A new horn for Ripon will blast out for the Queen’s platinum jubilee, as part of the city’s celebrations.

The instrument will be used for the first time in the hornblower ceremony on Market Square at 9pm on Saturday 4 June and will be in regular use thereafter.

The event will be one of the highlights of the extended Bank Holiday weekend extravaganza, which also includes a special tea party at Ripon Cathedral for people with a June birthday, born between 1952 and 2021.

The aim is to create a ‘human timeline’ dating back to 1952, with one person from each of the 70 years of the Queen’s reign invited to attend, with a guest.

Ripon Cathedral will host a ‘timeline’ tea party with guests from each year of the Queen’s reign

City council leader Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:

“In partnership with the cathedral, Ripon Business Improvement District, Ripon Together and the Ripon Community Poppy Project, we will provide an inclusive four-day programme of activities, that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

“There will be something for everybody as we and the entire nation join in the celebrations and after the bunting has gone from the streets, the platinum jubilee horn will provide a constant reminder of the Queen’s remarkable service to this country.”

On June 2, the cathedral, which celebrates its 1,350th anniversary this year, will be the focus of attention, when it hosts the civic service for North Yorkshire and later on that day, on Market Square, Ripon will join in a nation-wide beacon lighting ceremony.

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Free live music will be played from 11am until 11.30pm on Market Square between June 2 and 4 and fairground rides for children of all ages and adults will be in place.

On Sunday June 5, Spa Park will be the venue for music from Ripon City Band and children’s entertainers will also be performing.

The event is being arranged by the Ripon Community Poppy Project and attendees will be invited to take their own picnic.

Harrogate Borough Council has insisted its housing company is performing well despite it not paying any dividends this year.

Bracewell Homes launched two years ago with the aims of turning the council a profit and intervening in Harrogate’s pricey property market to deliver much-needed rental and shared ownership homes at affordable prices.

Its developments are Horsa Way, Dishforth and The Willows on Whinney Lane in Harrogate.

It was set up with the backing of a £10 million loan from taxpayers and the council had budgeted to receive £267,000 in dividends this financial year.

However, the council has now said it won’t receive any of this money in a revelation which sparked questions over whether Bracewell Homes is underperforming.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, questioned if the dividend shortfall was being addressed as she said the company should be a benefit to the council and not a “drain” on its finances.

‘Extremely profitable’

But Paul Foster, head of finance at the council, responded to say the company was still “extremely profitable” and that it had continued to sell properties, although at a smaller percentage of shares than expected.

He said: 

“The company isn’t able to pay a dividend this year and the reason for that is a proportion of the shared home properties it has sold have been at shares of 25% and 30%.

“It would need to have sold shares of up to 50% for them to have enough cash to provide a dividend.

“In December, four or five properties were sold at a lower share than the company was forecasting and as a result there is less cash in the company.

“The company is not underperforming in particular. It is just not selling the larger shares which make it more cash rich.”

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According to documents filed with Companies House, Bracewell Homes had £459,565 in the bank as of March 2021.

Mr Foster also told Monday’s meeting that the council does not only benefit from the company through dividends, but also through cash coming from other areas.

He said: 

“There are three elements that the council benefits from Bracewell Homes – there is a recharge of staff salaries, interest charges on the loan that the council made to the company, and a payment of a dividend if the company is able to.

“The first two continue and we are still making money out of the company in that regard.”

40 properties by 2024

Since it was set up Bracewell Homes has so far acquired 26 homes and sold 22, which means it is on target to meet its initial aim of delivering 40 properties by 2024.

But with house prices continuing to soar and around 1,700 households on the council’s housing waiting list, there have been calls for the company to set much higher ambitions.

Cllr Marsh previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the company should be aiming to deliver “hundreds” of homes to ensure low-income earners can afford to live in Harrogate where average house prices paid rose to £395,526 in 2021.

Cllr Marsh previously said: 

“Forty homes in three years will barely make a dent in the need for the 1,700 on the waiting list, some living in very difficult circumstances.

“We need Bracewell homes to set targets to achieve hundreds of houses per year otherwise this crisis will never come to an end.”

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw a “slur” he made against Sir Keir Starmer yesterday relating to Jimmy Savile.

Mr Johnson accused the Labour leader in the House of Commons of failing to prosecute Savile while he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

He claimed Sir Keir spent his time “prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.

The accusation has been described as “false and baseless” by Conservative MP Mr Smith. He said such “baseless personal slurs are dangerous”.

In a tweet this morning, Mr Smith said:

“The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Saville yesterday is wrong and cannot be defended.

“It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust and can’t just be accepted as part of the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate.”

The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Saville yesterday is wrong & cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust & can't just be accepted as part of the cut & thrust of parliamentary debate.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 1, 2022

Mr Smith has joined Nazir Afzal, who was assistant chief crown prosecutor in London during the Savile allegations, in condemning the remark.

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Mr Afzal said the accusation was not true and said Sir Keir “had nothing to do with the decisions taken”.

‘He drags everybody into the gutter’

The Labour leader was head of the Crown Prosecution Service when the the decision was made not to prosecute Savile in 2009. However, he was not the reviewing lawyer for the case who dealt with the allegations.

Sir Keir later commissioned an investigation into matter, which criticised both prosecutors and police for their handling of the allegations.

In response to the claim by the Prime Minister, the Labour leader told ITV Good Morning Britain:

“It’s a slur, it’s untrue, it’s desperate from the Prime Minister.

“I was really struck yesterday in the House at how many Conservative MPs were disgusted at that untruth from the despatch box.

“Of course on our side, people were disgusted. But his own MPs couldn’t believe their Prime Minister had stooped that low.

“He’s degraded the whole office. And this is how he operates. He drags everybody into the gutter with him.

“Everybody he touches, everybody that comes into contact with him is contaminated by this Prime Minister.”

A total of 26 jobs in Ripon have been saved by the acquisition of troubled company Ebor Concretes.

The firm, which was founded in 1942 and is based at Ure Bank Top, went into administration late last year.

But it was announced today that Nottingham firm JP Concrete Products had acquired it.

Philip Cavalier-White, director of JP Concrete Products, said:

“We are delighted to have been able to secure the future for Ebor Concretes’ factory and staff.

“We saw great value in the team of people and are excited about the future as we develop the site and staff as part of our wider business.”

Leeds-based, Armstrong Watson’s restructuring and insolvency partners Rob Adamson and Mike Kienlen assisted with the accelerated sale of the business.

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In a statement today, Armstrong Watson said it worked in conjunction with BPI Asset Advisory to find two bidders keen to proceed with the acquisition. It added that ‘everything was heading in the right direction until the end of November, when the director unexpectedly passed away’.

However, the deal has now been finalised.

Mr Adamson said:

“Our job is to help people and businesses address their challenges and find solutions. The director’s sudden passing caused a few issues, however we worked with the family who were keen to proceed with the sale.

“The strategy was simple — keep the business trading whilst we tried to complete the sale process.”

Ebor Concrete, which designs and manufactures precast concrete products for UK structural and civil engineering construction projects, previously entered administration in 2019 with the loss of 30 jobs.

JP Concrete Products has been supplying precast concrete products to the construction and agricultural markets since 2007 and has sites in Nottingham, Devon, East Sussex, Liverpool and Yorkshire.

Schools, organisations and individuals in Ripon are being urged to help develop plans for a second summer of free sports and activities for children.

Ripon Together, which organised last year’s Summer of Play to support families during the summer holidays, has launched a city-wide survey to build on that experience.

Last year’s events ranged from formal team sports such as cricket and football to karate and croquet, dance, yoga, mindfulness and orienteering, as well as nature hunts at Fountains Abbey.

There were also activities for disabled people, including wheelchair bowls at Hugh Ripley Hall.

Ripon Together, a not-for-profit partnership organisation, has circulated a letter about this year’s activities. It says:

“We want to offer things that are relevant, useful and fun for children, young people and families, connecting organisations and showing what is available for them around Ripon.

“We are now formulating plans for 2022 and if there is anyone in your organisation who could give us their ideas, then please ask them to complete the survey. The more information we have the better that we can prepare.”

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The Summer of Play 2021 was designed to help children and their families after the lifting of the covid lockdown restrictions ln July, which had seen sporting, cultural and other group activities put on hold.

Any questions or queries can be emailed to info@ripontogether.com or you can call David Ingham on 07775 731276.

The ‘shocking state’ of roads in Sharow is preventing motorists from going green, according to villager James Thornborough.

Mr Thornborough is so upset about the state of the roads that he has raised the matter with Skipton and Ripon Conservative MP Julian Smith and North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“The road surfaces are in such a shocking state, that it is not safe to drive on them in smaller vehicles that use less fuel and produce fewer emissions.”

In email correspondence with Mr Smith and Mr Flinton, Mr Thornborough said:

“Given the national government wishes us at our expense to go green ASAP, how can that be achieved If you force village owners like myself to abandon my small commute car in favour of a mid-size SUV to traverse Sharow roads?

“Please note that I did not say navigate our roads because that is now impossible. Every journey stresses suspension parts, grazes tyre side walls, and forces one to meander from one side to another attempting to choose the path of least damage.”

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New Lane, in need of attention

Mr Thornborough’s email, which was copied to the Stray Ferret, added:

“The local Sharow roads consist of pot holes, fissures, and bald tarmac top interrupted by the occasional neat tarmac patch and useless NYCC highways tarmac toothpaste repairs. The tarmac toothpaste repairs started disintegrating the day after application.

“We still have large pot holes marked for repair but not filled.”

The uneven surface on Sharow Lane

In an emailed reply to Mr Thornborough, Mr Flinton, said:

“I have copied in Nigel Smith who is head of highway operations for the council, Mr Smith will look into the issues that you have raised and respond directly with you.”

At the time of publication, no response had been received from Julian Smith.

Trees will be planted this weekend in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Boroughbridge as part of an initiative to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

The Queen’s Green Canopy, which was created as part of celebrations for the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, which invites people from across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’.

Trees will be planted in Valley Gardens and on Wetherby Road in Harrogate, at Jacob Smiths Park in Knaresborough, at High Cleugh in Ripon, at Pateley Bridge Recreation Ground and at Boroughbridge Recreation Ground on Sunday.

All but one tree at each of the locations has been planted already. The final tree ones will planted this weekend to coincide with Her Majesty’s accession day.

Harrogate borough mayor, Councillor Trevor Chapman, will unveil the ceremonial tree in Valley Gardens, Harrogate at 2pm.

The Lord Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Johanna Ropner, will join Councillor Andy Paraskos to unveil the ceremonial tree at Boroughbridge Recreation Ground at 11am.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones will join the mayor of Knaresborough, Councillor Christine Willoughby, at Jacob Smith Park in Knaresborough at 1pm.

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Cllr Eamon Parkin, the mayor of Ripon and Cllr Mike Holt, the mayor of Pateley Bridge, will plant trees in their respective locations.

Species being planted include elm, oak, hornbeam, sycamore and lime.

Individuals, town and parish councils, community groups, schools, businesses and landowners will be encouraged to plant tress during the planting season from October to March.

White Rose Forest

The Queen’s Green Canopy will coincide with the council’s plans to plant thousands of trees in Bilton Beck Wood and Willow Wood, Harrogate and Upper Horse Shoe Fields, Knaresborough as part of the White Rose Forest partnership.

The White Rose Forest is the community forest for North and West Yorkshire being created by local authorities, landowners, businesses and communities.

Councillor Andy Paraskos, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:

“The Queen’s Green Canopy is a wonderful opportunity for us to not only honour Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee but also help address the climate situation and deliver carbon reduction initiatives throughout the Harrogate district.

“Similar to the White Rose Forest project, we want to encourage as many people as possible in the district to get involved to improve air quality and biodiversity.”

Sarah Wells, community manager at Bettys & Taylors Group, which has supported the scheme, said:

“Trees remain very close to our hearts at Bettys & Taylors and we are delighted to support this unique project which not only highlights the importance of climate action, but also the positive impact of community collaboration. We hope that these trees will be enjoyed by residents and visitors to the area for many years to come.”

I can still remember watching Shaun Rankin make his famous treacle tart on The Great British Menu in 2009.

I used to be a regular viewer of the BBC 2 series back in the day — and like Greg Wallace, I never forget a good pud.

So I was genuinely looking forward to meeting the Michelin Star chef, who has returned to his North Yorkshire roots at the helm of his eponymous restaurant at Grantley Hall.

I managed to get lost on my way to the Grade II listed luxury hotel, despite being there twice before. And using a sat nav. So we had a good laugh about my terrible sense of direction, before we sat down for a coffee in the dining room.

It was certainly an opulent backdrop for an interview. The sprawling estate on the outskirts of Ripon was established at the end of the 17th century, its Palladian-style mansion boasting a rich history having been home to lords and ladies and hosted countless society dinner dances. So the restaurant, which was once a ballroom, is obviously a grand affair. Definitely Bridgeton territory.

Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall. Photograph: Jack Hardy.

Yorkshire lad

Born in Richmond, Shaun, who turns 50 in March, is a Yorkshire lad.

He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a chef, often cooking with his mother at home in County Durham, where he grew up.

He said:

“Every chef always says their mum was a good cook. And she was. She was a great baker. She was one of those ladies who cooked on a Sunday. I used to help her with her Sunday roasts and make Yorkshire puddings, mash the potatoes and all that kind of stuff at the age of 13 or 14.

“I used to help make scones, apple pies, mince pies and things like that. And those things were used at the beginning of the week. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the bakery products were then used to feed you through the week.

“It was quite a simple upbringing. Mum and dad were divorced, so it was only mum that brought me and my brother up.”

At the age of 16, Shaun went to London to complete a three-year apprenticeship at the five-star May Fair, Ritz and Savoy hotels in London.

He said:

“I went to London as a bit of an escape. From the world of simple things really.

“It opened your eyes to luxury, to food, restaurants and the scene of hospitality. Things you’d never seen before in your life. Things you’d only seen on TV or read.

“That’s where I kind of cut my teeth.

“At that age I didn’t know what a Jerusalem artichoke looked like. So it was a learning curve from all aspects — it was life-changing.

” I liked the idea of cooking, so then from there it just became a passion.

“It just becomes your life. You get so enthralled in it all, that you just get carried away with it.”

After completing his apprenticeship, he returned to North Yorkshire in 1992 to work at one of the most prestigious restaurants in the UK at the time, the Black Bull in Moulton, near Richmond.

He said:

“That was a notorious fish restaurant, so I learned lots about fish, lobster, crabs, langoustines. All those really fab ingredients from the coastal areas.

“I was there for about two years and then the head chef said to me ‘it’s time to go’. So he found me a job in Jersey.”

Turning point

Shaun went on to spend much of his career in Jersey, eight years of which were dedicated to the Relais and Chateaux Hotel Longueville Manor. He opened his first restaurant as head chef, Bohemia in 2003, gaining a Michelin Star two years later.

In 2013, after nine years at Bohemia, the rising star went on to open the much-awaited Ormer in Jersey, winning a Michelin Star just four months later. In 2016 he opened its sister restaurant, Ormer Mayfair, bringing the tastes and produce of Jersey to London.

Fondly reminiscing about his time in Jersey, he said:

“That just opened my eyes again to what a different world we live in. Island life. I really fell in love with ingredients.

When you are island-locked, you start to understand exactly what is in abundance and what is sustainable and the carbon footprint of the produce that you use. You’ve got to be shipping in a lot of your meat protein because it’s unavailable on an island.

“But you understand the asparagus grower, the strawberry grower, the guy that grows the watercress, the Jersey Royal is phenomenal, all the vegetables that are grown on the island.

“So you really get a sense of community and you understand what goes into the produce and how hard it is to produce.

“That’s where the whole thing changed for me. As a 22-year-old it kind of clicked. And I knew this was the path, it’s all about ingredients, it’s all about respect for it and you need to try and bring this carbon footprint down.”

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Sustainability

And it is this sustainability approach that he has brought with him to Grantley Hall.

He said:

“The food philosophy has to be that produce is sourced from all around Yorkshire. Of course we go to the coast to get seafood and we go to Scotland to get shellfish, but 95 per cent of the time everything is from a 20 to 30 mile radius and that’s our platform.”

Shaun uses R&J farmers and butchers, from Kirkby Malzeard, and Farmison butchers, based in Ripon, to source meat.

He said:

“All the cattle is full breed and full carcass cut, so that means there is no wastage and that’s really important for us.”

Shaun also uses ingredients from the kitchen garden at Grantley, which supplies 70 per cent of the restaurant’s produce throughout the year.

He added:

“For the rest of it we forage. Things which are around us like rosehips, elderberries, elderflowers, pineapple weed. All these things that are around the areas and local to us. We use those and we create the platform for the dishes.”

The restaurant is set within Ripon’s 17th century mansion, Grantley Hall. Photograph: Jack Hardy

In fact, if it’s not from the UK, it won’t make an appearance on the menu. This is something he takes a tough stance on.

He said:

“We don’t use olive oil, we use rapeseed oil, we use all of these substitutions all the way through. We don’t use or make pasta, because it’s not what we are.

“Everything is very traditional but reflected in a different modern cooking way and method.

“Hence the menu is called a Taste of Home.”

Taste of Home

And a taste of home it truly is. The current 10-course dining experience, which changes throughout the seasons, features dishes including Bread, Butter, Dripping and Beef Tea, which is bound to evoke memories of a traditional Yorkshire upbringing for many.

And of course the famous Treacle Tart and Clotted Cream makes an appearance.

Shaun said:

“It’s about what a taste of home means. It means that we remember nostalgic parts of our childhood and memories that take us back. It’s led by food and combinations of flavours and textures.

“We take all of the ingredients during the course of the spring and the summer and we will use them in their natural process, but will then savour them and will pickle them, ferment them or preserve them in some way so we can use them in the winter.

“We don’t use things like pineapple, mango or coconut, again we don’t use anything that isn’t from the UK.

“That’s a really strong message for us. For this sustainable carbon footprint approach to this restaurant.

“I’ve been flying this flag since I was 20 in Jersey, and now I am even more determined for it to be that way.

“As a chef, I’m also a teacher, so it’s important to teach my brigade – the chefs that work in the restaurant who are the next generation – that you don’t have to put a menu together with a load of avocados and tuna and passion fruit, pineapple and mangos.

“You can use what is here on the British island really resourcefully. Surely then that generation might change and then the carbon footprint shrinks even further.”

Venison Loin, Blackcurrant and Celeriac from Shaun Rankin’s Taste of Home menu at Grantley Hall.

Passion for design

Shaun said he actually ended up at Grantley Hall thanks to his passion for designing restaurants and concepts.

He said:

“I used to do a lot of consultancy creating and helping hotels and restaurants to achieve what they needed to achieve in London, Jersey and throughout the UK, sometimes even the South of France.”

Two years before Grantley Hall opened, he was introduced to Andrew McPherson, the general manager, and Richard Sykes, the managing director, and joined the team as a consultant, helping to put the concepts and designs together for all the restaurants, kitchens and food and beverage areas in the hotel.

Enjoying his time back in Yorkshire, he was then invited to take over the fine dining and was put in charge of designing the restaurant itself. This involved everything from the credenza units to the soft-closing, velvet-lined drawers, which prevent the clink of the silver-dipped Sheffield cutlery. It’s these little details that help to enhance the dining experience, which, when you are paying £130 per head, is perhaps to be expected.

Shaun said:

“We created everything. We bought the best linen, the best glassware, the best porcelain and crockery.

“Richard and the family honed in on all the local tradesman and materials and again, used everything, as much as possible, from around the Yorkshire area.”

Whisky Sours

Shaun now splits his time between Yorkshire and Jersey, where his two boys, Harry and Ethan, live with their mother.

He currently has a home in Ripon, but before that he lived in Ripley, near Harrogate.

So of course, I wanted to know where his favourite places to eat and drink were in the district.

He said:

“I spent a lot of time at the bar in The Ivy Harrogate drinking whisky sours. The bar is really nice.

“I love Oliver’s Pantry in Ripon. The breakfast is good there and they do a really good club sandwich.

“I go to Three’s a Crowd in Harrogate. I’ve had food a couple of times and it’s tasty. I’ve had Sunday lunch there. I love a roast dinner.”

In terms of what the future holds for Grantley, Shaun said he was looking forward to hopefully having a full year in service at the hotel, following two years of upheaval due to the pandemic.

‘World class’ ambitions

He said:

“Hopefully from now since we reopened, we will get one full year. We will get some momentum.

“We got the Michelin Star in January last year, and the thing about that is every day you need to polish it and keep and eye on it, because you never expect to hold it.

“The ambition for us is the second star in the next few years, so we have to work hard for that. We are constantly working on training and building the team.

“The thing about momentum in restaurants is the more you are open, the better the momentum is. It just becomes more natural and more fluid with everybody and the work, products and service become better. Constantly starting and stopping, you just lose the whole rhythm.

“We are focused on what we do here. The ambitions of Grantley Hall are still yet to be seen. It’s a long journey for Grantley Hall, and for us here and what we want to achieve.

“It really is a world class destination and we want to create a world class restaurant.”

Traditional methods

Shaun then took me on a brief tour of the kitchen – immaculate, unlike mine – which features the Chef’s Table. You can pull up a leather stool and have dinner in the place where the magic happens.

There is also a private dining room, The Dales Suite, which can seat up to 20 people, where you can celebrate special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings.

Shaun said:

The key message is what we cook here is for a reason. You don’t get fois gras here, you don’t get anything that comes out of France or Italy. Even down to the charcuterie. We brine our own pork collars and make our own hams.

“Everything is traditional, using old methods from the last 200 or 300 years. Salting, brining, curing, preserving fermenting.”

And his favourite dish on the current menu?

“At the moment it’s our Yorkshire venison with blackcurrants and celeriac – both of course grown in our kitchen garden.”

Ripon beauty queen Victoria Hind has been crowned Miss North Yorkshire Galaxy 2022 to qualify for the grand final of Miss Galaxy UK in November.

Ms Hind won Miss Harrogate Galaxy last year to reach the UK final and although she didn’t place, she said the experience has made her more determined for this year.

The winner of Miss Galaxy UK will travel to the USA with contestants from all over the world to compete in the Miss Galaxy International final.

Ms Hind said she always wanted to compete in pageants but felt too anxious prior to lockdown. Stepping out on the stage has given her a huge boost in confidence, she added.

Her experiences with anxiety and dyslexia has encouraged her to start discussing the issues on social media.

She hopes to build her platform and talk openly about the challenges she’s faced ahead of the final in November:

“I want to show young children that dyslexia doesn’t have to hold you back, you still can do anything you want to do. If I can show one kid that then it’s worth it.”

Photograph: Brian Hayes Photography

It isn’t always crowns and ballgowns for Miss Hind: during the day she works at Sainsbury’s in Ripon.

The 23-year-old will also continue with her charity duties as Miss North Yorkshire by working with Ripon Food Bank, Saint Michael’s Hospice and Dogs for Good.

Last year, she walked in a Saint Michael’s Hospice fashion show, which raised over £7,000. Her Halloween party for Dogs for Good, which trains dogs to live as assistance dogs in people’s homes, raised £350.

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The Miss Galaxy UK final at the Park Hall Hotel in Lancashire consists of four rounds; an interview round, an evening wear round, a fashion wear round and a swimwear round.

The recent final in November 2021 saw Ms Hind compete against 58 other girls in the 18-27 age category.

This article is sponsored by Cundall Manor School.

It is ranked in the top nine per cent of independent schools in the UK and is situated in an idyllic part of rural North Yorkshire.

Now, prospective families are being invited to explore Cundall Manor School as it opens its doors for two special events in February and March.

The open days will take place at the “friendly, supportive and caring” school, which offers provision for boys and girls from the age of two to 16.

The first will be held on the morning of Saturday, February 5, followed by another on Saturday, March 26.

Amanda Kirby, who has been the headteacher at the school for almost 10 years, said:

“We hold open days to invite prospective parents to the school with the opportunity to see the school facilities and to get a feel of the Cundall experience. It allows them to meet the pupils ask them questions but also talk to the teachers as well.”

Mrs Kirby said the events provided an opportunity for the school to get a feel for who the prospective families are and in return parents and children are able to inspect the facilities and chat with pupils and staff.

She said:

“Parents can get an insight into our school culture, the curriculum and the type of pupils we produce. It also allows parents to meet our fantastic senior leadership team and they can establish a relationship.”

In terms of what the school has to offer, including state-of-the-art facilities, Mrs Kirby said Cundall Manor is “proof that the world of Enid Blyton can be at one with the 21st century”.

She added:

“Seeing is believing. Rather than driving success we promote success on an individual basis. We are not afraid to push pupils out of their comfort zone, cultivating a ‘yes’ mentality which prepares children to embrace the world and to think and act independently and without inhibitions.

“We possess excellent grass pitches for rugby, football and cricket. We have a 4G astro turf that is used for hockey, netball, football and tennis. We also possess a 20-metre, four-lane swimming pool.

Located in a magnificent 28-acre site in the Vale of York, between Ripon and Thirsk, Cundall Manor School mainly attracts pupils from a 20-mile radius, including the Harrogate district.

Mrs Kirby said:

“We attract pupils from a Harrogate as we have an extensive bus routes and one of the routes goes through the town centre.”

The open days will see parents greeted by some of the school’s prefects, before being accompanied to a welcome tent.

They will then be taken on a tour of the whole school by a prefect and will be invited to ask questions about the school and life from a pupil perspective.

Mrs Kirby said:

“During their tour of school, they will visit our Wild Wood, this will showcase some of the extracurricular activities we offer such as axe throwing, fire building and much more.

“They will then go onto our school field, which is a magnificent 26-acre field containing rugby, football and cricket pitches.

“We also have a new 4G astro turf, which allows us to mainly play hockey, but we also use it for netball and tennis.”

At the end of the tour, parents will be taken back to the tent where they will have the opportunity to speak with Mrs Kirby and her deputies. They will also have the opportunity to talk to the school’s new headteacher, Christopher James-Roll, who starts at the school in September.

Mrs Kirby added:

“Open days give prospective parents the opportunity to see Cundall in ‘full-flow’. We are not just the sum of our stunning surroundings, enriching curriculum, and extra-curricular opportunities. Parents say they can tangibly feel the friendly and purposeful atmosphere when they meet our pupils and staff. It is always wonderful to see everyone engaged in learning activities.

“Pupils lead our tours, giving prospective families a real insight into what it is like to be a pupil at Cundall Manor School. Some of these pupils have been here since they were in nursery and have many wonderful anecdotes of their time at school.

“Chatting over refreshments after the tours allows prospective families to meet with our head, head of admissions and deputies, affording parents a relaxed environment to ask any questions as they arise.

“Families leave feeling they’ve had a snap-shot into life at Cundall Manor School, ready to make informed decisions about the next steps to joining our family community.”

To register for one of the school’s open days click here to fill out a contact form or call 01423 360200.