The owner of Harrogate’s only nightclub, The Viper Rooms, has welcomed the government’s announcement that nightclubs will finally be able to reopen on July 19 without masks or social distancing.

Paul Kinsey told the Stray Ferret that he is looking forward to reopening but added he was still skeptical that the reopening plans won’t be delayed again.

He also sympathised with young people in Harrogate who he believes have suffered over the past 18 months and said having a nightclub again will give them a chance to “celebrate life” again.

He said:

“I think it’s a great outcome if it actually goes ahead.”

“It allows all of the 18 to 25-year-olds who have suffered the most in terms of lost education, lost jobs and lost leisure the opportunity to do what they love most….celebrate life!!”

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The club has been one of the hardest-hit businesses in Harrogate since the covid pandemic hit. It’s been closed indefinitely since March 2020, except for one night on Halloween.

Mr Kinsey was looking forward to reopening on June 21 until the government decided to delay the easing of lockdown restrictions for another month.

It meant the nightclub had to put its plans on ice.

He called on the government to offer a package of financial support to the nightlife sector in a previous Stray Ferret article.

A covid-19 leaving drinks party will now take place on July 19 at 10pm.

Harrogate International Festivals has issued an apology for not including any female writers of colour in its 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The prestigious four-day festival takes place this month at the Old Swan in Harrogate.

Many leading crime writers, including Pointless star turned best seller Richard Osman, Mick Herron, Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves are due to attend and events take place across the four days.

But the lack of diversity among the line-up attracted criticism, which prompted Harrogate International Festivals’ programming committee to post on Twitter:

“It has been brought to our attention that our 2021 crime writing festival programme contains no female writers of colour. It should not have been necessary for this to be pointed out to us.

“We work hard on diversity at the crime writing festival but, although there have been many unique challenges this year, we got this wrong, and we apologise.

“We will be examining our planning processes, changing our practices — including expanding our programming committee — and working hard to make sure it never happens again in future years.”

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The apology prompted writers A A Dhand and Abir Mukherjee, who were invited to this year’s festival, to release a joint statement, which said:

“We are pleased that the concerns raised over this year’s Harrogate festival programme containing no female writers of colour have been recognised and that constructive conversations have taken place resulting in a welcome change in policy for future literary festivals.”

Their statement added that “Harrogate has always been at the forefront of championing new voices, so the commitment to changing practices and widening the diversity of the planning committee is a very welcome step.”

They added they recognised diversity and inclusion were tricky subjects and that problems were not specific just to the Harrogate festival.

The festival’s crime novel of the year award carries a £3,000 prize.

Paul Ivison says his “outrageous, camp and wild” garden in Harrogate saved his life following recent mental health battles.

Mr Ivison’s loud and proud garden may be small but it is hard to miss as you walk up Mayfield Grove to where it meets Mayfield Terrace, just a short walk from the town centre.

He designs a themed garden each year and this year he has gone with for mental health.

On the wall outside the garden are messages and advice for people on how to cope with mental health problems and who to contact if they need help.

As well as a wide array of plants and flowers his garden is also interspersed with and eclectic and colourful range of items including the Philippines flag, to represent his partner, photos of the Queen and Prince Philip, fairies, gnomes and bowling pins.

Mr Ivison, 61, took an overdose to end his life in January and the garden has given him the strength to carry on. He said:

“If it wasn’t for this garden, I wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s been a tough time but the garden clears my mind.”

Mr Ivison was in the Royal Navy during the late 1970s and early 1980s and recently began suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to what he witnessed.

He works part-time at Asda in Harrogate and also receives Personal Independence Payment for people with a disability.

After a review in January, the money he was entitled to was drastically cut which led to financial worries and a risk that he would lose his beloved home and garden. This led to his suicide attempt.

After providing more evidence, and support from Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones, he had his full entitlement reinstated.

Mr Ivison is critical of the Department for Work and Pensions and said PIP reviews  were responsible for dozens of suicides. He hopes his garden will highlight what he believes are the government’s shortcomings in tackling mental health and its approach to benefits.

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Mr Ivison, who has lived in the house for 15 years, said 95% of the objects in the garden have been recycled.

He enjoys sitting outside with a coffee and a cigarette watching the world go by while speaking to neighbours. One woman who lives nearby called in during the Stray Ferret’s visit to say the garden has helped with her own mental health.

Mr Ivison said:

“I’ve had some amazing comments. It brightens up their day.”

His garden is open to anyone who wants to visit.

“A lot of people say — pull yourself together, or exercise — but it’s not as easy as that. We all have friends who suffer. The best thing you can do is listen.”

He’s already thinking about next year and said he has decided on a new theme for the garden.

“Next year it will be a Pride garden. It will be camp as hell!”

Harrogate services are back on track after a person was hit by a train this morning near Leeds.

Trains on the Northern line between York, Harrogate and Leeds as well as the LNER line between London and Leeds were cancelled.

The incident was first reported to British Transport Police (BTP) at 8am. Full service was restored shortly after 10am.

Paramedics also attended reports of a casualty on the tracks near Horsforth in Leeds and took the person to hospital.

BTP has since said it is not currently treating the incident as suspicious.

While the line is now clear, it is likely that there will continue to be disruption between Harrogate and Leeds for the rest of the day.

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British Transport Police (BTP) said in a statement:

“British Transport Police were called to the line in Leeds at 7.59am today following reports of a casualty on the tracks.

“Paramedics also attended, and a person has been taken to a local hospital.

“This incident is not being treated as suspicious.”

National Rail said in a statement:

“The emergency services have dealt with the incident between Horsforth and Leeds and all lines have reopened.

“Trains between Harrogate and Leeds may continue to be delayed, cancelled or revised whilst the service returns to normal.”

A paedophile who downloaded images of young boys being raped has been spared jail because he was taking steps to address his amphetamine problem.

Daniel James Barnes, 31, of Montpellier Road, Harrogate, handed himself in to police and told them he had become “obsessed” with downloading and watching indecent images of children, York Crown Court heard.

He said he had handed himself in as a way of “punishing himself”, said prosecutor Helen Towers. 

Police searched his home and seized a laptop on which they found a “collection” of photos and videos featuring children between the ages of six and 14.

Some of the images showed boys as young as six being raped by men, she added.

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Barnes admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and appeared for sentence on Monday.

Ms Chapman said Barnes turned up at Harrogate Police Station in December 2019 and said he had been watching child pornography.

During the subsequent search of his home, officers seized some amphetamine as well as his laptop. A forensic examination of the computer revealed downloads of all levels of seriousness including 73 category A images, 35 category B and four category C. The downloads included both photos and move clips.

High on drugs

Ms Chapman said police found “relevant” internet search terms used by Barnes and it appeared that one such search had occurred just a few hours before he handed himself in.

She said Barnes’ first police interview had to be aborted because he appeared to be “hallucinating” and high on drugs. 

In a second interview in March last year, he told police that watching indecent images of children had become an “obsession”.

Ms Towers said:

“He accepted he had a sexual interest in children.”

Barnes subsequently saw a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with various mental-health conditions, partly induced by drug use. 

He had two previous convictions for assaulting an emergency worker. One of these occurred at the point of his arrest for the illegal images, when he attacked a police officer. The other occurred 10 months later.

Andrew Stranex, representing Barnes, said his client acknowledged that he needed help, primarily for drug abuse.

Sex offenders register

Recorder Anthony Hawks said he could spare Barnes jail because he had a “number of difficulties that are being addressed”.

But he warned Barnes:

“If you are caught watching any more child pornography you are going to go to prison for a considerable period of time.

“I don’t know why you derive pleasure from watching six-year-old boys being raped by adult men.”

Mr Hawks described the images as “filth” but said it would be better for Barnes to serve his punishment in the community where he could continue to get help from Horizons drug support agency.

Barnes was given a three-year community order under the auspices of the Probation Service and ordered to complete a sexual offenders’ treatment programme, along with a 30-day rehabilitation course. 

He was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his internet activities.    

Harrogate-born professional wrestler Bea Priestley has joined the global American wrestling promotion WWE.

She will begin her WWE career with its UK brand NXT UK wrestling under her new ring name Blair Davenport.

NXT UK is an off-shoot of the WWE’s main US-based shows, Raw and Smackdown. Wrestlers hone their skills in the UK before hopefully moving to America to perform in front of millions.

NXT UK’s weekly show is broadcast on BT Sport and the WWE Network.

Priestley was born in Harrogate and moved to New Zealand when she was 10 years old.

She began training to be a wrestler at the age of 14 and made her debut in December 2012. She’s spent the last few years playing a villainous character in Japan.

In a video posted to the WWE’s social media channels, the grappler laid down the gauntlet for future rivals.

“I have wrestled all around the world. I have sacrificed everything to get to where I am today. I have given up friends, I have given up family to master what I do. Did you really think I wouldn’t be part of the greatest women’s division on earth?”

#BlairDavenport has arrived in #NXTUK! pic.twitter.com/znRN9sScdy

— NXT UK (@NXTUK) July 1, 2021

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Priestley is not the only currently active wrestler to hail from Harrogate.

The high-flying Joe Wade spoke to the Stray Ferret this year about his dream of one day making it in Japan or America.

There is also Thomas ‘Bram’ Latimer, who currently wrestles in the United States for the National Wrestling Alliance, which is owned by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.

A woman from Harrogate who suffers up to 20 migraine days a month says she isn’t being prescribed a set of drugs that could help her.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved the anti-CGRP drugs for use in March 2020 yet Tiffany Snowden says the NHS in England still isn’t prescribing them.

Anti-CGRP drugs are the first medication created specifically for episodic or chronic migraines.

Ms Snowden says only other option being to buy the medicine herself at a cost of £350 per month.

Before discovering the anti-CGRP medication Mrs Snowden had been prescribed three different medications, but Mrs Snowden said they made her feel very ill.

Tiffany Snowden and her husband Matthew

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Having found out that the drugs have been available in England and Wales since March 2020, Ms Snowden filed a freedom of information request to Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust asking how many people had been prescribed them in the district.

The trust did not meet the deadline to return the information to Ms Snowden.  A spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:

“A response to Tiffany’s Freedom of Information request will be with her shortly. We are working hard to respond to FOI requests but owing to operational pressures during the covid pandemic, replies may be delayed.

“While we are unable to comment on individual cases, anti-CGRP drugs, which currently include erenumab, galcanezumab and fremanezumab, are available as potential treatment for patients accessing services for episodic and chronic migraine. That is for those patients that fulfil the NICE criteria for their use.”

In response, Ms Snowden — who says she does fit the NICE criteria — said:

“That is great news that the hospital is able to prescribe those drugs under the NHS but it does not change the difficulty patients in our district are having in accessing them”.

The NHS North of England Commissioning Support Unit has said the drugs will be available from this month in England and Wales.

RHS Harlow Carr is set to start work building a new bridge later this year, which has been made possible thanks to the estate of a key supporter.

The Thaliana Bridge will cross the Queen Mother’s Lake at the south end of the gardens to improve access and provide new routes for visitors.

Dr Rachel Leech, whose research into the plant Arabidopsis thaliana inspired the design of the bridge, left money to the RHS as part of her will.

Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as the thale cress or mouse-ear cress, has a small genome of approximately 135 megabase pairs and it was the first plant to have its genomes fully sequenced. This meant it became a model organism for other research programmes.

Gagarin Studio and DP Squared Engineers are behind the project, the same team that recently built a footbridge for Leeds Climate Innovation District.

Work on the Thalina Bridge is expected to start in autumn 2021.

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It will be 21 metres long and three metres wide, made from steel and pre-weathered larch cladding.

Liz Thwaite, head of site at RHS Harlow Carr, said:

“The new bridge is part of our overall masterplan for the RHS Harlow Carr site, and will improve the flow of people and the overall visitor experience.

“We’re so grateful that Dr Leech’s estate are supporting the project and we’re delighted to be working with Gagarin Studio and DP Squared to design and name the bridge in celebration of this pioneering plant science research.”

Gagarin Studio director, Steve Gittner said:

“The paired curving forms of the bridge not only reflect the site-specific routes and orientation but also refers to the chromosomes of Arabidopsis thaliana.

“The rear curved element forms a back screen, deliberately neutral and simple in appearance, whilst the front balustrade facing the lake and gardens beyond is a sculptural element formed in a sequence of weathered steel fins and faces which vary in density and represent the sequenced RDA of the Arabadopsis Thaliana chromosome.”

A Pannal resident is in a battle with Harrogate Borough Council over two willow trees that he believes hang precariously over his house.

Professor Alejandro Frangi, who is an internationally renowned expert on computational medicine, lives by Crimple Beck in the Harrogate suburb with his wife and eight children.

On the other side of the water are several trees, including the two willows that he believes could fall in strong winds and threaten the safety of his young family.

In 2020 he applied to the council to prune and manage the trees. The council agreed to manage some of them, but it refused to touch the willows, saying that work would damage their health.

Instead it placed a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on them, making it a criminal offence to make any changes.

Prof Frangi has accused the council of “acting unreasonably” over the trees and submitted a formal complaint to the council about the way the saga has been handled.

The council rejected his complaint and said it was satisfied with how it made the decision.

Prof Frangi told the Stray Ferret:

“These trees risk falling on to my side of the river, straight on my property, posing a risk to my family and property. The council has been acting unreasonably, dismissing the risks and putting TPOs on the trees instead of protecting us.”

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To help his case, Prof Frangi commissioned arboricultural consultant James Royston to inspect the hazards posed by the trees, and he agreed that one of them could be dangerous.

The report said:

“It is overhanging a house and garden, and it thereby presents a reasonably foreseeable risk of danger to the occupants and visitors of that house and garden.”

However, it doesn’t appear that Harrogate Borough Council will change its position.

Prof Frangi has now lodged an appeal with the government’s Planning Inspectorate about the council’s refusal and hopes it will force them to change their stance.

A HBC council spokesperson said:

“Proposals that result in the thinning, loss of or damage to mature trees that are subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) are not permitted unless there is an overriding need that outweighs loss or harm.

“The trees are mature specimens with no visible health defects, and thinning would have a detrimental impact on their health and the visual amenity of the surrounding area, contrary to the guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework and Policy NE7 of the Harrogate Local Plan.”

“Professor Frangi has submitted appeals against the council’s decisions to refuse consent and the matter is now with the Planning Inspectorate whose decisions are currently awaited.”