Harrogate International Festivals has announced early programme highlights for this year’s music festival, including a performance from Julian Lloyd Webber.

The festival, which is now in its 58th year, will host a variety of names in the industry across three weekends this summer, with an opening concert at The Royal Hall.

It celebrates music of all kinds and showcases a range of talent from young musicians to globally acclaimed artists.

British orchestra Chineke! will launch the festival, making their Harrogate debut. Chineke have performed at the Proms, as well as accompanying world-renowned rapper Stormzy on stage at the Brit Awards.

That weekend, Julian Llloyd Webber will be making a post-pandemic homecoming, while “festival legends” Oddsocks return to the event with an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said:

“I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are about this year’s Music Festival.

“It is our first full programme post-pandemic with a host of international names performing in some of Harrogate’s most beautiful buildings.

“We look forward to welcoming our audiences back to one of our flagship festivals this summer”.

Pianist Robin Green

Pianist Robin Green will be this year’s guest curator, and will head a weekend residency featuring 12 musicians in ten concerts.

The third and final weekend will feature trumpeter Mike Lovatt, premiering his brand-new project, the Brass Pack. There will also be a silent disco for children and a family festival.

The opening concert will take place on Thursday, June 29.

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Twelve primary schools raised about £6,000 for cancer care by performing a charity concert at the Royal Hall in Harrogate.

A total of 258 pupils took to the stage for the sold out concert, which has been held annually since 2015 except for covid.

Sarah Bassitt, who will retire as headteacher of Killinghall Church of England Primary School at the end of the year, was the main organiser of the event.

Funds raised from Friday’s show will go to the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre at Harrogate District Hospital, which provides cancer treatment.

Ms Bassitt said the raffle raised about £1,000 and the overall tally was expected to exceed £6,000.

“This will mean that over the time that we have been doing the concert we will have raised over £25,000 for local charities.

“It was an amazing evening that was highly appreciated and praised by parents.”

The show included choirs, a wind band, a ukulele group, recorders and dancers.

The finale saw all the children on stage together sing two songs conducted by Helen Potter

Schools taking part were:

Admiral Long and Birstwith CE Primary Schools

Bishop Monkton CE Primary School

Dacre Braithwaite CE Primary School

Hampsthwaite CE Primary School

The Federation of Kettlesing, Felliscliffe, Beckwithshaw & Ripley

Killinghall CE Primary School

The Upper Nidderdale Federation of Schools

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With Harrogate Borough Council in its final days, the Local Democracy Reporting Service looked at five major moments that defined it.

From controversy over the Harrogate conference centre to the move from Crescent Gardens to the Civic Centre — the council has played a major role in the look, feel and development of the district for the last 49 years.

As well as searching the archives of the Harrogate Advertiser we spoke to some of the people who were involved at the time to give a picture of how these five events unfolded.

1992: The future of shopping comes to Harrogate

Speak to a Harrogate resident over the age of around 40 it’s likely they will talk with fondness about the town’s former indoor market that was demolished in 1991.

For some, shopping has never quite been the same since the council approved the demolition so it could be replaced with the £50m Victoria Shopping Centre.

The old market was well-loved and included butchers, fishmongers, florists, needlecraft shops, second-hand book and record shops and much more.

But the late 20th century was the era of the shopping mall and there were hopes in Harrogate that a more modern facility would revitalise the town centre and attract major national brands. The market traders would be invited to take the space downstairs as part of the project.

Funding came from National Provident Institution and it was developed in partnership between Harrogate Borough Council and Speyhawk Retail plc.

The plans included a council-owned 800-space multi-storey car park on the other side of the train tracks with a bridge to connect shoppers.

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But the scheme was developed during the recession of the early 1990s that hit the town hard.

Harrogate’s bus station had been boarded up due to financial difficulties and the letters pages of the Harrogate Advertiser was full of fears about the town becoming a wasteland of empty shops and buildings.

During construction, market traders were moved to a temporary market on Station Parade while they eagerly awaited their new home to open.

Excitement was building and in early 1992 the Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce suggested good times were finally around the corner. It called on the Harrogate public to be more positive.

The business group had a punchy statement published in the Advertiser. It said:

“We’ve had enough! We’re sick and tired of the Harrogate and district moaners. All they do is complain, complain, complain and never look for the encouraging signs all around us.”

The Victoria Shopping Centre was designed by architects Cullearn & Phillips and was inspired by Palladio’s Basilica in Vicenza.

But its most controversial aspect were the sculptures depicting customers and staff on the balustrade around the roof line.

Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam desribed the statues as “quite hateful” resident Simon Townson told a reporter they were “grotesque and not for Harrogate” and the Harrogate Civic Society led calls to see them removed.

However they are still there to this day after the developer insisted they were a fundamental part of the design.

In the summer of 1992, Speyhawk revealed that 40% of the units had been filled by brands including Tie Rack, Levi’s and the Body Shop.

The underground market hall was opened on October 20 by then-mayor of Harrogate Barbara Hillier, with the rest of the shopping centre opening on November 9.

There was a wave of optimism from shoppers who described the town’s new venue as the future of shopping.

There were 54 units for market traders on the ground floor and they were quickly occupied. Butcher Brian Noon told the Advertiser in 1992:

“I think its brilliant! The developers have thrown a lot of money at it to make sure the building is tip-top.”

Harrogate Wools owner Bill Lee was similarly optimistic about the building’s future. He said:

“It will bring people back to Harrogate because they definitely have not been coming. I haven’t heard one complaint.”

The Victoria Shopping Centre was built in the years just before internet shopping took hold, which was perhaps not to have been foreseen.

Enthusiasm slowly ebbed away during the 1990s and 2000s as the market traders on the ground floor left one-by-one.

Today, the Victoria Shopping Centre still features big high-street names like WHSmith, TK Maxx and HMV. The town’s post office also moved there in 2019.

It’s now owned but not run by Harrogate Borough Council. The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last year its value has fallen by more than 80% in 10 years.

Harrogate Borough Council said it could receive a boost in shoppers if another controversial scheme, the Station Gateway, goes ahead.

But that will be a decision for North Yorkshire Council.

2008: A dilapidated Royal Hall brought back to former glory

The Royal Hall’s halcyon days saw it host the likes of the Beatles as well as the music, arts and comedy stars of the time.

But by the turn of the twentieth century, Harrogate’s grandest council-owned building had fallen into rack and ruin. In 2002 it closed to the public after part of its famous ceiling collapsed.

It’s downfall was in part, due to the town’s conference centre being such a drain on the council’s resources, according to the book Kursal – a History of Harrogate’s Royal Hall.

Royal Hall by Jim Counter

It was in such a poor state of repair that the unthinkable was being broached by councillors — after almost 100 years the Royal Hall could be condemned and demolished.

Refurbishment was originally estimated to cost £8.56m with the council likely to having to stump up £2m from its own coffers. The remaining amount would come from a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

However, there were fears the risky project could potentially bankrupt the authority.

Its emotional importance to the town was not only felt by residents in the town but by performers too.

David Hirst, who led the world famous brass band the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, made his plea from the stage of the Royal Hall in 2000.

He urged the audience, reduced in capacity because the theatre’s upper circle has been closed due to the crumbling concrete, to “get those letters in” to the council and back restoration. He said:

“This building is part of the Harrogate heritage, part of the tone of Harrogate.”

The Royal Hall Restoration Trust was formed in 2001 after then-leader of the council, Cllr Geoff Webber, suggested to the chairman of Harrogate Civic Society, Lilian Mina, that the council would welcome the support of an independent organisation whose prime role would be raising money for the refurbishment.

Then followed tea dances, school concerts, charity balls and other events, which raised £2.7m for the restoration — far more than the £1m it originally expected.

Lilian Mina died in 2008 and Geoff Webber died in 2021 but his son Matthew Webber, who is currently a Liberal Democrat Harrogate councillor, paid tribute to those who spearheaded the campaign to save the Royal Hall.

It was officially re-opened by patron of the trust Prince Charles in 2008 after six years of works.

Cllr Webber said:

“I am very proud of the work done by my late father as council leader at the time in conjunction with the Lilian Mina and the Royal Hall Preservation Trust that led to the Royal Hall being returned to its continued use today.”

2017: Goodbye to Crescent Gardens and a new home

Like the conference centre throughout the 1980s, it was Harrogate Borough Council’s move away from Crescent Gardens that dominated council-business during the mid-2010s.

Crescent Gardens had been used by HBC since 1974 and before that was used by the predecessor council in Harrogate ever since it opened on Halloween 1931.

But by the 21st century, the neo-classical building was showing its age and had become expensive to maintain for the council.

In 2010, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government came to power and councils were ordered to find savings under its programme of austerity.

The civic centre at Knapping Mount.

For the council, Crescent Gardens was an obvious place to look.

The council put forward several proposals, which included refurbishing Crescent Gardens, but it ultimately decided to build new offices on land it already owned at Knapping Mount off King’s Road.

At the time, it said the build would cost £8m although the move, as well as the selling off of other offices, would save around £1m in year due to reduced costs involved with maintaining the older buildings.

Tantalisingly for the council, there were hopes it could sell Crescent Gardens to a luxury developer. 

Then-council leader Don Mackenzie was quoted saying it could generate an investment of up to £30m into the district’s economy.

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Another former Conservative council leader, Anthony Alton, told a meeting the move was probably the biggest decision the council has taken since 1974. He added:

“We are in a continuing economic downturn which means that we have to make every penny count.”

The move to the Civic Centre was always contentious.

The Liberal Democrats argued that £2.5m should be spent on a refurbishment of Crescent Gardens and the Knapping Mount site should be sold for affordable housing.

They also criticised its circular design, saying it would increase costs.

By 2015, rumblings of another local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire were beginning to gather pace and questions were being asked about what would happen to the Civic Centre if there was no longer a council in Harrogate.

Vicky Carr is a former reporter at the Harrogate Advertiser and current deputy editor at the Stray Ferret. 

She remembers the subject coming up at a heated Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce meeting that year. 

She said:

“Someone wondered whether it made sense to be spending millions on a new headquarters for a local authority which, under government policy, was likely to be abolished within a decade.

“HBC offered reassurances that, should devolution go ahead, a shiny new civic centre would make Harrogate an ideal place for a new unitary authority to have its headquarters.

“Fast forward eight years and, while North Yorkshire Council will use the civic centre for some staff and services, it is keeping its headquarters firmly rooted in Northallerton.”

In 2020, the Stray Ferret published an investigation that estimated the land at Knapping Mount was worth £4.5m to the council, taking the project’s overall cost to £17m. However, the council has always disputed this.

Apart from during the covid lockdowns, council staff have been using the Civic Centre since December 2017.

Crescent Gardens on the other hand is still empty, almost five years’ since Harrogate Borough Council moved out.

The council originally announced it would sell it to property developer Adam Thorpe who had plans for a £75m redevelopment including luxury apartments, an art gallery, underground car park, swimming pool and restaurant.

But two years later, Mr Thorpe’s company ATP Ltd fell into administration with debts of almost £11m, including £24,394 owed to the council.

Crescent Gardens then went back up for sale and was eventually bought for £4m by Impala Estates in 2020.

The Harrogate-based developer was granted planning permission last year for a major refurbishment of the building that will see two-storey extension, rooftop restaurant, gym and new office space.

Four hundred children from 13 local primary schools will be taking centre stage at Harrogate’s Royal Hall in just over a week for the bi-annual Kids Aloud concert.

The Last Dragon, which is organised by Harrogate Brigantes Rotary, is a musical extravaganza featuring pupils from the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon areas.

The young performers have written a lot of the music themselves, with help from storyteller Guy Wilson and composer Roland Fudge.

Hundreds of pupils take part. Pic: Charlotte Gale

The children have also illustrated a book to accompany the show, which is available from local independent bookshops, Imagined Things in Harrogate and The Little Bookshop in Ripon.

Some 200 children will be involved each night on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.

Guy said:

“This is the eighth Kids Aloud concert Harrogate Brigantes Rotary has put on and the first that is entirely original.

“It gives our children a memorable chance to celebrate post-covid freedom with a lung-bursting performance at a full Royal Hall. We’re grateful to all the local businesses who’ve sponsored us and to Arts Council England who’ve given us a Youth Music grant.”

Guy paid particular tribute to This will be the last Kids Aloud for Harrogate primary schools music teacher Carmel Wake.

“As usual, Carmel has brought all her musical and organisational skills to the show. She has sourced and adapted music, conducted performances and coordinated the work of the schools.”

Carmel Wake conducting the choirs in rehearsal. Pic: Guy Wilson

The Last Dragon is a tale of good and evil, courage and victory set in the imaginary country of Rubovernia. It tells how two children, helped by the very last dragon in the country are able to fight off the evil that threatens it.

Any money that’s left at the end will help to fund the next Kids Aloud or go towards local good causes Brigantes Rotary supports.

Tickets are £15 for adults and £5 for under 17s and can be purchased from Harrogate Theatre box office or online here.

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In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look at the way our communities market the death of the Queen and the ascension of King Charles III.

The announcement of the death of Her Majesty the Queen on Thursday, September 8 led to a series of historic events across the Harrogate district. 

Among the first was a two-minute silence held by the Ripon hornblower following the setting of the watch at 9pm, less than three hours after the official announcement. 

Tributes quickly came in from dignitaries around North Yorkshire, including the Lord Lieutenant, Jo Ropner, who said: 

“I had the privilege of meeting Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace when I was appointed as Lord Lieutenant in 2018, and I know from personal experience that every engagement was conducted with grace and genuine interest, that every person felt the spark from meeting not only their monarch, but a truly remarkable woman whose commitment to her role will be remembered for generations to come.” 

The following morning, official arrangements began to be put in place to mark the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch. 

Church bells tolled for an hour at noon, while flags at public venues, including Ripon Town Hall, Knaresborough House and the Royal Hall in Harrogate, were flown at half mast. 

Many churches opened books of condolence for people to sign, and invited people to visit and pray. Flowers were laid on the grass by the war memorial in Harrogate. 

A number of events were cancelled over the following days as a mark of respect. Sporting fixtures around the country were called off, including Harrogate Town’s match against Carlisle. 

Both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council cancelled all meetings for the week following the Queen’s death. 

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On Sunday, September 11, a ceremony was held by the war memorial in Harrogate. It saw the Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate read the proclamation of the new King. 

A similar ceremony was held in Ripon, where Deputy Lord Lieutenant Richard Compton was on duty to read the proclamation. 

Over the following days, in unprecedented circumstances, some businesses altered their opening hours and some major events had to be changed too. 

Nidderdale Show was forced to move from its traditional Monday slot when the Queen’s funeral was announced for the same date. However, it later said the weekend show had proved a success and future events would be held on a Sunday. 

The funeral on Monday, September 19 saw several businesses close for the day, including Bettys tea rooms, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, and RHS Garden Harlow Carr. 

Many supermarkets closed all day, or opened from 5pm onwards. Bin collections were suspended for the bank holiday and council-run leisure centres were closed. 

The funeral was shown on big screens at Ripon Cathedral and the Royal Hall in Harrogate, as well as some pubs.

A Hollywood actor has praised the Stray in Harrogate after running laps around it during his theatre tour.

Richard E Grant was in town as part of his An Evening With tour, discussing his memoir, A Pocketful of Happiness.

Before heading off to Liverpool yesterday, he posted a video on Twitter of him running around the Stray, which he described as an “extraordinary parkland right in the middle of this beautiful city”.

https://twitter.com/RichardEGrant/status/1582656478090969088

The night before, the Oscar-nominated actor – who first found fame in the celebrated film Withnail and I – appeared at the Royal Hall in front of a sell-out audience.

He described the venue as “stunning” – and the audience seemed equally impressed with him, giving a standing ovation at the end of the night.

https://twitter.com/RichardEGrant/status/1582496498599591936

Mr Grant’s more recent work includes parts in Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and Doctor Who. In 2019, he was nominated for an Academy Award, a Bafta and a Golden Globe for best supporting actor in Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

His memoir takes its title from his late wife Joan Washington who, before her death last year from lung cancer, challenged him to “find a pocketful of happiness in every single day”.

Legendary chef Marco Pierre White started his culinary career in Harrogate four decades ago.

Since then, Marco has gone on to lead the country’s restaurant scene and helped kick-start the careers of chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.

Later this month he is returning to the town he calls one of his “spiritual homes” to host a three-day food festival.

He spoke to the Stray Ferret about learning the trade in Harrogate, favourite Yorkshire restaurants and… tripe.

‘First break in life’

Forty five years ago a young Marco Pierre White was instructed by his dad to go and search for work in Harrogate. This was because it was less than 10 miles away from his Leeds home and crammed with hotels.

So one morning in March 1978, sandwiches in hand, he caught the bus to the town, went to the St George Hotel, on Ripon Road, and knocked on the kitchen door.

He said:

“I was there for about a year. I didn’t learn much about cooking. That’s the truth. But what I did learn was how to use a knife well. I learned how to absorb pressure, I learned to be organised. I learned to work hard. Very hard.

“I also used to stand and watch the chef, Stefan Wilkinson, do the pass. He was the greatest at doing the pass that I ever saw. He gave me my first break in life for which I’m very grateful for.

“I learned a lot there, but not about food.”

Marco said his time at the Harrogate hotel was very important as it prepared him for his role at The Box Tree in Ilkley.

The famous Yorkshire restaurant opened in 1963 and was one of the first four restaurants in the UK to hold two Michelin stars.

Marco began working in the kitchen at the age of 17 in 1979, where he remained for two years.

He said:

“In those days it was one of only four restaurants in Britain to have two Michelin stars. A lot of people regarded it as the best restaurant in Britain at the time.”

‘Spiritual home’

While he hasn’t visited Yorkshire since 2019 as a result of the pandemic, he is looking forward to returning to Harrogate on October 28 for his three-day food festival.

He said:

“I always say Harrogate is one of my spiritual homes.”

And while he hasn’t dined out in the region for almost four years, he credits his favourite Yorkshire restaurant as the Cleveland Tontine, Northallerton.

He said:

“I’ve been there many, many times. My friend Eugene has left there and now he has got the Crathorne Arms, just outside Northallerton. He’s a very good chef and cooks food you want to eat.

“But when I was a boy, Harrogate had restaurants like the Drum and Monkey (which is still open today) and we had Oliver’s and Number Six. The first ever posh restaurant I took a girl to was Oliver’s in Harrogate. We both had beef wellington and a langoustine cocktail.”

Marco also recommends Simon Shaw’s tapas restaurant, El Gato Negro, in Leeds, where he plans to dine ahead of the food festival.

The Great White Food Festival

The Great White Food Festival will be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre and Royal Hall from October 28-30 and is expected to attract around 15,000 visitors.

Marco said:

“It’s basically a celebration of food and there will be lots of artisan producers who make things like salami, pork pies and black pudding.

“There will be produce like smoked salmon and haddock. In my opinion Alfred Enderby, from Grimsby, smokes the best smoked haddock in the world and they are coming.

“Redefine Meat are coming who make vegetarian steaks.

“Pierre Koffmann, Simon Shaw, Jean-Christophe Novelli and I will be doing masterclasses. There are a lot of chefs doing them.

“But it’s a celebration of Yorkshire really and all those individuals who contribute to it being wonderful.”

And his favourite Yorkshire dish?

“Tripe. Tripe is one of the most delicious things on earth. There used to be a tripe shop in Leeds Market. They used to hang it in all the butchers’ shops. People used to eat it cold with malt vinegar, black pepper and salt.”

• For more information about the Great White Food Festival and to book tickets, click here.

The director of Harrogate Convention Centre has said the loss of the 15-day International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival will have a “limited additional economic impact” on hotels in the town.

Festival directors Janet and Neil Smith announced last week they will stage next year’s event at Buxton Opera House in Derbyshire from July 29 to August 12.

Harrogate’s Royal Hall had hosted the festival, which attracts thousands of visitors from around the world, since 2014. It provided a major boost to the town’s hospitality sector.

The directors claimed the cost of the Royal Hall had doubled and that no compromise had been forthcoming. By contrast, Buxton Opera House had “pulled out every stop to accommodate the festival,” they claimed.

The absence of Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados for 15 days will be keenly felt by numerous Harrogate hotels, bed and breakfasts, bars and restaurants. But Paula Lorimer, director of the convention centre, said the summer timing would reduce the impact.

Ms Lorimer also said the event had received “a discount of over 90% on venue hire”.

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In a statement, she said:

“Over the past eight years, Harrogate Convention Centre and the Royal Hall has been proud to have supported the Gilbert and Sullivan festival to the tune of over £200k of in-kind services and support.

“We have also supported the festival with a discount of over 90% on venue hire.

“We tried to explore with the organisers how their event could change to reduce the costs to the venue however the organisers wished to retain the same event with the same levels of support despite dwindling numbers attending.

“Our feedback from the hospitality sector indicated that the timing of the festival, in the middle of the summer holidays, was at time when hotels are generally at capacity resulting in limited additional economic impact from the festival.

“We regret to see them leave but respect their commercial decision and wish the festival all the best for their future.”

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is to be moved from Harrogate to Buxton after the organisers claimed the cost of the venue doubled.

The Royal Hall hosted the event annually from 2014, except when it was cancelled due to covid.

It attracted thousands of visitors from around the world and provided a major summer boost for Harrogate’s hospitality sector.

But next year’s 15-day event will be held at Buxton Opera House in Derbyshire from July 29 to August 12 instead.

Bernard Lockett, one of the festival organisers, said:

“Last week, festival directors Janet and Neil Smith were presented with Harrogate Convention Centre‘s new costings for 2023, which would see overall costs double, making the festival in its present form impossible to stage. With no compromises forthcoming, there was sadly no option but to leave the town.

“The decision was not taken lightly. The festival has invested heavily in growing the festival in the town, and we know our visitors, who travel from all around the world every year, will certainly miss Harrogate, and particularly the magnificent Royal Hall.”

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An email from the organisers to festival supporters last week said Buxton Opera House, “pulled out every stop to accommodate the festival, ensuring a sustainable future for this important event”.

The event moved to Harrogate in 2014.

The festival was first staged in Buxton in 1993 before moving to Harrogate. The email said:

“We are immensely sorry to leave so many fantastic friends in Harrogate and the magnificent Royal Hall theatre.

“Buxton is, and always will be, the spiritual home of the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival.  We are excited to return and look forward to seeing everyone there next year.”

The Stray Ferret has approached Harrogate Borough Council, which manages the Royal Hall, for comment.

A play exploring the life of one of Harrogate’s most famous citizens premieres at the Royal Hall tomorrow — a theatre he helped to build.

Samson Fox, who died in 1903, was an inventor, philanthropist and Harrogate mayor, whose legacy is evident throughout the town.

The Man Who Captured Sunlight explores Samson’s life and controversial legal battle with author Jerome K Jerome.

Yorkshire actor Joe Standerline stars as the inventor, whose ideas had a major impact around the world.

His greatest creation, the corrugated boiler flue, saved thousands of lives and revolutionised engine construction.

His philanthropic legacy to the arts includes the creation of the Royal Hall and the Royal College of Music in London.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret at the dress rehearsal, Mr Standerline said:

“He takes interesting to another level. I feel a bit boring in comparison. There is definitely pressure to become one of the most uber human beings that has ever walked the planet. The guy was simply amazing.

“I think the people of Harrogate are definitely in for a treat. We’ve put the work in and we now get to play in this astounding theatre. Samson paid for a fair dollop of the place. We are ready now to project this piece.

“It’s part biopic, part period drama. The language in it is absolutely delicious and it’s surprisingly funny.”

As the great grandfather to actors Edward and James Fox, Samson also helped to create the UK’s most famed theatrical acting dynasty.

His grandchildren and great-grandchildren have starred in major TV shows and movies, from Edward Fox in the Day of the Jackal, to Emilia Fox in Silent Witness, and Freddie Fox in The Crown.

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Freddie Fox will attend the matinee performance and take part in an audience Q&A. The actor Joanna David, Freddie’s mother, will also attend.

Freddie Fox (photo by Tavistock Wood) and Samson Fox.

Mr Standerline, who has appeared in TV series such as ITV’s Victoria, joked:

“I’ll just say I’m perfectly fine with it. There’s no pressure at all performing in front of one of the greatest acting dynasties in the whole history of cinema and the theatre.”

Mr Standerline said the people of Harrogate had been extremely welcoming. He added:

“It’s been great spending the last few weeks here, integrating ourselves into the community that we are representing. It is a responsibility and we are taking it seriously and we can’t wait to get people in these seats.”

Born into poverty

Samson was born into poverty in Bradford in 1838 and worked in the mills from the age of nine. An impresario of his day, he famously ‘bottled the sun’ as Harrogate’s streets became the first thoroughfares in the world to be lit with his Fox Water-Gas.

Samson Fox and his family.

The play, written by Doctor Who writer Gavin Collinson, charts Samson’s meteoric rise, followed by the 19th century libel trial involving the author and editor, Jerome K Jerome.

Mr Collinson told the Stray Ferret:

“What I wanted to do is show his human side, show his family, show his heart. I wanted to show everything he risked, which was his considerable fortune, to clear his name. I also wanted to look into his ambiguities. Was he a good man? Hopefully that’s something the play explores.

“When the opportunity came up to tell his story, it was something I couldn’t refuse.

“The Fox family have read the script and they were incredibly kind. I hope they enjoy it tomorrow.

“I’m in awe of all the cast. I just sit there and write the lines but they bring it to life.

“I hope the people in Harrogate will enjoy the play. It’s a cast of Northern voices. There’s a reality and celebration of where we are from and I hope people embrace that.”

Cause UK, the Harrogate-based creative agency, has produced and sponsored  the play.

The Man Who Captured Sunlight premieres in Harrogate’s Royal Hall tomorrow, with the matinee at 2.30pm and evening performance at 7pm. Buy tickets here.