Kell Bank School pupils bid farewell with a final lap of the playground

Pupils and staff at Kell Bank Primary School near Masham will bid farewell to their school for good with a walk, hand in hand, around the playground.

Today is the last day of term and as North Yorkshire County Council has issued a closure notice for August 31, the 200-year-old school will not reopen.

Over the past few months, the school has been celebrating its history and local impact, culminating in a memory exhibition last week and a ceremony to plant a tree and dedicate a bench yesterday.

The ceremony began with a leaver’s service at St Paul’s Church in Healey before the students, staff and parents walked down to Fearby Village Green.

Kell Bank tree planting

Beatrice and Rev. David Cleese cut the ribbon to dedicate the bench and tree

An oak tree and bench, dedicated to the school, is now in place. Youngest pupil Beatrice cut the ribbon with Rev. David Cleese, a long-standing governor.

The memory exhibition included items spanning the past 100 years as well as photographs and entries from previous headteachers’ diaries.

School governor Laurie Hoyes, who helped organise the three-day event, said they welcomed around 200 people in total.

Mr Hoyes said:

“Children, parents, staff and governors will be saddened when today comes to a close, but we are pleased we had the opportunity to give thanks for the 200 years Kell Bank School has educated the children of our community.”

Kell Bank bench

Past and present pupils trying out the new bench on Fearby Green.

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The six remaining pupils will be moved to different schools; the two Year 6s are going to secondary schools in Ripon and Bedale.

For the younger children’s ease and wellbeing their parents chose similar small, rural schools; two are going to Thornton Watlass Primary School and the other two are moving house so will be attending schools elsewhere in the district.

37-year bid to create public footpath in Masham woods rejected

A 37-year bid to recognise a public right of way in a popular woodland near Masham looks doomed to failure.

In 1984, a request to enshrine public rights across the 47-hectare Hackfall Woods was lodged with North Yorkshire County Council.

Councillors are now calling on George Eustice, Secretary of State for the Environment, to dismiss the order. They say it is partly due to the difficulty in establishing how many people walked on the routes between 1964-84.

The order, which anyone can seek if a path that has been used as a right of way for years is not shown on maps, was made on the basis of user evidence at the time of an application in 1984. The application aimed to ensure the public would always have access to routes through the woods, which were not recorded as rights of way.

Michael Leah, the council’s assistant director for travel and the environment, said the council had taken steps to add two public paths to the map as part of a concerted effort to clear a backlog of historic applications. He added:

“North Yorkshire has the biggest network of public rights of way in the country and due to budgetary constraints we have limited resources to manage the network. We have therefore worked on priority applications where recognised public footpaths have been under threat from change of ownership or change of use.

“As the public has been able to use freely the paths through Hackfall Woods the application was never treated as a priority.”

Before issuing the order, the council carried out a consultation and contacted the Woodland Trust, which leases the woods. The trust objected to the order as the landowner had a permit system in place to allow the public permissive use of paths through the woods.

Mr Leah said:

“The effect of this is to negate the acquisition of public rights. Had we been made aware of this issue we would not have made the order.

“Because the order has attracted an objection, we are required by law to submit it to the Secretary of State for a decision on whether or not it should be confirmed.”

The council has concluded that the trust’s evidence, along with the limited likelihood of now obtaining clear evidence establishing that the public had access to the order route ‘as of right’ between 1964 and 1984 meant the public’s right to walk in the woods would be difficult to demonstrate on the balance of probability.

Hackfall Woods history

Hackfall Woods, which is in a gorge of the River Ure, has been a popular visitor destination for centuries. William Wordsworth recommended Hackfall as an approach to the Lake District from Yorkshire in one of his tourist guides, while  JMW Turner sketched and painted the landscape in 1816.

It features follies, grottoes, surprise views, waterfalls and a fountain created by the family of South Sea Bubble disgrace Chancellor of the Exchequer and Studley Royal landscaper, John Aislabie who bought Hackfall wood for £906 in 1731. It is believed he bought the woodland to get stone and timber to use at Studley Royal.

From 1851 the Marquis of Ripon, who was Viceroy of India and Grand Master Mason, extended footpaths and as transport became more widely available in the late 1800s the popularity of Hackfall as a visitor attraction grew.

Kell Bank school to call the register for final time this week

Kell Bank Primary School, near Masham, will close its doors for good on Friday after the county council issued a closure notice.

The school only has six pupils and with two of those set to move on to secondary school in September, North Yorkshire County Council decided it was no longer sustainable.

In 2020 Ofsted rated the school as Outstanding, but a report said its dwindling numbers meant it would likely have fallen into deficit in the coming years.

The school can accommodate up to 50 pupils but after dropping from 15 in September 2019 to six the county council opened a consultation.

At the time, Stuart Carlton, director of children’s services at the council, said the proposal was being done with a “heavy heart”.

Kell Bank class of 1928

One of the images from last week’s exhibition: the Kell Bank class of 1928

The 200-year-old school has educated thousands of children. Governors and staff wanted to celebrate this history and arranged an exhibition of memories last week from past and current pupils.

More celebrations are planned to mark its final week, including an open day on Thursday July 22, followed by a tree planting and bench dedication ceremony that afternoon.

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In a Facebook post, the school thanked all those who have worked with it over the years. It said:

“Kell Bank has played such an important role in our community and so many will cherish their memories of their schooldays at Kell Bank.”

The last day of term before the summer holiday is Friday July 23.

Two of the remaining pupils will be going to Thornton Watless Primary School whilst the other two move to schools towards Ripon after moving house for the 2021/2022 school year.

Masham call for volunteers to catch speeders

Masham Parish Council is calling for new recruits to join its Community Speed Watch programme.

An investigation by North Yorkshire Police in August 2020 found Thorpe Road would benefit from a group monitoring speeding drivers.

Cars were only caught driving slightly faster than the 30mph limit but the police still thought it necessary to set up the watch group.

It patrols the area along Thorpe Road near Ibbetson Close heading north into Masham.

The group is currently made up of five volunteers but needs a new speed watch coordinator.

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What is a community speed watch group?

The coordinator role is the main point of contact between the project and the police.

New volunteers receive all the necessary training and go through risk assessments before heading out onto the roads.

To get involved contact Masham Parish Council via mashamparishclerk@gmail.com.

Masham school’s closing exhibition includes 100-year-old memories

Staff at Kell Bank Primary School in Masham are committed to going ahead with a memory exhibition to celebrate the school’s history, before it closes for good next month.

Governors and teachers wanted to bid farewell to the 200-year-old school, which will shut its doors on August 31, but coronavirus has meant the celebration has been delayed.

The exhibition will now be held from July 15 to 17 at Fearby Village Hall, just outside Masham, and will include photographs, old diary entries and poetry books some dating as far back as 1900.

A one-off ‘newspaper’ has been created to combine reports and images shared by past and current staff and pupils, such as 96-year-old Ivy l’Anson, pictured below as a pupil.

On July 22 – the day before the children break up for the summer – the school will host an open day, as well as a tree planting and the dedication of a bench on Fearby village green.

Ivy I’Anson

Ivy I’Anson is now 96 years old and has shared her memories of Kell Bank School in a one-off ‘newspaper’ created by staff

With only six remaining pupils, Kell Bank School was handed a permanent closure notice by North Yorkshire County Council.

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Laurie Hoyes, a school governor, said:

“The restrictions have set us back slightly but we are still really pleased with the exhibition we have put together.

“We’ve put together a ‘Kell Bank Times’, which people can pick up from the community centre or school. It’s 12 pages of memories including Ivy who’s 96 and our oldest living pupil. She’s shared her treasured memories with us.”

The organisers hope the exhibition and other events will help to highlight the school’s role in local people’s lives.

Quarry plan near Masham ‘could boost ecology’, says study

A proposal to create a quarry the size of 50 football pitches across arable fields near Masham could lead to a range of long-term ecological benefits, a study has concluded.

Lightwater Quarries, which is based in North Stainley, plans to extract up to 500,000 tonnes of limestone annually between next year and 2037 from its Gebdykes Quarry site near Masham.

Stone from the quarry has been used to restore numerous historic buildings and villages in the Lower Wensleydale and Ripon area, including Markington, Masham and the Howe Hill Tower.

The firm’s limestone is also used for path chippings, roads and for concrete mix.

North Yorkshire County Council will now decide whether the 33.7-hectare quarry, which has been worked since 1949 and is nearing exhaustion of the currently permitted reserves, can be extended by 27 hectares.

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An environmental impact assessment report by consultancy Wardell Armstrong says despite the size of the quarry, the impact of extending it in the Lower Wensleydale landscape would be minimal as it would be “very well screened”.

The extension area would be included in a new restoration masterplan for the entire quarry.

The report states while there are a number of other active quarries in the area, including Bell Flask Quarry, Ripon sand and gravel quarry, Nosterfield sand and gravel quarry and Potgate limestone quarry, restoration proposals will result in “a likely enhancement of ecological resources”.

It said the northern extension at Gebdykes Quarry would result in disturbance or displacement of ecological receptors but mitigation procedures and habitat enhancement measures would provide an increase in habitats, foraging and commuting resources.

Cllr Neil Pickard, chairman of Masham Parish Council, said the quarry extension would have little impact on residents, but would help continue the benefits the local economy felt from nearby quarrying, including jobs for HGV drivers.

However, Cllr Pickard said the parish council awaited plans to see how the developers proposed to link the quarry to the north and south of Limekiln Lane.

He added the industry could bring further benefits to the area in the coming years with plans expected to be tabled from another nearby quarry, which would see the issue of flooding in shops and properties in Silver Street dealt with.

Post office to return to Masham in £1.5m heritage scheme

A new grocery store and post office is set to open in Masham next year as part of an ambitious £1.5 million heritage project.

The former grocery store Reah’s at 15 Silver Street will be completely renovated by Masham-based non-profit company Peacock and Verity Community Spaces Ltd.

As well as a grocery store and Post Office counter, the building will include an Edwardian-style tearoom, heritage and learning centre celebrating Masham and four affordable flats.

The project, which has received planning permission from Harrogate Borough Council, has been in the pipeline since autumn 2019 .

The building has been at the heart of the town for over 200 years and this renovation aims to return it to its former glory.

The £1.5m cost of buying and renovating the property is being funded by numerous grants.

Harrogate Borough Council, Broadacres Housing Association and Homes England have all been involved in progressing the scheme.

Traditional ethos

The new grocery store will use traditional methods, such as selling items by weight and using limited packaging. The Edwardian-style tea room will reflect the one that existed before the outbreak of the First World War.

The heritage and learning centre will host workshops and activities as operate as a training space for local businesses.

Four affordable flats will also be developed on the first and second floors. They will be managed by a housing association and allocated to those in need of housing in Mashamshire.

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The project is due to be completed next year.

Alan Hodges, chair of the Peacock and Verity Community Spaces board, said:

“Peacock and Verity Community Spaces is delighted that the vision and hard work of our directors, staff, and partners has been recognised by Harrogate’s planners.

“Our architect, surveyors, heritage and business advisors, and housing association partners have been working on this project for several years, and we are now much closer to bringing the whole building back to life.

Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“It is the first community-led scheme in the district to have reached this stage.

“We look forward to continuing to work with all partners as the building is restored to its former glory – a fitting testimony to Masham’s rich heritage.”

Continuing the best-known name in the Harrogate district

There are few better known names in the Harrogate district than Theakston.

Robert Theakston started brewing beer in Masham in 1827 and his great-great grandson Simon continues the tradition today.

Simon is joint managing director of T & R Theakston, one of two major breweries in the picturesque market town. His cousin, Paul, is in charge of the other one — Black Sheep Brewery.

Despite his strong Masham connections, Mr Theakston is well placed to appraise recent developments in the wider Harrogate district: he lives near Boroughbridge, went to school in Harrogate and represented the Conservatives on Harrogate Borough Council for four terms. He was also chairman of Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the agricultural charity that organises the Great Yorkshire Show, from 2008 to 2016.

But nothing in his long career prepared him for the potentially ruinous overnight impact of covid when the first lockdown began in March. He says;

“We had cellars full of beer that people couldn’t buy and ended up pouring it away.

“Overnight we lost 80% of business. That required us to rethink our business model, baton down the hatches and put ourselves in a position where we could survive as long as possible.”

The furlough scheme saved jobs and the company rapidly converted its visitor centre at the brewery into a fulfilment centre for online orders — something a company that prides itself on tradition had not overly pursued until then. He says:

“Online orders have gone up by a factor of 100, albeit from a modest base.”

Family tradition

The visitor centre is due to reopen on June 21 if the lingering restrictions on pubs are lifted. Monday’s decision will be critical for the industry. Mr Theakston, who is married with two grown-up children, says:

“It’s nice having people going into gardens and seated at tables but it’s much better when people can move freely in pubs.”

Nevertheless, so far the company has survived covid with its 35 staff still intact. It seems a surprisingly low number of employees for an organisation that sells into 20 countries but the business model involves collaborating with other firms, such as Heineken, which handles distribution.

Mr Theakston describes the company as “a medium-sized traditional family brewing company.” And, for all the difficulties of the past year, he remains optimistic.

“Our industry has been through difficulties in the past. We’ve come through two world wars, revolution in Europe, the great crash of the 1930s and all sorts of issues since the Second World War and it just goes to show the robustness of what we do.

“As long as individuals want to meet other people, the role of the pub will continue to be the centre of society.”

Local politics

The future for Harrogate Borough Council, however, is less secure. The local authority, on which he represented Harlow Moor until 2018, is set to be abolished as part of the national government’s devolution agenda. Mr Theakston supports the single council model for North Yorkshire championed by North Yorkshire County Council rather than the east-west split favoured by his former council colleagues in Harrogate. He explains:

“North Yorkshire County Council currently provides about 80% of our services so it wouldn’t be a massive change for it to pick up the pieces. I’m not a fan of lots of layers of bureaucracy.”

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Harrogate Borough Council is pursuing numerous active travel plans, such as the £7.9m Station Gateway project and the pedestrianisation of James Street, to reduce traffic and encourage people to walk and cycle. The plans have proved controversial — does he support them?

“I don’t want to see Harrogate being completely pedestrianised because it will end up like any other town in the country. The idea of being able to pop into town is appealing to people like the elderly. Let’s have a bit of pedestrianisation but not lose the ability to drive into town.

“Harrogate’s such a special town and everything we did during my time on the council was to maintain it as special.”

It has been a difficult year for another organisation close to Mr Theakston’s heart — Yorkshire Agricultural Society — which decided to proceed with the Great Yorkshire Show next month when many other events have been cancelled. Was he surprised?

“The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is nothing if not pragmatic. They will be responding to the demands of exhibitions and members of the public who want to go. It’s more than an agricultural show — it’s our county show.”

Crime and cricket

The Theakston name has also become synonymous with the annual crime writing festival organised by the arts charity Harrogate International Festivals. Under its sponsorship, the festival brings many of the leading names of the genre to the town each year.

Arts and brewing may seem an unlikely match but Mr Theakston talks of beer “providing the social lubricant that lets people enjoy being with other people” and the ventures the company supports also encourage people to mingle convivially.

Recently it has also sponsored poet Ben Taylor, also known as Yorkshire Prose, to wax lyrical about the a pint being a metaphor for social interaction.

Mr Theakston is a huge cricket lover so it’s perhaps no coincidence his company sponsors the Nidderdale Amateur Cricket League and the annual National Village Cup in which some 340 villages compete for the chance to play in the final at Lord’s.

It’s little wonder the name Theakston perhaps vies with Bettys as the most well known in the district — and at least we know for certain the Theakstons exist.

There was a time when its familiarity may have faded. The family relinquished control of the business in the 1990s before buying it back in 2003, and Mr Theakston pledges it will remain in the family, in the heart of Masham.

Can he foresee the day when the business no longer consumes his professional life?

“I haven’t thought too much about when I retire. It’s still a huge passion.”

Masham teenager with cancer is raising thousands for charities

A Masham teenager who was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer earlier this year is raising money for the charities who have been supporting her through her illness.

Lucy Verity, 19, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in February and has been undergoing gruelling treatments ever since.

Over the next few months she will go through 14 chemotherapy sessions, radiotherapy and proton therapy at different hospitals across the north of England.

Rather than raise money towards her own treatment expenses, she decided to fundraise for the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Bone Cancer Research Trust, who have been supporting her over the past four months.

She set up her fundraiser on JustGiving last Saturday and has already reached £3,900, more than three quarters of her £5,000 goal.

Before becoming ill, Lucy was an avid sports player and loved to look after her animals in her home in Masham. She hopes to get back to this as soon as possible, and run her own fundraising events.

She said:

“We’re in a lucky position where we’re able to support ourselves to travel for my treatments; that’s why I chose to raise money towards these charities instead of for myself, as they have a great team of dedicated nurses and youth workers who helped me to not feel alone when I wasn’t allowed visitors in the hospital.”

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Her family and friends have been rallying around to raise money towards her goal. Her brother will be running 24 miles in 24 hours on June 19, and her friends and cousin will take part in the Leeds 12km Total Warrior in July.

Lucy and her family have given suggestions for people who want to set up their own fundraisers for the cause, such as coffee and cake mornings, clearouts or tombola raffles.

Ewing’s sarcoma is a rare form of bone cancer that can cause bone pain, tiredness and constant fever. For many the illness can go undiagnosed for a long time due to its rarity.

The Bone Cancer Research Trust aims to find a cure for this and other types of bone cancer through scientific research. You can find out more about Lucy’s fundraiser or donate here.

 

New on-demand bus service for Ripon and Masham

Ripon and Masham are to get a new on-demand bus service as part of a pilot scheme to improve links to rural areas.

YorBus, which is run by North Yorkshire County Council, launches on July 1 and is due to be trialled for 12 months.

The service allows passengers to book a ride when and where they need one.

Once a passenger has chosen a pickup and drop-off location, they will need to head to a bus stop for a pooled ride.

Residents can book the bus through an app or by phone. The app will be available from June 28.

YorBus covers the area shaded in blue.

The app allows passengers to plan and track their bus journey, including how long the bus will take to arrive.

It will operate from 6.55am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 6pm on Saturdays.

There will be a flat fare of £1.20 for adults and 65p for children between the ages of 5 and 17. Children under 5 can travel for free. Concessions can also be used.

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YorBus is also fully accessible, with low floor access and a ramp for those with wheelchairs and pushchairs.

Cllr Don MacKenzie, the executive member for access, stated:

“The YorBus project is intended to provide transport to help people to travel to work, to go shopping, to attend medical appointments and to access other services, which they need. We hope it will offer a viable and affordable alternative to the private motor car.

“The flexibility of the scheme also means that a high proportion of seats on buses will be occupied on every journey, which will lead to better value for money and greater environmental benefits too.”

To promote the launch of YorBus, the council is running roadshows to speak to residents about the service, stopping off at the following locations: