Late night Christmas shopping in Pateley Bridge tonight

Businesses in Pateley Bridge will stay open late this evening as part of the town’s annual late night shopping event.

Around 25 businesses will be open until 8pm, including Richards Jewellers, Claire Baxter Gallery and H Weatherheads & Sons Butchers.

King Street Workshops will have a range of traders and artisans on display. There will be ceramics, stone, glass and gemstones on offer to buy.

There will also be a performance from Summerbridge and Dacre Brass Band, a children’s Christmas treasure trail and a visit from Father Christmas.

Bertram Richards, of Richards Jewellers, told the Stray Ferret:

“Pateley Bridge’s annual Christmas late night opening is a great occasion for the community to come together.

“Under the sparkle of all the Christmas lights the town really comes alive and it is great way to start the season of festivities.

“With a wide selection of shops and activities it is sure to be another great year for all the family.”

Visitors can also take part in a fancy dress competition on the night. Winners will be announced at The Crown Inn, on High Street, at 7pm for under-12s and adults at 8:30pm.

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Plans to convert ‘unviable’ pub near Pateley Bridge refused

Plans to convert an “unviable” 110-year-old former pub near Pateley Bridge into a holiday home have been refused.

The Birch Tree, at Lupton Bank in Glasshouses, closed in March 2020.

Planning permission was granted to convert the majority of the pub into three holiday flats while retaining a small public bar.

A subsequent application to convert the remaining pub into a two-bedroom cottage has now been refused.

Planning documents by Dacre Banks-based firm Yarntex Two said the building had attracted “no local interest or expressions of interest from further afield”.

They added:

“Sadly, there appears to be no viable future for the pub and provision of a further holiday cottage to supplement and enhance the others is surely the best option for the building.”

But North Yorkshire Council rejected the proposal this week.

The council said it was “not satisfied that the pub has been marketed at a suitable value”. Pateley Bridge Town Council had raised the same concern during the consultation period.

North Yorkshire Council’s decision report added:

“No details have been provided of the sales particulars, value it has been marketed at and original sale price. Additionally trading accounts, license details and opening hours have not been provided. Marketing of the pub has not continued for 12 consecutive months.”

It also said the interior of the pub had been stripped, which would “put off potential buyers” and no attempt had been made to market the pub for alternative community uses.

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Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty renamed National Landscape

All designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales, including Nidderdale, have been rebranded National Landscapes from today.

The new name aims to create greater understanding and awareness of the sites’ environmental importance in combating issues such as climate change.

There are 46 AONBs in the UK, covering 14% of England, Wales and Northern Ireland including moorland, farmland, coast, forests and International Dark Sky Reserves. The first to be designated an AONB was the Gower Peninsula in 1956; the most recent, in 1995, was the Tamar Valley, which spans Devon and Cornwall.

All are now known as National Landscapes.

Iain Mann, lead officer for Nidderdale National Landscape, said:

“Nidderdale’s landscape is treasured by those who live here and the many people who come to visit.

“Next year will mark 30 years since our partnership came together to conserve and enhance this special place. We look forward to continuing to work with the wide range of partners, from farmers and landowners to volunteers and conservation organisations, as we jointly face up to challenges such as climate change and nature recovery.

“Our new name reflects the national importance of this work and, we hope, sends a welcoming message to people who don’t yet know us to come and visit.”

Pateley Bridge

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England said:

“For decades the AONBs have helped protect the beauty of our finest landscapes. Today though we need so much more from these wonderful places, helping us adapt to climate change, catching carbon, restoring depleted wildlife and encouraging more people outside, at the same time as producing food, sustaining local communities and enhancing historic environments.

“Modern challenges require new approaches and today marks the beginning of a new phase for our National Landscapes.”

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Bewerley Park set for new 84-bed block as part of £4.2m upgrade

Bewerley Park, near Pateley Bridge, looks set to get a new 84-bed accommodation block as part of a £4.2 million upgrade.

North Yorkshire Council has outlined plans to modernise its two outdoor education centres at Bewerley Park and East Barnby.

The residential sites popular with schools offer a range of outdoor activities, such as canoeing, paddle-boarding and caving.

Phase one of the plans proposes to provide a new 84-bed accommodation block at Bewerley Park and to make improvements to East Barnby accommodation blocks and the dining room.

Bewerley Park, which recently faced the possibility of closure, currently has 173 beds for students and teachers.

Councillors will be asked to approve the phase one plans at an executive meeting on Tuesday.

If given the go-ahead, detailed designs will be developed, followed by a two-stage tender process to carry out the work.

Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, executive member for education, learning and skills, said:

“This is an exciting project. For decades both centres have proven very popular, being visited by generations of families. Thousands of children and young people visit the centres each year and leave with positive, happy memories.

“It’s vital that our centres continue to deliver wonderful experiences in a more modern environment.”

East Barnby in North York Moors National Park is also part of the scheme. The plans outline improvements to its accommodation blocks and the dining room.

Work for phase one is expected to cost up to £4.2 million and a decision on phase two is expected in 2027-2028.

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The council’s assistant director for education and skills, Amanda Newbold, added:

“If given the go-ahead, we expect phase one to be completed by 2025. The new buildings and improvements won’t affect our visitors – in fact, we look forward to welcoming more visitors as the works take place.”

The plans come after North Yorkshire Council found a 21% price increase for trips to Bewerley Park proved “prohibitive” to some local schools.

The site, which opened in 1940, hiked its fees and charges to reflect inflation and rising costs.

However, Teresa Thorp, head of outdoor learning services at the council, said in a report published in September:

“There have been a few schools who have found the increase in fees and charges for 2023-24 prohibitive, demonstrating that last year’s fees and charges increase has adversely affected the take up of services in some cases.”

Ms Thorp added the council had to compete with other outdoor learning centres, such as Low Mill, Robin Wood and Carlton Lodge.

 

Remembrance Day: A guide to services in the Harrogate district

Remembrance services will take place across the Harrogate district to honour the fallen.

We’ve collated a list of the services across the district that are being held.

You can email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk if you know of others to add.

Ripon

Thursday, November 9.

Ripon Community Poppy Project will hold a concert of remembrance at Ripon Cathedral.

Ripon City Band, The Dishforth Military Wives Choir and Brackenfield School will all perform.

The event will begin at 7pm and tickets cost £13.50.

Sunday, November 12.

A service will be held in Ripon Spa Gardens from 10.45am. It will include two minutes’ silence and the laying of wreaths, followed by the usual parade.

A civic service of remembrance will then be held in Ripon Cathedral from 11.40am – 1pm.

The Right Reverend Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon, will lead the service.

Harrogate

St Peter’s Church — Friday, November 10

The Festival of Remembrance will be held at St Peter’s Church, on Cambridge Road, as part of the Cenotaph Centenary.

The Harrogate Band and The Fishers Singers will perform at the event, which will be led by Harry Satloka of Harrogate’s Free Walking Tours.

There will also be presentations and poetry, as well as a remembrance service.

Tickets cost £10 and all proceeds will go to the Royal British Legion.

It begins at 8pm.

St Wilfrid’s Church — Saturday, November 11

A two-minute silence will held be at 11am at St Wilfrid’s Church on Duchy Road.

This will be followed by a talk on the men named on the church’s WWI memorials, as well as an exhibition in their honour which is on display.

Email bookings@stwilfrid.org to reserve a place.

Town centre – Sunday, November 12

The annual Harrogate Remembrance Day parade and service will be held at the cenotaph war memorial.

People can arrive from 10am. The service will begin at around 10.50am, followed by the two-minute silence at 11am.

After that, the Reveille and wreath laying will commence.

The Kohima Epitaph will be read before the march-past begins.

St Peter’s Church — Sunday, November 12

A Remembrance service with a choir will be held at St Peter’s Church, on Cambridge Road, just after the cenotaph service.

It will begin at approximately 11.15am.

Starbeck – Sunday, November 12

A two-minute silence will be observed at 11am at the war memorial on Starbeck High Street. Wreaths will be laid.

Later, at 3pm, the Starbeck Remembrance Ceremony will take place at the cenotaph on Starbeck High Street.

It will be led by the Harrogate branch of the Royal British Legion, with a parade by local uniformed organisations.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones will attend the service, and readings will be led by the church and pupils of Starbeck Primary Academy.

Stonefall Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery – Sunday, November 12

A service starting at 1pm will include prayers, music from the Harrogate Band, a short talk by Reverend David Hoskins and a two-minute silence. Also, wreaths will be laid by community leaders and representatives of British and allied forces, and students from Ashville College and Harrogate’s Army Foundation College will lay flowers on each grave.

West Park Church — Sunday, November 12

A service will be held at the church, including an act of remembrance, from 10.30am.

It will be led by Reverend David Hughes.

Another service will be held at 3.30pm to mark the end of the More Than a Name on a Memorial exhibition.

Knaresborough

Sunday, November 12

The commemorations will begin with a service at St John’s Church from 9.30am.

A parade from the church to the war memorial in the castle grounds will follow.

There will be a two-minute silence at 11am, followed by a service of remembrance at the memorial.

Nidderdale and Pateley Bridge

Saturday, November 11.

The annual Armistice Day service and parade takes place at the war memorial from 10am.  Those attending will include a representative of the lord-lieutenant’s office, a platoon of troops from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, local dignitaries and community organisations and schools etc.

It is organised by the Nidderdale branch of the Royal British Legion and The Church in The Dale.

Sunday, November 12
10am Joint Service of Remembrance at Holy Trinity, Dacre Banks with a collection for the Royal British Legion.

11am Act of Remembrance at Summerbridge War Memorial, followed by refreshments at Summerbridge Methodist Church.

2pm Remembrance Concert and Service at Darley Memorial Hall

6pm The Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance at St Mary the Virgin, Greenhow Hill. Led by the Reverend Darryl Hall, there will be a two-minute silence, a sermon by Jane Spooner and music from Nidd Chorale.

Boroughbridge

Sunday, November 12.

A remembrance service and parade will be held at St James’s Church in Boroughbridge.

It will begin at 10am.

Masham

Friday, November 10. 

A remembrance service will be held for locals and pupils of Masham School at St Mary’s Church from 10.45am.

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Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2023: Let’s not forget those who need our help this Christmas

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is to raise money for a minibus for Dementia Forward in the Harrogate district. 

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Please read Flora’s story below and give generously to support local people and their families living with dementia. They need your help.

Christmas is a time to create happy memories, to connect with family and enjoy each other’s company. But Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease take those memories away, and life can become confusing and isolating.

Local charity Dementia Forward works to support people living with these life-changing and disabling conditions, but it can only do so with the help of charitable donations.

So this Christmas, the Stray Ferret is asking you to support to this local organisation and ensure it can continue to offer the vital services it provides.

We want to raise £30,000 to buy a new minibus so that Dementia Forward can carry on bringing people struggling with memory loss to social events and a supportive environment.

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare, so every penny donated will go directly to Dementia Forward.

The charity’s minibus service is currently used by more than 50 people. It also takes them on days out across the county, which is a huge part of the Dementia Forward programme. It is used to help people access the charity’s social events for those that can no longer drive, as well as weekly day trips for those with young onset dementia. The group visits a variety of places, including the Yorkshire coast, nature reserves, walking trails, llama farms, art galleries and so much more.

However, Dementia Forward’s current bus is old and tired and urgently needs to be replaced. The charity would seriously struggle to afford a new one, which is why they need your help to keep this vital service going.

Without it, many people living with dementia wouldn’t be able to access the help and support they need. 

Every donation to our campaign will go directly to Dementia Forward to help us hit our £30,000 target.

Over the next seven weeks, we’ll be bringing you stories that show just how important Dementia Forward is, and the impact it has on local people’s lives.

Please read them, share them, and donate whatever you can.

Let’s not forget those who need our help this Christmas.

Thank you.

The NHS found 1 in 11 people over the age of 65 are living with dementia in the UK. For those who need urgent help or have a dementia-related enquiry, call 0330 057 8592 to speak to a helpline adviser. 

Vida Healthcare offers specialist residential and nursing care across three state-of-the-art homes.

James Rycroft, managing director of Vida Healthcare, said:

“We’re delighted to be supporting the Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal in aid of Dementia Forward.

“It is such an amazing local charity supporting people living with dementia.”

 

Lofthouse Moor owner fined for illegally burning peat

A prominent landowner has been fined for illegally burning peat on a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Pateley Bridge.

Ben Ramsden, 59, pleaded guilty to three charges of burning vegetation on a designated site on a peat that is of a depth of more than 40 centimetres without a licence.

The offences took place at Thrope Farm, Lofthouse, on April 8 this year.

Ramsden owns Lofthouse Moor, which is used for grouse shooting.

He was also a director of the Moorland Association, which manages over a million acres of the moorlands of England and Wales, at the time of the offences. However, he resigned this position on October 1 this year.

Illegally burning peat can impede its restoration.

Skipton Magistrates Court fined Ramsden, of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, £600 at a hearing on Friday.

Skipton Magistrates Court.

Skipton Magistrates Court

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £240 and court costs of £85.

Magistrates said they took into consideration Ramsden’s guilty plea when imposing the sentence.

A spokesman for the Moorland Association said:

“We are aware of this case and our understanding is that this was a genuine error.

“The land management team believed they had taken the appropriate and necessary precautions.”

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Angry parents say closure of Lofthouse school will ‘rip heart out of community’

Devastated parents have said a village near Pateley Bridge will have its heart “ripped out” by the closure of a primary school.

Governors of Upper Nidderdale Federation have issued a statement saying they have taken “the heavy and sad decision to ask North Yorkshire Council to begin consultation on a proposal to close Fountains Earth School” in Lofthouse.

A formal decision on closure is expected next year but the fate of the school, which was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at its last full assessment in 2017, appears sealed as no pupils remain.

The council has said the closure is part of a trend caused by declining pupil numbers at rural schools but numerous parents have contacted the Stray Ferret to dispute this.

They say they felt compelled to withdraw their children because of the way the school was run and that it could have a viable future if the will remained.

A joint statement by a group of parents said they were “devastated to have been left with no choice but to remove our children”. It added:

“It will remain the view of the former parents that the pending closure of Fountains Earth School is not simply about known challenges around resourcing of rural schools and pupil numbers.

“We believe it has everything to do with the leadership, governance and decision making of the Upper Nidderdale Federation.

“Parents have a degree of choice and can tell when a school is failing its children. As a parent group we’ve been disappointed by how unwilling the school has been to pro-actively communicate with us and surprised by the total lack of accountability that can exist around how a school is governed.”

Some villagers also issued individual comments. Ashley Gatecliffe said it felt as if the school closure was a “deliberate act”. Former parent Leanne Jowett said things started to unravel after a previous consultation on closing the school ended in June 2022. She added:

“I truly believe the heart of the community has been ripped out because of this and questions need asking in relation to accountability, how this is able to happen yet again in North Yorkshire and who is ultimately responsible.”

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‘The whole thing stinks’

Another former parent, Fiona Ewbank, said three generations of her family had been educated at the school but she felt “forced” to move her child outside the federation, which also includes St Cuthbert’s Primary School in Pateley Bridge and Glasshouses Community Primary School.

Ms Ewbank added:

“The school had 11 pupils enrolled in June 2022 and increased to 15 by Sept 2022. Numbers were not declining, despite what is usually the story around rural school closures.”

Lofthouse

The school closure will have a significant impact on Lofthouse.

Former parent Rosie Costello, who runs a playgroup in the village, said:

“We have a thriving village playgroup in Lofthouse with children from both the local area as well as further away. This was a great pipeline for future pupil numbers, and we wanted to work pro-actively with the school to maximise on this but there didn’t seem to be the level of interest to do so that we would have hoped for.”

Stephen Ramsden, chair of Upper Nidderdale Parish Council said:

“In my opinion the parents have been pushed out and they are now forced to travel much greater distances because they’re left with no confidence in the leadership of this federation. The whole thing stinks.”

Cllr Andrew Murday, a Liberal Democrat who represents Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale on North Yorkshire Council, said:

“It’s a sad state of affairs. There has been a failure of communication between parents and the federation.”

‘Difficult decision’ to begin closure process

Asked about moves to instigate closure, Amanda Newbold, the council’s assistant director for education and skills, said:

“We very much recognise the problems of falling pupil numbers at small rural schools, which is an issue affecting a number of communities in North Yorkshire.

“Sadly, there are currently no children enrolled at Fountain’s Earth CE Primary School in Lofthouse in Nidderdale.

“After a challenging time for all, the school governors have made the difficult decision to begin the formal process of applying to the council for a consultation on proposed plans to close the school.

“The request will be formally considered in November. If a consultation is given the go-ahead, it would be undertaken later this year and include a public meeting.”

 

GALLERY: Nidderdale Show brings down the curtain on show season

Despite leaden skies, thousands of people flocked to yesterday’s Nidderdale Show.

The event, which celebrated its 151st anniversary this year, is organised by Nidderdale Agricultural Society.

It is held annually at Pateley Bridge Showground and marks the end of the local agricultural show season.

Last year, it was moved from its traditional Monday slot to a Sunday to avoid clashing with Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and proved such a success organisers decided to stick to the Sunday.

Visitors could enjoy a range of classes, from cattle and sheep to showjumping and pigs, as well as rabbit and pigeon displays, dry-stone walling and a band parade.

Here are some photos of the day in case you missed it.

Just two of the many prize-winning pigeons.

York North & West of Yore Hunt and hound demonstration.

The Wharfedale Terrier Racing team.

The brass band performed in the high-street parade and throughout the day.

Rebecca Richards, 8, and sister Jess, 6, showed their sheep in the young shepherd/shepherdess class.

Proud parents gathered to watch their little ones in the young handlers class.

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Bishop Thornton couple celebrate 70 years of marriage

A Bishop Thornton couple will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary next week.

Sam and Margaret Cryer, who are both 88, tied the knot on Tuesday, September 26 in 1953.

The couple met at a dance in Markington and got married at the village’s St Michael’s Church.

Asked about her parents’ secret to a lifelong marriage, daughter Julia said:

“Well, I think dad would say ‘mum’s a really good cook!’

“But they’ve always had such a strong work ethic and always worked together during their relationship, so I think that plays into it massively.”

Mr and Ms Cryer were originally farmers but now own a stone merchants company where Mr Cryer still works Monday to Friday.

Mr Cryer was also mayor of Harrogate from 1983 to 1984.

Julia said:

“They’ve worked hard together and they’re still very much in love.”

The couple are having a small family get together to celebrate seven decades of marriage.

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