Two fire crews from Ripon and one from Boroughbridge rushed to Ripon city centre last night following reports of smoke in a launderette.

After being summoned at about 7.20pm, they extinguished a fire that had spread to a number of commercial washers and dryers.

Firefighters used breathing apparatus and a thermal imaging camera to tackle the blaze.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log said:

“Crews then ventilated the heavily smoked logged building and gave advice to the owner.

“The cause of the fire was accidental.”

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• Man arrested after disturbance in Ripon city centre

A man has been arrested after a disturbance in Ripon city centre this afternoon.

North Yorkshire Police officers were called to Market Square just after 1pm following reports of a man acting aggressively.

An eye witness, who did not wish to be named, told the Stray Ferret two police vans appeared quickly after an altercation.

A police statement said:

“A man in his 30s has been arrested in connection with the incident and on suspicion of assaulting an emergency services worker. Investigations are ongoing.”

Anyone with information can contact the police, quoting reference number 12220191661.

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• Warning over waste after ‘fatberg’ found in Ripon sewer
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This story is sponsored by Wolseley.

Ripon brothers Andy and Rich Hudson love working at Wolseley’s distribution centre in Melmerby.

Between them they have clocked up almost 40 years of service at the plumbing and heating merchants, which has its UK headquarters in Ripon and Warwick.

In fact it has been somewhat of a family affair, with their father and aunt also working for the firm until retirement.

Andy said:

“My Auntie Connie was with Wolseley for most of her working life and is still the telephone answer service when you ring head office.”

The company, which has a £1.8bn turnover, employs almost 5,000 staff in the UK, of which 270 are based in Ripon and 150 at the distribution centre in Melmerby.

It is Melmerby, a short ten-minute drive from Ripon, where the two brothers are based.

Twenty years of service

Andy said:

“I’m coming up to 20 years service. I started off as a general picker, packer.

“The advantage of working at Wolseley is there is always the opportunity to work somewhere new within the distribution centre and expand your knowledge base.

“I excelled at what I was doing in one area and then I moved into a different area.

“I’ve been trained on various manual handling equipment, fork trucks and more. There are about six or seven trucks I’m actually trained on. So Wolseley invest heavily in their employees to get the best out of them.”

Safety is key.

Varied work

Andy, who is currently working in the stock team, credits his long service to the variety of work.

He said:

“There are always different areas you can work in and different ways you can advance through the company.

“I’ve done various qualifications with Wolseley. I’ve done an NVQ in warehousing. I’ve also just completed a Wolseley Talent Booster and I’m about to start another course shortly through our Wolseley Talent Guild.

“This is in-house training and they have recently invested in the training suite at Ripon head office. So anybody can be put forward for this training by their manager. I’ve completed the training booster for Team Leader and I’m about to start training for manager level.”

Andy said there is always scope for growth at Wolseley.

Wolseley’s award-winning Talent Guild includes apprenticeship programmes, talent boosters and career ladders, right through to more technical qualifications and higher education programmes.

Wolseley is currently training more than 130 apprentices across the UK and boosting the skills of more than 150 existing employees.

Andy added:

“All the way through there is training and support from your managers. Everybody wants the best out of you.

“I feel very valued and it’s such a nice atmosphere to work in.

“Every day is different. There are no two days the same.”

How it began

Wolseley started life in a very different form in 1887, moving into the heating space in the 1960s. Wolseley moved into Ripon in 1971 as The Wolseley Hughes Group.

It was based on Boroughbridge Road, where it remains to this day, and was made up of three companies OBC, Yorkshire Heating Supplies and Granville Controls.

In 1985, the company expanded its site and by 1996 was known as Wolseley Centres.

Wolseley is a leading specialist provider of plumbing, heating, cooling, and utility products to trade customers. Trading under a number of leading brands including Wolseley Plumb & Parts, Wolseley Pipe, Wolseley Climate, William Wilson, Jointing Tech, Burdens, and Fusion Utilities. It has over 560 branches nationally, three centres of excellence in the utilities space, support centres in Warwick and Ripon, and four distribution centres.

Rich Hudson has worked for Wolseley for almost 18 years and is currently the warehouse Team Leader at Melmerby.

He said:

“There is plenty of variety and plenty of opportunities to keep you interested.

“There are different machines to learn to operate and different departments you can move into – it never gets stale.

“There are also a lot of learning opportunities. Wolseley is currently putting me through an NVQ qualification in leadership and management. They offer qualifications for any area you want to go into.

“I met my lovely wife, who also worked for Wolseley, so they must be doing something right!”

Now is the time to join Wolseley’s distribution centre in Melmerby as a Warehouse Operative. Earn up to £24,211 per annum with generous benefits. Apply today by clicking or tapping here.

A sewer in Ripon became completely blocked by congealed fats after people disposed of the wrong waste down their sinks.

It meant sewage was no longer able to flow through the 450mm sewer in Skellgarth towards the wastewater treatment works, potentially causing serious problems.

It has now been cleared by Yorkshire Water, which is now urging people not to pour fats and oils down their sinks.

Lee Pinder, regional operations manager at Yorkshire Water, said:

“The disposal of fats and greases down sinks can result in significant blockages within the network.

“This ‘fatberg’ was completely blocking the flow of sewage to the treatment works, leading it to back up in the network, with the potential to cause sewage flooding for nearby homes, businesses and the local environment.

“While pouring fats and greases down the drain may seem harmless, we know from experience that the build ups caused by frequent disposal of these liquids can have significant consequences. The fats and oils congeal in the network and can grow as more unflushables, such as wet wipes, attach to it.

“Thankfully, our team was able to identify this particular blockage and remove it before it had an impact on our customers. We’d urge everyone to help fight fatbergs in our sewers by disposing of fat and oils in the bin, and by only flushing the 3Ps – pee, poo and (toilet) paper.”

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This story is sponsored by Little Bird Made.

Jackie Crozier’s ambition is to make the Harrogate district and neighbouring areas a Mecca for artisan markets, where local traders can showcase and sell their hand-crafted goods and customers can find those extra special and unique items.

In the four years since she hatched a plan to hold an inaugural market in her home city of Ripon, Jackie’s Little Bird Made venture has spread its wings and now has more than ten venues in North and West Yorkshire where its events are regularly held.

Pictures above and below, from the bustling artisan markets held by Little Bird in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens last Christmas

The latest exciting addition to a fast-growing list of attractive and historic locations is Harewood House, where the talented and hard-working Little Bird team will curate a four-day Artisan Winter Market from Thursday November 3 until Sunday November 6.

Little Bird founder and managing director Jackie, said:

“This will be the largest event that we have ever staged, with more than 100 stalls each day located on the North Park Walk facing onto the magnificent 18th century country house.”

She added:

“It’s a fabulous setting for a pre-Christmas market and there will be a wonderful atmosphere for visitors and our community of traders.

“In addition to the wide-range of handmade goods and food and drink items on sale, there will be demonstrations of artisan crafts and a special letterbox where children can post a letter to Santa.”

Entry to the winter market is £5 and includes access to the grounds, but there will be no charge for Harewood members. Tickets can be booked by clicking here.

The market will be open daily from 10am until 4pm.

Jackie, who was born and bred in Ripon, launched Little Bird after being away from the city for more than 20 years, working as the Director of the Manchester Pride Festival and later as an events manager working on a number of high-profile events including the London 2012 Olympics.

The expertise that she gained in working with stakeholders including local councils, community groups, performers and suppliers, has been put to good use in developing the Little Bird business and ethos.

She said:

“Our aim is to create added value events that bring increased footfall to the marvellous market towns that we have in the Harrogate district and further afield.

“Visitors who come to our markets often stay to look around local attractions and spend money in shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs, before they go home.”

Jackie, added:

“We are planning to add to our list of locations next year and believe that there will be further economic, and community benefits all round if we can make this area a Mecca for artisan markets.

“We are also always looking for local artisans who would like to join us and share in the Little Bird experience.”

Upcoming Little Bird Christmas markets

Following the Winter Market at Harewood House, Little Bird will, for the second year running, be holding Christmas Markets with 75 stalls in the Sun Colonnade at Harrogate’s Valley Gardens on December 3,4,10 and 11.

Between November 12 and December 18, one day markets with up to 60 artisan traders present, will be held in Easingwold, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Richmond, Thirsk, Leyburn, Harrogate Horticultural Nursery, Ripon, Driffield and Northallerton.

Click here to see the full list of Little Bird Made events coming soon.

The long-term gas works on Crescent Road In Harrogate town centre are due to be paused this week.

Motorists are still unable to turn left at the Parliament Street junction and traffic coming the opposite way on Ripon Road is unable to turn right but by next week the restrictions should have ended.

Roadworks near the Harrogate Town ground on Wetherby Road in Harrogate are due to end tomorrow.

According to North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map, two sets of traffic lights will be active on Skipton Road, between the Empress roundabout and King’s Road.

Traffic lights on the A59 York Road near the junction with the A658 in Knaresborough are due to remain in place until November 11.

Yorkshire Water has installed four-way traffic lights as it lays a new water main for a housing development.

In Ripon, roadworks are due to be active on Heckler Lane and New Road today and tomorrow.

Work to reconstruct the landslip-hit B6265 at Red Brae Bank, Bewerley, near Pateley Bridge, is ongoing.

The road is closed and a diversion is in place via Pateley Bridge; the B6451 Dacre; Menwith Hill Road; Duck Street and Greenhow Hill village. Temporary traffic lights will be in place during the remainder of the work.

Trains and buses

Rail operator Northern is not reporting any problems on the line passing through Harrogate and Knaresborough this morning but the live departure and arrival board for Harrogate shows the 7.37am LNER service to London is cancelled.

The Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on the 36 bus, the 9am and 10.55am Harrogate to Leeds services are cancelled, as are the Leeds to Harrogate 7.40am, 9.55am, 11.55am services and the Starbeck to Leeds 6.23am bus.

You can get updates here.

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North Yorkshire Police is appealing for help finding a Land Rover Discovery, which was stolen from Wormald Green.

Police today released pictures of the grey vehicle, which they say was taken from an address in the village, which is midway between Ripon and Harrogate.

It was stolen at about 11.30pm on Wednesday last week.

A police statement said:

“Please keep your eyes peeled for the car and if you have any info, call 101 quoting ref: 12220186546.”

A police image of the wanted vehicle.

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• Firefighters put up poppies as Ripon prepares for services of Remembrance

Julian Smith could be in line for a role in Rishi Sunak’s government, according to reports.

The Skipton and Ripon MP supported the new Prime Minister during the last two Conservative leadership contests.

According to an article on Bloomberg, the former Northern Ireland secretary could now be in line for a role in Mr Sunak’s government.

Bloomberg journalist Alex Whickham tweeted that ‘dark arts specialists’ Mr Smith and Gavin Williamson were set for jobs.

— big role certain for top ally Dowden

— Badenoch tipped for promotion after not fancying DIT

— rising star Claire Coutinho in line for decent job

— talk of Jenrick, Raab return

— and jobs for dark arts specialists Gavin Williamson and Julian Smith…https://t.co/C5F2nHpxa3

— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) October 24, 2022

Mr Sunak was confirmed as Prime Minister this morning and is in the process of forming his first cabinet.

If appointed, it would be Mr Smith’s first job in government since Boris Johnson was in 10 Downing Street.

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• Fears for Harrogate hospitality after series of closures

He served as Northern Ireland secretary from 2019 until 2020 and was a chief whip under Theresa May.

Yesterday, after Mr Sunak was confirmed as the Conservative party’s choice for leader, he tweeted that he was the “best possible person to deal with the current challenges we face”.

In @RishiSunak as Prime Minister the United Kingdom has the best possible person to deal with the current challenges we face. Finally.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) October 24, 2022

An application to extend drinking hours at the Sawley Arms near Ripon will be decided by the council next week.

The gastro pub has applied for a licence for late-night drinking until 1am, seven days a week.

As part of the application, the pub said it will ensure accompanied children are seated away from other guests, and that staff will be on site at all times. It also said there are 16 CCTV cameras recording constantly in order to prevent crime and disorder.

The application had originally requested the licence for both the bar and the gardens, but environmental health officer Gemma Demaline said that was likely to cause disturbance to nearby residents in Sawley.

Responding for the Sawley Arms, Steve Harryman said:

“This will be predominantly to allow us to serve our guests for a bit longer.

“We are a quiet country pub with the gardens only usable in the summer months and our current licence allows us to use them up until 11pm.

“No noise complaints in our nine-year trading period.”

Mr Harryman then offered to keep the licence for the gardens until 11pm and extend the hours inside only. He said staff would ask guests to move inside at 11pm and signs would be put up asking them to leave the pub “quickly and quietly”.

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He added:

“This is most likely to be hotel guests walking to the rear of the pub to their hotel rooms, no traffic movements.

“We also have night porters on site to ensure noise levels are kept to a minimum, for the benefit of our neighbours and our other hotel guests.”

An objection to the proposal was submitted by David Taylor, clerk to Grantley and Sawley Parish Council, saying the council had “grave concerns”. He said:

“The residents of the village are very likely to be disturbed by vehicles leaving the site at times that would extend beyond 1am.

“Although 1am is the requested extended time, there would be ‘drinking up time’ and staff leaving the premises, therefore it would be nearer to 2am when the last cars leave the site.

“this would present a very real disturbance to the many residents leaving in close proximity to the Sawley Arms.”

The application will be considered by Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee next Friday, October 28.

Firefighters and paramedics were called to a single vehicle collision at Pateley Bridge today.

Fire crews from Harrogate and Ripon responded to an ambulance report of an incident on Old Church Lane at 11.45am.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log said:

“On arrival, driver was out of vehicle and in care of paramedics. Fire crew made the vehicle safe.”

About an hour later, Harrogate firefighters helped to remove two rings from a woman who turned up at the station unable to get them off.

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