Harrogate landscaping boss tells of lucky escape from falling tree

The owner of a Harrogate landscaping company was lucky to avoid being crushed by a tree that blew over in Bilton today.

Jason Kirk, owner of Jennyfields firm Patios and Groundworkz, had parked his van outside a customer’s drive on Woodfield Road.

He and employee Steven Beecroft were digging holes for fencing in the driveway until Mr Kirk had to drive off for some timber shortly before 11am.

In the 20 or so minutes he was away, a large tree came crashing down exactly where his van was parked.

Mr Kirk said:

“It was sheer luck.I was parked outside the driveway, exactly where the tree came down.

“There would not have been a van left if it had happened when it was parked there and I was lucky to avoid it too.”

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Mr Beecroft, who was still working in the driveway when the tree fell, said:

“I heard this almighty crackling sound  I stood up thinking ‘what was that?’ and saw the tree coming down.

“It was lucky there were no cars coming and nobody walking by on the path. It’s a busy road.

“A guy in a house opposite came running out because the tree had come down half a foot from his car but luckily it was OK.”

Jason Kirk next to his van on Woodfield Drive, Bilton.

Jason Kirk next to his van and the fallen tree on Woodfield Drive, Bilton.

The tree is one of several trees to have fallen today in the Harrogate district due to Storm Malik.

A Met Office yellow weather warning of strong wind has been in place across the district.

You can read more about today’s storm here.

‘We’ve seen it all’: Harrogate shop employees look back on 15 years in photo shop

After 15 years working together at photo shop Max Spielmann in Harrogate, Alex Hope and Marisa Towler are two of the best known faces in the town centre.

As soon as you step into the shop on Oxford Street, it’s clear why the two are so highly thought of in the town. Beaming with smiles, the pair can’t wait to help and chat with anyone that comes in.

Alex and Marisa have worked at the store for 15 and 19 years respectively, an anomaly in the retail world where many people choose to move on rapidly. They say they couldn’t imagine doing another job.

‘We’ve seen it all’

After years in the same shop, the pair have shared every key moment in people’s lives, from printing baby photos, to school photos, to even wedding photos for the same families.

They say it is a “pleasure” to be trusted with recording people’s memories but said sometimes they can be a little “wild”.

Alex said:

“We could write books and books of the things you’ve seen, we’ve honestly seen it all. When you work with the public’s photos you really start to get an idea of what people are really like.

“We’ve had to tell best men in the past that some photos are just too far to show at weddings, especially from the stag do!”

Since Alex and Marisa started working together, technology has really advanced. From printing camera film to huge canvas prints, the pair have had to move with the times.

Marisa said:

“It’s just really enjoyable and interesting and of course we get on really well. We learn things everyday, the digital world is always changing and we just have to keep up.”

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‘Customers become an extended family’

Alex and Marisa have built bonds with customers, especially regulars. Over lockdown they said it was really difficult not knowing how some people were doing.

They said attitudes have definitely changed: some became more withdrawn after so long indoors whereas others couldn’t wait to be out again.

Some of the gifts collected at Christmas.

Alex added:

“They do become like an extended family, especially those that are in so often after so long you can’t help but get to know them really well. At Christmas it’s lovely when they bring in gifts for us, we are just doing our jobs at the end of the day but it’s so nice to know it’s appreciated.

“That’s why we’ve stuck around for so long!”

New moves to improve cycling in North Yorkshire

A local authority facing a huge demand to increase cycling infrastructure has revealed it is mapping all non-public right-of-way cycle routes for the first time to make it easier for people to swap their cars for bikes.

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways team is set to produce a cycling route map spanning England’s largest county while also examining moves such as segregating road users as sweeping Highway Code changes are introduced to make cycling easier and safer.

The announcements follow the authority being inundated with proposals for cycle route schemes from residents and community groups after the authority received £1m from Department for Transport Active Travel Fund last year to improve the infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

Despite numerous calls for action to enable active travel in rural areas, the council said it would focus the funding on large towns, such as Harrogate, as greater populations meant better value for money.

Harrogate currently has cycling routes planned for Otley Road and Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and Harrogate Road in Knaresborough.

A meeting of the county’s Local Access Forum this week heard safety concerns continued to be a major factor in determining whether people chose to cycle and that the government was trying to discourage segregating cyclists by using white lines, “given that white lines don’t do anything to protect cyclists”.

Instead, highway officers said, the authority was now moving towards physically segregating cyclists and motorists, but it was a more expensive than simply using white lines and would “not happen overnight”.

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The forum’s chairman, Paul Sherwood, said action was needed to improve roads for cyclists. He said:

“Is the highways section of the county council aware of the incredibly dangerous situation of the appallingly maintained roads in which cycling is extremely hazardous in the way the roads are at the moment?”

Funding from developers

Officers replied that the roads were subject to a scheduled programme of inspections and the council was looking to gain extra funding through property developers’ contributions for safety improvements. The meeting heard the availability of funding could increase when the forthcoming unitary authority controls most of the county’s planning matters.

The meeting was told it was hoped a county-wide map of non-public right of way routes would make it easier for cyclists to plan.

An officer said:

“We recognise it is not that easy to find out where those routes are. We are moving towards making that more accessible.”

The meeting heard the authority would be taking into account the HIghway Code changes, in which cyclists are encouraged to cycle in the middle of the road, but the changes were unlikely to impact on the design for cycling infrastructure.

Councillors were told the council would examine schemes such as one introduced in parts of York where bollards have been placed at the side of the road to segregate cyclists and motorists, which had increased safety for cyclists while the narrowing of the road had slowed traffic.

Gino D’Acampo claims Harrogate restaurant rebrand was done ‘without my consent’

Flamboyant TV chef Gino D’Acampo has spoken out against the rebrand of his Harrogate restaurant to Piccolino, claiming it was done against his wishes.

This month five restaurants with the Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant name were rebranded by owner Individual Restaurants, including on Parliament Street in Harrogate.

Piccolino is also owned by the same group.

But in an interview with Manchester Evening News to promote a new restaurant in Cheshire, D’Acampo said they were rebranded “without my consent”:

“My dad used to say to me for every action there is a reaction. Those five restaurants, they were rebranded without my consent and this is my reaction, I open new ones.

“When one goes, I say let’s do something bigger and better.”

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The Restaurant Bar & Grill, which was on the site before Gino’s, is also owned by Individual Restaurants.

Press reports from last year said the Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant chain was struggling financially.

The Stray Ferret asked Individual Restaurants to respond to D’Acampo’s claim but we did not receive a response at the time of publication.

D’Acampo’s Harrogate venture got off on the wrong foot when the chef pronounced it was the only “proper Italian” in Harrogate.

His comments sparked a furious backlash at the time from a number of Harrogate’s Italian restaurant owners.

Long-awaited Otley Road cycle lane opens to safety concerns

The first phase of the much-anticipated cycle lane on Otley Road in Harrogate was completed today amid safety fears by a cycling campaign group.

North Yorkshire County Council has now completed the initial stretch from Harlow Moor Road to Arthurs Avenue. It is the first of three phases on Otley Road.

However, the junction with Harlow Moor Road has given Harrogate District Cycle Action group cause for concern.

Kevin Douglas, chairman of HDCA, told the Stray Ferret the cycle route was a “step forward” overall but the junction failed to meet safety standards:

“We can see that they have widened the junction for cars. It is great news for drivers but that was not the point of the scheme.

“In its current form I do not think it meets the minimum safety standards.

“The council is planning to widen the path at the junction by using land owned by Yorkshire Water which would improve the situation but until then it is too narrow.

“Overall I see this as a step forward. The sooner we have cycle lanes that connect houses on the edges of town with the town centre the better.”

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North Yorkshire County Council has been working closely with Mr Douglas and other local cycling groups as part of the consultation process.

Much of the route is shared with pedestrians.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, told the Stray Ferret:

“There has been some criticism about the fact that it is shared access with pedestrians and cyclists, but that has always been part of the design.

“I have had many conversations with Mr Douglas. He is concerned about the pinch point at the Harlow Moor Road junction but we are going to resolve the issue. It’s a fair assessment.

“We have reached an agreement with Yorkshire Water so we can widen that path. I cannot give a date on when those works will start.”

Construction of the second phase, from Cold Bath Road to Beech Grove, is due to start in April. There is still no timescale for phase three, which will connect to Cardale Park.

Mr Mackenzie also raised the prospect of eventually extending the cycle lane to Beckwithshaw. He told the Stray Ferret it would likely receive funding due to the number of housing planned for the area. Developers, as part of planning consent, would be expected to fund the route.

Global adventurer Jamie Ramsay coming to Harrogate

Adventurer Jamie Ramsay will be sharing tales of astonishing feats of human endurance in Harrogate next month.

Mr Ramsay, who has completed more than 43,000km of human-powered adventuring in 31 countries and 25 different adventures, will be appearing at Ashville College as part of the annual Kendal Mountain Tour.

The tour features adventure films and guest speakers at venues across the UK, and Ashville is once again one of the chosen locations.

The highlight of the Harrogate event on February 19 will be Mr Ramsay’s appearance.

He will tell the audience about his Atlantic to Andes cycle touring adventure, which started in São Paulo, Brazil, and passed through Paraguay before entering Bolivia and then saw him cycle over the Andes to the Salar de Uyuni and on to La Paz, covering 3,700km in 28 days.

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Festival director Steve Scott will compere the event, which anyone can attend,

Anna Rakusen-Guy, Ashville’s events and lettings manager, said:

“It’s superb to be welcoming the Kendal Mountain Tour back to Ashville College next month, with what promises to be another evening of superb films and fascinating talks.”

Tickets are available here.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Bus delays due to Killinghall temporary lights issues

The Harrogate Bus Company has revealed that its 36 service will be delayed this morning due to issues with the temporary lights in Killinghall.

Long queues either side of the village have been a regular sight since temporary traffic lights were installed on Monday but particularly from Ripley heading south.

Northern Powergrid is laying cable for an electric vehicle charger outside the new Tesco Express.

Three-way traffic lights have been installed at the junction with Otley Road. Buses and lorries are unable to turn in and out of Otley Road from Ripon Road.

That work was due to last until February 4. But residents say they had not been informed of further works due to take place from February 7 to 11.

The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.

We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.

The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.

Former Knaresborough vaccine centre to become gym

Planning permission has been granted to convert the former covid vaccine centre and Lidl supermarket in Knaresborough into a gym.

The Lidl on York Road closed in 2018 when the supermarket relocated to a larger site nearby.

In February 2021, the site was taken over by Homecare Pharmacy Services, which administered thousands of covid jabs from a building in the car park until it moved in September to larger premises on Knaresborough’s Chain Lane.

Planning consultants Lichfields said it was not able to say which gym operator will be moving into the building at this stage.

Knaresborough is currently served by a variety of gyms, including Black Wolf Fitness, XS Fitness Club and Red Strength.

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Mystery surrounds Harrogate’s wave of smiling graffiti

A wave of graffiti featuring blue smiling faces has been popping up around Harrogate.

Readers of the Stray Ferret have got in touch to say they have spotted the faces at various locations in town, especially in west Harrogate and Harlow Hill.

They all feature a blue outline of a smiley face — but what the face means and who the artist is remains a mystery.

Planters and street signs are among the items to have been sprayed blue.

The planter above, which was installed on Lancaster Road last year as part of the new Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood, is among the objects that have been targeted.

Harrogate Business Improvement District employed a new street ranger this month to remove graffiti as part of his job keeping the streets clean.

If you know more about the graffiti, let us know at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

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Families invited to explore top independent school Cundall Manor

This article is sponsored by Cundall Manor School.

It is ranked in the top nine per cent of independent schools in the UK and is situated in an idyllic part of rural North Yorkshire.

Now, prospective families are being invited to explore Cundall Manor School as it opens its doors for two special events in February and March.

The open days will take place at the “friendly, supportive and caring” school, which offers provision for boys and girls from the age of two to 16.

The first will be held on the morning of Saturday, February 5, followed by another on Saturday, March 26.

Amanda Kirby, who has been the headteacher at the school for almost 10 years, said:

“We hold open days to invite prospective parents to the school with the opportunity to see the school facilities and to get a feel of the Cundall experience. It allows them to meet the pupils ask them questions but also talk to the teachers as well.”

Mrs Kirby said the events provided an opportunity for the school to get a feel for who the prospective families are and in return parents and children are able to inspect the facilities and chat with pupils and staff.

She said:

“Parents can get an insight into our school culture, the curriculum and the type of pupils we produce. It also allows parents to meet our fantastic senior leadership team and they can establish a relationship.”

In terms of what the school has to offer, including state-of-the-art facilities, Mrs Kirby said Cundall Manor is “proof that the world of Enid Blyton can be at one with the 21st century”.

She added:

“Seeing is believing. Rather than driving success we promote success on an individual basis. We are not afraid to push pupils out of their comfort zone, cultivating a ‘yes’ mentality which prepares children to embrace the world and to think and act independently and without inhibitions.

“We possess excellent grass pitches for rugby, football and cricket. We have a 4G astro turf that is used for hockey, netball, football and tennis. We also possess a 20-metre, four-lane swimming pool.

Located in a magnificent 28-acre site in the Vale of York, between Ripon and Thirsk, Cundall Manor School mainly attracts pupils from a 20-mile radius, including the Harrogate district.

Mrs Kirby said:

“We attract pupils from a Harrogate as we have an extensive bus routes and one of the routes goes through the town centre.”

The open days will see parents greeted by some of the school’s prefects, before being accompanied to a welcome tent.

They will then be taken on a tour of the whole school by a prefect and will be invited to ask questions about the school and life from a pupil perspective.

Mrs Kirby said:

“During their tour of school, they will visit our Wild Wood, this will showcase some of the extracurricular activities we offer such as axe throwing, fire building and much more.

“They will then go onto our school field, which is a magnificent 26-acre field containing rugby, football and cricket pitches.

“We also have a new 4G astro turf, which allows us to mainly play hockey, but we also use it for netball and tennis.”

At the end of the tour, parents will be taken back to the tent where they will have the opportunity to speak with Mrs Kirby and her deputies. They will also have the opportunity to talk to the school’s new headteacher, Christopher James-Roll, who starts at the school in September.

Mrs Kirby added:

“Open days give prospective parents the opportunity to see Cundall in ‘full-flow’. We are not just the sum of our stunning surroundings, enriching curriculum, and extra-curricular opportunities. Parents say they can tangibly feel the friendly and purposeful atmosphere when they meet our pupils and staff. It is always wonderful to see everyone engaged in learning activities.

“Pupils lead our tours, giving prospective families a real insight into what it is like to be a pupil at Cundall Manor School. Some of these pupils have been here since they were in nursery and have many wonderful anecdotes of their time at school.

“Chatting over refreshments after the tours allows prospective families to meet with our head, head of admissions and deputies, affording parents a relaxed environment to ask any questions as they arise.

“Families leave feeling they’ve had a snap-shot into life at Cundall Manor School, ready to make informed decisions about the next steps to joining our family community.”

To register for one of the school’s open days click here to fill out a contact form or call 01423 360200.