A new Greggs shop is set to open in Knaresborough this year, the high street bakery giant has confirmed.
Its location has yet to be officially announced, but it is believed to be at the former Fultons Foods unit on the High Street.
The building has remained empty since the frozen food store closed in March 2021.
The former Fultons Foods store, 32 High Street, Knaresborough.
A Greggs spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:
“Greggs is due to open a new shop in Knaresborough later this year. While we are unable to share any details at the moment, we will be sure to share further information in the coming months.”
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A staff recruitment advert seeking ‘retail team members’ for the new branch has been posted online.
It lists the location as 32-32B High Street, the unit formerly occupied by Fultons.
The advert says:
Malt Shovel pub near Knaresborough up for sale“Our shop will trade from 6:30am through to 6pm, Monday through Saturday, and 8am until 6pm on a Sunday.
“We are looking to build a team to support this new shop for us.”
A popular village pub near Knaresborough has been put on the market for the first time in almost three decades.
The freehold of The Malt Shovel at Brearton has been listed for sale on property website RightMove at £550,000.
Owners Charlotte and Les Mitchell have decided to sell up after 28 years, having leased the pub for the last 18 years before retiring to Cumbria in 2015. Ms Mitchell said:
“When Les and I moved from the Scottish Highlands with our young children, we chose The Malt Shovel because of its prime setting in a beautiful village, within the aptly named ‘golden triangle’ between Harrogate, York and North Leeds.
“We fell in love with the sizeable and atmospheric, yet always welcoming, bar and dining areas and the four-bedroom apartment upstairs was perfect for our family. In fact, Brearton and The Malt Shovel ticked all the boxes.
“That was back in 1994 and 28 years later that has not been altered. It is still a superb village to live and work in and the catchment area remains affluent, popular and aspirational.
“The current lease is coming to an end, and aged 74 and 62, we think it’s time to pass this iconic building and business on to a new enthusiastic owner who can take it forward.”
The leasehold of the pub was last sold in 2017 for £40,000.
The property is now being marketed by Christie & Co, including the four-bedroom flat, which the company said gave it “potential to become a residential dwelling” or for letting accommodation.
The particulars describe the pub as “character-filled” but “neither listed nor an asset of community value”. The turnover is listed as £467,000, with an annual rental income of £38,000 or 11% of turnover from the current tenants who plan to continue to run the pub until a sale completes.
The pub has 65 covers inside and 35 outside, with parking for 15 cars. Christie & Co said it is currently fully booked for Christmas parties and there was potential to grow trade significantly outside the current opening hours of 12-3pm and 6-9pm Wednesday to Saturday, and noon until 6pm on Sunday, during which it is “trading exceptionally”.
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The company highlighted the pub’s strong rating on TripAdvisor as well as its position in “one of the most desirable villages in North Yorkshire”.
Alex Rex, senior business agent in Christie & Co’s Pubs & Restaurants team, is handling the sale. He said:
Sneak Peek: The Secret Bakery, Knaresborough“The sale of The Malt Shovel in Brearton offers an exciting opportunity for a new owner to carry on a highly reputable hospitality business or alternatively, acquire a great piece of real estate with potential for multiple uses, in a highly desirable village.
“There is a real shortage of good quality freehold, free of tie, properties on the market in North Yorkshire currently and the business is offered for a fantastic price, so we don’t expect it to be on the market for long.”
Harrogate’s The Secret Bakery has expanded and launched a second branch in Knaresborough.
The shop and cafe, in Market Place, sells baked goods, including artisan bread, cakes and sandwiches, which are all made at the Knaresborough Road site.
The new outlet, which also serves drinks, including coffee, is being run by the bakery’s co-owner Jane Spencer, a former teacher from Keighley.
She said:
“This shop used to be The Reading Room and we used to deliver bread here from our shop in Harrogate. When they decided to close, we thought it was a great opportunity for us to open in Knaresborough
“A lot of our Harrogate customers come from Knaresborough, so it’s nice that we can be here.
“I would say our most popular product is our bread, particularly our sourdough. People come from all over to buy it. Our cakes and scones are also really popular.”
Jane Spencer (right), co-owner of The Secret Bakery, Knaresborough and Aime McNaught in the new shop and cafe.
Opening hours are currently under review, but the aim is to eventually open seven days a week, from 8am until around 4pm and from 10am on a Sunday.
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Mrs Spencer and her husband James bought The Secret Bakery in November 2020.
The business is continuing to grow, with work starting next week to develop the Harrogate site.
Mrs Spencer said:
“It will give us some more space in the back to make all the bread and cakes and everything.
“We are also going to be opening later from Thursday through to Sunday and offering things like bread and dips. We will also be serving alcohol.”
The cafe area at The Secret Bakery, Knaresborough.
A Porsche driver from Harrogate knocked down and killed a cyclist while scrolling through social media posts on his phone, it’s alleged.
James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents during the covid lockdown when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, on the A168 between Wetherby and Boroughbridge, a jury at York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Anne Richardson said that at the time of the collision, Mr Bryan’s Instagram and Facebook accounts were open.
She said Mr Bryan must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park.
She said that Bryan had been taking cocaine and drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.
Although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine in his system.
Ms Richardson said that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the fatal crash, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.
‘Incredibly sad case’
Ms Richardson said that forensic analysis of Mr Bryan’s phone showed that at the time of the collision he had his Facebook and Instagram apps open.
He was on the way to drop some groceries off at his parents’ house. They were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm on May 10, 2020.
Mr Jackson was wearing a helmet on a straight stretch of road where visibility was good. Ms Richardson said:
“The front of the Porsche collided with the rear of Mr Jackson’s bike and Andrew Jackson came off his bike, went up in the air and hit his head on the windscreen and roof of the car, and landed on the road behind the car.”
“He was pronounced dead at the scene by an off-duty intensive-care consultant.
“This is an incredibly sad case. A young mother has lost her husband and father to two (very young) children. Her in-laws have lost their only son.”
Mr Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, has already admitted that he caused the death of Mr Jackson by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle, but he denies causing death by dangerous driving on the grounds that he wasn’t using his phone at the time.
Head injuries
The prosecution insists that Mr Bryan’s driving was dangerous because he “wasn’t looking at the road ahead of him” as his car approached Mr Jackson. Ms Richardson said:
“If he had been (looking ahead of him) he would have had an uninterrupted view of the road (for) over 500 metres.”
Mr Bryan, who had been at a barbecue the night before to celebrate his birthday and set off for home early the following morning, called 999 moments after the accident and told a call operator he thought the cyclist was dead.
Other motorists, including the off-duty doctor and his medically trained wife, were on the scene in minutes and called police and an ambulance, but Mr Jackson had already died from head injuries.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested Mr Bryan, who was “very distressed” and appeared to be in shock.
A roadside drug-impairment test showed that Mr Bryan was positive for cocaine but not over the specified legal limit.
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Subsequent forensic examination of his phone showed that it was unlocked in the moments before the crash and the Instagram and Facebook apps were open.
Mr Bryan was taken in for questioning and told police that after arriving back home from Cheshire he decided to do some shopping for his parents who were shielding because his father had cancer.
He said that Mr Jackson, who lived locally, “came out of nowhere” but then claimed the cyclist had veered into the middle of the road and that he had tried to overtake him, only for the cyclist to “swerve into my path”.
An accident investigator who carried out a reconstruction of the crash said that the bike was not in the middle of the road, but on the edge of the carriageway, near a grass verge, and that Mr Bryan had not tried to move around the bicycle.
Mr Bryan told police he had gone to Cheshire the day before to view a “potential development site” and that he wanted to become a property developer.
In one message found on his phone on the way back from Cheshire, Mr Bryan told a friend he was hungover from the night before and was “concerned about being late for his parents with their shopping”.
In another sent by Mr Bryan to a female friend while he was at the birthday party, he told her: “I’m so drunk I can’t see.”
‘Fit to drive’
Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Mr Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.
She claimed that Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.
Witnesses including the off-duty doctor and his wife said they saw the cyclist with torn clothes lying on his back in the road.
The doctor said that when he checked for a pulse there was none, and he certified him dead at the scene.
He said that when he told the Porsche driver the cyclist was dead, he “moved backwards, crouched down and put his hands on his head”.
He said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.
The trial continues.
Business Breakfast: Knaresborough company to build solar farmBusiness Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
A Knaresborough-based energy company has been given the green light to develop New Zealand’s largest solar farm in Waikato.
Harmony Energy will create the development, which will generate enough electricity to power 30,000 homes.
The country’s Environmental Protection Authority has approved Harmony’s proposal for the 147-megawatt solar farm to be installed on 182 hectares of a 260-hectare site at Te Aroha West, 140 kilometres south of Auckland.
Harmony Energy director, Pete Grogan, who is based in New Zealand, said:
“We are thrilled this important renewable development can now proceed. Renewable energy is critical to mitigate the negative impact of climate change and help support New Zealand’s net zero ambition.
“One of the great advantages of solar power is that it accommodates dual use of land, allowing for energy generation alongside continued farming production, as will happen at Tauhei.
“This proposal creates opportunities for local businesses and employment and creates significant biodiversity gains. We will deliver an exceptional project that Waikato can be proud of.”
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Yorkshire estate agent introduces online auction
Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley.
Harrogate district estate agents Dacre, Son & Hartley has introduced a new online auction service.
The service allows people to buy and sell land and property online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The company, which has offices in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge, partnered with Bamboo Auctions to launch the service.
Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, said:
Man to appear in court charged with arson at Knaresborough pub“This new service is specifically designed to make it quick, easy and straightforward to list and sell properties and vendors don’t have to wait to join other sellers in a collective auction catalogue.
“Buying and selling a property through this method provides each party with an additional degree of certainty, because once the auction ends, both the buyer and seller are legally bound to proceed with the transaction, in accordance with the published terms and conditions.”
A 45-year-old man will appear before York Crown Court this week charged with arson at a pub in Knaresborough.
Stephen John Pearson, of Nutwell Court Road in Lympstone, Devon, is charged with committing arson that damaged Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.
He appeared before York Magistrates Court on August 25 for the alleged offence, when the case was referred to York Crown Court.
Mr Pearson is due to appear before the crown court on Friday.
The Grade II pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the Industrial Revolution.
Blind Jack’s on Market Place, Knaresborough.
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Harrogate district pays final respects to the Queen
Many organisations across the Harrogate district closed today as people paid their final respects to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Streets were quiet and there was a sombre mood as the nation watched the state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London.
Ripon Cathedral and Harrogate’s Royal Hall broadcast the event live on big screens, as did numerous pubs and churches.
Many other people watched the day’s events unfold live on BBC One.
Here are some photos taken during today’s funeral capturing local tributes and the unusually quiet state of the district.
Cambridge Street deserted during the funeral.
Ripon Cathedral today
Flowers to the Queen at Harrogate’s war memorial.
Floral tributes in Knaresborough Market Place.
St Andrew’s Church in Starbeck broadcast the funeral live.
Starbeck High Street devoid of traffic.
A shop front tribute in Harrogate town centre.
A red telephone box in Knaresborough Market Place has been transformed into a tourist information hub.
Knaresborough Business Collective signed the lease on one of the three traditional K6 phone boxes this week.
It is aimed at being more easily accessible than the town’s existing tourist information centre, which is located in the Courthouse Museum.
And to help it stand out, it has been covered in pink flowers by Louise Ford, from 4 Seasons florist.
The business group, which was formed to encourage more people into town to spend money in local shops, requested the lease earlier this year.
Natalie Horner, one of the founders of the Knaresborough Business Collective, said:
“We have been putting on a lot of events and noticed that advertising to tourists was difficult, as the current tourist information office is not easy to locate and is only open infrequent hours and days.
“For a tourist town like Knaresborough, we thought it would be great to have something local and central that is open all day everyday to display local event information and flyers, posters and leaflets for local attractions and what to do, where to stay and where to eat etc.
“We are hoping this will be a welcome addition to Knaresborough Market Place.
“Lou, from 4 Seasons florist, has decorated it to draw some more attention to it and we are working on shelving for inside as we speak.”
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Florist Ms Ford, who completed the floral display this week, said there was even a family link with Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect who designed the red telephone box.
She said:
“He’s actually a very distant relative of mine. I wonder if he’d approve of this one being adorned by my flowers?”
Knaresborough Business Collective is now calling for any flyers for events or tourist attractions to be dropped off at Sid Horner & Son, on Finkle Street, or the Crystal Buddha, on High Street, so they can be put on display.
More Harrogate district covid booster clinics in coming weeksPeople in the Harrogate district are urged to book their covid booster vaccines as more clinics are set to open.
Currently, appointments are being offered at the Yorkshire Events Centre and Chain Lane vaccination centre in Knaresborough as well as some local surgeries.
The autumn booster campaign began across most of the UK last week, with care home residents being vaccinated first.
Those aged 65 and over are now being invited to have their booster vaccine.
In Harrogate, some appointments will be available at the Great Yorkshire Showground’s Event Centre, although booking is advised via the NHS website or by calling 119.
A clinic was held from Monday to Thursday this week and another will take place in three weeks’ time.
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In Knaresborough, Homecare Pharmacy Services are offering a clinic at Chain Lane on Wednesday (September 21) and Saturday (September 24). Both clinics will be held from 9am until 4pm.
Other sites delivering autumn vaccinations in the Harrogate district include Ripon Spa Surgery, Kingswood Medical Centre and East Parade Surgery.
Appointments at the site must be booked through the NHS. Patients are urged not to call surgeries to book their vaccines.
Steve Russell, NHS director of vaccinations and screening, said:
Knaresborough man sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter“There is no room for complacency in keeping covid-19 on the backfoot, and this autumn booster will help protect those most at risk.”
Knaresborough man Dean Kilkenny has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter following the death of a man at a pub.
Kilkenny, 47, and Moverley, 44, were involved in an altercation with 43-year-old Darron Bower at the Pier Hotel in Withernsea, East Yorkshire, on March 11.
Emergency services attended but Mr Bower died at the scene.
The two men pleaded not guilty to his murder at Sheffield Crown Court last month.
However, Kilkenny, of Whiteley Yard in Knaresborough, admitted manslaughter, whilst Moverley pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and affray on another man during the altercation.
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After accepting their guilty pleas, Kilkenny was sentenced at Hull Crown Court today to 13 years in prison, with an additional four years on licence. Moverley received a 20-month custodial sentence.
Humberside Police DC Fay Woodhouse said:
“I would like to thank Darron’s family for their patience and courage during the judicial process. Nothing can bring Darron back, but I hope they feel a sense of justice after today’s sentencing.
“This was a violent attack fuelled by alcohol that occurred in a public place and resulted in a man losing his life. I hope this tragic incident causes people to reflect on the devastating impact that such actions can have.”
Mr Bower’s partner said:
“The men responsible for this left myself and Darron’s two youngest children living in a nightmare, with the biggest hole in our family’s heart. I have to explain nearly every day to my two little girls why their daddy isn’t coming home.”