New signs aim to attract more visitors to Ripon

Oyez, oyez, oyez! the pronouncement from Ripon Bellman Geoffrey Johnson rang out loud and clear on Ripon Market Square last night,

The simple message for the economy of The Cathedral City of the Dales is that Ripon has many attractions for both tourists and local residents to enjoy’ and now has new boundary signs to attract more visitors.

To emphasise the point, the official unveiling of the signs was also attended by Patricio Maglio, a member of the Ripon Hornblower team who, like Mr Johnson, features on notice boards at key locations.

Following the bellman’s announcement, the hornblower performed the nightly ceremony of setting the city’s watch minutes after the new signs were officially unveiled.

As part of Ripon BID’s commitment to improve wayfinding it partnered with North Yorkshire highways to upgrade the boundary signage on the bypass, Boroughbridge Road, Kirkby Road and Studley Road.

The project was supported by city and North Yorkshire councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams through donations from their locality budgets.

The BID also worked with the highways team to refurbish, repaint and restore the notice boards and finger posts that include bespoke maps and tourist information’

BID manager Lilla Bathurst told the Stray Ferret:

“These have been designed to help guide visitors around Ripon’s ancient streets, while providing an insight into the city’s rich history and heritage attractions.

“Our objective is to generate increased footfall to benefit the local economy and we are pleased to say that Ripon now has signage befitting a cathedral city and we hope that our businesses, residents and visitors will all agree that it’s a huge improvement.

“The boundary signs are designed to tempt motorists into Ripon from the road network, while the notice  boards help tourists to locate the attractions, while also  including information about events happening in the city, which is updated weekly.”

Pictured with Ripon bellman Geoffrey Johnson (right) and hornblower Patricio Maglio at last night’s unveiling event, are: Councillor Barbara Brodigan, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, Ripon BID manager Lilla Bathurst and BID directors Richard Taylor and Stuart Baldwin.

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