The New Year arrived with a huge bang as Ripon ushered in 2024 in spectacular fashion last night with a fireworks display, the like of which has never been seen before in the city centre.

For 10 minutes from the stroke of midnight on the Ripon Cathedral clock, revellers who had earlier danced to the Caribbean beat of the Jamsalana Steel Band were treated to an exhibition of precision pyrotechnics.

A pulsating palette of colours burst upon the night sky in wave after wave of controlled explosion and at its conclusion a gathering of more than 2,000 people on Market Square spontaneously applauded.

Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who put £1,000 of his North Yorkshire Council locality budget towards the cost of the display, told the Stray Ferret:

“We wanted it to be bigger and better than last year’s fireworks finale and it certainly was!”

He added:

“I’ve never seen anything like this in the city centre before and while I know it won’t have been to everybody’s liking, the automatic reaction of the audience spoke for itself.”

The number of people on Market Square grew throughout the evening and by midnight, more than 2,000 were present to see the fireworks

Last night’s New Year’s Eve event, paid for from the parish precept, has been staged over decades by the city council and is firmly established on the authority’s annual calendar.

Before Jamsalana (pictured below) struck up, there was the ever-present reminder for Ripon residents and visitors of the city’s rich heritage, when Wayne Cobbett, a member of the hornblower team, set the watch with blasts at the four corners of the obelisk.

The instrument that he uses, is the 1996 horn, donated to the city to celebrate the 1100th anniversary since Alfred the Great, the first Anglo-Saxon King of England, gave a ceremonial horn to the people of Ripon in thanks for the courage they showed in fighting off a Viking incursion in 886 AD.

The Mayor of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke, who was celebrating his birthday, was present for the setting of the watch and later, in another city tradition, he returned to Market Square with Mayoress Linda Hawke after leading a candle-lit procession from the cathedral, attended by clergy and members of the congregation.

The procession included the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson, Canons Michael Gisbourne, Matthew Pollard and the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham, who blessed the crowd from the town hall balcony.

Main image: The spectacular fireworks display provided the finale to an evening of celebration on Market Square

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North Yorkshire Council spent £850 on a photographer who captured images of the Ripon hornblower on the River Thames.

The council revealed the sum following a Freedom of Information request by the Stray Ferret.

Allison Clark, the city’s first female hornblower, represented Ripon and North Yorkshire’s tourism industry at the World Travel Market event this month after Ripon City Council granted a special dispensation.

As part of this, she “called the watch” on a City Cruises boat on the River Thames.

The event was jointly hosted by North Yorkshire Council, Visit York, Visit Leeds and Herriot Country Tourism.

The council told the Stray Ferret it spent £1,658 of taxpayers’ money on the trip.

More than half of this — £850 — went to the photographer, who took other images of the City Cruises event besides the hornblower.

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The council contributed £500 towards commissioning the cruise.

It also spent £175 on a standard room at a Premier Inn, including breakfast, plus rail fares for the hornblower and a representative of Ripon City Council, which cost a further £132.

Asked if the trip had been beneficial to local tourism, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council said:

“The purpose of the City Cruise was to provide a platform for the tourism businesses of North Yorkshire, York, Leeds and Herriot Country, to connect with buyers from the travel industry.

“There are many great stories to tell the travel industry about North Yorkshire, and on this occasion we chose to tell them about the fascinating history of the Ripon hornblower.

“This demonstration undoubtedly made an impression on the travel industry representatives on board and we hope that this memorable event, together with the connections they made with businesses, will encourage them to bring more and more visitors to North Yorkshire in the coming months and years.”

Ripon’s hornblower “called the watch” over the River Thames last night for the first time in its 1,000-year history.

Allison Clark, who became the city’s first female hornblower in 2017, represented the north’s smallest city on City Cruises’ flagship vessel, Erasmus, as part of the World Travel Market Event – a travel and tourism trade show which takes place at Excel London.

The special dispensation was agreed by Ripon City Council, and the event was jointly hosted by North Yorkshire Council, Visit York, Visit Leeds and Herriot Country Tourism.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for the visitor economy, Cllr Derek Bastiman, said:

“The visitor economy is a major contributor to North Yorkshire’s economy, bringing in more than £1.5 billion a year and attracting over 33 million visitors from domestic visits alone to the county.

“I am extremely proud of our heritage and having a hornblower from our area sound the horn over the River Thames for the first time in over a thousand years is quite the honour.”

Allison Clark calls the watch last night. Pic: James Glossop.

Representatives from each local board were invited as part of the All Aboard For Yorkshire initiative, which aimed to showcase the culture and beauty on offer across York and North Yorkshire.

Ms Clark added:

“Along with my three hornblower colleagues, I must have one of the longest-standing, unaltered job descriptions in the world.

“I never imagined when I took the role that I would be on the Thames next to the Tower of London announcing that North Yorkshire is ‘at large’ in London!”

Gemma Rio, head of tourism at North Yorkshire Council, also said the council is “on a mission to broadcast to the global travel industry, to look, and book, ‘up north’”.

North Yorkshire was represented at the World Travel Market by North Yorkshire Council, Herriot Country Tourism and Visit York as part of the UK Inbound stand. 

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Ripon’s hornblower is set to “call the watch” in London for the first time in its 1,000 year history.

The special dispensation, agreed by Ripon City Council, will see the hornblower make the call over the River Thames on November 6.

It will come as part of the World Travel Market, which is being held at the Excel London from November 6 to November 8.

As part of this, North Yorkshire Council, together with Visit York, Visit Leeds and Herriot Country Tourism, will be jointly hosting a special event on board City Cruises’ flagship vessel Erasmus.

Gemma Rio, head of tourism at North Yorkshire Council, said: 

“We are on a mission, along with partners across the region, to broadcast the message to the global travel industry, to look, and book, ‘up north’.

“The 1,137 year old nightly ritual of the Ripon hornblower, which legendarily began in 886AD to warn locals that the Vikings – or Northmen – were coming seems a fitting tribute.

“In the cathedral city of just 19,000 inhabitants, a horn has been blown from every corner of the marketplace at 9pm every night, without exception for over a thousand years – and still is.

“The Ripon hornblower, a long-held and uninterrupted tradition epitomises the kind of authentic experience still to be found in towns and cities across the county, which set us apart on the world stage.”

Alison Clark

Alison Clark, who became Ripon’s first female hornblower in 2017, will be among those travelling to London.

She said:

“Along with my three hornblower colleagues, I must have one of the longest-standing, unaltered job descriptions in the world.

“I never imagined when I took the role that I would be on the Thames next to the Tower of London announcing that North Yorkshire is ‘at large’ in London.”

North Yorkshire will be represented at the World Travel Market by North Yorkshire Council, Herriot Country Tourism and Visit York as part of the UK Inbound stand. 

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Hundreds of people gathered on Ripon Market Square yesterday for the last large-scale public event of the summer organised by the city council.

Families with children from tots to teenagers came early in the  afternoon to ride the Ferris wheel and roundabout, both of which proved a constant draw until dusk, when tribute acts took centre stage in front of the town hall.

The queue for the Ferris wheel stretched the length of Market Square

Evening entertainment was provided by tribute acts playing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, while the Big Boyband Reunion, played a selection of the chart-topping songs made famous by leading boy bands.

The crowd on Market Square steadily grew throughout the evening.

One of the concert highlights came when the Neil Diamond lookalike and soundalike sang Sweet Caroline, the adopted anthem of the England women’s football team.

Sweet Caroline struck a chord with the Ripon crowd

The Robbie Williams tribute act

Elton John’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me rang out before sunset arrived and at 9pm Allison Clark, a member of the Ripon hornblower team (pictured below) provided a reminder of the city’s ancient roots, by performing the nightly setting of the watch ceremony, which has reputedly been carried out  without break for more than eleven hundred years.

You can watch a live video from last night on our Facebook page.

More free Bank Holiday entertainment

The free family-focused entertainment continues in Ripon on Monday, with a street party in Kirkgate from 11am until 4pm and a Spanish-themed fiesta on Minster Gardens from 5pm until 9.30pm.

Organised by independent businesses in the city as part of the Totally Locally initiative developed with Ripon BID, the Bank Holiday event will see the closure of Kirkgate from 9am.

Ripon is preparing for another bank holiday weekend of free family-focused entertainment, featuring live music, fairground rides and a Spanish-flavoured fiesta.

Tomorrow (Saturday) a ferris wheel and Mini Miami ride will be among the attractions on Market Square from 12 noon until 8pm, as part of the last public event of the summer organised by Ripon City Council and financed through the parish precept.

From 7pm until 11pm music will take centre stage, with tribute acts performing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, before the Big Boyband Reunion provides a rousing end to the entertainment.

Popular tunes and ancient tradition will come together at 8.55pm when a member of the Ripon hornblower team sets the city watch with blasts of their horn at the four corners of the obelisk.

The Easter street party in Kirkgate brought hundreds of visitors to the city

Bank Holiday Monday street party

As a follow-up to the highly-successful Easter Bank Holiday Monday street party held in Kirkgate, Ripon’s independent businesses have joined forces once more to arrange an event designed to draw visitors into the city and entertain local residents.

Kirkgate will close to traffic from 9am, for a day of entertainment running from 11am until 4pm and including buskers and on-street food and drink offers.

Between 5pm and 9.30pm, Minster Gardens will be transformed into a musical fiesta venue, with decorative lighting for a paella picnic among the trees.

The entertainment will be provided by Knaresborough Vista Social Club, Bailey Brown and virtuoso Ukrainian violinist Nadia.

There will be a horsebox bar and a pop-up paella restaurant supplied by Manchega Tapas Restauarant, whose owner, Richard Hughes, said:

“Ripon should be the destination for anyone visiting the north of England! It has everything to offer.”

He added:

“This whole event is an example of the local business community promoting a can-do attitude.  It has been funded almost entirely by donations from local businesses and also by sponsorship from Voneus Broadband, along with ongoing administrative support from the Ripon BID, as part of the excellent Totally Locally initiative.”

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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