Jade Edwards and Henry Stam were meant to tie the knot on May 9, at Rudding Park, but due to coronavirus, their big day has been postponed.

To make matters worse the couple weren’t even able to spend their ‘not wedding day’ together as Henry works as a doctor in A&E at Harrogate Hospital. Jade told the Stray Ferret that the whole thing has been very sad:

 It was meant to be such a special year, it’s just so sad… Henry has moved into an apartment in Harrogate as he is very much on the front line of the pandemic and we have an 11-month-old daughter so he didn’t want to put her or me at risk, so we couldn’t even spend the day together… a few other couples we know got dressed up and had a nice meal at home, but we couldn’t do that.

Henry isn’t very emotional, but even he said that at 1pm last Saturday he was looking at his watch thinking about where we should have been… But it’s out of our control, we will just have to look forward to next year.

The couple initially postponed the ceremony to the 4th July, but as time went out they realised that, even if it could go ahead then, that it wouldn’t be the wedding they wanted.

I didn’t want everyone to be in face mask or for my older relatives to not be able to come, so we thought it was best to just push it back until next year… The venue have been brilliant, they have just dealt with the whole thing for us, nothing was an issue.

Laura Lindsay who is a wedding planner in Harrogate, usually organises 50 weddings between April and September. She told the Stray Ferret that this is not something the industry ever imagined having to go through :

 Everything up until august is out of the window for most of my brides… and anyone who is holding out is looking at a different style of wedding day… this is no longer 100 guests it’s on a much smaller scale.

2020 brides will have bought their products, personalised them with their dates date, sent out invites… they are now having to do this twice which is an added expense.

With the majority of weddings this year being moved over to 2021 Laura advised that people secured their dates quickly. She went on to say:

I just want to remind you all when you’re feeling down that your wedding will happen and when it does it is going to be an amazing celebration,  there will be people that won’t of seen each other in such a long time and the whole day will be valued so much more.

Staff from Ashville College in Harrogate have been busy making scrubs and other PPE for two of the town’s care homes.

The volunteer group makes the items for Heath Lodge, on Pannal Ash Road, and Berwick Grange, on Wetherby Road.

It comes after the college donated around 200 pairs of safety glasses from its science department to frontline hospital staff treating patients with coronavirus.

The volunteers are led by Caroline Beer, Annie Wilcockson, Sarah Mansfield, Helen Thompson, Elizabeth Pennington, and Lynn Conway.

Collectively, the team has made scrubs, scrub bags, face masks, and headbands, to keep health workers’ ears comfortable from hours of mask wearing.

They have also produced artwork of fictional characters to support children’s storytelling at Harrogate District Hospital.

Caroline Beer said: “We all bring different skills to the mix and our pooled talents are benefitting employees and residents at Heath Lodge and Berwick Grange, and young patients at Harrogate District Hospital. We have set up a ‘gofundme’ page to help pay for materials.”

The materials produced so far have been created using donated fabrics and now the team has also set up a gofundme page to raise money for more materials. The Busy Bees plan to continue production for as long as possible to provide vital PPE items to local care homes in need.

Following a donation this week of items to staff at Berwick Grange, Administration Manager, Phoebe Rahtmell said:

“I would like to say a huge thank you for the uniform bags and head bands that were very kindly made and donated to Berwick Grange Care Home. This was a very thoughtful gesture and I would like to pass on our gratitude to everybody involved as I imagine a vast amount of time went into making them all.”

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any more coronavirus deaths and has this week discharged 15 more patients.

In total, the hospital has now released 97 people who have recovered from coronavirus but 54 people have died at the hospital since the start of the pandemic.

Weekly data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveals how many people have died outside of hospitals. That number has been rising higher in recent weeks and is close to overtaking Harrogate hospital’s deaths.

This data goes up to May 1 and shows that there have been 48 deaths outside of hospitals. Of those, 43 deaths have been in Harrogate’s care homes, with the others in private homes or “other communal establishments.”

A Liberal Democrat councillor has attacked what he calls “confusing in the extreme” messages from the local and central government on lockdown easing.

People have every right to go out and explore as long as they follow social distancing rules but North Yorkshire County Council is reluctant to welcome visitors.

Boris Johnson said earlier this week that people in England can exercise as many times as they wish and drive to outdoor spaces “as long as they respect social distancing guidance while they are there.”

One of the Liberal Democrat’s councillors at the county council, Geoff Webber, saw the mixed messages and sent the following message to the Chief Executive Richard Flinton:

“This is confusing in the extreme.  The PM has said, on record, that ‘people in England can travel as far as they like to reach outdoor spaces – including beaches and parks for sunbathing and non-team sports.’  I may not agree with the rule but this is what is coming from our Conservative government. This is a Conservative council and if they cannot get their act together with a Conservative national government then it is a very poor show. So much for the special relationship with Tory MPs.”

The conservative run North Yorkshire County Council has, however, warned that it will “monitor the number of pedestrians” and said it “may have to close more roads to protect the public.”

Chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, Richard Flinton, said:

“Please adhere to any ‘no parking’ and ‘road closed’ signs you come across and ask yourself if it’s worth it. Why not do the right thing and protect yourself and your family by staying close to home. Everything will still be here when it’s safe to welcome you back and we are really grateful for your patience and support.”

Many took up the opportunity to explore enthusiastically and by midday yesterday there were already 50 cars parked up on the verges around Swinsty reservoir.

A charity has launched a raffle online as part of its fundraising efforts to help staff and patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

The raffle is now live with £2 tickets and all the proceeds going towards funding specialist equipment, training, and improvement of facilities.

Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity is hosting the raffle and will reveal the winners at the start of July.

The charity said that coronavirus is challenging staff but added that they are working “extremely hard during this unprecedented time.”

Here are some of the prizes on offer:

• Two Directors Suite tickets to Leeds Rhinos
• Seven Amazon Fires HD with Alexa
• Neom 3 wick candle
• FAIRFAX & FAVOR Tassels
• Lots of packs of 12 250ml Slingsby solo Gin ready mixed bottles
• A bouquet of Helen James Flowers
• An exquisite unique hand-painted duck egg Birdcage

The top prize is the Leeds Rhino Match Day Experience which includes a pair of tickets as guests of the Leeds Rhinos Directors Club valued at around £400.

Business Development, Charity and Volunteer Manager, Sammy Lambert, said:

“A huge thank you to all the local businesses and individuals who are supporting our online raffle. We are hoping it proves popular and supports our important work raising funds for all the departments and services at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

“By entering our raffle, people are helping us do more for our colleagues, patients and their families during this difficult time. We are extremely grateful to members of the public who have been fundraising for Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity for supporting their local NHS.”

The head of Yorkshire Dales National Park has hit out at the Government after it gave people the green light to travel to beauty spots regardless of distance.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that as of today people can exercise as many times as they wish and drive to outdoor spaces “as long as they respect social distancing guidance while they are there.”

That advice does not appear to have gone down well with the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Yorkshire Water, or even the Conservative-run North Yorkshire County Council.

In yesterday’s daily update the council’s chief executive Richard Flinton made it clear that the “county is very much NOT open for visitors yet.”

“We look forward to welcoming everyone back when we are through this – but we are not there by some way yet.  We anticipate some of our beauty spots will be much busier and we will try to alleviate pressure where we can. We also encourage everyone to access open countryside close to their homes rather than head to these hot spots.”

The council warned that access to important hand washing facilities as well as toilets will be limited with most shops and restaurants and car parking remaining closed for the time being.

Yorkshire Water has also told the Stray Ferret that its car parks also remain closed and, despite the government advice, said that people should not travel to its beauty spots.

“Our reservoir car parks are still currently closed while we create a plan to adapt to changes in the government guidelines. Please don’t drive to our reservoirs as the car parks are still closed and inappropriate parking impacts our ability to access the reservoir safely as well as disrupting local residents.”

The chief executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, David Butterworth, has been outspoken about his opposition to the new government guidelines.

He said that he has been, along with other organisations, advocating for a staged approach to avoid unnecessary travel and tension between visitors and local communities.

“However, that message has not prevailed and, as a public body, we are still expected to deliver the government’s message and manage the situation as professionally and sensitively as we can. We will therefore be opening the Authority-run car parks from today and will strive to open toilets as soon as possible; they will be deep cleaned and have new cleaning regimes implemented.”

What has it been like at the district’s beauty spots since the new guidelines? By midday, more than 50 cars were parked on the verges around Swinsty reservoir today. It was a similar picture at Thruscross.

While the world may feel rather dull at the moment, lockdown has at least enabled some people to go green and inject colour into their gardens.

With more time spent at home and a prolonged spell of sunny weather, many people across the district have taken to gardening. With the green light from the government for garden centres to reopen, people can now get their hands on all sorts of horticultural goods.

Megan Peel, co-owner of Kit Peel Gardens in Harrogate, has given some professional advice on things you can buy and grow now to give you lots of pleasure in the garden all summer long:

“If you are new to gardening its tempting to buy the things that look most enticing in the garden centre today rather than those plants which will go on providing you colour and interest all summer long and on into Autumn.”

Grow your own

 If you are planning on growing some of your own fruit and veg this year, don’t be tempted to plant out young veg seedlings too early or they could be killed off by the late frosts we have up here in Yorkshire. Either wait a few weeks to buy or keep on a sunny window .. and gradually harden off outside in the daytime, bringing in at night until planting out when the risk of frost has well and truly passed.

Our top tip is to start by growing what you love to eat, and focus on growing those things which taste better straight from the ground, or which are hard to come by in supermarkets. We grow a lot of courgettes, above all for the flowers – which we love to eat tempura style in a light beer batter, stuffed with ricotta and herbs; peas which the children pick and eat straight from the pod – and we also like to add the shoots to salads; beetroots and salads – which you can sew successionally every two weeks throughout the summer. Peas can also be sewn into June, as can carrots. Aim to have a few trays of young lettuce seedlings waiting in the wings, and you can fill in any gaps of bare earth with a quick ‘catch crop’ while plants around them are maturing – alternate neat lines of red and green lettuces, for an old fashioned potager look, adding rows of winter brassicas, onions and leeks that will mature in the autumn after the leeks after harvested. Growing beans in the same bed will help fix nitrogen in the soil and benefit the brassicas .

If you don’t have the space to set aside for a dedicated veg patch then ornamental brassicas like Kale Lacinato and Red Drumhead cabbages can look eye catching planted in borders amongst your flowers. Edible flowers like nasturtiums; viola heartsease and marigold and cornflower petals can transform a simple summer salad into something special. “

A charity has already raised £10,000 but needs another £3,000 to give the staff at Harrogate District Hospital a place to stay after a busy shift.

The money Friends of Harrogate Hospital has already raised will be able to pay for the basic refitting work of five rooms but it is aiming to take the rooms up to a hotel standard.

Staff may not be able to get home after a long shift so they need to occasionally stay overnight at the hospital but they are not said to be in good shape currently.

Ian Elliot, the treasurer at Friends of Harrogate Hospital, told the Stray Ferret:

“The hospital has some rooms now but they are not in a decent state of repair. We have already raised a substantial amount but this extra money will bring the rooms up to hotel standard. It’s just something we can do to make their lives that bit easier.”

The charity has set up a fundraising page with a £3,000 target. At the time of publication, people have donated just over £50.

Hotels close to the hospital have been providing staff with a place to stay but some others need to be onsite at all times.

Some garden centres across the borough will be opening their doors to the public from tomorrow, after being closed for seven weeks due to the coronavirus lockdown.

It comes after the government announced on Sunday, that garden centres in England will reopen on Wednesday 13 May as long as they ensure social-distancing measures are in place.

RHS will be opening all four of its plant centres including the one at Harlow Carr.

Sue Biggs, RHS Director General, has said :

“We are pleased to reopen our RHS Plant Centres to bring joy, food and beauty into the lives of thousands of gardeners, and it is hugely encouraging that the Government recognises the vital role gardening and gardens play in supporting positive mental and physical health… We are ever mindful of the world we now live in and will, therefore, be operating with strict safety measures at all our sites to ensure we protect our visitors and staff who we thank for being patient with us at this time.”

Crimple Hall Garden Centre in Harrogate has been offering contactless deliveries to customers during the lockdown, but now as restrictions are lifted they are preparing to open.

Sally Dugdale who is the plant manager at Crimple Hall, told the Stray Ferret that lockdown came at a bad time for garden centres:

“The height of the season is between March and June, so it’s not been good at all for garden centres. We are now hoping that the season is extended with people spending more time in the garden and not going abroad.”

But not all garden centres in the borough are opening tomorrow, with some saying they don’t feel it would be safe for customers or staff.

Heoplants Nursery in South Stainley is remaining closed despite the go-ahead from the government. Deborah Withington, who owns the nursery told the Stray Ferret:

“We have been operating a contactless service since we closed… It has worked really well so we have decided to continue that way for now as we feel that casual visitors and passing trade would pose social distancing issues.”