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.

Read more:

• The Queen’s funeral: Harrogate district arrangements for Monday

• No requirement for staff day off on Queen’s funeral, says Harrogate solicitor

In 1982, Geoff Brown and four colleagues started a modest agricultural machinery business called Ripon Farm Services.

The firm, which took on John Deere and Land Rover franchises, began with 19 members of staff and budgeted to generate £1.1 million in its first year.

Now, as the company celebrates its 40th anniversary, it has 270 staff, 12 depots and recorded turnover of £117.2 million for the financial year ending January 31, 2021 — significantly up on the £106.4 million figure for the previous year.

Ripon Farm Services, which is based on Dallamires Lane in Ripon, has become one of the Harrogate district’s biggest and best known employers. It supplies a wide range of new and used equipment from franchises including John Deere, Kuhn, Bailey, Kramer and Stihl.

Mr Brown (left) and a colleague alongside a John Deere tractor.

Mr Brown, who was brought up on a farm and has lived in Burnt Yates all his life, has been at the helm throughout the company’s existence.

Now 76, he remains a director and is keen to drive the business forward for “a while yet”. He adds:

“While I’m OK I will carry on.”

Brexit and Prince Charles

The last 12 months have been hectic, dealing not only with covid but also the impact of Brexit, which has had major repercussions for agriculture.

He also met Prince Charles — not for the first time — at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show, where Ripon Farm Services always has a big presence.

The two men chatted amiably for some time. Mr Brown says:

“Somebody asked how did I make him laugh. I said I just talked to him. He knows a lot about farming and machinery. I met him previously at the Pateley show. He’s a very down to earth fella.”

Read more:

• Ripon Farm Services given go-ahead to open twelfth depot
• Ripon Farm Services increases revenue to £117m
• Hot Seat: Leading the college for the Harrogate district
• Hot Seat: navigating choppy waters at Ripon firm Wolseley

Mr Brown admits the company benefited from the backwind that British agriculture enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s but thriving over four decades is testimony to far more than luck. He says:

“It’s just been steady growth since we started.”

Ripon Farm Services at the Great Yorkshire Show

61-year career

Mr Brown’s working life spans a remarkable 61 years. He started in 1961 at Glovers of Ripon, a car and agricultural machinery dealer.

Glovers was taken over by Appleyards in 1965, which lost the Massey Ferguson franchise the following year and consequently took on one of the first John Deere dealerships in the UK.

In 1966 Mr Brown was promoted to John Deere demonstrator at Appleyards.

Geoff Brown at Ripon Farm Services’ New Year Show last month.

When Appleyards sold its agricultural business in 1982 — something Mr Brown heard about when he was setting up the stand at the Great Yorkshire Show — it paved the way for something new.

So by October than year Mr Brown, along with Maurice Hymas, Bill Houseman and two other directors, had set-up Ripon Farm Services.

Selling Land Rover

Regrets? Just a few. The company sold its Land Rover franchise in 2016. Mr Brown says:

“They wanted us to move to Harrogate or Knaresborough and sell Jaguars but I didn’t want to do either of those things and now, ironically, they have relented and dealers don’t have to sell Jaguars.”

Ripon Farm Services continues to be synonymous with the distinctive John Deere green. It’s a truly international set-up: a British firm, selling American machinery all around the world. Mr Brown says:

“We export a lot of tractors and combine harvesters. Our biggest overseas markets are Poland and Spain.”

He acknowledges Brexit has caused some bumps but “it hasn’t stopped us”.

British farmers still face uncertainty about what payments will replace the loss of EU subsidies but Mr Brown remains optimistic about the future for farmers:

“As long as the government looks after them and gets something in place of the grants I can’t see it being a problem. The good ones will still be around.”

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the return of the show in a year in which many smaller agricultural events in the district fell victim to covid again.

The Great Yorkshire Show in July signalled a brief return to some sort of normality after covid decimated another year of outdoor events.

The show was cancelled last year and the venue’s Yorkshire Event Centre was converted into a covid vaccination site in the early months of the year.

For a while, it seemed possible that Yorkshire’s flagship farming event might have to be cancelled for a second year running. But the Yorkshire Agricultural Society took the decision to hold it over four days so visitors could spread out ⁠— and the risk paid off.

Prince Charles at the show

The Stray Ferret attended all four sun-kissed days to watch award-winning goats, sample delicious local food and drink, and we were front row for a surprise royal visit when the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended.

The couple arrived at lunchtime on day three and were greeted by hundreds of visitors at the gate.

Prince Charles spent time inspecting sheep, while the Duchess of Cornwall visited the children’s discovery zone.

Both also took time out to speak with the many visitors and exhibitors, including Phil Airey from Harrogate gardening charity Horticap.

The Stray Ferret’s videos of the royal couple attending the event and leaving the Stray via helicopter went viral and received over 200,000 views on our Facebook page. You can view them on our YouTube page here and here.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show to remain four-day event
• Emotional Harrogate reunion for Puss the cat and her Scottish owners

This year’s show also got a happy (and emotional) ending a week after it ended.

Farmer David Mitchell and his wife Annette drove 200 miles from East Ayrshire to be reunited with the intrepid Puss the Cat, who they feared was lost forever after she bolted from his trailer after sneaking in and hitching a ride to Harrogate.

Many shows cancelled

But although the Great Yorkshire Show went ahead, and will remain a four-day event in 2022, other agricultural shows weren’t as fortunate.

Nidderdale Show, which usually attracts about 15,000 people to Pateley Bridge in September, was cancelled.

So was Ripley Show, Birstwith Show and Tockwith Show, with organisers citing concerns over health, logistics and the extension of social distancing restrictions.

Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally called off its summer event, citing “too many uncertainties to proceed”.

But the unique Masham Sheep Fair went ahead in September.

Masham Sheep Fair

There is no other event like it in the district. As well as sheep judging, it offered sheepdog trials, tours of the Theakston and Black Sheep breweries, Morris dancing, fleece stalls and even sheep racing to keep the crowds entertained.

Organiser Susan Cunliffe-Lister told the Stray Ferret she was determined to hold the fair this year despite uncertainty over covid.

Weeton Show also decided to proceed and was rewarded with a sell-out crowd and glorious sun.

Agricultural shows are a major part of the district’s summer life and many people will be hoping they return en masse in 2022.

Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson collected his OBE medal yesterday from Prince Charles.

Mr Sampson was awarded the OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours list for services to business and the community in Yorkshire, but he had been unable to receive the award in person due to covid restrictions.

He was presented with a medal by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle.

Mr Sampson has worked in local government for over 35 years and became chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council in 2008. He was previously a director at Bradford Council for eight years where he helped to support regeneration programmes in some of the city’s most deprived communities.

Mr Sampson said the day was made “extra special” as he was accompanied by his proud mum.

“I was honoured to attend the investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle to receive the OBE award from HRH the Prince of Wales. It was an occasion that will live with me for the rest of my life, made extra special by the fact that I was accompanied by my very proud mother.”

Read more:

• Harrogate town council: the Stray’s future and relationship with business
• Harrogate town council: could it run Harrogate Convention Centre?

Exactly one week ago, Prince Charles and Camilla were in Harrogate to attend the Great Yorkshire Show.

The enduring appeal of the royal family has been highlighted by the fact that two Stray Ferret videos of their visit have been viewed almost 200,000 times.

We were live at the Great Yorkshire Show last Thursday to capture the couple’s arrival.

The clip, filmed live on Facebook, showed The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall happily chatting to exhibitors and the public as they made their way around the showground. It has currently received 92,000 views.

Another video of the royals leaving The Stray via helicopter has proved even more popular, having been viewed 107,000 times.

Their departure coincided with the end of the school day at about 3.45pm and scores of St Aidan’s Church of England High School pupils waved them off.

The videos have been enjoyed across the world and even shared by people in countries including Thailand, Algeria and Denmark.

Did you meet Charles or Camilla during their trip to the show? Email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Read More: 

• WATCH: The best bits of the Great Yorkshire Show 2021
• GALLERY: A right royal day at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show

Prince Charles and Camilla joined the sell-out crowd at the Great Yorkshire Show today.

The royal couple arrived at lunchtime on day three and were greeted by hundreds of visitors at the gate.

Charles spent time inspecting sheep, while the Duchess of Cornwall visited the children’s discovery zone.

Both also took time out to speak with the many visitors and exhibitors at this year’s event.

Here are some photo highlights of Harrogate’s royal day.

Read More: 

• Prince Charles arrives at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show
• Royal biographer at Goldsborough Hall open gardens

Prince Charles paid a surprise visit to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate today.

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wowed onlookers when they arrived shortly before 12.30pm on day three of the sell-out event.

There have been several visits to the show by senior royals in recent years. In 2008 the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh met exhibitors and inspected livestock.

Princess Anne visited in 2018 and Prince Andrew attended the following year. Prince Charles’ last appearance at the show was in 2011.

The Queen and Prince Philip at the Great Yorkshire Show in 2008.

Charles is no stranger to Harrogate. He and Camilla opened the 50th Harrogate International Festivals in 2016 and in 2008 he reopened the Royal Hall in Harrogate after its £8 million restoration.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society, which runs the show, has extended it for four days this year to improve social distancing.

All 26,000 tickets each day have been sold.

Read More: 

• Day three of Great Yorkshire show gets underway
• Royal biographer at Goldsborough Hall open gardens