Bring in the New Year with these 3 simple cocktails from Harrogate bartenders

After the headache of the last few months of 2021, I’m sure we could all use a strong drink when the clock strikes midnight.

Whether you’re isolating and planning to live it up at a virtual zoom party or you’re just chilling out on the sofa watching Jools Holland, we rounded up three simple cocktail recipes from Harrogate bartenders that will help you enter 2022 in style.

So get dressed up (or don’t) and raise a glass to better days ahead.

Pink 75 – Banyan 

Jack Whiting, bar supervisor, said:

“This is a nice one for New Year as it includes prosecco and you serve it in a champagne flute. You can garnish it with orange or put a flower in it, so it looks quite nice. I make it at home with my family all the time. It’s quite easy so anyone can make it.”

Pink 75

Ingredients

15ml Tanqueray gin

15ml Chambord liqueur 

15ml lemon juice 

15ml sugar syrup

Prosecco to top it up

Method

Add all the ingredients, apart from the prosecco, to a cocktail shaker with ice (about half the shaker) and shake. If you don’t have sugar syrup, you can make this by mixing sugar with boiling water and cooling it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pour through a strainer into a champagne flute and top up with prosecco.

Garnish with a slice of orange or a flower.

Espresso martini – Foundry Project

Jody Shearer, bookings manager, said:

“It’s perfect for New Year’s Eve as it is easy to make and the caffeine kick keeps you going through the night!”

Espresso martini

Ingredients

25ml Kahlua 

25ml Absolut vodka 

12.5 ml vanilla syrup or vanilla vodka for an extra kick

50ml freshly ground coffee

Method

Measure all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake.

Pour through a strainer into a coupe cocktail glass and serve with a coffee bean garnish.

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White Stray – Three’s a Crowd

Francesco Deleo, bartender, said:

“This is a good one for New Year’s Eve as it’s a nice looking cocktail and it’s easy to make. People love Kahlua and Frangelico. Your friends will be jealous when you make it. You also don’t need a cocktail shaker.”

White Stray

Ingredients

20ml Jack Daniels 

20ml Frangelico hazelnut liqueur 

20ml Kahlua

50ml (approx) double or squirty cream

Large marshmallow to garnish

Method

Pour the ingredients, apart from the cream, into a whisky tumbler, top with ice and stir.

Top-up with the double or squirty cream

If you have a chef’s blowtorch, use this to toast the marshmallow, if not use gas or a lighter, then serve it on top of the cream.

Francesco Deleo, bartender at Three’s a Crowd, makes a White Stray cocktail.

No. 5: A new era for Harrogate’s Christmas markets

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the controversial changes to Harrogate’s Christmas markets.

The organisers of the Harrogate Christmas Market had 170 traders and 53 coaches booked to attend the annual event on Montpellier Hill in November when their plans were scuppered in July.

Harrogate Borough Council announced it had rejected the organisers’ event management plan because it “did not fully take into account the risk of overcrowding and necessary evacuation procedures, counter-terrorism measures and the ongoing risk of covid”.

The council quickly revealed plans to stage an alternative event in partnership with Market Place, a specialist market company from Greater Manchester. It later emerged the two organisations had been in talks since March.

The collaboration, which was extended to include Harrogate Business Improvement District, led to the creation of the first Harrogate Christmas Fayre, which took place in town centre streets from December 3 to 12.

Besides stalls, the fayre included a free road train called the Candy Cane Express, a carousel, helter skelter and ferris wheel.

The Candy Cane Express road train.

The town centre location and added attractions seemed to go down well, although some were disappointed with the lack of variety of stalls.

But it seems the event will return in 2022. Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, has spoken glowingly of it and of bringing it back next year.

Operations manager from Marketplace Europe, Andy Pidgen.

Andy Pidgen, operations manager at Market Place Europe, told the Stray Ferret:

“It went really well, the traders were very pleased. Some of the businesses I have spoken to said how good the event was for footfall. The council and Harrogate BID really liked it.

“We still need to have a debrief with both organisations in January but at the moment I would say I am feeling quite positive about next year.

“There are a few things I would like to tweak in terms of chalet locations but overall we would aim to make the Harrogate Christmas Fayre bigger and better in 2022.”

A separate artisan market was held in Valley Gardens on the first weekend of the fayre. Its success means the organisers, Little Bird Made, are now hoping to stage monthly artisan markets at the same venue.

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What is yet to be seen is whether the council’s warm welcome would extend to the organisers of the Harrogate Christmas Market, who hope to bring their event back next year.

Steve Scarre, the vice-chairman of the Harrogate Christmas Market.

Steve Scarre, vice-chairman of Harrogate Christmas Market, told the Stray Ferret that he will enter talks with the council and submit a new event management plan in January.

He said:

“We are planning to hold the Harrogate Christmas Market in the Montpellier Quarter next year.

“Every year there are new requirements that we have always tried to meet. We bend over backwards to make it as safe and enjoyable as possible.

“We have asked for a meeting with the council in January and plan to submit an event management plan then.

“From the very beginning we have said we have no issue with a separate event in the town centre.

“But our Harrogate Christmas Market works in the Montpellier Quarter. It is simply magical down there.”

Without the foresight of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, it seems difficult to predict at this stage how many markets Harrogate will get next Christmas.

Man jailed for biting Harrogate police officer and spitting at another

A prolific offender who bit a Harrogate police officer and spat at another during the covid pandemic has been jailed for over a year.

Police were called to Sainsbury’s supermarket on Wetherby Road after Mark Murtagh, 34, attacked a security guard, York Crown Court heard.

The security man had been following Murtagh around the aisles, sensing he was up to no good, said prosecutor Muneeb Akram.

Murtagh suddenly turned round, asked the guard why he was following him and aimed a volley of vile racial abuse at him.

The security officer brought out his phone and tried to call police, but Murtagh knocked it out of his hand, sending it flying across a shopping aisle.

Coughed on police officer

A staff manager called police who quickly arrived to arrest Murtagh, who had no intention of going quietly.

As he tried to resist arrest, he shouted abuse at the two officers, telling them to “take these cuffs off” and “hand over your jacket”. Mr Akram said:

“(Murtagh) said he had covid and coughed directly at (the named female officer), causing spit to land on her.

“He’s restrained to the floor by officers (but) tries to resist and attempts to get back up with his legs by swinging them around.”

As Murtagh attempted to “push himself away” along the floor using his arms, he tried to bite the male traffic constable’s leg.

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The named officer managed to push Murtagh’s face away but as he did so, he was bitten on the wrist, causing puncture wounds which drew blood.

The officer finally brought Murtagh under control by spraying CS gas in his face and he was taken into custody.

The officer was said to have suffered psychological harm following the incident at about 5pm on September 10 last year.

Murtagh, of Findon Terrace, Bradford, was charged with two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, one count of resisting arrest and racially aggravated assault on the security guard.

He admitted the offences on the day his trial was due to be held and appeared for sentence via video link on Wednesday.

26 previous convictions

Mr Akram said Murtagh had 26 previous convictions for 42 offences including violence, resisting police officers, drink-fuelled disorderly behaviour, drugs matters, theft and handling stolen goods.

Vincent Blake-Barnard, for Murtagh, said the father-of-one’s violent behaviour in the supermarket was “born of frustration” due to problems he had at the time.

But judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, branded his behaviour “disgraceful”.

He slammed Murtagh for violently resisting two officers “doing a tough job, serving the public”.

Jailing Murtagh for 14 months, the judge told him:

“This was a lengthy and distressing arrest. Police officers are entitled to perform their duties without being assaulted.”

Murtagh will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on parole.

Harrogate not chosen as Nightingale site this time

Leeds has been chosen ahead of Harrogate to provide a Nightingale surge hub for Yorkshire and the north-east of England.

NHS England announced today it was on a “war footing” and had chosen eight hospitals in different English regions to deal with a potential wave of Omicron patients.

St James’ University Hospital in Leeds has been selected in our region to provide a temporary structure capable of housing about 100 patients.

Harrogate Convention Centre was one of eight Nightingale hospitals set up in spring last year in England to treat covid patients.

It had 500 beds but closed this year without treating a single patient.

However, the huge increase in infections caused by Omicron has prompted health managers to devise plans for extra capacity. All eight regional sites chosen this time to be Nightingale surge hubs are within existing hospitals.

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An NHS press release said placing the new Nightingale facilities in hospital grounds would make it easier to flex staff and equipment if there is a surge in admissions.

Other hospital sites could follow — NHS trusts have been asked to identify areas such as gyms and education centres that can be converted to accommodate patients.

4,000 beds

The plan is to create up to 4,000 ‘super surge’ beds across the country.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said:

“Given the high level of covid infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing.

“We do not yet know exactly how many of those who catch the virus will need hospital treatment, but given the number of infections we cannot wait to find out before we act and so work is beginning from today to ensure these facilities are in place.”

Professor Powis urged the public to “play their part” by getting booster jabs. He said:

“The science is clear. Two doses of vaccine do not provide enough protection against Omicron so if you have not yet had a life-saving booster do not delay any longer.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said:

“We hope the Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals will not have to be used but it is absolutely right that we prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity.”

The first eight of the Nightingale surge hubs will be at the following hospitals:

North East and Yorkshire – St James’ University Hospital, Leeds
North West – Royal Preston Hospital
Midlands – Solihull Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham and University Hospitals Leicester
East of England – Lister Hospital, Stevenage
London – St George’s Hospital
South East – William Harvey Hospital, Ashford
South West – North Bristol Hospital

No. 6: Prince Charles visits Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the return of the show in a year in which many smaller agricultural events in the district fell victim to covid again.

The Great Yorkshire Show in July signalled a brief return to some sort of normality after covid decimated another year of outdoor events.

The show was cancelled last year and the venue’s Yorkshire Event Centre was converted into a covid vaccination site in the early months of the year.

For a while, it seemed possible that Yorkshire’s flagship farming event might have to be cancelled for a second year running. But the Yorkshire Agricultural Society took the decision to hold it over four days so visitors could spread out ⁠— and the risk paid off.

Prince Charles at the show

The Stray Ferret attended all four sun-kissed days to watch award-winning goats, sample delicious local food and drink, and we were front row for a surprise royal visit when the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended.

The couple arrived at lunchtime on day three and were greeted by hundreds of visitors at the gate.

Prince Charles spent time inspecting sheep, while the Duchess of Cornwall visited the children’s discovery zone.

Both also took time out to speak with the many visitors and exhibitors, including Phil Airey from Harrogate gardening charity Horticap.

The Stray Ferret’s videos of the royal couple attending the event and leaving the Stray via helicopter went viral and received over 200,000 views on our Facebook page. You can view them on our YouTube page here and here.

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This year’s show also got a happy (and emotional) ending a week after it ended.

Farmer David Mitchell and his wife Annette drove 200 miles from East Ayrshire to be reunited with the intrepid Puss the Cat, who they feared was lost forever after she bolted from his trailer after sneaking in and hitching a ride to Harrogate.

Many shows cancelled

But although the Great Yorkshire Show went ahead, and will remain a four-day event in 2022, other agricultural shows weren’t as fortunate.

Nidderdale Show, which usually attracts about 15,000 people to Pateley Bridge in September, was cancelled.

So was Ripley Show, Birstwith Show and Tockwith Show, with organisers citing concerns over health, logistics and the extension of social distancing restrictions.

Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally called off its summer event, citing “too many uncertainties to proceed”.

But the unique Masham Sheep Fair went ahead in September.

Masham Sheep Fair

Masham Sheep Fair

There is no other event like it in the district. As well as sheep judging, it offered sheepdog trials, tours of the Theakston and Black Sheep breweries, Morris dancing, fleece stalls and even sheep racing to keep the crowds entertained.

Organiser Susan Cunliffe-Lister told the Stray Ferret she was determined to hold the fair this year despite uncertainty over covid.

Weeton Show also decided to proceed and was rewarded with a sell-out crowd and glorious sun.

Agricultural shows are a major part of the district’s summer life and many people will be hoping they return en masse in 2022.

The Stray Ferret’s top 5 videos of the year

From a peculiar ceremony in Masham to a choir singing in a car park, here are our top five favourite videos of the last year.

The videos are in no set order and do not necessarily reflect the number of views it received at the time but captured some heartwarming moments.

In total the video is eight minutes long, with some clips running up to three minutes and others running for less than a minute.

Video 1 – Highlights from the Great Yorkshire Show 2021

The first video is our highlights of the Great Yorkshire Show 2021. It was return of the show after a year out for coronavirus.

During the video you will see some of those who tried out in various competitions, a special royal visit as well as the sights and sounds of the show.

Video 2 – Harrogate tries out deep fried creme eggs

A Harrogate fish and chip shop put an unusual twist on the Cadbury’s Creme Egg by dipping them in batter and frying them.

Sophie Phillips, who owns Harrogate Fisheries on Skipton Road with her partner Tim, said the cream egg innovation “sounds totally wrong” but they were a hit.

Video 3 – Harrogate choir delights with performances in a car park

One of the unusual but beautiful sounds of the coronavirus pandemic for residents in Harrogate was the choir which would perform in a car park due to restrictions.

Since September the choir has been using the unconventional rehearsal space, on the 10th floor of the multi-storey car park on Tower Street.

The group was able to pull off its rehearsals by keeping the group to a maximum of 30 and social distancing.

Video 4 – Peculiar Masham ceremony delights

We captured a rare and curious tradition in Masham were an apprentice barrel make became a journeyman cooper.

Euan Findlay, who started work at Theakston Brewery five years ago, was centre stage for the historic ‘trussing in’ ceremony.

Fellow coopers from across the country gathered in Masham to witness Mr Findlay’s coronavirus-delayed initiation into the Federation of Coopers.

Video 5 – Emotional Harrogate reunion for Puss the cat

We also filmed the emotional reunion of Puss the cat, who escaped from the Great Yorkshire Show after sneaking into a Scottish farmer’s sheep trailer, and her owners.

Farmer David Mitchell and his wife Annette drove 200 miles from East Ayrshire to collect the intrepid moggy who they feared was lost forever.

Mr Mitchell arrived at the showground on Wednesday last week to show sheep. When he opened the trailer, Puss bolted and disappeared.

No. 7: The bedsit murder at Harrogate’s ‘house from hell’

On a Friday night in March, Daniel Ainsley went to Asda in Harrogate, bought a set of kitchen knives, then dumped all but one in a bin outside the store.

He walked to 38 Mayfield Grove, where his friend Mark Wolsey had been letting him stay in his bedsit, and stabbed him 15 times.

Eight months later Ainsley, 24, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for murder.

The incident sparked revulsion for Ainsley and sympathy for Mr Wolsey, 48 — but it also triggered anger in a neighbourhood with long-standing crime concerns.

Daniel Ainsley (left) and Mark Wolsey

38 Mayfield Grove had been dubbed the house from hell as far back as 2005 when a court granted a three-month closure order after a crossbow was held at a resident’s head.

A Stray Ferret investigation this year revealed that between April 2008 and July 2021, North Yorkshire Police received 255 reports about 38 Mayfield Grove from the public.

People wanted to know why the police and Harrogate Borough Council had not done more to tackle activities at the house.

Homeless payments

They were particularly incensed that the council had transferred £2,112 in 2017 and £5,424 in 2018 to John Willis Properties Ltd, the company that owns the house.

The council said the payments were “to help customers assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness to access private rented accommodation”. There is no suggestion of illegal activity by either party.

Locals said it beggared belief that the council had paid for homeless people to stay in a house that had been divided into six bedsits and where many tenants had multiple issues, such as drug and alcohol addictions and mental health problems, as well as backgrounds of homelessness and crime.

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They said it was difficult to think of a more dangerous scenario than housing people with multiple needs together in a terraced home on a busy street, and this problem should have been identified and tackled.

Daniel Neill, who until recently lived on Nydd Vale Terrace, a street parallel to Mayfield Grove, said:

“The entire set-up is a recipe for trouble. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. The worst thing you can do with addicts is put them alongside other addicts.”

38 Mayfield Grove closure notice

The closure notice at 38 Mayfield Grove

Three houses closed

After the murder, the police and the council applied for a court order to close 38 Mayfield Grove, which meant tenants had to find alternative accommodation.

On June 28, magistrates granted partial closure orders against two other properties let as bedsits by John Willis, at 19 and 31 Avenue Grove, Starbeck, due to crime concerns.

Mr Willis later told the Stray Ferret he let 10 properties in Harrogate and was passionate about helping disadvantaged people, unlike many other housing providers, and did everything he reasonably could to protect them. He said:

“Other landlords cherry pick the best tenants and sadly that leaves a disadvantaged group. Homeless hostels are full. I try to help them.”

He said he’d taken many tenants from the council and partner agencies, such as Harrogate Homeless Project on Bower Street, close to Mayfield Grove, during his 31 years as a landlord.

Besides the closure orders, the police and council organised a residents’ summit and a community engagement drop-in session to discuss 38 Mayfield Grove and to reassure people that ‘the Harrogate district remains a safe place to live and any anti-social behaviour is taken very seriously’.

Mayfield Grove community engagement drop-in session June 2021

Police and council staff at the community engagement drop-in session.

But residents said the flurry of activity since the murder contrasted sharply with years of inertia that allowed crime to scar the neighbourhood and blight residents’ lives and called for action to prevent a repeat.

The police and council issued a joint statement after Ainslie’s conviction saying they had responded to and dealt with issues at Mayfield Grove “quickly and effectively”, and adding that criminals “will be held to account for their actions”.

Residents, however, continue to be concerned, particularly after a flurry of police activity on the street near the end of the year.

Police release CCTV image following assault at Harrogate bar

Police have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to following an assault in Harrogate.

Officers said the incident happened at Manahatta bar, which is situated on the Ginnel, off Parliament Street, between 11.30pm on December 3 and 12.59am on December 4.

It involved the suspect punching the victim a number of times to the face while in the bar.

A North Yorkshire Police statement said:

“Police are asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the male in the image as they believe he will have information that will help the investigation.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC Dryden or email leon.dryden@northyorkshire.police.uk

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“Please quote North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210254998.”

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No.8: lockdowns, boosters and an illegal party

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the ongoing covid problems.

Over the past 12 months, covid has continued to bring misery across the district.

On January 1, the district had recorded 4,653 covid cases since March 2020; now, at the end of the year, that number has risen to more than 25,500 positive cases.

What’s more, the infection rate is sky high again and businesses are ending the year in the same position as they did at the same time last year — wondering if they can survive.

The district started the year under tier three restrictions, meaning people could only meet in groups of six outdoors and pubs and restaurants could only operate as takeaways.

It had previously been in tier 2, which allowed hospitality venues to open as long as they served substantial meals.

The change came in on December 30 and ruined hospitality venues’ hopes of bumper new year takings to offset some of the previous months’ covid losses.

Illegal party

However, the guidelines weren’t followed by everyone. The Stray Ferret revealed in January that pub and hotel manager Simon Cotton held an illegal New Year’s Eve party with 10 guests at the Yorkshire Hotel.

Mr Cotton (pictured above) was alleged to have asked staff to work at the event despite it being against covid rules.

He denied the allegations but the following week North Yorkshire Police issued a £1,000 fixed penalty notice for a breach of coronavirus regulations at a hotel in Harrogate on New Year’s Eve.

Third national lockdown

A short while after, on January 6, the country entered its third lockdown. This was extremely tough for local people and business owners who were once again thrust into home-working, online orders and furlough pay-outs.

The roadmap out of lockdown was announced on March 8 and, from there, schools and businesses began to reopen.

In the same month, the district hit 100 covid deaths at Harrogate and District Hospital. The Stray Ferret wrote a series of article remembering some of the 100 that died.

Events, such as Northern Alborough Festival, returned, cinemas welcomed back customers and the beauty and hair industry reopened with queues of eager people needing a haircut.

Covid precautions in Kate Borgen's Ikonik hairdresser on King's Road

Covid precautions in Kate Borgen’s Ikonik hairdresser on King’s Road

A brief spell of normality

Then came summer and a little normality resumed. People went on holiday, visited the theatre and large concerts returned. Face masks were no longer compulsory.

But for the second year running, school exams were cancelled and results based on teacher gradings. Once again, the district saw high percentages for A* to C grades.

By the end of summer, the vaccination scheme was well underway with many over-18s having had two doses. Then came booster jabs.

The rollout began in September, and sites such as Knaresborough Chain Lane Community Hub, Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse have been at the forefront of the campaign.

Now, more than 80,000 people in the district have had their covid booster.

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Nevertheless the emergence of Omicron has seen rates rocket again. Winter also saw the district reach the grim milestone of 200 covid deaths at Harrogate District Hospital, which stopped routine visits to patients two days before Christmas.

But the Harrogate pantomime has gone ahead, unlike last year, and — at the time of going to press — Harrogate’s hospitality sector was hoping to be open on New Year’s Eve.

But few are expecting bumper takings as covid’s shadow continues to loom large.

Man punched and kicked on street in Harrogate

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was punched and kicked on a street in Harrogate.

The man was attacked on Hornbeam Park Avenue, at Hornbeam Park, after arguing with another male between 3.15pm and 3.30pm on Saturday, 18 December.

Police today released a description of the suspected attacker. They say he is aged 19 to 23, about 6ft to 6ft 2 and has short brown hair.

He was wearing gym wear, a fitted red T-shirt, and black shorts. He was driving a grey Vauxhall hatchback.

Police also want to speak to a male who was seen recording the incident from a red Ford Fiesta or a Vauxhall Corsa. They say he appeared to be in company with the suspect.

A North Yorkshire Police statement today said:

“There were no serious injuries however the victim was left feeling extremely shaken following the incident.

“No arrests have been made at this time as the suspect is currently unknown.

“Police are requesting the public’s assistance to help establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”

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Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has information can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC 200 Deacon. You can also email adam.deacon2@northyorkshire.police.uk

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210263414