Key parts of Ripon’s military past could be demolished to make way for the proposed 1,300-home development at the city’s barracks.

Homes England is seeking outline planning permission for the Clotherholme housing scheme, which would be the biggest single residential development in Ripon’s history.

Ripon Civic Society has now highlighted the potential loss of rare items that are part of Ripon and the UK’s military heritage.

The vital role Ripon’s military establishment played in both world wars and the Cold War has been highlighted in new research by the society.

Christopher Hughes, its chairman of the society, said:

“The site at Laver Banks is important in the history of Ripon’s past and in the defence of Britain in World War II and since.

“We have done detailed work on the Homes England proposals for the whole of the army camp site.  We encourage them, and Harrogate Borough Council, to take a revised look at proposals for demolition of some of the structures our research has identified, and to protect them for the future.”

 The society has been closely engaged in the planning process and has been keen to stress the importance of the last remaining remnants of the city’s vast World War I camp, in which the poet Wilfred Owen was stationed.

The heavy girder bridge, which crosses the River Laver on the Barracks site, was the next generation of the bridge designed by Sir Donald Bailey.

Setting up Ripon Military Heritage Trust to aid further research, it has now discovered that from the start of World War II the remaining site was the test-bed for developing and trialling demountable bridges, including the world-famous Bailey bridge.

 The School of Military Engineering was evacuated from Chatham in Kent to Ripon at the start of the war.

Military heritage structures

Ripon architectural historian, lecturer and writer, David Winpenny,  who is a vice-president of the society, said:

“As well as providing training for engineers on the Bailey bridge, the school also developed the massive Bailey Suspension Bridge, capable of spanning up to 400 feet.

“It was tested in Ripon at the Laver Banks site of Ripon Camp by British, Canadian and American troops before being deployed in Burma and other theatres of war.

 “From 1946 a new heavy girder bridge was developed; by 1955 60 had been ordered.  The first to be put in place was over the River Ure in Ripon. It was mainly used in West Germany as well as in Malaya.

“Development continued in the following decades.  The only surviving heavy girder bridge was installed in Ripon as late as 1992.

“Ripon also has the larger of only two surviving  k‘demolition’ training bridges, designed with cavities in which explosives could be packed to eliminate the bridges before an enemy assault.

Read more:

• Consultation on 1,300-home Ripon Barracks site closes on Wednesday
• Artworks honour Ripon’s military past

Mr Winpenny added:

 “As well as these rare survivals, and the still-extant infrastructure of the testing site, the Ripon Camp also has the last four Twynam Huts remaining; these were the successors to the Nissan Huts and were developed in 1959 for use as accommodations for personnel, offices and stores.

“They were deployed worldwide, including in Cyprus, Aden and Libya, as well as on Ascension Island during the Falklands War and at Long Kesh Camp in Northern Ireland.”

‘Amazing how significant Ripon was’

The society has shared its findings with Homes England, which is responsible for the transition of the site from army camp to housing and employment site, and with Harrogate Borough Council, which will determine the planning application.

It has said that these significant but vulnerable remnants of Ripon’s military past require special protection as part of the planning process. The society wants to work closely with all parties to establish a community legacy for Ripon and the wider area by promoting and interpreting the site.

 Guy Wilson, creator of the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds, and one of the Ripon Military Heritage Trust trustees, said:

“It is amazing how significant this quiet part of North Yorkshire was in the Second World War.  What was happening in Ripon helped us to win the war and our research has discovered how important Ripon was in the development and perfection of the Bailey bridge and its successors.

“It is a story hitherto unknown but one very worth telling and remembering.”

Former Ripon Grammar School student Lewis Edwards has told the Stray Ferret that ambulances in Ukraine are being attacked by Russian forces.

This is among the latest in a growing list of breaches of the Geneva Convention committed by the invading troops, as the situation for civilians trapped in towns and cities under siege becomes more horrific and desperate by the hour.

The targeting of the emergency vehicles follows a weekend in which fleeing refugees came under attack during a supposed ceasefire in Mariupol.

Lewis Edwards and his partner Tanya Bogdanovska pictured at Christmas in Kyiv

Speaking from Slovakia yesterday afternoon, Mr Edwards said:

“I got a phone call from an organisation in Ukraine saying they wanted me to try and source armoured ambulances, because the Russians have started shooting at the normal ambulances used to take injured people hospital.

“Through contacts, I’ve managed to find two already and I’ve been phoning around asking if there is anybody who might know where we can get some more.

“The whole situation is chaotic and insane, as the aid agencies that we are working alongside seem to be relying on us – 10 refugees – to provide logistical support, because we appear to be able to get things done that they can’t.”

Oksana Pron (left) and Kristina Simalova are part of the team sending items such as medical supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine.

Mr Edwards, 33, and his 30-year-old Ukrainian partner Tanya Bogdanovska — both teachers who had been working at a private school in Kyiv — fled the Ukraine capital on February 25.

After crossing the border into Slovakia a week ago, they teamed up with eight other volunteers to help people seeking sanctuary in countries including the UK.

As well as helping refugees — mostly women and children who are arriving in Slovakia each day — they are continuing to do all that they can for Ukraine people, including friends and family, who have been unable to escape.

In addition to sourcing ambulances, they have supplied a generator for an area without electricity and have assembled a shipment of essential medical supplies that will be setting off to Ukraine tomorrow.

Agricultural machinery supplier Ripon Farm Services has appointed Sophie Allanby (pictured) as marketing manager.

Ms Allanby, who grew up on an arable farm just outside Malton, has a first class business honours degree from York St John University and has been in the marketing world for the past ten years in varying roles.

She was communications executive at the Castle Howard Estate from 2018-2021.

She said:

“It will be my responsibility to develop and implement a dynamic marketing strategy that builds upon the substantial progress that Ripon Farm Services have made over the past two years.”

Mother Shipton’s wins Small Visitor Attraction of the Year award

Harrogate-based manufacturer celebrates 70 years by planting 1,200 trees

To mark the 70th anniversary of Belzona, staff at its European headquarters in Harrogate got together with family members to plant 1,200 trees in the Royal Forest of Knaresborough.

Belzona designs and manufactures composite materials and industrial protective coatings.

This initiative is part of a three-year partnership with the White Rose Forest, the community forest for north and west Yorkshire. The company plans to plant seven-million trees throughout Yorkshire by 2025.

“We were absolutely thrilled to see so many colleagues getting involved in our first tree planting project. Working alongside the Bilton Conservation Society, 25 Belzona volunteers, including employees and family members, worked together to plant 1,200 trees in the local area. This is an incredible achievement – thank you to everyone who got involved!”

The Belzona team dig deep to plant 1,200 trees in the Royal Forest of Knaresborough.

Send your business news to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

New houses should mean lower council tax

Not only do we have thousands of new houses in the district but 1,700 extra have been built! I cannot, therefore, understand why our council tax is going up rather than coming down!

I would assume a surfeit, especially with so many being in the higher bands.

Janet Palmer, Knaresborough

Why are roads constantly being dug up?

Leadhall Lane in Harrogate has been a shambles of a road for many years, with deep potholes causing hazards for motorists and cyclists.

At the same time, numerous gas leaks have been excavated and repaired, to the cost of Northern Gas Networks and the exceptional inconvenience of local road users.

The potholes caused considerable crashes and bangs into the road from school buses and lorries. Hurrah! It was relaid in 2021.

Yesterday there was a gas stink in Leadhall Lane. Today there is a big hole in Leadhall Lane. Northern Gas Networks is digging it up again.

Why do we have to suffer this continual under-performance from the council in relation to controlling the actions of privatised utility companies? Are they incompetent or not?

David Graham, Harrogate

Read more:

• £72 rise in Harrogate district council tax bills set to be confirmed
• Swift action to tackle Sharow’s pothole plight
• Woman visiting daughter’s grave issues dog fouling plea

Stray Ferret penalised for reporting facts

It comes as no surprise that your reporter was refused access to Ripon’s new pool when other media was allowed.

You are being penalised for reporting the real facts about the farcical events surrounding the pool and its build not forgetting the extra money we gave the construction firm.

Myself and thousands of others applaud you The Stray Ferret for all your news articles released to us.

Maranda Harling, Ripon

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Ripon Cathedral is to host its annual Spring Food, Home and Garden Show next month with stalls and plenty of child-friendly activities including a petting farm.

The Spring Show is returning on Saturday, April 9 after a two-year break, due to covid, with more than 70 stallholders selling gardening goods and food.

Organisers of the fair have said it is set to be a fantastic day out for all the family with children’s activities such as a mobile petting farm with spring animals from Brimham Rocks Adventure Farm, a chocolate tombola and a ‘have a go’ putting green by EGM Landscapes.

Brick Box Yorkshire will also be there running build and create Lego sessions for kids.

There will also be live music from Knot Another Choir at 11.30am and 1.30pm and a piano recital from David Powling at 2pm.

Read more:

• Street party fees waived in North Yorkshire for Queen’s jubilee
• Mother Shipton’s delays reopening again due to landslide

Cathedral volunteers will be running a Cathedral Plant Stall, selling affordable plants.  A pop-up Cathedral cafe is also planned, it will sell pulled pork sandwiches, homemade cakes and hot drinks.

Proceeds from the plant stall and pop-up cafe will go towards the heritage conservation, education programme and running costs of Ripon Cathedral.

The show is open from 10am to 4pm and tickets costs £3 for adults, plus a booking fee, and £5 on the door. Children under 14 are free. To book tickets click here.

(from left) Cardale Asset Management’s Peter Heckingbottom, Andrew Tod and Mark Puleikis

Cardale Asset Management has agreed a deal to be acquired by London firm Titan Wealth Holdings.

The company, which is based at Cardale Park, provides portfolio management, stockbroking and financial planning services.

Cardale was launched in 2003 and now has £1.5bn in assets under management, which it manages for approximately 3,500 clients. The company employs about 70 people.

The firm reported a turnover of £16m for the 2021 financial year.

James Kaberry and Andrew Fearon, joint chief executives of Titan Wealth, said in a statement:

“We are delighted to welcome the team at Cardale to Titan Wealth. Cardale is a highly profitable and well-respected business with a focused and proven investment process that consistently delivers outperformance to its client portfolios.”

LHL Group promotes Daniel Bower to director

Daniel Bower

Yorkshire property consultants LHL Group, which has an office in Harrogate, has appointed building surveyor Daniel Bower as a director.

Mr Bower joined LHL Group in 2014 and became an associate director in 2019. His work includes project management, employer’s agent and contract administration for new build and refurbishment schemes as well as traditional commercial and residential property building surveys and dilapidations work.

He said:

“After almost eight years with LHL Group, I’m delighted to be joining managing director, Richard Hampshire and director, Shaun Bennett, on the board and supporting the wider management and development of the business in a highly competitive climate.”

Dealer award for Ripon Farm Services

(Left to right) Mike Pickering, area sales manager at Ripon Farm Services with the dealer’s commercial director, Richard Simpson, Mazzotti’s export manager Vincenzo Gasperi, Ripon’s technology specialist, Jack Forman and Mark James, John Deere crop care specialist.

Ripon Farm Services has been awarded the UK Dealer of the Year Award for 2021 by Italian sprayer manufacturer Mazzotti. The award recognises overall performance and dedication to the brand.

Vincenzo Gasperi, export manager for Mazzotti, gave the award during a recent visit to the farm machinery company, which is based in Ripon and has 12 branches in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Teesside.

Richard Simpson, commercial director of Ripon Farm Services, said: “We’ve put a lot of effort into launching the sprayers, not only to demonstrate the benefits of these machines, but also to support the customers with what is, after all, a new brand in the UK market.”

Do you have any business news for the Harrogate district? We want to hear about your senior appointments, awards and acquisitions, and anything else business-related. Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

A new children’s play area in Ripon opened for families today.

The Dallamires Playground is part of the city’s new £15m Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lane. The pool is set to open on Wednesday.

The playground seems to have gone down well on social media, with posts from parents saying it looks like “so much fun” and “wonderful for little kids”.

The play area can be accessed from a public footpath off Knaresborough Road.

Three-year-old Lottie (pictured in our main image), was one of the first children to play on one of the slides.

Her mum Kim said:

“it’s a lovely new play area for families to bring children to from this part of the city.”

Read more:

• Stray Ferret banned from today’s Ripon pool media opening

• Former Ripon student fleeing Ukraine today to set up refugee shelter

The Stray Ferret was refused entry to Ripon’s new leisure centre today by staff from Harrogate Borough Council.

Our Ripon reporter Tim Flanagan, who lives in the city, was turned away by a council press officer when he arrived shortly before 2pm.

Tim was told today’s event at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre was for councillors only and separate arrangements would be made for the press at a later date.

It later transpired that several other media outlets were allowed to look around the new complex today to provide coverage ahead of Wednesday’s opening date.

Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who witnessed the incident, said it appeared Harrogate Borough Council was censoring media organisations that asked “legitimate questions” about the way public money is spent and this was “totally unacceptable”.

The Stray Ferret has led on coverage of delays to the construction of the pool and mounting costs, as well as concerns about sinkholes. The pool was due to be ready nine months ago and the leisure centre project is £4m over budget.

Part of the site remains closed for further work after a void — a gap below the surface — was discovered last year.

‘Totally unacceptable’

Cllr Williams, said:

“I can confirm that Harrogate Borough Council’s PR officer told the Stray Ferret journalist that he was not able to look around the new swimming pool and that today’s event was for councillors only and a separate event for the press is yet to be organised and the Stray Ferret will be invited to this.

“I now understand that other media was invited around today and if it’s a case that Harrogate Borough Council has adopted a censorship policy that bars media who ask legitimate questions on the way that public money is spent, this is totally unacceptable in a democracy and is more like the way that Vladimir Putin handles affairs in Russia.”

Read more:

• Ripon pool opening delayed again
• Ripon pool and leisure centre to open next week
• Sinkhole experts urge councillors to consider new site for Ripon pool

The Stray Ferret has reported concerns by Ripon-based chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh about the wisdom of the council building a swimming pool on land with a history of ground instability issues.

Dr Alan Thompson, a geologist and director of director of Cuesta Consulting in Somerset, has also raised safety concerns — as covered by the Stray Ferret.

We have also reported concerns about the proposed price hike for Ripon City Swimming Club to use the pool to teach swimming.

‘No lifeguards on duty’

A council spokesman said:

“Tim wasn’t banned from entering the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre today.

“Today’s invite was for Ripon city councillors to have a first-look at the facility before it opens on Wednesday. As we explained to the councillors, there are still some finishing touches to complete and them to be mindful while walking around the new pool.

“There were also no lifeguards on duty so we needed to be cautious about the number of people poolside.”

The Stray Ferret replied by asking if it was a councillors-only event why other media outlets were allowed to attend.

Thank you to both @BBCLookNorth and @itvcalendar for coming down to the @JackLaugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in #Ripon this morning.

You can find out more about the new facility this evening or by visiting https://t.co/xAAVxhHReg pic.twitter.com/Os3ZLoJAlC

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) February 28, 2022

The spokesman said:

“Tim wasn’t refused entry and others allowed in; BBC Look North and ITV Calendar had a first-look this morning and we were limited on time.”

The statement did not mention that local media were also invited — but not the Stray Ferret.

We were subsequently invited to an invitation to view the centre tomorrow.

Ripon Pancake Race won’t be held on Shrove Tuesday next week because of covid-related problems.

The event sees children, local residents and members of the clergy race along Kirkgate tossing pancakes.

It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to covid and there were hopes it would return this year.

But Tim Jones, treasurer of the Rotary Club of Ripon Rowels, said that covid uncertainty at the start of the year did not allow enough time for road closure applications to be processed. He said;

“Some teachers were reluctant to bring schoolchildren out so we decided not to go ahead.”

The event is staged jointly by the rotary club and Ripon Festivals, in association with Ripon Cathedral.

Read more:

• Sneak Peek: Paradise arrives in Killinghall
• Ripon man with family in Ukraine speaks of ‘deeply troubling’ times
• Future of Ripon’s Hell Wath nature reserve generates heated discussion

“It’s really important that the United Kingdom makes an immediate open, welcoming and warm hearted commitment of sanctuary to those who wish to leave Ukraine.

“Rip up the usual bureaucracy and let’s just say they are welcome and we will make it as easy as possible to be here.”