The Works takes over Harrogate’s former Edinburgh Woollen Mill unit

A new business is to move into the former Edinburgh Woollen Mill unit in Harrogate, a year after it closed.

Discount books and stationery store The Works will make the short trip across the street into the unit, where it is planning to open soon.

The Works has been holding a sale at its current premises on Oxford Street in preparation for the move.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill closed its Harrogate and Ripon stores last October when the clothing company went into administration.

The store was also home to Austin Reed, Country Casuals and Ponden Home Interiors.

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Purepay Retail bought Edinburgh Woollen Mill out of administration in January this year, keeping 296 stores and 2,453 on its books.

The Works is closing its current unit down.

However, the Harrogate and Ripon stores were not rescued. As a result, the large unit at 17-19 Oxford Street has been empty for about 11 months.

It is unclear at this stage exactly when the move will take place. The Stray Ferret approached The Works for more details but were told it was “commercially sensitive.”

Man dressed as giant ovary heads to Harrogate for charity

A man who has become famous for dressing as a giant ovary is heading to Harrogate tomorrow for charity.

Craig McMurrough, who is also known as Mr Ovary, will make his first stop in Harrogate town centre as part of his tour of the north this month.

Mr Ovary has been raising money for charity and awareness of ovarian cancer since he lost his younger sister, Cheryl Earnshaw, to the disease five years ago.

She died just three weeks after her diagnosis.

In the years since Mr Ovary has raised more than £40,000 for cancer charity Ovacome by completing 19 marathons and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

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He hopes his bucket collection in Harrogate will take him a step closer to his £100,000 fundraising target and also raise awareness of the symptoms of the disease.

If you miss him this weekend but would like to donate to the cause then visit his JustGiving page here.

Ovarian cancer symptoms include persistent bloating, eating less and feeling more full, abdominal and pelvic pain and changes to urinary and bowel habits.

Mr McMurrough said:

“It means a lot to me to make a difference in memory of Cheryl.”

“The costume makes quite an impression and will help people remember the symptoms I talk about. People even come up to me in the supermarket to say hello, having met me wearing the ovary costume.

“Now that most people in my neighbourhood will have come across Mr Ovary and the message that a cervical smear test will not pick up the disease, it is a no brainer to take him out onto the road.”

Unison in Harrogate ballots council staff over ‘derisory’ pay offer

The Harrogate Borough Council branch of Unison is holding a consultative ballot with members in local government over whether to accept a “derisory” pay offer.

The trade union is recommending members reject the offer, which could lead to another ballot on whether to take industrial action.

Unison is balloting members at Harrogate Borough Council, its new council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active and Ripon City Council.

School staff will be balloted separately by the North Yorkshire Local Government branch of Unison.

Dave Houlgate, Unison’s Harrogate branch secretary,  said:

“Council and school workers have been offered a 1.75% pay rise with those on the very lowest pay point being offered 2.75%.

“This is yet another derisory offer which will only compound the local government recruitment and retention crisis and increase the demand for in-work benefit support.

“The fact is that with inflation at 3.8% this is another real-terms pay cut and comes on the back of local government pay having fallen by a quarter since 2010.

“This is a shocking way to treat staff who went above and beyond during the pandemic, kept communities safe, supported businesses, cared for the most vulnerable and ensured schools remained open throughout successive lockdowns.”

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Mr Houlgate added women make up the majority of local government employees, and were among the lowest paid in the country. He added:

“It’s time they and the services they provide were properly recognised. Pats on the back and the occasional well done don’t pay bills or feed families.”

“No one wants to take industrial action but sometimes it does become necessary and that may be the case this time.”

The consultation ballot ends on 24th September.

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment.

Drug-driving mum escapes jail after 80mph police chase round Harrogate

A drug-driving mother-of-three has been spared jail after leading police on a high speed car chase around Harrogate.

Jasmine Wilson, 26, reached speeds of up to 88mph on icy roads in her Vauxhall Astra — at some stages on the wrong side of the road — during the chase on January 3.

Wilson, from Pateley Bridge, sped faster after police put on their blue lights and accelerated to 82mph on the wrong side of the road in a National Speed Limit area, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

She then swung the vehicle around a sharp bend at 60mph and at Whipley Bank once again crossed over onto the wrong side of the road, driving at 70mph before tearing through a 50mph zone at 84mph, York Crown Court heard.

Wilson, who was three times over the limit for cannabis and had a male passenger in the car, then overtook another vehicle on a right-hand bend “at some speed”, said Ms Morrison.

She then shot straight over crossroads at 48mph without stopping and reached peak speeds of 88mph as she took another right-hand bend on the wrong side of the road, where she lost control of the Astra, which came to a halt in a field.

The chase lasted around 13 minutes, said Ms Morrison.

Smoking cannabis

Wilson, of High Crest, was taken to hospital by ambulance along with her male passenger, both of whom were relatively unscathed. She was also uninsured to drive the car, which belonged to her partner.

Wilson told police she had been smoking cannabis earlier in the day and that was why she didn’t stop.

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She admitted drug-driving, dangerous driving and having no insurance and appeared for sentence yesterday.

The court heard that Wilson had a clean record until the police chase, which began at about 9.50pm when police were informed by witnesses of what they thought was a drink-driver travelling around the Harrogate area.

Temitayo Dasaolu, mitigating, said Wilson’s actions “made sense to her” at the time because she had been smoking cannabis and didn’t want to get caught.

Responsibilities as a mother

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified, but that he could suspend the inevitable jail term because Wilson had caring responsibilities as a young mother.

He said Wilson had “put all that at risk” by her actions which risked the lives of police officers and other road-users.

He added that Wilson was “one of the few people” convicted of such crimes who would walk free, but only because of her lack of previous convictions and responsibilities as a mother.

Wilson was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a 40-day rehabilitation programme. She was banned from driving for 12 months.

Eco-house to be built in two days at Harrogate climate festival

An eco-friendly house is set to be built in just two days at this year’s Harrogate District Climate Action Festival.

The home will be one of the main features at the festival, which will be held at Harrogate College next month.

Pure Haus, a Leeds-based company that builds eco-friendly homes, said the home will demonstrate passive house principles, which means it requires very little energy and results in near zero carbon homes.

The design and construction principles include high insulation, airtightness and high performance windows.

Kevin Pratt, director of the company, said designing and building such houses helps to reduce carbon emissions and reach climate targets.

He added he hoped the ‘show pod’, which will be brought in on a crane lorry and put together in two or three days, would give an insight into how homes can be built on eco-friendly principles.

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The festival, which takes place from October 1 until October 21, is being coordinated by the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition.

It will include a range of guest speakers, including Professor Andy Shepherd, who is professor of earth observation at the University of Leeds, and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones.

No booking is required and attendance is free.

Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, said:

“We are proud to be hosting the launch day for this festival as its aims align perfectly with the college’s commitment to sustainability and a greener future.”

New signs will ‘make people think twice’ about parking on Stray, says council

New signs on Oatlands Drive in Harrogate will “make people think twice about parking” on the Stray, according to Harrogate Borough Council.

Cyclists have long been frustrated by vehicles parking on the Stray and blocking the cycle lane along the busy road.

It often happens when activities, such as football, take place on the Stray at weekends.

The signs that appeared this week warn that parking on Stray land is an offence and could lead to a £100 fine or the vehicle being removed.

Oatlands Drive

Cars parked on Oatlands Drive.

A council spokeswoman said:

“We continue to work with the county council to try and find a more permanent solution to the parking situation on Oatlands Drive in Harrogate.

“Until this time we have installed signage to advice people, that by parking on the Stray, they are breaching the Stray Act.

“A breach of the act allows the borough council — as custodians of the Stray — to issue a £100 fine to anyone caught parking on the Stray, or to have their vehicle towed away.

“We hope that the signage will make people think twice about parking on Oatlands Drive and allow cyclists to use the cycle path as intended.”

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Bid to fell huge 100-year-old Harrogate weeping willow

A 100-year-old weeping willow tree in a garden close to Harrogate town centre could be felled.

The tree, which is in the front driveway of a house on Belford Place, towering over the street, is subject to a tree preservation order.

The home owner has applied to have the tree, which is close to St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, cut down.

A report by arboricultural consultants JAC Limited on behalf of the tree owner says there are “genuine concerns over the condition and risk of the tree in question, due to its close proximity to a school and now
heavily pedestrianised thoroughfare of Belford Place”. It adds:

“The tree is extremely large for its restricted location, and is now considered to be out of
equilibrium with its surroundings and cannot be safely retained in its current form.”

A sonic assessment of the tree found it was “generally decayed” at the base, the report adds.

It recommends it should be removed and an “appropriate tree be planted in its place”.

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Harrogate Borough Council has previously rejected an application to cut down the weeping willow.

The council will now send its own expert to assess the tree before making a decision.

Harrogate Civic Society has said it would like to see “a less drastic solution”.

Henry Pankhurst, a member of the society, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are obviously reluctant to lose trees of such amenity value.

“The sonic test shows only a minor portion of the trunk thickness to be good wood and a large area beginning to decay with the remainder in poorer condition.

“However, we would not like to take this as a definite conclusion that the willow tree should be felled if some other less drastic solution would allow it to survive safely for a reasonable while longer.

“We shall watch for an opinion from the council arboriculturist which would help us to come to a more precise view.”

The Stray Ferret reached out to the homeowner but has yet to receive a reply.

John Plummer appointed Editor of the Stray Ferret

John Plummer is to take over the reins as Editor of the Stray Ferret.

John succeeds Tamsin O’Brien, who is to become Managing Editor and have a more strategic role.

John began his career as a journalist on local newspapers in his native Fens.

He later moved to London where he worked for, amongst others, The Times and Third Sector, which covers the UK voluntary sector.

In September last year he was appointed Deputy Editor of the Stray Ferret, where he worked alongside fellow Deputy Editor Vicky Carr, who is currently on maternity leave.

John has one daughter and has lived in Killinghall for about 10 years.

The Stray Ferret has seen a rapid growth in readership — last month we had more than 736,000 page views covering every aspect of news in the district.

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Tamsin said:

“John has been a very capable Deputy Editor and I am delighted to promote him to Editor.

“He has brought a wealth of journalism experience to the team and I am sure that under his leadership the Stray Ferret will continue to grow its readership and not be afraid to cover all the important stories in the district.

“It’s the right time for me to take a more strategic role across the whole business”

Have you got a story for the Stray Ferret news team or think there is an issue we need to investigate? Please get in touch on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Harrogate mum refused entry to uniform shop for not wearing face mask

A Harrogate mum said she was left in tears after she was refused entry to Rawcliffes school uniform shop for not wearing a mask.

Jude Humphrey, who is medically exempt from wearing a mask due to anxiety, claims she was told to stand outside the uniform shop despite masks no longer being a legal requirement .

Ms Humphrey had booked an appointment at the East Parade shop on a recent Saturday morning so she and her husband could take their daughter to buy her new uniform for next week’s return to school.

She said it was an “awful experience”:

“She said instantly ‘Where’s your mask?’ and then said ‘You either have one or you leave’ I explained I was medically exempt but it didn’t matter, she made me leave.

“I burst into tears outside, it was so disrespectful. My daughter had to keep coming out to show me the uniform.

“It left me feeling anxious and panicky, just a really awful experience.”

Ms Humphrey and her husband Keith said the most confusing part was that the shop worker herself wasn’t wearing a mask, insisting she was double-jabbed so didn’t need to.

Mr Humphrey questioned this once his wife had left the shop and the shop worker said she was insistent on masks to “protect her younger staff”.

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Mr Humphrey said:

“I was so upset for Jude. We rushed through the whole experience, which was such a shame because it’s meant to be a memory getting your child’s first uniform.

“I just think it’s ridiculous, how can they insist on mask wearing but not wear one themselves?”

Rawcliffes Schoolwear declined to comment on the Humphreys’ claims when contacted by the Stray Ferret.

A note on its website requests customers to wear face masks.

Cycle group welcomes new ‘no parking’ signs on Harrogate’s Oatlands Drive

A cycling group has welcomed new signs on the Oatlands Drive section of the Stray in Harrogate saying it is an offence to park on the land.

Cars frequently mount the kerb to park when activities take place on the Stray, blocking one of the cycle lanes — much to the fury of cyclists.

One side of Oatlands Drive has double yellow lines but the side where vehicles park does not.

Oatlands Drive

Cars mounting the kerb and blocking the cycle lane on Oatlands Drive.

The issue became a particularly sore point this year when proposals to make Oatlands Drive one-way for traffic and improve the cycle lanes were rejected after protests by residents.

So the newly-installed signs, warning that parking on the Stray could lead to a fine or vehicles being removed, has been hailed as a “step forward” by Kevin Douglas, chairman of Harrogate District Cycle Action, which promotes cycling.

He said:

“The principle of putting signs up is a step forward.

“It’s something that we have been asking them to do for some time. People parking there is forcing cyclists into the middle of the road.

“We support any action which helps improve cycling.”

The Stray Ferret has approached Harrogate Borough Council, which erected the signs, for further details.

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