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 35^th 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.

Read more:

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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 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:

“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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• Don’t call 999 to report hosepipe ban breaches, say police
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• Arsonist sets fire to historic Knaresborough pub

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.

People 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.

Read more:

• Covid infections in Harrogate district lowest for 15 months
• Harrogate care boss relieved as government ends mandatory covid testing

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: 

“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.”

Covid infections in the Harrogate district have fallen to their lowest level since June last year.

Latest figures show the district’s weekly infection rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 47. The last time it was below this level was 15 months ago.

The rate is also well below its record of 1,906 in January when the Omicron variant fuelled a huge wave of infections at the peak of winter.

Adults aged 50 and over

• People aged five to 49 with health conditions that put them at higher risk,
• Pregnant women
• Care home staff
• Front line health and social care workers
• Carers aged 16 to 49
• Household contacts of people with weakened immune systems

Read more:

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• Work begins to create Harrogate’s first mosque

In Harrogate, some walk-in appointments are available at the Great Yorkshire Showground’s Event Centre, although booking is advised via the NHS website or by calling 119.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is running covid vaccinations at the site everyday between 9am and 5pm until Friday.

The CCG said those eligible must be aged 80 and over, or work in health and social care, or were previously shielding.

Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital currently has 28 covid-positive patients, although only two of these are primarily receiving treatment for the virus.

The hospital last reported the death of a patient who tested within 28 days on 19 August, with its toll since the pandemic began standing at 274.

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Knaresborough businesses are to be quizzed about the impact of higher energy bills.

Knaresborough Chamber of Trade & Commerce said at its latest meeting it would undertake a survey of local businesses in the coming weeks.

It will attempt to find out how much their bills are increasing by and how much difference recently announced government plans to support them will make.

Peter Lacey, executive member of the chamber, which has about 60 members, said the online survey was likely to go out in the middle of next week and it is hoped members and non-members will respond to provide a fuller picture of the situation confronting businesses in the town.

Harrogate law firm partners with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

LCF Law staff plant hundreds of trees at their first volunteering day.

Harrogate law firm, LCF Law has entered a partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

LCF Law will help the trust, which looks after the Yorkshire Dales, plant 1,000 trees over the next two years.

Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law, said:

“We are hugely committed to working sustainably and offsetting our carbon footprint and we also want to leave a long-term legacy.”

Staff at the law firm, which employs 125 people at offices in Harrogate, Bradford, Leeds and Ilkley, will volunteer for the trust as part of the partnership.

In 2021, the trust planted 31,851 trees.

Read more:

• No requirement for staff day off on Queen’s funeral, says Harrogate solicitor
• Queen’s coffin drape supplied by royal flag makers in Knaresborough