Heavy snow has hit Harrogate hard today. Some will have cursed the weather, but others have certainly embraced it.

Some drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles today on their way to work. Schools closed, even to the children of key workers.

As the snow fell, though, there were some who looked to take advantage and headed out for snow ball fights and sledging.

We sent out our photographer to capture the day and received photos from readers too. Here are just some of the highlights:

“Everyone recognises a good read when they see one!” Photo: Reed and Townsend

“Snowy view from Sharow, Ripon across the fields to Ripon Cathedral, lost in the mist!” Photo: Jill Warwick

Thirty-seven houses look set to be built on the site of former warehouses in Ripon after Harrogate Borough Council granted outline planning permission this week.

Prime Talent Ltd submitted plans to demolish vacant buildings at the Old Goods Yard, 2 Hutton Bank, which were previously used by companies such as Millennium Windows and Power Plastics, and build the homes.

Originally, 43 homes were mooted but the number was reduced after concerns were raised about the loss of the site for employment use.

An updated scheme was put forward with fewer homes and six units, which can be used by local businesses.

In August 2019, the council’s planning committee deferred approval to the chief planner subject to conditions, which included the completion of a legal agreement that dealt with the number of affordable homes.

Councillors also asked for a study on how the homes would be protected against subsidence.

Read more:

• Oliver’s army fights on as Ripon returns to lockdown

•  Ripon road closure to last six weeks

Because the development involves bringing a vacant brownfield site back into use, the developer was able to apply a vacant building credit.

The government introduced vacant building credits to encourage developers to bring back into use previously developed sites containing vacant buildings by reducing the number of affordable homes they are obliged to build.

This reduced the number of affordable homes for this development to six, which is 16% of the development.

Normally on brownfield sites, the council asks developers to include 30% affordable housing.

As the site is in an area that may be subject to gypsum-related subsidence, developers undertook a study that recommends using rafting foundations on the buildings to mitigate any potential subsidence issues.

The developer is now set to submit a reserved matters application, which deals with the site’s appearance and types of homes.

Libraries in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough will continue to provide books during lockdown through the select and collect service.

The select and collect service, which was introduced last year in response to the pandemic, enables customers to phone or email their library to request books and collect them from the entrance of the building.

North Yorkshire County Council, which manages the libraries, is also continuing to operate its home library service, which sees volunteers deliver books, DVDs and CDs to customers who are unable to visit a library.

The council is also allowing pre-booked library computer sessions for essential use, such as accessing services and benefits. But they must be booked in advance by phone or email.

County councillor Greg White, executive member for libraries, said:

“We know how beneficial a connection to their library can be to people’s wellbeing and how many people rely on free library computers to access services and benefits and to apply for jobs.

“I am pleased that we are able to continue to provide that connection to some degree through our select and collect service and to support the most vulnerable with the home library service and computer access.”

To use the select and collect service or to book a computer session, contact your library or visit here.

A six-week road closure affecting the circulation of traffic around Ripon city centre is now in place after being delayed over Christmas.

Workers are back on site just a month after an initial closure of the junction of Market Place East with Kirkgate, lasting two weeks.

Sewer repairs being carried out by contractors on behalf of Yorkshire Water were suspended in early December to minimise disruption to Christmas trade in the city.

The suspension also followed complaints from members of the public on social media, saying that a temporary building site with fencing and cabins on it had blocked the view of the Christmas tree in front of Ripon Town Hall.

The unfamiliar sight of a 36 bus heading in this direction out of Ripon Bus Station on its diverted route to Harrogate.

Complainants also said at the time that the placement of temporary buildings on Market Square detracted from the look of the city’s festive lights, which had been extended at an additional cost of £65,000.

The new six-week road closure is required so that urgent sewer repair and renewal works can be carried out.

With the road closure preventing traffic from turning right from Market Place East onto Market Place South, the circulatory route around Market Square is affected and a number of diversions are in place.

Read more:

• Car collides with building in Ripon city centre
• Honour for Ripon mayor who made history

Among traffic movements impacted by the closure is Transdev’s regular double decker 36 bus service to Harrogate.

To ensure that all bus stops in Ripon are served, drivers are using a circuitous route that takes in Allhallowgate, Stonebridgegate, Rotary Way and the Ripon bypass, with a right turn at the Wolseley building roundabout seeing the bus head back towards the city centre before the onward journey to Harrogate.

As Market Place West is not affected by road closures, the route into Ripon Bus Station up High Skellgate and along by the Obelisk currently remains unchanged.

Police are appealing for information after a car drove into a property on Duck Hill in Ripon.

The collision happened between 4am and 4.15am on Wednesday, December 30, when a blue BMW collided with a commercial property and failed to stop.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said:

“The collision caused structural damage to the business and as a result it has had to close pending building works. The vehicle failed to stop and it is believed that it was being driven by a man with another man in the passenger seat at the time of the collision.”

Anyone who witnessed the collision or remembers seeing the car prior to the collision is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police as soon as possible to help with the investigation.

Call the force on 101, select option two and ask for Alastair Graham-Merrett, or email alastair.graham-merrett@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk, quoting North Yorkshire Police reference number 12200247651.

Walks around Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Boroughbridge and Harrogate are among those included in a new campaign to promote Yorkshire as the walking capital of the world.

The year-long initiative, known as Walkshire, began yesterday. It includes 365 walks in God’s own county — one for every day of the year.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, which is behind the campaign, hopes it will encourage more people to discover Yorkshire’s spectacular scenery and history on foot.

Routes in the Harrogate district include:

53 miles of the Nidderdale Way

14 miles Bramhope to Harrogate via Arthington viaduct

9 miles Ripon to Fountains Abbey

8 miles Hackfall woods near Masham

5 miles Thruscross reservoir

6.5 miles Burton Leonard, Copgrove and South Stainley

2 miles Ripon canal

The routes can be viewed here:

Arthington viaduct. Credit: Welcome to Yorkshire

James Mason, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said:

“2020 has been a tricky year for all and certainly a time to reflect on the importance of health and well-being so what better way to start the new year and continue through 2021 than promoting walking in Yorkshire to the world and welcoming visitors to the most diverse of counties.”

The campaign features a daily walk and businesses can sponsor and nominate routes.

There are four big seasonal walks and special plans for Yorkshire Day on August 1, as well as a Tour de Walkshire to replace the postponed Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

People are invited to participate in Walkshire by sharing their own favourite walks using the hashtag #Walkshire.

Harrogate-based Yorkshire Cancer Research is the official charity partner of Walkshire.

The New Year Honours list has been published tonight and a number of residents in the Harrogate district have been recognised for their services to charity and the community.

OBE

Linda Grace Shears, from Harrogate, has been made an OBE for services to charity in her role as co-founder of the Shears Foundation.

The foundation is a charitable trust that providers grants for projects that develop arts and culture, educational opportunities and the protection of the natural environment, as well as other areas.

Since it was set up in 1996, the trust has awarded £12 million in grants.

Janet Sheriff, from Harrogate, has been made an OBE for services to education in West Yorkshire. Ms Sheriff is headteacher of Prince Henry’s Grammar School in Otley.

Ms Sheriff was appointed headteacher in 2009. She became the first female head in the school’s 400-year history and Leeds’ first BME secondary school headteacher.

Read more:

• Several local residents were awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year. 
• Community comes together to show its support for the Christmas Eve jingle.

BEM 

John Richmond, from Ripon, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to the community in Ripon.

Mr Richmond is well known in the city after becoming the youngest person to be appointed mayor in 1975 at just 39 years old. He has also taken part in the city’s traditional hornblower ceremony.

Mary Chapman, from Great Ouseburn, has also been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ms Chapman founded the charity Nuzzlets, which gives children with special educational needs and life-threatening illnesses the chance to meet animals.

Nuzzlets now hosts about 200 visits each year and supports 4,000 young people. Ms Chapman and her volunteers carry out visits to hospitals, nursing homes and local community groups as well as hosting visits on the farm.

As 2020 draws to a close, the Stray Ferret looks back at the news stories that stood out among a year of extraordinary events. 

Today, we focus on the impact on businesses, from high street to hospitality.

For most business owners, it has been a very worrying and difficult year. From moving their staff to home working to switching to delivery or click and collect, businesses have adapted to constantly changing rules in order to survive the last 10 months. 

For some, though, it has been more challenging than others.  

Among the industries to suffer most in 2020 were events and hospitality. Bars and restaurants found themselves in and out of lockdown, posing huge problems for planning and ordering supplies.  

What made it all the more difficult was the continuing use of Harrogate Convention Centre as the NHS Nightingale. In a district economy which relies heavily on tourism and events, hospitality businesses found their income drastically below what it would usually be. 

Reopening ‘vital’

As the first lockdown eased, some of the district’s major employers were emphasising just how vital it would be for them to reopen and to receive support from the public. 

When news came that the Nightingale would remain in place, preventing events from being held even if restrictions were eased, it was a blow to the sector. 

Major events were postponed and called off for many months ahead, leaving businesses staring at a blank calendar for the foreseeable future. Among the casualties in hospitality were the Country Living St George Hotel, Ripon Spa Hotel, and The Old Deanery, which announced it will close its doors next summer. The Kimberley Hotel also announced its closure in December.

Restaurants were not immune to the challenges of the trading environment, with Harrogate’s Bistrot Pierre and Las Iguanas among the big names failing to reopen their doors.

It made one leading hotel manager’s prediction of ‘carnage’ in May look worryingly prescient – and with uncertainty still ahead, it’s likely we haven’t heard the last of the closures as the new year approaches.

Events industry

Events businesses, meanwhile, were unable to trade at all, spelling the end for one of Harrogate’s longest-established names. 

Joe Manby Ltd was well known for helping to stage events at the convention centre, as well as elsewhere around the country. Andrew Manby, a director of the family firm established in the 1970s, had warned repeatedly that more support was needed for companies unable to trade because of restrictions.  

In October, with no sign of improvement ahead, the company announced it would go into liquidation. 

Cambridge Street in Harrogate was looking busier in the run-up to Christmas

There were casualties on the high street, too, with several big-name brands announcing they would be closing branches in our district, along with long-standing independent businesses.  Among those lost were AP&K Stothard’s pet shop, The Bookstall newsagent at Harrogate railway station, Edinburgh Wooden Mill and Ponden Home in Ripon, Wren’s department store, and menswear shop Jon Barrie. 

Yet it wasn’t all bad news. For some determined entrepreneurs, the pandemic was no reason not to make their business dreams a reality – including a new taco business and a travel agent.

From music to clothes shops and even a pop-up bakery, Knaresborough seemed like the place to be in the second half of the year. It also saw a pop-up from popular Harrogate bakery Baltzersen’s. 

Nevertheless, uncertainty remained, and the second lockdown left owners desperate to know whether they would be able to reopen in time for Christmas. 

The district’s tier two restrictions meant they were able to do so in early December, aiming to make the most of the final few weeks of trading. Residents can only hope it was enough to get their favourite businesses through the coming weeks and months until the situation begins to improve. 

Read more:

• Looking back: Clap for carers and scrubbing up for key workers
• Looking back: Extraordinary effort to build a Nightingale hospital in Harrogate

In her Christmas Day column for the Stray Ferret, the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, reflects on all the things we’re missing this year – but that we can still have all we need, and fill that need for others too.

I am sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Oti Mabuse and Bill Bailey were crowned the winners of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing competition.

I have dipped in and out of this year’s series. I watched all of Bake Off and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here (which secured me a point in this year’s Ripon Runners’ Zoom Christmas Quiz: I knew that Jordan North was the runner up!), but Strictly has not really been on my viewing radar, and I’m going to have to catch up on that one.

But the sight of Oti and Bill rejoicing at their win and so much wanting to run around and hug the other contestants but not being able to do so was a poignant moment of joy and grief all in one.

Ripon Cathedral was reopened by the clergy in June, after the first lockdown was eased

I still haven’t been able to hug my parents. My dad completed his cancer treatment just before lockdown, but then both had to shield. They are in a tier 3 area, and so Christmas won’t be the same; we aren’t risking the opportunity to meet up indoors.

Out of lockdown and tiers, catch-ups have been in our garden. We celebrated their golden wedding anniversary back in October on a mercifully mild and sunny autumn day, a Bettys celebration iced fruit cake the delicious centre-piece of the distanced picnic-table spread.

‘Lives pulled apart’

Covid has impacted all of our lives, and while I have been uplifted at the stories of community care and resilience, it has been hard to hear about the pain of lives pulled apart, and of loneliness, isolation and struggles. This year Christmas isn’t the same, and we aren’t able to gather with friends and family.

I will miss the Boxing Day pilgrimage to Fountains Abbey, and blessing the City of Ripon at midnight from the Town Hall balcony with raucous crowds assembled below on the Market Square, and fireworks offering a rousing welcome to the new year. No, it’s just not the same at all.

Yet what is the same is the Christmas story. I shared a reflection on this at a recent Auction Mart drive-in carol service. Using a Christmas cracker, I spoke about how a cracker contains surprises: a joke or riddle, a paper crown, and a gift. The baby who was born over 2000 years ago was something of a surprise; he was the answer to the musings of prophets; he was a king unlike any other; and in his life all of humanity received a gift: God becoming one of us, experiencing our joys and sorrows and going ahead of us into the unknown.

Now, to some, that’s just daft, but this is a narrative of hope that has endured, and it’s a narrative that grounds everything that I try to do, say and be.

And you can see it at work all around us too: in the kindness of strangers, in the magnificent NHS, and in the process of the rapid development of the vaccine. Maybe you can think of your own example too?

I’m struck by lots of images of Jesus’ birth, how the child radiates light illuminating the faces gazing upon him. All the light we need is that which can help us take the next step. We don’t need a floodlight.

Glimpses of hope, love, light and joy are everywhere, and if we don’t see it, perhaps we can be that light that someone needs today. Just enough to help us get to the next day, and the day after that. That’s what the Christmas story is about: not ‘me’ but ‘us’: God with us.

Happy Christmas!

The Mayor of Ripon has given a message of support and hope for residents of the city as 2020 draws to an end.

Councillor Eamon Parkin, whose mayoral year has been extended after a new mayor could not be appointed in May due to the pandemic, gave the following message to the Stray Ferret for Ripon:

It has been a year of darkness and light for the citizens of Ripon.

Few will be sorry to reach the last page in their 2020 diaries, after the nine months we have just endured.

As the joint owner of a public house, I know the pain that fellow publicans and other small businesses in the hospitality sector have experienced in this stop-start, lockdown year.

All traders classed as ‘non-essential’ have been losing out since March, with some struggling to keep their heads above water.

Against this backdrop of hardship and heartache, Ripon’s independent spirit has shone through. We turn into 2021 financially poorer, but richer in other respects.

Though the civic year has been severely curtailed by covid, I have either witnessed or been told of hundreds of acts of kindness across our proud and ancient city.

Mayor Councillor Eamon Parkin sees Ripon’s Christmas lights as a symbol of hope

People who worked late into the night on kitchen tables to produce vital protective equipment, joined neighbours on Thursday evenings to applaud the service of our hard-pressed frontline workers.

Restaurants and cafes closed because of coronavirus restrictions, made thousands of meals that were taken to elderly and vulnerable people stuck in self-isolation.

A Ripon butcher delivered free weekly meat packs to help hard-up families.

Read more:

• Ripon resident has winning Christmas decorations
• Major extension to Ripon’s Christmas lights

Pupils at our schools sent cards and messages to lift the spirits of care and nursing home residents and and donations of goods flooded into foodbanks.

Throughout our long history, Ripon has survived the Black Death, a Viking assault, the English Civil War and two World Wars, but an unseen, yet lethal enemy was at our gate in 2020.

It robbed us of loved ones and put our normal way of life and traditions on hold.

Our three hornblowers had to vacate Market Square – though their nightly ceremony, dating back 1134 years, has continued behind closed doors.

Celebrations of the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May had to be scaled back to home front gardens and August’s Saint Wilfrid procession was cancelled.

Despite the days of disappointment, Riponians decorated their properties, strung bunting across streets and greeted each other over fences and hedges, while joining in community singing to music played through loud speakers.

Some of the money that had been set aside for public and civic events that were either cancelled or scaled back, was used to extend our festive decorations to cover three miles of streets.

While there was criticism in some quarters about lighting a city centre where many shops and other businesses were closed, I believe that they provide a symbol of hope.

People make places and the spontaneous collaborative community effort I have seen across the city, during 2020, tells me that Ripon has a bright future.

I wish everybody a peaceful Christmas and a brighter New Year.