Garden centres in the Harrogate district and RHS Harlow Carr will remain open during the second national coronavirus lockdown.

The lockdown will start on Thursday and last until at least December 2, with non essential shops and restaurants forced to close.

However, RHS Harlow Carr, which has its own garden centre, says it has reviewed government guidance and that it can stay open.

The RHS has said it is monitoring the situation closely and is awaiting the publication of the new lockdown regulations

To effectively manage social distancing measure the RHS has asked all visitors to pre-book a time slot in advance.

The National Trust meanwhile has tweeted that it is still awaiting for national guidance as to whether Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal can stay open.

Please note that there will be very limited access to the abbey on 3&4 Nov. The water garden, cafe, shop, play area & deer park are still open and can be accessed from the visitor centre.
Beyond Wednesday, we're awaiting national guidance on opening. Please bear with us for now. pic.twitter.com/hogCOkqMVi

— Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, National Trust (@fountainsabbey) November 2, 2020

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Garden centres across the district will also remain open.

Crimple Hall Garden Centre, on Leeds Road in Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret it will remain open. While the cafe will be closed it will serve takeaway hot drinks, sandwiches and cakes.

F. Tate and Sons, a garden centre in Ripon, also told the Stray Ferret that it will stay open. It will need to close its new cafe but is looking into providing takeaway food and drink as well.

Daleside Nurseries Ltd, in Killinghall, has also confirmed that it will remain open and said it is continuing to work in coronavirus safe ways. It will run a takeaway service.

A new bridge will be unveiled at RHS Garden Harlow Carr on Monday.

The bridge, which was built by Harrogate dry stone waller Neil Beasley in four months over lockdown, has been named the Friendship Bridge.

The name is in recognition of a £10,000 donation from the Friends of Harlow Carr, which paid for half of the £20,000 costs.

The Royal Horticultural Society, which is the gardening charity that owns RHS Garden Harlow Carr, paid for the other half.

The centerpiece of the design, which was drawn up by Leeds master craftsman David Griffiths, represents the head of a flower, with stone petals surrounding a central stonework arch,

The Geoffrey Smith memorial stone is positioned at one end of the bridge wall as a lasting testament to the former garden curator, who died in 2009.

Paul Cook, curator at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, said: 

“We now have a beautiful new piece of artwork, which has been handcrafted in Yorkshire stone using traditional dry stone walling techniques.

“As well as being a thing of beauty in itself, the work will help to alleviate surface flooding problems.”

The new bridge was built with freshly quarried Yorkshire stone along with stone from the structure that it replaced.

Mr Beasley previously created Harlow Carr’s garden entrance feature and monoliths on the corner of Crag Lane and Otley Road, which were also designed by David Griffiths. 

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Attractions across the Harrogate district have reported record levels of interest in their Christmas activities this year.

From visits to Santa’s Grotto to illuminated woodland walks, some of the most popular annual events are still scheduled to go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

However, with some significant events cancelled – including Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Christmas markets – and places at those going ahead reduced to allow for social distancing, tickets have been in high demand.

At RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate, booking opened last week for the annual Glow installation. Held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings up to Christmas, as well as three days before new year, the event sold 25% of its tickets within the first week.

Organisers said they have reduced capacity and introduced a full pre-booking system for the first time in order to control visitor numbers, and they will be implementing the same enhanced cleaning measures currently being used for daytime visits.

However, the annual Stories with Santa sessions have had to be called off because they cannot be held safely under covid restrictions. A spokesman said they were hoping to reinstate the event in 2021. She added:

“As with all visitor attractions, it’s hard to compare numbers for this year and previous years due to the impact of covid. However, taking the last full month of September as an example, September 2020 is the second best September on record for Harlow Carr, even with a booking system in place, which is very encouraging.”

The Alice in Winterland illuminations will open at Lightwater Valley in November.

At Lightwater Valley near Ripon, extra availability has had to be added to the Festive Family Fun days running from late November. New family tickets have been released for Friday nights to enable more people to visit.

The park will be lit with giant lanterns and illuminated sculptures with an Alice in Winterland theme, there will be a stage featuring festive visitors and puppet performances and rides will be open if the weather allows.

Lightwater Valley manager Colin Bowes said:

“We’re delighted with the enthusiastic response we have had from people wanting to attend our festive event.

“Understandably Christmas spirit is in high demand this year, so we’ve decided to add these additional dates to ensure even more families can enjoy our Festive Family Fun event in a safe, socially-distanced way.”

At Harewood House, the Santa experience has already sold out, but the house, grounds and gardens will be transformed with the Upon a Christmas Wish theme from mid-November until January 3.

The venue has more than 20 events taking place in the run-up to Christmas, from shopping experiences to wreath-making workshops as well as festive afternoon teas. Pre-booking is essential and some events are already fully booked.

Other attractions

At Stockeld Park, Christmas Adventure tickets go on sale next week, and are expected to sell out quickly based on the popularity of the venue’s Halloween events.

Brimham Rocks Adventure Farm has just put its Christmas Experience tickets on sale, with limited numbers compared to previous years.

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Stump Cross Caverns has opportunities to meet Santa and receive a gift, with advance booking recommended. ‘Rocking’ Santa will meet families of up to six people in the cinema room and organisers said places are already proving popular.

Fountains Abbey is holding Carols by Candlelight on Sundays, December 6 and 13, rather than its usual single date. Full details of its storytime with Father Christmas events will be released nearer the time.

Birchfield Farm has said it will not hold its usual Christmas activities this year.

RHS Harlow Carr has seen a spike in demand for places at its gardens ahead of reopening on Monday.

The RHS saw delays on its online booking system yesterday as a high volume of people flocked to the website to book spaces to its gardens.

The gardens will be open from 10am until 4pm, but people must pre-book a space in order to limit the amount of people attending.

Due to high levels of interest you may experience delays in the online booking process; please bear with us. Please note you will not be allowed entry without confirmation of your booking. pic.twitter.com/VI5xUvpEHG

— RHS Harlow Carr (@RHSHarlowCarr) May 29, 2020

Safety measures will also be in place including floor markings for social distancing, screens at the checkouts, hand sanitiser for visitors and staff and a no cash policy.

A statement on the RHS Gardens website said:

“Our foremost priority remains the health and safety of our members, visitors and staff and we will do everything possible to ensure all government social distancing measures are followed.

“All visitors will be required to pre-book a timed entry slot in advance of their visit and visitor numbers entering the gardens will be limited.”

Meanwhile, National Trust attractions in the Harrogate district will remain closed this weekend.

It means that Brimham Rocks and Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Ripon, will not be open for people to travel to as the trust plans a gradual reopening of its attractions in the coming weeks.

Brimham Rocks will remain closed to the public until further notice.

The National Trust is set to reopen some of its smaller gardens and parklands from June 3 and advanced bookings will be required to maintain public safety.

Newby Hall and Gardens, Ripon, will remain closed to visitors. A statement on its website said it was working hard to reopen “as soon as possible”.

Further afield, Bolton Abbey Estate reported that it sold out tickets for the estate yesterday and urged people not to visit.