hampsthwaite claimed bragging rights over Birstwith for the rest of the year after winning the annual New Year’s Day tug of war contest.

Men’s and women’s teams from the Joiners Arms in Hampsthwaite and the Station Hotel in Birstwith did battle at Hampsthwaite cricket field yesterday in front of a large crowd of spectators.

The men’s and women’s teams from Hampsthwaite both came out top in the best-of-three pulls.

The teams then put aside their rivalries to enjoy pie and peas at the Joiners Arms and take part in a raffle to raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Read more:

• Emotional farewell to remarkable Nidderdale lollipop woman Mary Fisher
• £2 cap on Harrogate district bus fares starts today

All the photos below were taken by Edward Lee.

The ice rink, carousel and ferris wheel that have become key features of Harrogate town centre over the last month are set to close.

Harrogate Borough Council introduced the attractions to attract local people and tourists to the area over the festive season.

The Christmas offering began on December 2 with the opening of Harrogate Christmas Fayre, which consisted of about 50 market stalls in town centre streets, along with the ice rink, carousel and 32-metre ferris wheel.

The fayre and the free candy cane express road train, which transported people around town, lasted 10 days.

Since then the festive feel has continued with the ice rink, carousel and other fairground rides at Crescent Gardens and the ferris wheel in the very centre of town alongside the war memorial.

The ferris wheel is due to make its last rotation at 5pm tonight. The attractions at Crescent Gardens will end tomorrow.

The council organised the activities in partnership with events company Market Place Europe, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Events By Cynosure.

Details of the costs and impact on the local economy have yet to be released.

Read more:

• Here we go! Harrogate’s Christmas activities begin tomorrow — here’s your guide
• £2 cap on Harrogate district bus fares starts today

A professional musician who grew up in Harrogate will return to the town in eight days to give a lunchtime recital.

The London Horn Duo will play at the Wesley Centre on January 9 as part of the venue’s monthly concert series.

The duo consists of Kerin Black and Jo Withers, nee Greenberg, who went to school in Harrogate and whose family still live in the town.

Jo began playing the violin aged four and the piano aged five before learning the French horn almost by chance In her final year at St Peter’s Church of England Primary School.

Her sister, Sarah, played the clarinet in Harrogate Grammar School’s orchestra and band. The school’s head of music at the time, Brian Hunt, told Sarah he had lots of violinists but was short of brass players and if Jo would learn French horn to a reasonable standard he would take her on the band’s foreign tour when she joined the grammar school.

So she took lessons with Stephen Price, which proved to be the start of her career as a professional musician.

After attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama she freelanced in London for 10 years before taking an extended sabbatical to home-educate her children.

Read more:

• Mixing modern and traditional: Harrogate’s Sunday Series concerts 2023
• Plans submitted to demolish Harrogate’s ‘little temple’

Jo now plays for film and TV sessions, orchestras including the LSO, RPO and London Chamber Orchestra and is a regular guest principal for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

For the past 18 years she has been a member of the orchestra of English Touring Opera, and travelling round the UK with her children, Charli and Nathan and their grandparents Mike and Maureen Greenberg.

The London Horn Duo was created in 2020 when Ms Black and Ms Withers formed a lockdown bubble two decades after meeting as students in the Britten-Pears Orchestra. Ms Black grew up near Washington DC.

Their programme at the Wesley Centre includes:

Otto Nicolai – Sonata in A Minor

Bernhard Krol – Laudatio (Kerin solo)

Mozart – selection from Twelve Pieces for Two Horns K.487

Catherine Likhuta – I Threw a Shoe at a Cat: Theme, Waltz, Yazz,
Finale (Jo solo)

Tickets cost £10 on the door or in advance from Andrew Hitchen on 01423883618 or email a.hitchen81@gmail,com

Village pride will be at stake today when teams from Hampsthwaite and Birstwith do battle in their traditional New Year’s Day tug of war showdown.

Men’s and women’s teams from the Joiners Arms in Hampsthwaite and the Station Hotel in Birstwith will face-off at Hampsthwaite cricket field at 1pm.

Both sexes will compete over the best of three pulls before heading to the Joiners Arms for pie and peas.

There will also be a raffle in aid of Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Joiners Arms landlord Tony Crammage, aided by Robin Hardcastle, has been organising the Hampsthwaite men’s team while Nicola Binns is getting together the female team. Amy Howard is overseeing the teams in Birstwith.

Read more:

• Hampsthwaite car garage submits plans to relocate
• Tributes paid to Hampsthwaite funeral director Roger Bowers

Joiners Arms landlady Becky Cranage explained the tug of war tradition dated back many years, with Hampsthwaite’s finest formerly taking on a team from RAF Menwith Hill.

But in recent years it has evolved into a battle of neighbouring Nidderdale villages, with Hampsthwaite emerging victorious last year.

Some of last year’s competitors.

A petition has been launched to award honours to all members of the England Lionesses team that won Euro 2022 — including Harrogate’s Rachel Daly.

Captain Leah Williamson was appointed OBE while Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze and Ellen White became MBEs in today’s King’s New Year Honours.

But the decision to recognise four players and not others in a team game has caused controversy.

A petition calling for all of the Lionesses’ playing squad to receive honours has already attracted 2,000 signatures.

Michael McCann, who started the petition, said:

“It simply does not feel fair at all, that after such a monumental collective effort, and given the historical precedents set with previous sporting successes in England, to chose to honour just four of the Lionesses players.”

Mr McCann calls on the Cabinet Office to “honour the entire 23-player squad with at least an MBE”.

Politicians, including Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, have questioned why only four of the team were recognised.

Why only four? They were a TEAM. It should be all or none and I say ALL. https://t.co/lc6ysVKZWL

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) December 31, 2022

The Daily Mail’s northern football correspondent, Dominic King, also expressed forthright views on Twitter.

If Gareth Southgate’s squad had won the World Cup, every member would have got recognition in the honours list. It’s puzzling, them, why every member of Sarina Weigman’s squad hasn’t been honoured. Sir Hugh Robertson’s explanation for the exclusivity is nonsense, too.

— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) December 31, 2022

Daly, whose career started at Killinghall Nomads, has had an amazing year. Besides winning Euro 2022 she has twice been named Women’s Super League Player of the Month for her scoring exploits at Aston Villa.

Rachel Daly receiving her player of the month award November.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly named WSL Player of the Month — again!
• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly among winners at Pride of Britain awards

In the last article of our series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look back at the story of the closure of Harrogate’s last night club – the Viper Rooms.

For generations of young people growing up in Harrogate, nightclubs have been an essential part of weekend life.

The likes of Carringtons, Jimmy’s and Josephines are still talked about fondly by people of a certain age. So it’s hard to believe not a single nightclub remains.

The last one, Viper Rooms, closed on December 9 — and the end was swift and brutal.

North Yorkshire County Council, which owns the site on Parliament Street, sent in bailiffs to repossess the building and change the locks just hours before the club was due to welcome Friday night revellers.

Repossession notices on door.

Viper Rooms, owned by Paul Kinsey, did not hold back in a social media post announcing the club’s demise after 15 years. It said:

“Having tried for nearly three years to negotiate a new lease with our landlord in good faith and after spending £350,000 refurbishing the club in 2019 they have taken possession of the site, hijacking the process and causing 30 team members to be laid off and causing the cancellation of all the pre-booked Christmas parties.”

Paul Kinsey

Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, responded by saying it was “protecting the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers”.

Mr Fielding added:

“We have tried hard to understand the difficulties all our tenants have experienced as a result of the covid pandemic and to offer them our support. This has, in turn, had an impact on our own finances.

“Residents and businesses here rightly expect us to ensure that every effort is made to protect public money and we have a duty to do just that.

“While we do not want to comment on individual cases, we must be fair and consistent and act in the best interests of the public who we serve.”

Viper Rooms is no more.

The closure of the Viper Rooms means two of the four commercial units in the Royal Baths, which North Yorkshire County Council bought off Harrogate Borough Council for £9 million in 2018, are now empty.

The  JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant continue to trade. Mr Fielding said the Viper Rooms site had already generated “significant interest from potential tenants” and a “new agreement for the final one is in the final stages of negotiations”.

So what about Harrogate’s nightclub scene? In its social media post announcing Viper Rooms’ closure, the owners said they would release a “new venue announcement soon”.

But with so many pubs and bars staying open late these says, nightclubs no longer mean as much to many young people.

Have they become an inevitable victim of social trends, or is Harrogate’s nightclub scene set for a revival? The next year should provide some answers.

Read more:

• ‘Significant interest’ in Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms, says council
• Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub
• Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly

A developer has reduced the size of a planned housing development on Kingsley Drive to 162 homes.

Persimmon Homes had initially lodged plans to Harrogate Borough Council for 181 homes in March this year.

However, the proposal was met with concern from council officials and 222 letters of objection from residents.

In documents submitted to the council, Persimmon said it has reduced the size in response to comments from the authority and “other third parties”.

It added that it had also enlarged garden plots, provided public open space and removed some housing designs.

In its amended plans, the developer said:

“The development proposals have again been amended to respond directly to the comments and matters raised following the submission of amended documentation in August 2022.

“The proposed amendments to the scheme will deliver a green space and landscape driven development, which will enhance pedestrian and cycling connectivity within the local area, and which will overall provide a very high standard of residential amenity for prospective residents.”

The amended layout of the Kingsley Drive scheme as submitted by Persimmon Homes.

The move comes as housing officers at the borough council raised concern over the design of the some of the properties.

Meanwhile, residents in the area have held long concerns about the amount of housebuilding in the area and its affect on traffic, noise and loss of green space.

Gillian Hamilton, one of the residents who wrote to the council to object, said in a letter to the authority:

“Local residents have had years of disruption due to building houses in the area. Road closures, noise, constant digging up of pathways and roads to facilitate the various essential utilities.

“The green spaces are disappearing and this further proposal to build houses off Kingsley Drive will result in no more green space left.”

Read more:

• Developer submits 181-home Kingsley Drive plan
• Starbeck residents pledge to fight 181-home Kingsley Drive plans ‘tooth and nail’

Persimmon Homes odged the fresh plan after Harrogate Borough Council rejected a development for 217 homes on the site back in August.

The application would see a mixture of one, two, three and four bedroom properties built.

It is the third time that the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023 are for businesses across all sectors in the Harrogate district.

Over the next few weeks we will reveal what our judging panel is looking for when it comes to each of the 10 categories.

Next up is the Best Independent Retailer Award, which is sponsored by the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub.

This award recognises the work of independent retailers across the Harrogate district that have survived the pandemic and are now tackling a cost-of-living crisis.

These businesses are truly beating the odds to support customers and make the high street work for them.

Companies looking to enter for the Best Independent Retailer Award need to provide information on the challenges your business faced in 2022, what the business did to overcome those challenges and evidence the success the actions had on the sutainability of the business.

Does your business deserve to win the Best Independent Retailer Award at the Stray Ferret Business Awards? Entries close on January 16. It’s simple and quick, so enter today!

Click here or the banner below to enter for the Stray Ferret Business Awards, sponsored by Prosperis.