Harrogate’s Royal Hall will be broadcasting the Queen’s funeral live on Monday.
The broadcast will start at 10am and seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
A book of condolence will also be available for people to sign.
The state funeral at Westminster Abbey will also be broadcast live at Ripon Cathedral, with visitors asked to attend from 9.30am.
Monday has been declared a bank holiday and many businesses will be closed.
The Stray Ferret has published a live blog that covers cancellations and rearrangements across the district.
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The Queen’s funeral: Harrogate district arrangements for Monday
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‘Fondly’ remembering the Queen’s visits to the Harrogate district
The links between the Queen and the Harrogate district stretch back decades, including a visit in 1952 before her coronation.
They include appearances at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate to her trips to Ripon, including her 2004 visit for another important anniversary – 400 years since the granting of the city’s Royal Charter.
Reflecting on her visit on December 10, 1998, a spokesperson for Harrogate Theatre said:
“Harrogate Theatre fondly remembers her visit and the warmth she extended to our staff and members of the public. Our sincere condolences go out to the Royal Family.”
The Queen visits Harrogate Theatre in 1998. Photo: Harrogate Theatre.
The Queen touched the lives of all those who met her, including residents in the district. Many recalled those occasions just recently, when communities celebrated her platinum jubilee.
Janine Jennings, from Hampsthwaite, said:
“It was her Silver Jubilee 1977 and I was pulled out of the crowd to meet her and as I presented her the flowers, she asked if I had grown them myself. I said yes, but actually, my mum, Mrs Johnson and I borrowed them from the empty police house next to us. So I lied to the queen!
“This picture (below) appeared in the paper, my mum kept it framed in her bedroom. It was really very special to meet the Queen and I remember it clearly to this day and always will.”
Claire H Beresford-Robinson said:
“I was lucky to meet the Queen when she visited the Great Yorkshire Showground and our tent ‘Growing up in North Yorkshire’.
“I attended Woodlands School at the time. It was our moment to shine. The Queen looked at the work I was doing and said “splendid work”. I will never forget this moment.
“Our school was chosen to attend the same day the Queen was coming. I’ll never forget the fabulous feeling at age 11 to be told I was selected to meet the Queen.”
Claire H. Beresford-Robinson also sent the above photograph of the Queen looking at the work of Woodlands School pupils.
She said:
“This is me and my friends at Woodlands School with headteacher Mr Dunmore in the background.”
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Karen Wenham said:
“I remember when I was in my last year at Starbeck CP School and the Queen came to visit in 1977. We all went up to the Great Yorkshire Showground and I took a posy of flowers for her. It always sticks in my mind.
“A couple of years ago I was invited to go to the palace, as I am an ambassador for a charity, and Sophie Wessex was lovely and we chatted.
“We were told the Queen was in residence that night and not to be surprised if she came down with her corgis, as she likes to surprise people.”
Rick Vai sent the photo below of the Queen visiting Knaresborough, which sparked memories from other residents.
Karen Allan said:
“They passed along King James Road, fronting King James School. We were all lined up for her.”
Sarah Brown added:
Councillors increase calls for tidy up of Ripon cemetery“I remember this. I was one of those school children lined up outside King James School in Knaresborough.”
Two senior Ripon councillors have stepped up calls for an urgent tidy up of Ripon Cemetery.
Last week, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams and fellow independent Pauline McHardy, accused Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) of ‘disrespecting the dead of Ripon’ and causing ‘distress’ to their relatives and friends.
At the same time, people visiting the cemetery on Kirkby Road spoke of their ‘distress and disgust.’
They were concerned that unmown grass has grown to such a height it makes finding and visiting graves difficult.
In some areas of Ripon cemetery, overhanging trees and hedges completely obscure rows of graves.
Cllr Williams, who has generations of his own family buried at the cemetery, pointed out:
“When you look at the care given by the borough council to Stonefall and compare it with Ripon, the contrast is there for all to see.
“I don’t think that it is unreasonable to expect the council to deliver the same standard of service across the entire district.
“It is deeply disrespectful to those with deceased relatives in other parts of the Harrogate District to provide a high standard of maintenance at Stonefall and a much lower one elsewhere.”
The above photograph was taken at Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogate on Friday (11 June).
Now cllr McHardy, a city and district councillor, has contacted conservative cllr Andrew Paraskos, HBC cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, whose portfolio includes 11 district cemeteries, and called for him to take immediate action.
She told the Stray Ferret:
“People in Ripon are angry that they and their deceased relatives are being treated like second-class citizens.
“What you can see in Ripon isn’t ‘re-wilding’ for the benefit of nature, it’s purely and simply a cost-cutting exercise.”
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Last week, an HBC spokesperson, said:
“Visitors to several of the cemeteries across the district may start to notice that some areas are being left to grow and not mown.
“We want to encourage biodiversity so are working with parish councils to leave specific areas to grow, attract pollinators and create habitats
“We have a regular programme of work, across all of the district’s cemeteries that we manage, and when specific issues are raised we will work to address these and carry out any required maintenance.
“We will of course continue to mow the grass along pathways and around gravestones so that mourners can pay their respects to their loved ones.”