With its roundabouts, belching traffic and building sites, few would claim New Park to be the loveliest suburb of Harrogate.
But it could have been renamed News Park this week due to its constant appearances on the Stray Ferret — not all for good reasons.
On Friday, we revealed how contractors grinding tree stumps at the Tesco site somehow propelled a lump of concrete through the window of a house on Electric Avenue.
Work on the nearby Ripon Road site where the charity Harrogate Skills 4 Living is building supported living flats has also not gone entirely smoothly. The charity said this week it hopes the flats will be up by Christmas after partially-built apartments on the site were recently demolished.
Elsewhere at the ‘crossroads of North Harrogate’, as New Park has been dubbed (by me), plans to build 135 homes off Skipton Road look set to be approved and, in perhaps the only New Park news to be celebrated this week, the local primary school was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
Good news was, however, plentiful elsewhere. You could barely move in Harrogate town centre last Saturday night because the Beam Light Festival was so popular. And Knaresborough Tractor Run, that infectious parade of joy, attracted a record 401 tractors and raised £27,500 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Drone photographer Colin Corker joined me at the start and then hotfooted it around the route to capture some amazing footage. Check this out.
Channel 4 captured the somewhat earthier footage of a room of people squabbling when it attended the parish meeting in Ripon called to discuss the cathedral’s plans to build an annexe.
Our man on the ground in Ripon, Tim Flanagan, sent this photo of Channel 4’s chief correspondent Alex Thomson with tree campaigner Jenni Holman alongside the veteran beech tree at risk of being felled.
Knaresborough Town Council was unusually convivial on Monday night, but there was plenty of crackle in the room when Harrogate Spring Water managing director Richard Hall, flanked by helpers, fielded questions for almost 90 minutes on the company’s plans to expand its bottling plant, which would involve felling 450 trees.
A resolution to this saga seems some way off.
Read more:
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- No date for completion of £18 million Ripon leisure scheme
WATCH: Spectacular drone footage of Knaresborough Tractor Run
A record 401 vehicles took part in the Knaresborough Tractor Run yesterday (March 17), organisers confirmed today.
The annual event saw the tractors depart the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and then complete a 25-mile route that takes in Pateley Bridge and Knaresborough and numerous villages in between.
The event has raised more than £100,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance since it was first held over a decade ago. You can donate online here.
Drone photographer Colin Corker captured the start and then drove to Nidderdale to capture the spectacular sight of the procession snaking around the countryside.
Here is some of his work from another memorable day.
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VIDEO AND GALLERY: Record breaking Knaresborough Tractor Run
Almost 400 vehicles tooted their way around the Harrogate district today in a record breaking Knaresborough Tractor Run.
The joyful atmosphere that greeted the 9am start at the Great Yorkshire Showground continued throughout the day as the tractors paraded their way to Pateley Bridge for lunch and then back to Knaresborough for the finish.
More than 390 tractors are believed to have taken part this year, each one raising money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance. That would beat the previous record of 383 but the official figure has yet to be revealed.
Some travelled long distances to take part. They included Craig Romanis, of Crop Services (Scotland), who set off at 2.30am this morning from the Borders to take part in a tractor raising awareness of the charity founded by late Scottish rugby player Doddie Weir.
The event has raised more than £100,000 for the charity since it was first held over a decade ago. Volunteers carried out bucket collections along the route and you can also donate online here.
Below are some photos from today. All the drone images were supplied by Colin Corker. We will feature some more of his stunning drone footage tomorrow.
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Craig Romanis supporting Doddie Weir’s charity.
Steven Brown, one of the organisers, helping at the start.
The event is held in memory of farmer Mike Spink.
Passing through Killinghall
A volunteer collecting at the start.
The hardy open cab tractor drivers led the parade.
Fuelling up at the start.
Green John Deere tractors were prominent throughout.
The stunning Nidderdale landscape.
Lunch in Pateley Bridge.
Hundreds of tractors will parade around Harrogate, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge tomorrow for the annual Knaresborough Tractor Run.
The spectacle, watched each year by thousands of people, gets underway at the Great Yorkshire Showground at 9am tomorrow (Sunday, March 17).
Some 350 tractors will embark on a 25-mile route lined with spectators to raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The event has raised more than £100,000 for the charity since it was first held over a decade ago.
The parade stops for a hog roast lunch in Pateley Bridge before winding its way back to Knaresborough.
The 2024 route
The estimated morning times are:
9am leave Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate
9am-9.15am Knaresborough
10am-10.15am Burton Leonard
10.30am Bishop Monkton
10.45am Markington
11.15am Sawley
11.30am Grantley
Noon Pateley Bridge
The showground departure
A £25,000 online fundraising target has been set. Tractor drivers pay £20 to enter (£25 on the day) and passengers are charged £10. Spectators are encouraged to make donations when the vehicles pass or give online here.
You can donate here. Beware of fake links which appeared online last year scamming people.
Last year’s event took the total amount raised for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to £113,341, earning the Knaresborough Tractor Run logo a place on the charity’s new helicopters.
Read more:
- Knaresborough Tractor Run revs up for more thrills
- Route and times revealed for Knaresborough Tractor Run