Harrogate’s struggling Royal Baths could soon have two new tenants.
North Yorkshire County Council bought the site as an investment asset for £9 million in 2018 but it has not generated the returns hoped for.
When the council bought the site, the units were occupied by J D Wetherspoon, The Potting Shed bar, the Viper Rooms nightclub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.
But the Potting Shed has been closed for years and the sudden demise of the Viper Rooms in December left half the units unoccupied.
Days after the Viper Rooms closed, the council said the site had attracted “significant interest from potential tenants”. But three months on it remains empty.
In an update today, Gary Fielding, the county council’s corporate director for strategic resources, said:
“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms is continuing to attract significant interest, and an agent has been appointed to co-ordinate discussions with potential tenants.
“A lease has been signed for the final unit and a dialogue with the tenant is continuing to establish when the new venture will be launched.”
The new North Yorkshire Council will assume control of the Grade II listed Royal Baths on April 1 when the county council, along with seven district councils including Harrogate Borough Council, ceases to exist.
Read more:
- Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub
- Questions raised as Harrogate Royal Baths loses £2.5m in value
No.12: End of an era as Harrogate’s last nightclub closes
In the last article of our series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look back at the story of the closure of Harrogate’s last night club – the Viper Rooms.
For generations of young people growing up in Harrogate, nightclubs have been an essential part of weekend life.
The likes of Carringtons, Jimmy’s and Josephines are still talked about fondly by people of a certain age. So it’s hard to believe not a single nightclub remains.
The last one, Viper Rooms, closed on December 9 — and the end was swift and brutal.
North Yorkshire County Council, which owns the site on Parliament Street, sent in bailiffs to repossess the building and change the locks just hours before the club was due to welcome Friday night revellers.

Repossession notices on door.
Viper Rooms, owned by Paul Kinsey, did not hold back in a social media post announcing the club’s demise after 15 years. It said:
“Having tried for nearly three years to negotiate a new lease with our landlord in good faith and after spending £350,000 refurbishing the club in 2019 they have taken possession of the site, hijacking the process and causing 30 team members to be laid off and causing the cancellation of all the pre-booked Christmas parties.”

Paul Kinsey
Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, responded by saying it was “protecting the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers”.
Mr Fielding added:
“We have tried hard to understand the difficulties all our tenants have experienced as a result of the covid pandemic and to offer them our support. This has, in turn, had an impact on our own finances.
“Residents and businesses here rightly expect us to ensure that every effort is made to protect public money and we have a duty to do just that.
“While we do not want to comment on individual cases, we must be fair and consistent and act in the best interests of the public who we serve.”

Viper Rooms is no more.
The closure of the Viper Rooms means two of the four commercial units in the Royal Baths, which North Yorkshire County Council bought off Harrogate Borough Council for £9 million in 2018, are now empty.
The JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant continue to trade. Mr Fielding said the Viper Rooms site had already generated “significant interest from potential tenants” and a “new agreement for the final one is in the final stages of negotiations”.
So what about Harrogate’s nightclub scene? In its social media post announcing Viper Rooms’ closure, the owners said they would release a “new venue announcement soon”.
But with so many pubs and bars staying open late these says, nightclubs no longer mean as much to many young people.
Have they become an inevitable victim of social trends, or is Harrogate’s nightclub scene set for a revival? The next year should provide some answers.
Read more:
- ‘Significant interest’ in Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms, says council
- Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub
- Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
‘Significant interest’ in Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms, says council
Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms has already attracted “significant interest from potential tenants”, according to landlord North Yorkshire County Council.
The nightclub, which was part of the historic Royal Baths, closed suddenly on Friday last week when bailiffs changed the locks.
Nightclub owner Paul Kinsey said on social media the landlord had repossessed the building after the two parties failed to agree a new lease and that 30 people had lost their jobs.
Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, said in a statement last weekend it had acted “in the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers” but declined to elaborate.
The closure of the Viper Rooms means two of the four commercial units at the Royal Baths are now empty.
Asked about the council’s plans for the Royal Baths, Mr Fielding indicated all four units could be occupied soon. He said:
“Two of the four units which are overseen by ourselves are occupied by a JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.
“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms has already attracted significant interest from potential tenants, while a new agreement for the final one is in the final stages of negotiations.
“We remain firmly committed to working constructively with tenants where this is in the interests of both local residents and businesses.”

Viper Rooms
Mr Fielding said North Yorkshire County Council inherited the terms of the Royal Baths lease when it bought the grade two listed building from Harrogate Borough Council for £9 million in 2018. He added:
“Among those conditions is Harrogate Borough Council continuing the lease arrangements on a peppercorn rent for two units, which are occupied by the Tourist Information Centre and the Turkish Baths.
“The significance of the visitor economy to Harrogate is well-documented, so both of these units serve important roles in providing information to visitors as well as housing a renowned attraction in the Turkish Baths.
“Alongside the units at the Royal Baths, there are various car parking arrangements at the site including a long-term lease to Harrogate Borough Council and some private arrangements that generate income.
Read more:
- Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub
- Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
- Questions raised as Harrogate Royal Baths loses £2.5m in value
Mr Fielding defended the council’s decision to repossess Viper Rooms. He said:
“We have tried hard to understand the difficulties all our tenants have experienced as a result of the covid pandemic and to offer them our support. This has, in turn, had an impact on our own finances.
“Residents and businesses here rightly expect us to ensure that every effort is made to protect public money and we have a duty to do just that.
“While we do not want to comment on individual cases, we must be fair and consistent and act in the best interests of the public who we serve.”
Mr Kinsey has said he does not wish to comment further at this stage.
Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub
North Yorkshire County Council has said it acted in the “best interests” of taxpayers after it repossessed Harrogate’s Viper Rooms.
Bailiffs acting on behalf of the council entered the Parliament Street nightclub on Friday and changed the locks.
Notices pinned to the doors said any attempt to re-enter the premises would result in criminal or civil proceedings.
It prompted the club to announce on social media, hours before it was due to open, that it had closed with the loss of 30 jobs.
The venue, which was Harrogate’s last remaining nightclub, is part of the Royal Baths commercial investment portfolio acquired by the council for £9 million in 2018.

The club is part of the Royal Baths.
Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, said in a statement to the Stray Ferret:
“We are unable to discuss details about specific cases that North Yorkshire County Council is involved in.
“However, we will pursue our policies that protect the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers, and will therefore act accordingly.”
Read more:
- Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
- Questions raised as Harrogate Royal Baths loses £2.5m in value
- Council accused of ‘trophy investment’ for £9m purchase of Harrogate’s Royal Baths
The council has been under pressure to generate better returns on the Baths.
It was described as an “underperforming trophy asset” by one councillor last year because of its low rate of investment returns.
Last month the council warned it would take a tougher line on tenants following further poor investment returns.
Mr Fielding said the council “has done all it reasonably can to support its tenants” through covid, adding:
“We work with our tenants to understand their circumstances in order to maximise the income into the council.
“However, it is not the council’s responsibility to support tenants indefinitely, and if businesses are not sustainable then we work with tenants to bring tenancies to a close.”
Questions raised as Harrogate Royal Baths loses £2.5m in value
The value of Harrogate Royal Baths has fallen by £2.5m since it was acquired as a commercial investment by North Yorkshire County Council in 2018.
A council report reveals the Grade II listed building, built in the 1890s, was valued at £7m in March this year, compared with £9.5m when the local authority bought it. The council paid £9m but was prepared to pay £10m.
The report also reveals the Baths had only generated a 1.82% return on investment by September 30, which marked the end of the second quarter of the financial year.
The depreciation of the asset, along with the low rate of return on investment, has sparked fresh questions about the council’s decision to buy the Baths and its ability to manage commercial assets.
Last year Conservative county councillor Richard Musgrave said he was “absolutely speechless” to learn the council had paid £9m, adding “the performance looks very, very poor” and describing it as a “trophy investment”.
Speaking about the latest figures, Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the council’s Independent group, said local authorities should aim for investment returns of between five and 10 per cent and although times were hard the 1.82% figure was not acceptable. He added:
“The main problem is local authorities should not really own these properties because they don’t know what they are doing.
“I just don’t think there’s enough commercial nouse in the local authority to be running these sites.”

Figures contained on p134 of the council report.
Cllr Parsons said the new North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence in April, should “hire proper commercial people” to run key assets like the Baths and the loss-making Harrogate Convention Centre, which he said had been “a millstone around Harrogate Borough Council‘s neck for a long time” and in danger of becoming a “white elephant”.
He added:
“This should be the last chance. Give commercial people a couple of years to turn them around and if they can’t, the council should think about disposal. There has to be a proper policy.”
‘Severely impacted by covid’
Asked about the latest figures, North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate director for strategic resources, Gary Fielding, said:
“This particular investment was an opportunity to invest not only for a direct financial return but also in our locality. To the end of the last financial year, returns have been in excess of our standard treasury investments. The issues experienced have been the result of a global pandemic and more recently other issues beyond UK borders.
“Investments are made for the longer term — balancing risks that can reasonably be foreseen and having sufficient cash flow and reserves to deal with shorter term shocks.
“As we move towards a new unitary council from April 1, 2023, we will see the freehold of Harrogate baths pass to the new council. Whilst the investment from North Yorkshire County Council will cease at this point, the ongoing relationships with tenants will continue.”
Read more:
- Harrogate’s Royal Baths: the council’s under-performing ‘trophy investment’
- Council accused of ‘trophy investment’ for £9m purchase of Harrogate’s Royal Baths
Mr Fielding indicated the council would take a tougher line on commercial tenants to maximise income.
Sneak Peek: Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant reopens“The hospitality sector has been severely impacted by the covid pandemic and the council has done all it reasonably can to support its tenants through these difficult times for the benefit of the local economy and taxpayers generally.
“We work with our tenants to understand their circumstances in order to maximise the income into the council. However, it is not the council’s responsibility to support tenants indefinitely, and if businesses are not sustainable then we work with tenants to bring tenancies to a close.
“We have seen improvement over the last six months which is encouraging. However, with the ongoing cost of living crisis, the hospitality sector may unfortunately experience further pressures.”
The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant in Harrogate re-opened last night.
The restaurant, set in the Grade II listed Royal Baths, is one of the most historic and opulent places to dine in Harrogate.
It has been closed since the end of 2020 and was also shut for most of 2020 due to lockdowns.
But after extensive repair work due mainly to damp, people once again have the chance of a unique eating experience.
The building, which has a central dome and pillars down the side, was built between 1894 and 1897 and for many years was Europe’s premier destination for spa treatments. It is now owned by North Yorkshire County Council.
The restaurant has served traditional Chinese food for about 13 years and will continue to do so.
Read more:
- Owner of Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant opens Pateley Bridge takeaway
- 4km of jubilee bunting goes up around Harrogate
A restaurant spokesman said the 100-seat venue would be similar to how customers remembered it, with the VIP room and terrace bar and dining area back in operation. However, the party room is currently unavailable.
He added:
“We have a new team of staff starting and ask people to be patient when we first re-open.
“But it’s very much the same Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant. We have been here for 13 or 14 years now and look forward to welcoming customers back.”
The owners opened the Royal Baths Express takeaway in Pateley Bridge in February.
They also continue to operate Haks Little Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant, on Harrogate’s Station Parade.
More pictures from The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant

The bar, which leads to the outside terrace.

The terrace area.

The Grade II listed building was built from 1894 to 1897.

Inside the main dining area.
The owner of Harrogate’s Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant is opening a new takeaway in Pateley Bridge tonight.
The takeaway is called Royal Baths Express and is at 2 Park View on Bridgehouse Gate. A restaurant will also open at the venue at a later date.
It’s open on Sunday to Thursday from 4.30pm to 9.30pm and Friday and Saturday from 4.30pm to 10pm. The business is closed each Tuesday.
Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant in Harrogate has been closed for most of the last two years due to coronavirus lockdowns and an extensive refurbishment that began in May last year.
It is due to reopen soon but a date has yet to be confirmed.
The owners have continued operating at their other Harrogate site, Haks Little Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant, on Station Parade.
Read more:
Opinion: The big lie
The news that we are all facing extraordinary rises in energy prices, together with the forthcoming reorganisation of local government are but two aspects of the great lie and con trick played on us by decades of politicians and career officers, that bigger is always better.
It is this grotesque fallacy that has led to local people losing control of the services that they originally created, financed and administered, in exchange for services controlled by strangers for whom the screwing of as much profit as possible from their reluctant customers, with as low a service as possible, seems their only purpose.
Let me provide some examples relating to Harrogate, with the reorganisation of local government being a particularly topical issue.
Local government
The liars say that Harrogate has too small a population to be a unitary authority. Of course they say this, as it is in their interests to promote the concept of big authorities, as salaries and payments are invariably higher when applied to responsibility for a larger population as against a smaller one. They will say that the merging of – say – six local authorities will mean one chief executive instead of six, one borough planner instead of six, one treasurer, instead of six, etc. etc. Whereas in truth, the savings come at the dire cost of local people becoming further removed from control over the services for which they are paying.
Harrogate too small to be a unitary authority. Rubbish! Today, the Harrogate district’s population is around 161,000, that of the town being little over 75,000. Yet when Harrogate town had a population of only 26,583, about two thirds smaller than the Harrogate town of today, it was able from the yield of its local rates, to build the Royal Baths, the Royal Hall, a gigantic series of reservoirs and an unequalled water distribution network, to run its own electricity works, to build and run its own schools and pay the staff salaries, to administer its own fire services, run its own public health facilities and many other things. All this was possible because Harrogate had the authority to levy its own council rates (and to keep the greater part of the income) and for Harrogate’s Council to spend the proceeds in ways permitted by Acts of Parliament.

The Royal Hall, previously known as the Kursaal, at height of Edwardian season. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive
Yet today, thanks to the gradual erosion of local democracy, the present North Yorkshire County Council takes the vast majority of every pound paid in council tax by Harrogate residents, with much less going to Harrogate Borough Council. Is it any wonder that our democratically elected Harrogate borough councillors are hamstrung at every turn when they try to provide the services demanded by local residents? The secret of true local democracy has little to do with population sizes, and everything to do with financial control, which must include the power to set local taxation and the power to spend such taxation within the town that supplied it – such powers being determined by Parliamentary authority.
Naturally North Yorkshire’s councillors and career officers will seek to expand their spheres of influence, and to retain and enhance their existing stranglehold on Harrogate – it is absolutely in their interests to do so. But history shows that their ever increasing power to control our lives has been at the cost of local representation and accountability. The latest calamitous “reforms” of local government will further reduce the rights and powers of local people to control their own lives, with Harrogate becoming further prey to the financial leech which is bleeding the town to finance road repairs in Tadcaster, libraries in Skipton, schools in Easingwold, and social services in Selby.
Nevertheless, it remains my hope that one day – maybe in 50 or 100 years time – Harrogate will regain powers to control its own finances, and re-establish democratic control of its affairs by its citizenry.
Gas
When some Harrogate people decided the town should have access to a supply of gas, they obtained an enabling Act of Parliament in 1846, after which a gas works was built at Rattle Crag financed by local private shareholders.
After overcoming initial difficulties with the Improvement Commissioners, the gas company supplied the lighting of the public streets as well as gas for residential and commercial use. The profits produced went back into improving the gas plant and paying the salaries of those employed in the work, many of whom lived at New Park.
After several extensions of its area of supply, Harrogate’s gas company was nationalised by the Gas Act of 1948, which merged some 1,062 privately owned and municipal gas companies into 12 area gas boards.
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The York, Harrogate and District group of gas companies had already merged on 1 January 1944, comprising Harrogate, York, Malton and Easingwold, which were joined by the Yeadon, Guisley, and Otley companies on 1 October 1946. This arrangement, however, barely survived for two years, until the 1948 Gas Act changed everything.
With every enlargement, control of the manufacture, distribution and pricing of gas passed further away from the people who had created the company, and for whom its products were intended, to huge, impersonal and uncaring conglomerates.
This process has continued to this day, resulting in the crazy situation that Harrogate’s gas customers now have absolutely no control over the gas they use nor the rate at which it is priced. What would those Victorian founders have said on hearing that we are to some extent reliant on Russia for the continuance of our gas supplies?
Electricity

Electricity works opening ceremony in 1897. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive
In order to provide the people of Harrogate with an alternative to gas, Harrogate Corporation’s elected representatives built a Municipal Electricity Undertaking near to the site of the present Hydro, which opened in 1897.
The people’s democratically elected councillors regulated the supply and pricing of electricity with regard to the local situation, so that when in 1933, at the height of the terrible depression, many were experiencing economic hardship, the council reduced the unit cost of electricity from one penny to three-farthings.
When war came in 1939, Harrogate’s Electricity Undertaking was supplying 20,670 consumers, and selling 26,815,046 units of power, with a gross income of £178,857.
By the end of the year to March 1945, those figures had increased to 21,977 consumers, selling 39,254,676 units of power, with a gross income of £242,412 – an incredible achievement given the conditions of war time operation.
But in 1948, and by order of the government’s Electricity Act of 1947, Harrogate’s Electricity Undertaking was transferred to the enormous new British Electricity Board and thus removed from the town a valuable asset which had hitherto been controlled by local people.
Water

Turning on the reservoir water. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive
Just the same thing as described above applies to water. When a group of local people raised money to establish the Harrogate Water Company, following a Parliamentary Act of 1846, the townspeople supported the project, and the little company grew as the town grew.
In 1897, an Act of Parliament empowered Harrogate Corporation to buy out the private water company, which was then run purely for the benefit of the townspeople. Under the inspirational leadership of Alderman Charles Fortune, the corporation undertook a massive programme of reservoir and distribution construction, which ensured Harrogate had an adequate supply of water for the next 50 years.
Harrogate’s municipal water undertaking was one of the jewels in Harrogate’s crown until the 1945 Water Act, which paved the way for the creation of the huge Claro Water Board in 1958/9, which covered an area of 420 square miles, between one fifth and one sixth of the area of the West Riding of Yorkshire, with a population of 119,000. On such a scale, it was inevitable that the concern would no longer be run purely in the interests of the people of Harrogate, nor would its profits be returned to the local economy.

Malcolm Neesam, Harrogate-based historian
An investigation by the Stray Ferret has revealed that Harrogate’s Royal Baths have massively under-performed as a commercial investment since they were bought by North Yorkshire County Council in 2018.
The council bought the Grade II listed building for £9 million in 2018 as part of a wider strategy to become more entrepreneurial to plug its declining budget from central government.
But the Baths have only generated about a third of the income expected, raising questions about the wisdom of the decision to buy it, as well as whether the council has the necessary business acumen to invest taxpayers’ money in such schemes.
The council was accused of making a “trophy investment” last month when one councillor said he was “absolutely’ speechless” by the £9 million sum paid for the Baths.
It has now emerged that rental income is way down on what was predicted in a confidential report to councillors before they agreed to buy it.
Prepared to pay £10m
The report, which has now been made public, reveals the council was prepared to pay up to £10 million for the Baths, which included four commercial units.
At the time, they were J D Wetherspoon, The Potting Shed bar, the Viper Rooms nightclub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant. The Potting Shed subsequently closed.
The report forecast the Baths would generate annual income of £500,940.
But gross income received in the three years since then was just £613,000 — way down on the £1.5 million expected. The council has also incurred maintenance and other costs of £222,000 on the Baths to the end of March 2021, further reducing the income figure to £391,000.
Read more:
- Council accused of ‘trophy investment’ for £9m purchase of Harrogate’s Royal Baths
- Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant reveals plans to re-open
- Council warns of ‘ financial pressures’ despite government funding

Philip Broadbank
Councillor Philip Broadbank, a Liberal Democrat who represents Harrogate Starbeck on the county council, said
“The price for the Royal Baths investment seems to be high and the rate of return has been very disappointing and needs to improve.
“The Royal Baths complex is in a central position in Harrogate town centre but margins need to improve quickly for council taxpayers to see some financial benefits. It is vital that all the units are let and fully operational and officers need to ensure that happens soon to help the local economy.
“The periods of closure have been significant and challenging and the poor rates of return need to be substantially improved if taxpayers are to have confidence that the investment policies are to work satisfactorily financially.”
‘It will end in tears’
The council has not been helped by lockdowns, which have affected all three surviving businesses. The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant remains closed but plans to re-open this year.

Stuart Parsons
Nevertheless, Councillor Stuart Parsons, who represents Richmond and is the Independents group leader at the county council, said the financial performance of the Baths was worrying and predicted the council’s attempts to generate income in new ways would “end in tears”. He said:
“There’s always that belief in local government that they have expertise and can deliver anything but they are experts at delivering services rather than property projects.”
He said the council had been “absolutely strapped for cash by central government for 11 years” and was being encouraged by ministers to find new sources of income to “shore up shortfalls”. But he added:
“We have seen a number of councils fail because they have taken on projects like renewable energy and are unable to deliver them.
“They will try their hardest in North Yorkshire but they don’t have the necessary expertise to drive things forward. This will be one of the black marks against the Conservative government. It will end in tears.
“Councils should not be trading. They should be providing services, not building houses or power plants. If they had kept the £9m it could have been used to help people in desperate need in social care.”
Cllr Parsons added it was concerning that major spending decisions involving taxpayers’ money were being made on the basis of such inaccurate forecasts.
“If they are basing their finances on estimates that are unsound then something seriously needs to change.”

North Yorkshire County Council offices in Northallerton.
Councillor Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the Conservatives on the county council, has been one of the key supporters of the Baths investment.
The Stray Ferret sent him some questions but he did not reply.
‘Better than treasury returns’
A council spokesman said it received legal advice and a surveyor’s report and undertook comparative market analysis to support the business case and necessary due diligence before buying the lease on the Baths from M&G Property Portfolio.
He added the investment “continues to stand up against the alternative investment opportunities where cash returns amounted to an average return of 0.19% p.a. at Quarter 2 21/22”.
Gross income received to the end of 20/21 was £613,000 and standard treasury returns would have generated £152,000, the spokesman added, and therefore the investment “has realised £461,000 of additional benefit to the council and its taxpayer when compared to our standard treasury returns”.
He added covid and lockdowns had had a significant impact since the Baths were bought in 2018.
“Our tenants, in the hospitality sector, have been significantly impacted by the pandemic with extended periods of enforced closure during 2020 and 2021. We are working with them to reach reasonable terms on recovery of arrears where possible.
“National regulations in force until late March 2022 prevent us from evicting tenants that have fallen into arrears as a result of covid.
“All retail and hospitality suffered significant periods of closure and financial challenge throughout the pandemic. The Harrogate Royal Baths is a local asset and we remain confident that Harrogate and the Royal Baths itself will recover from the pandemic and continue to contribute to the Harrogate and North Yorkshire local economy.
Besides the four commercial units, the purchase of the Baths also included two further units held on long-leases by Harrogate Borough Council at a peppercorn rent occupied by the tourist information centre and the Turkish Baths, as well as two car parks similarly let on long leases at nominal rents.
The council set up the Brierley Group of firms, ranging from house builders to lawyers, in 2017 to bring together council-owned companies and find new ways of making money. However, last year it reported a loss of £639,000.
Further losses are forecast for the current financial year.
The council warned last month it faces “enormous financial pressures” and needed to find £19 million in savings.
How I’d develop the Royal Baths and Prospect Square
Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the third of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.
Vision 7: Royal Baths
With my unlimited budget and full planning control, my next vision involves the Royal Baths, and let me explain immediately that contrary to what some might guess, my vision does not consist of restoring the building as a working Spa, as I am not convinced the market for such an amenity exists in Harrogate today outside small, private luxury hotels.

The Royal Baths should remain at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area.
Instead, I see the Royal Baths building as being at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area, and consequently, I would leave the bars and restaurants in the 1897 building intact. As for the former Lounge Hall, I would restore this as Harrogate’s ‘town’s hall’, or an assembly space for use by local groups, Mayor makings, school prize days, fashion shows, or simply as a place of assembly with refreshments still being available, but on a far reduced scale to the present situation.
It was, in my opinion, very wrong of Harrogate Borough Council to have disposed of the lease of this complex for such a long period when the place was built using public money for the whole community. But let that pass, as the centre-piece of my vision for the Royal Baths is outside the former Lounge Hall.
When the council allowed the block of flats known as “Royal Baths 2” to be built, it ensured it had an underground car park, yet for the adjoining site between the former Fountain Court and the road at Montpellier Gardens, it approved its conversion into a surface car park! This was a gross waste of one of the most valuable building sites in Harrogate. And to add to the bad decision, it allowed the lovely Fountain Court to be torn down in an act that provided for a mere nine cars. I would construct an underground car park here, and restore the Fountain Court, but giving it a glazed roof, so that it could be used throughout the year.

Fountain Court 2001: Walker-Neesam Archive
But my most ambitious work would be between the restored Fountain Court and Montpellier Gardens, where on the site of the long demolished New Montpellier Pump Room I would build a four-storeyed replica of an old Harrogate coaching inn, complete with galleried courtyard, which would be filled with whatever catering, accommodation and entertainment facilities the market was judged to require. It would need to be attractive and picturesque, to draw as many visitors as possible, and would be a major enhancement for the Montpellier and Royal Parade Quarters.
Vision 8: Prospect Square
The large urban space bounded by Cambridge and Prospect Crescents, St. Peter’s Church, the Yorkshire Hotel, and – across the busy road – the old Pier Head, certainly has as good a claim as any to be regarded as the heart of Harrogate.

Pier head lavatories and terrace: Pic: Walker-Neesam Archive
As its last makeover came from the experimental pedestrian zones of the 1970s and 1980s, with little subsequent change, it makes a good candidate for the last of my series of visions for the future.
The first thing I would do, if I had unlimited funding and full planning control, would be to re-open the suites of underground lavatories at what is facetiously called Pier Head, which the council built on the Stray after the passing of the 1893 Harrogate Corporation Act. The location, opposite the junction of Prospect Place, James Street, Cambridge Street, Parliament Street and Montpellier Hill was perhaps the best site in the town for such an amenity. As this location was within 75 yards of Hopewell House (now Bettys) the 1893 Act required that it be built underground.
To comply with this requirement, the corporation removed soil from the crown of Montpellier Hill, built the lavatories, and covered them with the excavated soil, thus giving the impression of subterranean construction. Work does not seem to have begun until 1896, and progressed slowly, in that the brick structure was not ready to receive its disguising “ornamental rockery” until January 1897, when the council discussed tenders. On June 2, an advertisement appeared for male and female applicants who would be required to work from 9.00am to 9.00pm each day, including Sundays, at a wage of twenty shillings a week for the man and fifteen shillings a week for the woman.
These wonderfully constructed public lavatories remained in use for nearly a century, until the council, still reeling from the lamentable mishandling of the Conference Centre affair, took the frankly stupid decision to close them to “save money”. The power and water were disconnected, and the entrances filled in with soil. I am sure that 95% of the present council has no idea they are there. Given the wonderfully convenient location of the Pier Head lavatories, it would be sensible to restore and properly staff them, and this would be my first goal for this location.

Prospect Square
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For the rest, I would close the short length of road in front of Cambridge Crescent, to link the central war memorial to the Crescent, and I would pay for a facsimile of Samson Fox’s sensational Water Gas candelabra. This was built by Fox as a demonstration piece for his water gas plant. It consisted of a “gigantic lamp of four tiers of branches, each branch have 12 double branch light, making a total of 48 brilliant lights”.
The Water Gas experiment was a great success, with Parliament Street lit to great effect, so much so that by autumn, the press reported visitors were coming from far and wide to see how the Mayor of Harrogate “had bottled the sun”. Despite the overwhelming brilliance of the Fox Water Gas candelabra, its energy consumption was enormous, so its modern use would have to be minimal. I would also floodlight the whole of Prospect Square and the War Memorial as – hopefully – an attraction for residents and visitors alike.