No Annual Remembrance services will take place across the district this weekend to honour the fallen.
Below is a list of events. If you know of others, let us know so we can add them to this guide. Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.
Sunday November 13: 11am – Remembrance Sunday service at the war memorial in Spa Gardens, where there will be a two-minute silence before wreaths are laid in honour of the fallen, by civic dignitaries, members of the armed forces, the RBL and representatives of other organisations.
Those planning to attend are asked to arrive by 10.30am.
Town centre
Sunday November 13:
Town Centre
10.30am – Parade and wreath laying ceremony at the Harrogate war memorial. The service will include the Army Foundation College, the Royal British Legion, regimental associations, uniformed cadets and scouts and guides.
Stonefall Cemetery
1pm – Harrogate Brigantes Rotary has arranged a service for 1pm at the Commonwealth War Graves. Wreaths will be laid by the Harrogate Mayoress, Andrew Jones MP, the Army Foundation College and representatives from the Commonwealth.
Starbeck
11am – gathering of residents at the war memorial on the Starbeck High Street.
3pm — Ceremony at Starbeck war memorial. The service will include the Royal British Legion, uniformed cadets, the brigades, students from Starbeck Primary Academy and local churches.
Sunday, November 13: 11am – ceremony at Knaresborough war memorial attended by local officials and Harrogate Army Foundation College.
Friday, November 11: A service takes place at the Cenotaph in the Pateley Bridge & Bewerley Recreation Park led by the Church in the Dales and the last post will be sounded. There will also be a contingent of 40 junior soldiers attending who will be marching in public for the first time since joining the Harrogate Army Foundation College.
Following this the young soldiers will march to the Pateley Bridge & Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road.
There will also be a display of the Nidderdale people who went to war and returned and those who didn’t, displayed by Folk Finders Family History.
Sunday, November 13: 10.15am – ceremony at Summerbridge war memorial
10am Service at St James’s Church followed by a parade and wreath laying at Boroughbridge war memorial from 10.45am.
If you want to make a donation to the Royal British Legion click here.
Business Breakfast: Executive search firm moves to Harrogate’s Windsor House
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
A n executive search firm the global chemical, medical and industrial sectors has moved into Harrogate’s Windsor House.
George Thomas, which was founded in 2018, helps with recruitment for senior management, executive and c-level placements.
The company has joined more than 115 other businesses in Windsor House, the former Grand Hotel, on Cornwall overlooking the Valley Gardens.
Thomas Flaherty, director of George Thomas, said:
“We are delighted to have recently moved into Windsor House, the building is the perfect location for us to operate in and offers us all the facilities we need to run our business.”
Windsor House is undergoing major refurbishment to its ground floor, which is seeing its communal areas modernised and the creation of new co-working spaces.
Karen Winspear, property manager at Boultbee Brooks which manages the building, said:
“We are delighted to welcome George Thomas and his 14-strong team to Windsor House.
“The company, our latest tenant, chose Windsor House because of the quality of office space, affordability, its proximity to the town centre, and onsite car parking.”
Grantley Hall has won a national award for best countryside hotel.
The hotel near Ripon picked up the award as part of the Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence 2023.
Condé Nast set up the scheme to “acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across our recommended properties”.
Grantley Hall posted on its social media:
Bid to save bus linking Ripon, Thirsk and Northallerton“This would not have been possible without our loyal guests and our incredible staff.
“Thank you to all who voted for Grantley Hall.”
Ripon councillors are bidding to save the number 70 bus service that links the city with Thirsk and Northallerton.
They have agreed to contact North Yorkshire County Council and call for a re-think following an email to the city council that said funding for the service will come to an end from April.
The news from the passenger transport authority was met with disappointment at Monday’s full city council meeting, at which leader Andrew Williams, said:
“The loss of this service will mean that people from Ripon will not be able to use public transport to travel to Northallerton and go to North Yorkshire’s new seat of local government.
“This seems a ridiculous situation at a time when the COP 27 conference is being held in Egypt and world leaders are talking about the need to reduce carbon emissions by using more environmentally-friendly means of transport.”
Ripon residents can currently travel on the 36 bus to attend Harrogate Borough Council meetings or deal with matters such as planning applications.
Cllr Williams said:
“With devolution, this will all change from April when the new North Yorkshire authority comes into being and Harrogate Borough Council ceases to exist.
“That’s why we need to both protect and promote the valuable number 70 service and encourage more people to use it and make it viable.”
Cllr Julie Martin-Long said:
“The service is also a means of accessing mainline trains for travel to the north of England and onward links to airports in the north east.
New tree avenue to be planted on Harrogate’s Stray
An avenue of apple and maple trees will be planted on Harrogate’s Stray this month.
They will be among 800 trees planted by Harrogate Borough Council as part of National Tree Week.
The council will also be planting native trees, including oak, lime and sycamore, at Hay a Park in Knaresborough and at Paddies Park and Gallows Hill in Ripon.
About 500 of the trees have been nurtured at the council’s Harlow Hill nursery.
National Tree Week, which begins on November 26, is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration.
Councillor Sam Gibbs, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:
“Planting more trees is a priority for us and this project supports a number of schemes – the White Rose Forest, for example – that will help address the climate situation and deliver carbon reduction initiatives throughout the Harrogate district.
“We couldn’t do it without the help of volunteers so I’d like to thank everyone who has either provided a sapling or will be planting a tree.”
More information about National Tree Week is available on the Tree Council website.
Ripon museums secure more than £400,000 from Arts Council
Ripon Museum Trust has secured three-year funding from Arts Council England worth more than £400,000.
The trust operates the Workhouse, Prison and Police Museum and Courthouse museums, which welcome around 30,000 people per year.
The grant means the trust will continue to be funded through the Arts Council’s national portfolio scheme. It will receive £142,576 each year for the years 2023-26.
The funding will help pay for jobs as well as a programme of community engagement, creative programming and improvements.
Last week Harrogate Theatre , which had received just over £140,000 a year from the national portfolio scheme since 2015, announced it had missed out on an award this time.
Richard Taylor, chair of the trust, said:
“This crucial grant funding allows us not only to continue to provide a range of inspiring experiences but to also look ahead to how we can find new and innovative ways to inspire and engage our visitors both digitally and in person.
“This is good news for Ripon and the wider community of North Yorkshire. It will help to raise the cultural profile of our city and everything it has to offer.”
Applications for funding were determined against criteria laid out in the Arts Council’s Let’s Create strategy, which requires organisations to demonstrate how the work they do will contribute to the principles of inclusivity and relevance, ambition and quality, dynamism, and environmental responsibility.
Trust director Helen Thornton said:
“It is hugely exciting to be part of Arts Council England’s next portfolio and to be able to respond to Let’s Create. It’s a vote of confidence that what we are doing here has real impact and potential to grow our cultural offer.
“We hope to be able to reach out to and work with new communities, strengthen and develop what we do for our local communities, our volunteers and the general visitor – to ensure they have a really creative and inspiring time in our museums”.
City council opens funding scheme to more Ripon organisations
Community groups in Ripon are being invited to apply for funding up to a maximum of £3,500.
Ripon City Council has reviewed its partnership funding scheme to allow more organisations to apply for assistance covering an extended period, rather than making repeat annual applications via the council’s small grants scheme.
Funding will be approved for the council’s current term of office and will be subject to agreed outcomes defined in service level agreements and a regular review.
The partnership funding scheme will no longer be limited to those organisations who have previously benefited from it on a year-on-year basis.
Local not-for-profit, charitable and community organisation are invited to submit applications by November 30.
The partnership funding scheme, which was launched in 2016, was designed to provide core annual funding to a number of local organisations.
It has previously run alongside the small grants scheme, for which the council has regularly received repeat applications from other local groups and organisations that require additional funding to allow them to carry out their work.
The partnership funding scheme is designed to be a medium-term pledge of financial support to local organisations.
It is open for applications from any Ripon organisation which has charitable status or which runs as a not-for-profit, community organisation where membership is open (i.e. no discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, religion or sexuality).
Funding applications must clearly be of benefit to the people of Ripon as the scheme is funded by the precept money collected through the council tax levied on Ripon residents.
New films capture royal celebrations in village near Ripon over 70 years
Two films made by a local history group in a village near Ripon about jubilee celebrations during the late Queen’s reign are now available to view online.
The first film, called The Village Likes To Party, is a record of the many celebrations held in Bishop Monkton near Ripon during the reign of the late Queen, including the coronation in 1953, the jubilees of 1977, 2002, 2012 and this year’s platinum jubilee.
It contains archive film and interviews with people about their memories. It can be viewed here.
The second film, called Bishop Monkton Platinum Party Celebrations 2022, is a more detailed record of this year’s platinum jubilee celebrations, including both professionally shot film as well as videos and photos taken by people on their phones during the jubilee weekend. It can be viewed here.
Both films were funded in part with money from Harrogate Borough Council’s platinum jubilee community grants fund.
They were screened in the village hall in Bishop Monkton this year but the producers wanted to make them available for people everywhere.
Colin Philpott, co-producer of the films, said:
UK’s biggest outdoor holiday home show to come to Harrogate“Bishop Monkton Local History Group is delighted to make these films available for anyone, anywhere to enjoy forever.
“They may be about one small village but we believe they are a special record of royal celebrations in a Yorkshire community which will interest people everywhere and provide valuable historical material for future generations.”
The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate has been chosen to host the UK’s biggest trade show for holiday homes, caravans and motorhomes next year.
The Great Holiday Home Show will see major manufacturers launch their latest models to the public as well as to parks, dealers and distributors from across the country.
The show will be held from Friday, September 8 to Sunday, September 10 for the public, followed by a trade-only show from Tuesday, September 12 to Thursday, September 14.
The event, which was first held as The Lawns Show in 1976, is organised by the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire Caravan Manufacturers’ Association.
The show is moving from Hull, which is the epicentre of the UK caravan industry, to the 250-acre Great Yorkshire Showground to allow more manufacturers to attend than in previous years.
Richard Jones, chairman of HERCMA, said:
“This is an exciting time for the industry as we bring everyone together to put on a comprehensive show, in a central location for an industry that is constantly evolving. The show will be managed for us by the organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show, one of the UK’s biggest events.”
Heather Parry, managing director of the Great Yorkshire Showground, said:
“We are delighted to be hosting and managing The Great Holiday Home Show, this is a significant event for the industry, set in the heart of the UK at a venue that boasts acres of outdoor space along quality indoor space too. Happily, David Ritchie, who has managed the event for over 20 years, will continue to work with us as the show adviser as the show moves to its new venue.”
Event manager David Ritchie said:
“This show is in my blood and it is wonderful to see it develop at a new venue and work with a new team as it continues to expand”.
According to the National Caravan Council, there are more than a million caravan and motor homes in the UK, and around 50 million nights are spent in them each year. The caravan industry contributes more than £6 billion a year to the UK economy.
Ripon woman sets up dyspraxia support groupA Ripon woman who believed she was “broken”, but went on to graduate from university after being diagnosed with dyspraxia, has launched a not-for-profit company to help others who may share the condition.
Carol Turnbull set up Chrysalis Dyspraxia Awareness last year with a view to providing one-to-one support for people pre- or post-diagnosis and helping them to understand their potential.
She has also given a talk to a government department and hopes to expand this side of the business, speaking to companies and organisations about neurodivergency and its workplace implications.
Dyspraxia is a condition affecting physical co-ordination and causes children to perform less well than expected in daily activities for their age, and appear to move clumsily.
How people make plans and decisions, organise their lives and regulate their emotions may also be affected. The condition is closely associated with dyslexia, autism, ADHD, and dyscalculia.
Carol Turnbull
Carol was 47 before she was diagnosed with the condition, but says she had always known there was something wrong.
“I had a life of thinking I was broken; I could feel something wasn’t right,” she says.
“As a child, I was always looked on as different and was picked on a lot. I always wondered why people didn’t like me, and that lasted right through till adulthood.”
After more than 30 years working in the care industry, Carol happened to take her son to an open evening at York College, but ended up herself enrolling on an access course. That led to her taking a psychology degree at Leeds Beckett University, where she was first diagnosed.
She says:
“It changed my life. Learning about myself and how I function neurologically and socially has greatly improved my confidence and this directly contributed to the development of Chrysalis.”
Now, she wants to pass on that knowledge, giving others the support that she missed out on. Contact can be made via her website here. She says:
Guide to bonfire and fireworks displays in the Harrogate district“A lot of people with dyspraxia pigeonhole themselves, and it can feel quite disabling if people around you don’t know why you are the way you are if you yourself don’t know why.
“Giving others this power and supporting them to understand themselves and their dyspraxia better can open up the world to so many people who may feel their wants and desires are beyond their capabilities. This is something I am passionate about. I strongly believe that, given the right support, people can achieve absolutely anything!”
This story is sponsored by Belmont Grosvenor School which will be holding a Bonfire Night Party on Friday, November 4. There will be s’mores round the campfire, music, hot food, a licensed bar, stalls and more. Gates open at 6pm, the bonfire will be lit at 6.30pm and the firework display starts at 7.20pm.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate and cost £10 for adults (children under the age of 18 are free). Get them in advance by emailing kaye.walker@bewonder.co.uk.
Bonfire night is fast approaching so we have put together a list of events coming up in the Harrogate district.
They all take place over the weekend of November 4, 5 and 6.
Let us know if we have missed your event and we will add it to the list. Email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk or call us on 01423 276197.
Belmont Grosvenor School Bonfire Party
Where: Belmont Grosvenor School, Swarcliffe Hall, Birstwith, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 2JG
When: 6pm start, 6.30pm fire lit, 7.20pm firework display
Tickets: £10 with children under the age of 18 entering for free
Ripon Rowels Rotary Charity Bonfire and Firework Display
Where: Ripon Racecourse, Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, HG4 1UG
When: 5.30pm start, 7pm fire lit, 7.30pm firework display
Tickets: adults £6, children £3, family (2 adult, 2 child) £12, under 3s free
Spofforth Village Firework Display
Where: Spofforth Cricket Ground, School Lane, Spofforth, HG3 1BA
When: Gates open 5pm, 7pm-7.15pm firework display.
Tickets: Family pre-paid £12:50 and on the gate £15. Adult pre-paid £4 and on the gate £5. Child pre-paid £2:50 and on the gate £3.
Swinton Bivouac Silent Bonfire Night
Where: Swinton Bivouac, Masham, Ilton, Ripon, HG4 4JZ
When: 6.30pm bonfire lit. There will be no fireworks or loud bangs.
Tickets: free entry, food and drinks available from the Bivouac Café
Aspin Park Academy Fireworks Night, Knaresborough
Where: School grounds
When: 5.15pm start, 6.30pm firework display
Tickets: Advance online booking – adults £4, children £3, family ticket £12, preschoolers free. On the gate – adults £5, children £4
Harrogate Stray Bonfire and Fireworks, Harrogate Round Table
Where: Oatlands Stray, Harrogate, HG1 1BJ
When: 5pm start (there will be entertainment), bonfire lit 5.30pm, 7.15pm firework display
Tickets: free entry, donations welcome
Upper Nidderdale Scouts Group Pateley Bonfire
Where: Pateley Bridge Showground
When: 6pm start, 6.30pm torchlit procession and bonfire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: free entry, donations welcome
Kirkby Malzeard community village bonfire
Where: North Close Farm, Ripon Road, Kirkby Malzeard
When: 6pm start, 6.30pm bonfire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: Free entry but donations welcome to fund next year’s event. Parking is available at North Close Farm. No sparklers allowed. Bring a torch.
Yolk Farm Bonfire and Burger Night – dog-friendly
Where: Yolk Farm, Minskip Road, Minskip, York, YO51 9HY
When: 5.30pm start, 6.30pm bonfire lit, no fireworks
Tickets: free entry for the event, advanced bookings only for Burger Night in the restaurant – 5:30pm and 8pm sittings
Staveley Arms Bonfire
Where: The Staveley Arms, Greenfields, North Stainley, Ripon, HG4 3HT
When: 6pm
Tickets: £5 per person to include a choice of hot dog or cup of soup
