Former Harrogate solicitor jailed for indecent exposure in Knaresborough

A former Harrogate solicitor has been jailed for four weeks for indecent exposure.

Richard Wade-Smith, 67, was charged with exposing his genitals on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough.

York Magistrates Court heard the incident happened between May 7 and May 10 this year.

Wade-Smith, who appeared in court via link from HMP Hull on Monday, pleaded guilty to the offence.

He was jailed for four weeks and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and court costs of £85.

A court document detailing the sentence said the offence was serious because it caused a “distressing experience in presence of children and occurred on multiple occasions”.

It added that Wade-Smith’s guilty plea was taken into account when sentencing him.

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Wade-Smith, who worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and later ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, had previously been jailed for breaching a restraining order in December 2022.

The 67-year-old was given the order by York Crown Court after he rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate on Boxing Day 2021 and subjected her to “mental torture”.

He was jailed for 10 months after he breached the order, which banned him from going near his wife’s address, by knocking on her door just four days after being spared jail.

Knaresborough’s Conyngham Hall to hold outdoor Pink Floyd classical concert

A 20-strong orchestra will play music by Pink Floyd in the first outdoor concert to be held at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough.

Paradox Orchestra will perform hits such as Wish You Were Here, Money, and Comfortably Numb in an event on September 3 celebrating 50 years of one of the most influential rock groups in history.

The grounds of the grade two listed venue near the River Nidd in Knaresborough can hold up to 2,000 people.

A number of food and drink vendors will also attend the concert by candlelight to give it a festival feel.

Paradox Orchestra features classically-trained musicians who reimagine rock, pop, and dance classics.

Founder and artistic director Michael Sluman said:

“Like a sonic time machine, Pink Floyd’s music has taken us on a journey through the past 50 years, capturing the essence of each era and leaving an indelible mark on the history of music.

“Paradox Orchestra is looking forward to performing their greatest hits in such a stunning backdrop.”

“We promise audiences an incredibly high-level of musicianship on stage, as well as a showmanship associated with world-class large-scale orchestras.”

Tickets cost £25. Further information is available here.

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Busy Knaresborough junction reopens after roadworks end early

A main road in Knaresborough has reopened after Northern Powergrid finished roadworks ahead of schedule.

The company initially planned four weeks of works to install electricity cables on King James Road and York Road from May 27.

The work involved excavating a trench and laying cables to connect to the new Knaresborough Leisure Centre, which is due to open this year.

However, Northern Powergrid confirmed today the project had been completed ahead of schedule.

It means that the roads have been reopened and the diversion route removed. Temporary traffic lights will also not be in place at the A59 King james Road and York Road junction.

It comes as the town prepares for Saturday’s Great Knaresborough Bed Race — its busiest day of the year,

Richard Appleyard, Northern Powergrid’s connections delivery project engineer, said: 

“We’re pleased to announce that work to connect a new electricity sub station, at the new Knaresborough Leisure Centre, has gone very well and has been completed sooner than anticipated.

“King James Road has now re-opened to traffic and the diversion route has been removed.

“In addition, the early completion of cable installation and jointing works has also allowed the pedestrian walkways and temporary traffic signals to be removed from the A59 York Road/King James Road sooner than planned.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank local residents and businesses for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“The new electricity supply connection is now in a position to be energised to the new leisure centre, once the new building is ready to receive the supply.”

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Outrage over water firm’s response to concerns over quality of River Nidd

Yorkshire Water has sparked outrage by appearing to suggest pollution in rivers such as the Nidd was partly down to a “change in expectations” from residents.

A study by Professor Peter Hammond revealed the equivalent of 317 Olympic pools of raw sewage were discharged into the Nidd at four sewage treatment works in 2020.

Prof Hammond said the sewage was released into the river at Pateley Bridge, Harrogate, Darley and Kirk Hammerton.

Nidd Action Group and Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones are campaigning for a stretch of the Nidd at Knaresborough to be granted bathing water status, as part of a drive to clean up the watercourse.

The figures prompted Ouseburn Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken to say water companies should be obliged to produce accurate figures on sewage discharge or face prosecution.

The Nidd saw 870 sewage dump incidents last year, according to Environment Agency figures. Recent testing of water pollution in the river has shown the harmful bacteria E. coli is at “concerningly high” levels.

Yorkshire Water’s chief executive apologised last month for sewage being discharged into the region’s rivers and promised to invest £180m in reducing leaks from storm overflows.

However, councillors told a North Yorkshire Council meeting in Skipton on Thursday that Yorkshire Water’s response to water quality concerns raised by Skipton and Ripon Conservative MP Julian Smith had been “profoundly inadequate”.

The firm wrote:

“Whilst storm overflows have been in use for many decades, since well before the sewer network entered private ownership, society is no longer content with their use and government, regulators and the water sector have responded to that change in expectations.”

Councillors said the firm was blaming the apparent lack of sewage infrastructure near waterways “on the fact that people’s standards had increased and the firm’s monitoring processes improving”.

Flooding concerns

In a separate response, to Harrogate and Knaresborough councillors, Yorkshire Water said “climate change and changes in land use have had a huge impact” on the sewage network.

The firm wrote:

“There is a misapprehension that discharges from overflows have increased dramatically in recent years. Instead, the recording of discharges has increased as we have installed event duration monitoring devices on our network.”

Nevertheless, many North Yorkshire councillors say they have been inundated with sewage-related complaints, with Bishop Monkton Conservative councillor Nick Brown saying Yorkshire Water had promised an action plan to stop sewage flooding in six of his parishes.

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Aire Valley Green Party councillor Andy Brown told Mr Smith there had been “a gradual drift towards releasing sewage when the weather isn’t particularly bad”.

He added:

“The law is very clear. You cannot release sewage unless there is exceptional weather. I have photographs of sewage being released into the Aire on dry days.”

When asked about who should pay for extra sewage infrastructure, Mr Smith replied:

“Inevitably, the cost does have to be borne somewhere, and I accept the point, but the huge cost of fixing this problem is a challenge.”

Councillors told Mr Smith the government should be pressuring water firms to spend more of their profits on improving infrastructure.

Sick after swimming

The firm did not directly respond to Prof Hammond’s findings or claims made by councillors that children have become sick with suspected E coli after swimming in the Nidd.

Instead, Yorkshire Water stated storm overflows had not been identified by the Environment Agency as the reason why the ecological status of the river is poor.

It stated:

“Where Yorkshire Water can make a difference is in reducing phosphorus from all final effluent wastewater and that is why we are investing £790m by 2025 in phosphorus removal as part of our overall investment programme which has been in place for some time.

“Our shareholders are funding the majority of our plans for a £180 investment in storm overflow improvements in the next two years. They are supportive of our environmental commitments and this latest funding announcement takes our total investment in river water quality between 2020-2025 to almost £1bn.

“The additional national investment of £10bn announced recently by Water UK will be paid by shareholders up front, with the costs then paid back in tiny increments each year through bills. We won’t know the precise impact on bills for some time. It is clear that huge investment is needed, but precise levels are for the regulator to determine.”

Stray Views: Concern over potential accidents on Boroughbridge Road

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

As a long-term resident of the Boroughbridge Road area I am ‘pre-warning’ of a potential major accident in the stretch between Stockwell Road junction and Bar Lane Roundabout.

Forgive my ‘remembrance’ but the last time I consulted the Highway Code it stated that “bar special circumstances”, it is illegal to park within 10m of a junction.

There is a constant presence of vans, cars, trucks and 4WD monsters parked on Boroughbridge Road opposite to Somerley Lane, Norwood Court, Norwood Close and even Chain Lane.

Which means that traffic emerging from these roads has to take account of the fact that heavy traffic headed towards Boroughbridge has to divert to lane two to avoid the illegally parked traffic and the traffic heading Knaresborough bound has to both award the turning traffic and the oncoming traffic.

As a vast amount of this traffic is HGV and white vans, there will be a major disaster.

In any event parking on the pavement is also illegal. A good case for lots of yellow lines.

Maurice Johnson, Knaresborough

Motorbikes on the Greenway

Just a quick note to inform that there are now regular instances of motorbikes being ridden on these paths. We back onto the paths at the top end of Bilton Lane and almost daily hear and partially observe the mask-wearing so-and-so’s disregarding other users. Usually in small groups, particularly in the evening.

Would be useful to get this on the police radar before any person or pet are injured.

Richard Chester, Harrogate

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Wanted — nesting sites to keep swifts alive in Knaresborough

A group set-up to protect the few remaining swifts in Knaresborough has appealed for help finding new nesting sites.

Shan Oakes said the informal swift group was created four years ago “to stop swifts falling into extinction”. She added:

“Every year fewer come back. There were only about 12 in Knaresborough last year. We will be lucky to have any in a couple of years.

“It would be a tragedy to lose them. They are the sound of summer.”

“They are disappearing because people are either knowingly or unknowingly getting rid of their nests.”

Swift bird box

Two of the new boxes at Knaresborough Working Men’s Club.

Unlike other birds, swifts occupy nest sites rather than build their own. They therefore seek cavities in old buildings or nest boxes and the loss of many old buildings has been a major factor in their decline.

The group is therefore looking for people in Knaresborough and surrounding areas willing to put up nest boxes on their properties. The sites need to be high with an unobstructed flight path.

Knaresborough Working Men’s Club recently agreed to host four of the Knaresborough swift group’s RSPB nest boxes. Ms Oakes said:

“The building is ideal for them, as it’s high, giving them the swoop space they need . The swifts have now arrived here from Africa and will be searching for nest sites, as well as insects so please keep them in mind.

“The swift group is inviting people to offer space for swifts, so please get in touch if you think you have a suitable building.”

Ms Oakes said volunteers were willing to assess whether sites were suitable and to contact her on 01423549376 or 07769607710.

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Knaresborough gears up for its biggest day of the year

Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Knaresborough next weekend for the annual bed race.

Ninety teams will tackle the 2.4-mile course, departing from Conyngham Hall in 10-second intervals from about 3pm.

Although the race is competitive, the day itself is about far more than a mad scamper through the streets of Knaresborough and the River Nidd.

First staged in 1966, it begins with teams gathering at Knaresborough Castle in the morning to be judged for the ‘Best Dressed Team’ award.

Whoever wins leads the parade from the castle to Conyngham Hall at 1pm. Each team is allowed up to 20 supporters to parade with them in fancy dress.

The course follows almost exactly the same route as that in 1966. Teams race along the Waterside, pass through Nidd Gorge, up the steep Castle Ings, around the cobbled stones of the marketplace, down the High Street and Bond End, and across High Bridge.

2019 Knaresborough bed race

The 2.4-mile course is hilly and tough. Photograph: Charlotte Gale Photography

The last stretch is on the rough ground of McIntosh Park before the notorious 20-yard swim across the fast-flowing Nidd.

GH Brooks, winners of the 2022 men’s event will be back this year, but Welly Wheelies, the defending female champions, have not entered.

French TV coverage

A French TV company will be among those attending this year, as the bed race’s fame continues to spread.

Another first this year sees the race trialling chip technology.

Martin Brock, chairman of the bed race committee at Knaresborough Lions, which organises the event, said:

“Last year’s crowd was as big as we have seen for many years and with the weather forecast looking good, we are expecting another great day.”

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The sheer size of the event leads to road closures and travel problems. Mr Brock urged people to use the free park and ride service run by bus company Connexions at Manse Lane (Knaresborough Technology Park) and Grimbalds Crag (ALM retail park)

Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre will create a festival feel at BedFest, which begins at midday and includes music, food and drink on the bed race route.

Covid vaccine clinics to be held in Knaresborough this month

Covid booster clinics will take place in Knaresborough this month, starting tomorrow.

Homecare Pharmacy will operate pop-up clinics at Unit 1 Grimbald Crag Court on St James Business Park in the town.

The clinic will be aimed at those who are vulnerable or aged 75 and over.

Appointments will also be held for those who are aged 18 and over and missed any primary doses.

The centre will be open from 9am until 3pm on the following dates:

Those eligible for a covid vaccine can book an appointment at the clinic here.

Covid vaccinations are now being held mostly in GP and pharmacies.

Health officials in North Yorkshire said last month more covid vaccine appointments would be available for residents in the Harrogate area following concern over a lack of nearby clinics.

Those eligible for a spring covid booster are advised to check the NHS booking service online or call 119.

More information on covid vaccine appointments can be found on the NHS England website here.

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No trains in Harrogate and Knaresborough tomorrow as strikes hit services

No trains will operate through Harrogate and Knaresborough tomorrow as rail workers take strike action.

ASLEF, which represents train drivers, will walkout tomorrow in a dispute over pay and conditions.

It comes as members of the RMT Union are striking today, which has left limited services available.

Tomorrow’s industrial action means no Northern trains will operate on the Leeds to York line. The company has said services will return to normal on Sunday (June 4).

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:

“We apologise, once again, for the disruption this action by ASELF and the RMT will cause to our customers.

“This latest round of industrial action looks set to hamper people’s opportunity to explore the region during the half-term holidays. It’s understandably very frustrating.

“We all want to see an end to this dispute and the uncertainty that on-going strike action causes to people’s confidence in the railway.”

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Arsonists set traffic cones on fire in Knaresborough

Firefighters were called out shortly after 2am this morning when traffic cones were set on fire in Knaresborough.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service believes the fire was caused deliberately.

Its incident log said the Knaresborough crew was summoned to King James Road at 2.13am, adding:

“Knaresborough crew have dealt with traffic cones on fire in the open.

“Crew used buckets of water and the cause is believed to be deliberate.”

No further details have been released.

Four weeks of roadworks began last weekend on King James Road and York Place in Knaresborough to enable Northern Powergrid to install electricity cables.

The junction of the two roads is due to reopen on Monday with four-way temporary lights in place until the expected completion date of Tuesday, June 20.

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