Man arrested after police seize sword, knives and drugs in Harrogate

A man has been arrested after police found bags of drugs, 10 knives and a sword at a house in Harrogate yesterday evening.

Police were called to reports of a man threatening a woman in the Skipton Road area and officers detained a man in his 40s at the scene.

He was arrested and searched, and officers found bags of white powder, which is believed to be cocaine, two knives and a quantity of cash in the suspect’s possession.

This led to a further search of his house in the Skipton Road area of Harrogate, where further items were discovered including:

The items were seized and the suspected drugs have been sent for analysis.

The man was arrested on suspicion of drug, weapon and public order offences and remains in custody today while enquiries continue.

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Boarded-up building in Harrogate town centre could become pharmacy

Plans have been lodged to convert the former William Hill bookmakers in Harrogate town centre into a pharmacy and retail unit.

The Pharmacy Group has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the boarded-up unit on the town’s Beulah Street.

It would see the bookies, which has been closed for some time, converted into a shop and the unit facing Station Parade into a pharmacy.

Office space will also be created in the space above the pharmacy.

Former William Hill on Beulah Street

The view from Station Parade.

The Pharmacy Group is a third generation family-owned business with 30 NHS community pharmacies across Yorkshire. They include Harrogate Pharmacy on Haywra Crescent.

The developer said in documents submitted to the council that the proposal would bring “positive benefits” to the area.

It said:

“The change of use from turf accountants to retail and offices and the proposed redevelopment of the site will bring positive benefits to the area by maintaining, enhancing and giving new life to a key property on both Beulah Street and Station Parade.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

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Stonefall Cemetery highlights Harrogate’s female war casualties

To mark International Women’s Day next month, free tours will take place at Stonefall Cemetery that put a spotlight on six female war casualties who are commemorated there.

The tours have been organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and will take place on March 5,6 and 8.

Visitors will be able to learn more about local women who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the Territorial Army Nursing Service.

One of the women, Sister Florrie Prest from Bilton, served at Dunkirk and in Africa and also on hospital ships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

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During the Second World War almost 1,000 service personnel were buried at Stonefall Cemetery. Many of them came from across the Commonwealth. There will also be tours from March 12-14 to mark Commonwealth Day.

These include two brothers serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force who died just a few months apart as well as a descendent of the last King of Fiji.

Elizabeth Smith, public engagement coordinator for the North East of England, said:

“The themed guided tours at Stonefall Cemetery will give local people a chance to reconnect with their history, to learn about the work of the CWGC, and discover the remarkable stories of the men and women who are buried in their community.”

To book on the free tours visit https://www.cwgc.org/our-war-graves-your-history/what-s-happening-near-you/

For more information please contact: Elizabeth Smith on elizabeth.smith@cwgc.org

Harrogate hospital currently ‘very full’, say health officials

Harrogate hospital managers warned yesterday that “high numbers of very sick patients” is causing long waiting times.

They added that people with less urgent issues are experiencing long waits.

The news comes weeks after Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust reported that it had reached maximum bed capacity at the start of February due to covid and winter pressures.

In a post on its social media, the trust urged people to call the NHS on 111 unless they had a life-threatening or severe illness or injury.

It said:

“During this week at Harrogate District Hospital we are experiencing high numbers of very sick patients, and due to this the hospital is very full. As a result, patients with less urgent issues may experience longer waiting times than usual.

“This isn’t ideal and we will endeavour to keep waiting times as short as possible. We know that patients can be in pain, stressed or scared, and our dedicated team with do everything they can to help.

“Your health is our utmost priority and all we ask for in return is our staff are treated respectfully and do not have to face verbal or physical abuse as they try to do their job.

“Unless you have a life-threatening or severe illness or injury, we would ask you to contact NHS 111 first.”

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Harrogate district small businesses and families prepare to ‘get stung’

The owner of a family-run nursery chain, which is set to launch a new setting in Harrogate, says he is preparing to “get stung” by rising energy prices.

Matthew Dawson, director of Children’s Corner Childcare, said he had already seen a significant rise in energy bills at his six Leeds nurseries over the last 18 months – including almost double in some cases.

The nursery is set to open a branch at Central House, on Otley Road, in April, when the price hike is introduced.

Mr Dawson said:

“We have several utilities contracts due to run out in the coming months and as such are likely to get stung by the ever increasing costs of keeping our buildings warm.

“This is especially important when looking after young children as we do and not something where corners can be cut.

“Our newest site in Harrogate has a number of obstacles in terms of its energy efficiency which are going to have to be addressed.”

Mr Dawson said the nursery was going to have “the most energy efficient heating system we could find” installed to help mitigate rising costs, as well as investing in insulating the building further.

He added:

“This will not only reduce our ongoing energy bills, but also to reduce our environmental impact as well.

“This will come at a significant cost to the business at a time when margins are squeezed ever tighter by other increasing extraneous costs.”

£80 a month more to pay

For Knaresborough family-of-three, the Hobsons, the energy bills are set to go up by at least £80 per month.

Regional sales director Mike Hobson, who lives with his wife Hannah and their eight-year-old daughter Grace, said:

“This isn’t sustainable and it is now eating into other areas of living costs, especially with all the extra expenditure at the moment, including inflation.

“We were paying £160 a month and we are now paying £240 – for a family-of-three, that’s an extra £1,000 a year.”

From left to right, Grace, Hannah and Mike Hobson, from Knaresborough.

However, the price hike is not just set to hit families and homeowners, with the majority of residents across the Harrogate district set to feel the pinch.

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Catherine Aletta, a junior digital designer at Cloud Nine, which is based at Hornbeam Park, rents a two-bedroom flat near Harrogate town centre with her partner.

She said:

“Energy prices are already a big chunk of monthly outgoings. As prices are set to rise even further, we are both concerned that it will have a big impact on us. The monthly bills are already a consideration to our lifestyle and if they do go up, we will have to start looking at how we possibly cut back on other things.

“We are both very conscious of our energy consumption and do our best to reduce our usage to keep the monthly bills manageable. We use the timer to restrict the amount of time the heating is on, we turn off lights as we leave rooms and make sure we don’t leave the TV on when we are not watching it.

“We have lived in our apartment for six months and we have noticed that the prices have already gone up. Obviously we have had the heating on quite a lot in recent months due to the cold weather, but it is a concern for next winter. If the prices go up even further, we will start to struggle.”

Catherine Aletta.

The price rise comes after the energy regulator, Ofgem, lifted the maximum rate that suppliers can charge for an average duel-fuel energy tariff by £693 — an increase of 54 per cent.

This is to reflect the fourfold increase in energy market prices over the last year.

Plan to convert Harrogate’s Alexa House into family home

Plans have been submitted to convert a Victorian guest house in Harrogate into a family home.

The Alexa House on Ripon Road was sold last year for an undisclosed sum by former owner Sandra Doherty.

Mrs Doherty, who owned the property for 15 years, sold the bed and breakfast after she stepped down as chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce to retire to Northumberland.

She had previously had an application to convert the guest house into seven apartments rejected in January 2021 after Harrogate Borough Council said it would not “contribute to local distinctiveness”.

Now a fresh proposal has been tabled to the council to convert the guest house into a family home.

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The application by the Architect Design Studio Ltd on behalf of Laura Harvey includes converting the outbuildings at the property into a garage and workshop area and reducing the size of the car park.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Alexa House was built in 1896 by the renowned art collector Baron Conrad Adolphus du Bois de Ferrieres.

It was built as a hunting lodge for its London-based owners to spend time enjoying Harrogate’s spa waters and riding in the nearby countryside.

Another industrial unit approved for new Harrogate business park

Plans have been approved to build another 800 sq metre unit at an industrial park on the outskirts of Harrogate.

Harrogate Borough Council has given permission to Teakwood Investments to expand Harrogate West Business Park, which is situated at the junction of Burley Bank Road and Pennypot Lane, opposite the Army Foundation College.

Planning permission was first granted to build the site in 2020. Construction is currently underway and ventilation firm EnviroVent is set to base its headquarters there.

Another 11 units have also been granted planning permission since then.

A council report says:

“The development of Harrogate West Business Park will significantly support Harrogate district’s sustainable economic growth and covid recovery.”

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Knaresborough man jailed for historic sexual abuse

*Warning — this article contains details some readers may find disturbing.

A 64-year-old man has been jailed for three years for the sexual abuse of a young girl in the 1970s and 80s.

David Weatherald, from Knaresborough, waged what amounted to a campaign of sexual abuse of the girl in Harrogate when he was in his 20s.

The victim, now middle-aged, was so traumatised by the abuse she tried to take her own life, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Kitty Colley said that despite the offences happening so long ago, Weatherald’s previous conviction for possessing indecent images of children in 2019 showed that he had “harboured a (sexual) interest in young children” for many years. 

The victim of the sexual abuse, which occurred about 40 years ago, did not make disclosures to police until September 2019 after an article appeared in the press about Weatherald’s conviction for possessing indecent images.

Ms Colley said:

“She herself contacted police and reported (that) she had been sexually abused by him as a child.

“She said that having read about him in the paper, she (decided to) come forward.” 

The victim, who was just six years old when the abuse began in the 1970s, was sexually assaulted on “many” occasions.

Weatherald, who was 19 or 20 years’ old when it began, vehemently denied the allegations following his arrest and told police they were “all lies”.

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He was initially charged with seven counts of sexual offences but denied them and the case was listed for trial in December last year, but Weatherald ultimately admitted five of those charges, including four counts of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child under 14 years of age. He appeared for sentence on Thursday.

Torrid childhood

The court heard that the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had endured a torrid childhood.

Ms Colley said:

“She said she felt ashamed about what (Weatherald) did to her.”

The victim said the abuse had affected her “very deeply” all her adult life.

She said that at the time of the abuse she had “minimal” understanding of what was happening to her and she was now “reliving the trauma through this case”.

She said the abuse made her “feel like I was not worth anything” and resulted in a suicide attempt. 

She added:

“The experiences I have gone through left me physically and mentally shattered.

“My life was stolen from me when I was six years of age and there is nothing that will get those years back.”

Ms Colley said that Weatherald’s previous conviction for possessing indecent images included 11 videos rated Category A – the worst kind – featuring “very young children, some aged seven”. The images included penetrative sexual activity with children.

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Weatherald, of Fossdale Close, was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence and made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order for those offences in 2019. 

Three-year sentence

Nick Cartmell, mitigating, said Weatherald was deeply remorseful and at the time of the sexual abuse he too was an “isolated, immature” young man who had his own difficulties.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Weatherald: 

“This offending came to light as a result of you possessing, or looking at, the most dreadful illegal images of children. 

“It’s quite clear that this offending…shows that your interest in children harks back some considerable time.”

Weatherald will serve half of the three-year sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. 

Mr Morris added a further prohibition to Weatherald’s sexual-harm prevention order which bans him having any advertent contact with children under 16 years of age.  

Concern over North Yorkshire’s plateauing covid vaccine rate

North Yorkshire’s plateauing vaccination rates have been raised as a concern by health officials as all remaining covid legal restrictions come to an end today.

A meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board today heard that while vaccine take up has been “pretty good” across the county, more than 41,000 people have yet to receive a first dose.

That represents around 10% of the population – and areas in Harrogate and Scarborough have been highlighted as lagging behind.

Sue Peckitt, chief nurse at the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told today’s meeting:

“We continue to offer vaccines as an evergreen offer and have been running a number of pop-up sites across the locality including in Harrogate, Scarborough and other areas where we have had very little take up.

“We are now putting out a plea that if those people still want their vaccine, we have plenty available.

“We recently ran a pop-up clinic in Eastfield in Scarborough and had two people attend all day. And two weekends ago we ran another for two days in Harrogate and received 24 people for vaccination. We are just not having people come forward now.”

Ms Peckitt said vaccine take up was lowest amongst 18 to 29-year-olds, followed by 30 to 39-year-olds.

Her plea comes as Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination site prepares to shut in March. The site at Ripon Races closed last weekend.

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Vaccines are now being redirected to pharmacies and GP surgeries where an additional booster dose will be offered to all adults over-75 and the most vulnerable over-12s this spring.

An autumn booster programme, aimed at a wider group of people, is also planned later this year.

Pharmacies and GP surgeries will also be used to vaccinate children aged five to 11 from April.

This extension of the rollout comes after months of deliberation over the benefits and risks before official scientific advice concluded the move would help protect the “very small” number of children who become seriously ill with covid.

No legal requirement to self-isolate

As of today, all remaining legal covid restrictions in England have been removed as part of the prime minister’s Living with Covid plan.

It means people who test positive are no longer legally required to self-isolate, although they are still advised to do so.

The decision has come as a surprise to some health officials who have questioned what the changes will do to the spread of the virus.

North Yorkshire’s weekly infection rate is currently at 412 cases per 100,000 people – its lowest level since mid-December.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, described this as a “much improved” picture at today’s North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board meeting.

She also said although many people will have some immunity from vaccines or previous infection, people should still be cautious about the virus now all restrictions have ended.

Dr Turner said: 

“There is a very high proportion of the population that will have a degree of immunity, whether through vaccination, direct exposure to the virus or both.

“What that doesn’t mean though is you are therefore immune from getting the virus again.”

Colourful mosaics brighten up Harrogate street

Nine colourful mosaics that spell out the word ‘Harrogate’ have been installed on a town centre street.

The mosaics, which were created by disabled artists at Harrogate charity Artizan International, are now on the side wall of the Boots building on Cambridge Place.

The idea came from Harrogate BID, which funded the project. It asked businesses and residents what they felt best symbolised the town.

The responses, which included Bettys, cycling, Yorkshire Tea and The Stray, were given to Douglas Thompson, who is a local mosaic artist and freelance creative at Artizan.

One of the mosaics

Harrogate BID chair Sara Ferguson said the mosaics have given the drab street a much-needed lift.

“Now in place, the mosaics look absolutely fantastic, and they have given the much-used passage between Cambridge Street and Oxford Street a real lift.

“This has been a fantastic partnership, the result of which is now bringing some much-needed colour to Cambridge Place at the same time as enhancing the area.”

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Susie Hart, founder of Artizan International said the artists enjoyed creating the mosaics:

“Our members and volunteers spent many hours creating each of the nine letters. They have taken great pride in their work, and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

“And each time they journey along Cambridge Place, they will have the satisfaction of knowing they have made these letters which are now adding a positive contribution to the town centre.”

Picture caption: BID Chair Sara Ferguson, sixth from left, Artizan International Founder Susie Hart MBE, fourth from right, and Douglas Thompson, third from right, pictured with Artizan International members and volunteers in front of their Harrogate letters.