The sun shone during the day and the tribute acts sparkled at night, as Ripon staged its second weekend of large-scale entertainment since the easing of lockdown.
By dawn yesterday, the city centre was swept, tidy and ready for dozens of stallholders at the Little Bird Artisan Market.
With its locally-made goods, the market remained open until 3pm, sharing the square with two fairground rides and a climbing wall.
The market opened prompt at 10am.
The entertainment, paid for from Ripon’s parish precept, aimed to support the city’s retailers, cafes, restaurants, pubs and heritage attractions, by driving additional footfall.
Saturday night’s crowd was larger than the one attracted by the Yorkshire Day Weekend tribute acts at the start of the month.
ABBA Forever, performing songs made famous by the Swedish supergroup, brought the curtain down on the musical entertainment, which also featured the Big Boyband Reunion whose repertoire ranged from The Backstreet Boys to Take That.
In between acts, in the shadow of the obelisk, Allison Clark from Ripon’s own ‘fab four’ team of hornblowers, performed the city’s ancient ceremony of setting the watch.
A spin beside the obelisk
Many of the children allowed to stay up late and join family groups on Market Square had, earlier on Saturday, ridden the Thomas the Tank Engine train, climbed the wall or enjoyed the uplifting experience of the Mini Paratrooper ride.
For three-year-old Scarlet, pictured above, with her grandmother Catherine, the train was the ride of choice, while a long line of older children, queued for their attempt at scaling the wall.
Today, the city’s Bank Holiday of free entertainment continues at Ripon Racecourse, which is holding its last family fun day of the season.
Gates open at 11.15, with complimentary entry for accompanied children to the course enclosure.
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The activities include a performance by the National Festival Circus, a Punch ‘n’ Judy magic show, barrel train ride, cub karts, an inflatable assault course with giant slide, balloon modelling, face painting and sand and slime modelling.
Action on the track includes Ripon’s only listed race of the season — the EBF-sponsored Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy.
‘The roads around Ripon’s Market Square are unfit and unsafe’
Pressure is growing for urgent work to take place to improve the state of some of Ripon’s busiest roads.
Ripon City Council voted unanimously last night to write to North Yorkshire County Council calling for resurfacing work to be carried out as a matter of urgency.
The principal areas of concern are parts of the Market Place roads where block paving has lifted and cracked because of the volume of traffic.
North Yorkshire County Council has carried out temporary repairs by putting tarmac over the worst-affected sections, leaving the surface looking like a patchwork quilt.
Councillors want to see comprehensive repairs to the city centre roads, as Market Square is the focal point of entertainment and activities, including the weekly Thursday and Saturday markets.
At last night’s meeting, two Conservative county councillors joined independent city councillors to call for urgent repairs.
Councillor Stuart Martin, who is chairman of North Yorkshire County Council, and Cllr Mike Chambers, are also Ripon city and Harrogate district councillors.
They said they have been pushing for repairs to the Market Place East and West roads and other roads in the city.
Councillors say roads around Ripon Market Square are unfit and unsafe
Speaking about the long-term calls for repairs, Cllr Martin, who represents Ripon South on North Yorkshire County Council, said:
“You can’t defend the indefensible. We have been consulting about the east and west carriageways for some time and they need to be sorted out.”
Cllr Chambers, who represents Ripon North at County Hall, added
“We have been pushing for repairs to the road surfaces and will continue to do so.”
The county councillors were responding to a call from city council leader Andrew Williams for North Yorkshire County Council to use reserve funds to pay for work.
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Last week, in response to Stray Ferret questions about the state of city centre roads, Barrie Mason, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for highways and transportation, said:
“Ripon Market Place is being considered for future funding within our forward programme for 2022/23.
“A number of the areas of most concern are associated with poorly performing utility reinstatements and we are seeking urgent action on these from the companies concerned.”
But Cllr Williams told last night’s meeting:
“We can’t wait until next year. The roads around Market Square are unfit, unsafe for motorists, cyclist and pedestrians and unacceptable.”
The square will also be a key venue for next year’s events celebrating the queen’s platinum jubilee.
Four flats could be built above James Street shop in HarrogateA planning application has been made to convert vacant premises above Paw Prints pet shop on James Street in Harrogate to four studio apartments.
The application was made by a firm called SJM Cotech ltd, which appears to be one of a number of companies owned by Simon Jacob Moran, a Leeds property developer and lettings agent.
The property is located at 16 James Street, near the cut-through to the Victoria shopping centre. It fronts both on James Street and on Market Place to the rear. It was previously home to Thomas Cook, the travel agent.
The application would involve altering the rear of the property, on Market Place. A small retail unit would be added, while the current retail unit on James Street would be retained.
The four studio flats, which will range in size from 59 to 76 square metres, will be built on the first and second floors, which are currently vacant.
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The scheme is an amended version of one which was refused planning permission in December last year.
The previous scheme was refused because planners felt it did not contribute to the appearance of the conservation area, and because the flats would have had limited access to fresh air.
The new application has reduced the number of homes from five to four, and changed the design from 1-bedroom to studio flats.
All traditional elements of the James Street frontage would be retained, while the current modern shop sign would be replaced with a more sympathetic one.
The planning officer for Harrogate Borough Council is due to make a decision on the application by July 1.
Knaresborough free parking extension to end as shops reopenA one-hour free parking policy in Knaresborough town centre is to end in the week non-essential shops reopen.
North Yorkshire County Council doubled the length of time cars can park for free on Market Place from 30 minutes to an hour last summer.
The temporary move aimed to help businesses while social distancing measures were in place.
But the move will end on April 18 – six days after shops.
Council officials said parking data showed the majority of motorists left within the hour and that reverting back to 30 minutes would encourage a greater turnover of shoppers.
Karl Battersby, the county council’s corporate director of business and environmental services, said:
“While we accept that the current circumstances are not reflective of typical conditions, analysis of the performance of the one-hour free parking offers no basis for it to be introduced permanently.
“The anticipated easing of lockdown restrictions in the coming months supports a return to the normal operation to aid traffic management and to provide better turnover of spaces.”
The one-hour extension was agreed in July and then became operational in September.
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Councillor Ed Darling, who sits on both Knaresborough Town Council and Harrogate Borough Council, said while the return to 30 minutes may be “disappointing” for some, it was backed by data.
He urged shoppers to get behind the town by supporting local businesses when they reopen on April 12.
He said:
“The past year has been exceptionally difficult for town centre retailers who have been forced to close for the majority of the year.
“I do hope that our local community gets behind our town centre, supporting our local businesses and shops to kickstart our local economy once again.”
Bill Taylor, secretary of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce, added:
Ripon road closure to last six weeks“All town centres struggle with parking generally, and how to charge is a part of that.
“As shops reopen in April then moving back to the original charging system seems reasonable and allows for a higher turnover of shoppers for the greater variety of shops that are open.
“In addition, Knaresborough has a large, good value but under-utilised car park on York Place and Knaresborough Town Council has worked with the county council to install new signs around town for that car park.”
A six-week road closure affecting the circulation of traffic around Ripon city centre is now in place after being delayed over Christmas.
Workers are back on site just a month after an initial closure of the junction of Market Place East with Kirkgate, lasting two weeks.
Sewer repairs being carried out by contractors on behalf of Yorkshire Water were suspended in early December to minimise disruption to Christmas trade in the city.
The suspension also followed complaints from members of the public on social media, saying that a temporary building site with fencing and cabins on it had blocked the view of the Christmas tree in front of Ripon Town Hall.
The unfamiliar sight of a 36 bus heading in this direction out of Ripon Bus Station on its diverted route to Harrogate.
Complainants also said at the time that the placement of temporary buildings on Market Square detracted from the look of the city’s festive lights, which had been extended at an additional cost of £65,000.
The new six-week road closure is required so that urgent sewer repair and renewal works can be carried out.
With the road closure preventing traffic from turning right from Market Place East onto Market Place South, the circulatory route around Market Square is affected and a number of diversions are in place.
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Among traffic movements impacted by the closure is Transdev’s regular double decker 36 bus service to Harrogate.
To ensure that all bus stops in Ripon are served, drivers are using a circuitous route that takes in Allhallowgate, Stonebridgegate, Rotary Way and the Ripon bypass, with a right turn at the Wolseley building roundabout seeing the bus head back towards the city centre before the onward journey to Harrogate.
As Market Place West is not affected by road closures, the route into Ripon Bus Station up High Skellgate and along by the Obelisk currently remains unchanged.