Police seek man after public order offence at Ripon Cathedral

Police today issued CCTV images of a man they want to speak to following a public order offence at Ripon Cathedral.

The incident took place on Friday, October 20, at about 11.15am. No further details have been released.

North Yorkshire Police described the suspect as white, around 6ft tall and in his early 40s. He is believed to be from the Ripon area.

It said in a statement:

“Officers have released two CCTV images of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the investigation, as he may have important information about it.”

Anyone with any information can contact PC 116 Craig Brogden at craig.brogden@northyorkshire.police.uk, quoting reference 12230199599.

You can also dial 101, select option 2 and ask for PC 116 Craig Brogden.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Firefighters called to water heater blaze in Ripon

Firefighters were called to a heater fire at a property in Ripon last night (Sunday).

A crew from Ripon was called to premises on Boroughbridge Road at 5.52pm after the alarm went off.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report said firefighters found a water heater on the first floor in a kitchen area had caught fire.

It added:

“The fire was contained to the water heater and was out upon our arrival. Fire crew investigated and isolated the heater.”

Later last night, an unattended incense stick set fire to a plant pot at a home in Harrogate.

Harrogate and Knaresborough firefighters were called to Belmont Road at 10.23pm

The incident report said “the fire was extinguished prior to our arrival by the occupier” and only damaged the pot.

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Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2023: ‘I would never swap my problems for Alzheimer’s’

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is to raise £30,000 for a much-needed minibus for Dementia Forward in the Harrogate district. 

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Please give generously to support local people and their families living with dementia. Let’s not forget those that need help this Christmas.

Today, Flora spoke to a couple who go to the wellbeing café.

Before Pauline Brown’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, she was a volunteer at Dementia Forward’s wellbeing café. Now she and her husband John, who is her carer, attend the café for a different reason.

Pauline tells us her story.

“People didn’t believe me when I was diagnosed. I was talking the way I am now, and people needed convincing.”

Pauline began volunteering at the wellbeing café – which takes place every Tuesday – 10 years ago. She spent eight years supporting those living with dementia and their carers.

“I loved volunteering.

“I just enjoyed helping people and chatting to them – I liked feeling needed.”

However, the couple began to see symptoms of dementia around four years ago and received her diagnosis two years ago. Pauline said:

“Nobody told me I couldn’t volunteer anymore, but I didn’t think it was right.”

Luckily, the couple knew just where to go following the diagnosis and Pauline swapped her volunteer badge for a game of snakes and ladders. She added:

“I love playing games here – snakes and ladders, dominoes, Jenga.

“You just meet people and chat things over – you need to get out of the house.”

John, who also volunteered at the café for three years, said being surrounded by people who understand each other has helped them both.

“We have a laugh.

“We talk to people who are in similar circumstances who pass on their own stories and experiences.”

Pauline and John lean on each other for support, but every type of dementia comes with its own set of challenges. He said:

“You’ve got to be a team – we care for each other.

“I have a few problems myself, but I would never swap them for Alzheimer’s.

The wellbeing café has provided a lifeline for the Browns and hundreds of other families across the Harrogate district.

John added:

“Unless you’ve been involved with someone with dementia – when you’re slowly losing someone – you can’t appreciate these services.

“Help people when they need help – it’s a family.”

The Dementia Forward team eases the pain as much as it can – but can only continue to do so with the help of charitable donations.

Every donation to our campaign will go directly to Dementia Forward, helping us hit our £30,000 target to buy the charity a new minibus and bettering the lives of those living with dementia and the people around them.

Dementia Forward’s current bus is old and urgently needs to be replaced. The charity would seriously struggle to afford a new one, which is why they need your help to keep this vital service going.

Without it, many people living with dementia wouldn’t be able to access the help and support they need. 

Please click here to donate whatever you can – you never know when you, your family or your friend may be in need of Dementia Forward’s help too.

Thank you.

The NHS found that one in 11 people over the age of 65 in the UK are living with dementia. If you need urgent help or have a dementia-related enquiry, call 0330 057 8592 to speak to a helpline adviser.

Callous vandal attack on small Ripon cafe

The owner of one of Ripon’s smallest cafes, has been dealt a devastating blow caused by an act of mindless vandalism.

Helen Slater, who has run the Cathedral View Cafe for six years, arrived at work this morning to discover that one of the windows at her Bedern Bank premises had been smashed with a rock.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I was absolutely heartbroken, this has never happened to me before and the timing could not have been worse.”

Ms Slater who arrived in festive dress, ready for a hard day’s work, added:

“With the Ripon Cathedral Gift and Food Fair taking place across the road, I was expecting this to be one of my busiest weekends of the year, as I serve breakfast sandwiches and other food and drink items for people who have stalls at the fair.

“But with a broken window, it wasn’t safe to open and I lost all of that breakfast business, as I had to spend three hours cleaning up, contacting my landlord and reporting the vandal attack to the police.”

With the window boarded up, Cathedral View was able to open in time for the later morning and lunchtime trade and it will be business as usual again tomorrow.

Ms Slater, said:

“I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of fellow traders, customers and other people who have sent me supportive messages, made offers of help and dropped by with flowers and chocolates,

“The generosity of the local community has again shone through and I would particularly like to thank Ripon Walled Garden who cheered me up with the gift of a Christmas tree.”

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Van stolen from Ripon business park

A van has been stolen from a business park near Ripon.

North Yorkshire Police said today the Fiat Ducato light goods vehicle was stolen from e-commerce firm Hemmingways, at Barker Business Park in Melmerby, on Tuesday, November 21.

The incident occurred at 1.15am.

In a statement, the force said:

“The registration number of the vehicle is BV19OPH.

“It is white in colour and has a distinctive blue curtain side.

“If you see the stolen vehicle, or know where it is, please email richard.tindall@northyorkshire.police.uk.

“You can also call us on 101 and ask for Richard Tindall.”

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The reference number is 12230221425.

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Giant snow globe heading to Ripon

A giant inflatable snow globe is coming to Ripon as part of the city’s festivities next month.

Residents and visitors will be able to step inside the inflatable to create a free Christmas photo opportunity.

The globe, which will have biodegradable snow, will be in Ripon from December 14 to 17.

Ripon Business Improvement District, which is funded by traders to increase the number of city centre visitors, has devised the scheme in partnership with tourism organisation Visit Harrogate.

They are marketing the snow globe as “a hugely popular attraction that instantly transports you to your very own winter wonderland”.

It will be in Ripon at the same time as the winter wonderland illuminations in Spa Gardens, which take place from December 15 to 17.

Here’s where you can find the snow globe:

December 14 — 1pm to 7pm The Ripon Inn, Park Street

December 15 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Cathedral forecourt, Minster Road

December 16 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Market Square

December 17 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Market Square

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Sharow road closed yet again

For the second time in 14 weeks, a section of Dishforth Road/Sharow Lane between the Ripon bypass roundabout and the traffic calming island on the approach to St John’s Church, was closed this morning following a burst water main.

Yorkshire Water and its contractor have been working at the scene, which is close to the location of the previous burst main that forced the closure of the same section of road from August 7 to 11.

More recently, the road in Sharownwas hit by flooding on November 14 caused by Storm Debi and back in December/January, there was three weeks of major traffic disruption when Yorkshire Water replaced a ruptured pipe at the sewage pumping station on Dishforth Road. This work involved the felling of a tree and a round the clock convoy of tankers removing sewage from the site and taking it by road to the sewage treatment works off Boroughbridge Road.

Workers at the scene this morning.

James Thornborough who lives in Sharow, supplied these photos, told the Stray Ferret:

“There has been chaotic scenes during this morning’s rush hour with no advance warning of the diversion route for drivers to take, causing them to have to do three point turns in the road.

“The regularity of major mains failures on this key traffic route, points to the need for a resilient wholesale solution to be put in place.”

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Ripon’s YMCA charity shop to reopen next week

The Ripon YMCA charity shop, which closed at short notice in September, will reopen in time for the Christmas trading period,

Courtney Addison, the newly-appointed manager at the Marshall Way retail park store, told the Stray Ferret this morning:

“We are working hard pricing up goods and stocking shelves and rails ahead of reopening next week..”

The shop windows are being prepared with Christmas displays

Ms Addison, who has transferred over from the YMCA’s Boroughbridge shop, where she worked for four years, has been creating Christmas displays with her deputy Steph Nejzer Hewitt.

She pointed out:

“We have lots of new stock and some lovely festive items and look forward to welcoming back our customers and attracting some new ones as well.”

The store has a vacancy for another deputy manager and is looking for additional volunteers. Anybody wanting to find out more can contact 01765  690664.

At the time of its closing in September, a message on the shop’s Facebook page, said:

“We sincerely apologise for the temporary closure of this store. This is due to property circumstances beyond our control.”

The Ripon shop, which is part of a portfolio of 100-plus YMCA stores in England and Wales managed by the charity’s national retail team in London, opened in February in the unit formerly occupied by Argos.

Main picture: The store is being readied for reopening

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Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2023: How dementia led two carers to become best friends

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is to raise £30,000 for a much-needed minibus for Dementia Forward in the Harrogate district. 

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Please give generously to support local people and their families living with dementia. Let’s not forget those that need help this Christmas.

Today, Flora spoke to two women who met at the wellbeing café.

“It’s about knowing there’s someone at the end of the phone who understands what we’re going through.”

Cynthia Storie and Eileen King’s are both carers for their husbands, who are living with dementia, and have found comfort in each other through Dementia Forward’s wellbeing café.

Before their husbands’ diagnosis, Cynthia was a secretary and Eileen was a nanny. They were just like anyone else. But two years ago, everything changed.

Cynthia said:

“Your livelihood is taken from you – it’s a shocking blow.”

She was given a Dementia Forward leaflet following her husband Mike’s diagnosis. Eileen used the helpline service to work out their next steps.

Cynthia added:

“I wanted to make sure Mike could still socialise – he was so used to doing everything for himself.

“He didn’t want to come at all, but after I’d convinced him, and someone brought him a cup of coffee, he was chatting away. Two years later, he’s still here.”

The women said the café is an environment where their husbands feel understood. It combats the loneliness those living with dementia can often feel.

Carers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing their loved one is safe at the café, and can share their experiences with with others facing similar challenges.

She continued:

“You find that friends who you have spent so long going out for dinner and socialising with are so sympathetic at first, but after they realise they don’t understand, you become so isolated.”

 

The café has helped Eileen and her husband more than she could have imagined. She said:

“It helps so much coming here. It’s frightening – you don’t know what’s around the corner.

“It means I’ve got support, and you can offload to people that understand. The staff here don’t judge at all, and they take the guilt away from the carers.”

The women also call each other regularly to check in, visit each other for a cup of tea, and even bake cakes for each other.

Eileen said:

“We, as carers, put on a front. When you’re on your own, you pick up the phone and tell a friend that you need to talk.

“It’s nice when somebody says, ‘how are you?’.”

Dementia has been life-changing for both ladies and their husbands, but the café has brought them some level of peace.

Cynthia added:

“We want people who are reading this to know it takes courage to walk through the door of somewhere like this, but they’re not alone and it’s so worth it to come to these groups.”

Thousands of local families are fighting a long battle with these horrible diseases – and they need your help.

Every donation to our campaign will go directly to Dementia Forward, helping us hit our £30,000 target to buy the charity a new minibus and bettering the lives of those living with dementia and the people around them.

Dementia Forward’s current bus is old and urgently needs to be replaced. The charity would seriously struggle to afford a new one, which is why they need your help to keep this vital service going. Without it, many people living with dementia wouldn’t be able to access the help and support they need. 

Please click here to donate whatever you can – you never know when you, your family or a friend may be in need of Dementia Forward’s help too.

Thank you.

The NHS found that one in 11 people over the age of 65 in the UK are living with dementia. If you need urgent help or have a dementia-related enquiry, call 0330 057 8592 to speak to a helpline adviser.

Derelict Ripon petrol station finally set to be redeveloped

A decades-long wait to build flats on a former petrol station at Skellbank in Ripon could finally end soon.

The site has been derelict for more than 20 years and has been described as an “eyesore” by local residents.

In 2003, Harrogate Borough Council approved a plan to demolish it in order to build eight flats but it never came to fruition with the permission now lapsed.

A similar plan was submitted in 2016 but was then withdrawn three years later.

However, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams revealed at a recent meeting that he’s had confirmation from the site’s owner that it will submit a new planning application for eight flats in the next few weeks.

The former petrol station is in a residential area on the edge of the city centre and is on the route from Ripon towards popular tourist landmark Fountains Abbey.

Cllr Williams said:

“I’m hopeful that an application will be lodged in next few weeks that will hopefully, after decades of this land being derelict and an eyesore, mean it’s brought back into constructive use.

“Members of this council have repeatedly expressed concerns about this site and I’ve used what influence I have to get it this far. I’ve also had indication that the owner would consider screening the site in the interim.

“Residents in that area have for years had to look out onto that piece of land. I hope in the next 12 months that piece of land will be transformed into something much more appropriate.”

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