St Peter's Church Archives - Page 2 of 3

Harrogate church to hold baby loss event

People who have lost babies are being invited to light a candle or leave a message at St Peter’s Church, Harrogate next week.

Baby Loss Awareness Week, which runs from October 9 to 15, is an awareness and support campaign around pregnancy and baby loss.

One in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage and 250 babies are stillborn every day in the UK.

Reflect, a pregnancy loss support charity, will be holding a Light a Candle remembrance event from 12.45pm to 2pm on Tuesday at St Peter’s Church. People will be able to light a candle or leave a message in remembrance of their loss.

Baby Loss Awareness Week, now in its 20th year, enables those affected to come together to remember and commemorate lost children.

The week also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of pregnancy and baby loss and the importance of bereavement support.

Tanya Allen from Reflect charity said:

“We hope that our Light a Candle event will provide an opportunity for local bereaved parents and families to remember their precious babies. We also would like anyone dealing with the pain of pregnancy and baby loss to know that there is support available; at Reflect we provide free one-to-one support for individuals and couples.”

Baby Loss Awareness Week is observed internationally and culminates with the Wave of Light on October 15, when people across the world light a candle at 7pm local time and leave it burning to remember all babies that have died too soon.

Floral tributes to Queen increase at Harrogate war memorial

About 100 floral tributes to the Queen have now been placed at Harrogate war memorial.

People began laying flowers shortly after the Queen’s death was announced on Thursday.

The number has grown steadily since, with many accompanied by moving handwritten notes, some written by children.

Yesterday, Andrew Jones, the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, signed the book of condolence at St. Peter’s Church in Harrogate.

Mr Jones had previously attended the choral matins special memorial service for the Queen.

St. Peter’s is open from 8:30am-6-30pm every day during the period of mourning where there is a book of condolence that people can write in.

Also, on Wednesday and Friday at 12noon there will be a short act of prayer.

Andrew Jones signs the book of condolences at St Peter’s Church. Credit: Steve Martin

At County Hall in Northallerton, councillor Margaret Atkinson, who is chair of the council and represents Masham and Fountains, read the local proclamation of King Charles III yesterday.

Today, the local proclamation of King Charles III was read by Cllr Margaret Atkinson, Chair of the Council, on the steps of County Hall in Northallerton.

God save the King. pic.twitter.com/AKgSitiNlh

— North Yorkshire Council (@northyorksc) September 11, 2022

Bells ring out across the district once more as Charles III proclaimed King

Bells are ringing out once more across the Harrogate district today to formally proclaim King Charles III as the new sovereign.

This time it is a celebratory peal to mark the King’s ascension to the throne.

The Reverend Judith Clark, assistant curate on placement at St Peter’s, Harrogate, said:

“When the bells ring out today they will be unmuffled for the proclamation of King Charles III.”

After today, bells will then be muffled again until the day of the Queen’s funeral.

Churches remain open today for tributes, reflection and mourning.

Special services in commemoration of the Queen are also taking place across the district, including at St Peter’s Church, St John’s, Knaresborough, and Ripon Cathedral.

Flags raised back up to full mast across the district as Charles III proclaimed new sovereign

Flags across the Harrogate district have been raised back up to full mast, on the occasion of the proclamation of His Majesty King Charles III.

They will return to half mast tomorrow in observance of the period of mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Residents are continuing to pay tribute to the Queen following her death on Thursday afternoon.

Flowers have been have been laid by mourners by the War Memorial in Harrogate, with some featuring heartfelt messages.

One family wrote:

“Flowers for HRH Queen Elizabeth in thanks for the love, protection and stability you gave our nation. Rest in peace.”

Churches remain open today for tributes, reflection and mourning.

Special services in commemoration of the Queen are also taking place across the district, including at St Peter’s Church in Harrogate town centre and Ripon Cathedral.

The Rev Judith Clark, assistant curate on placement at St Peter’s, said:

“The church will remain open between 9.30am and 6.30pm during the official mourning period. People can come and write in the condolence book and light a candle and have a period of quiet prayer if they wish.”

Yesterday around 100 people signed the book of condolence at the church, which will hold a special prayer service today at 12pm.

Ripon Cathedral will hold a special Choral Evensong at 5.30pm with prayers.

Later today church bells will ring out once more to formally proclaim Charles as the new sovereign. This time it will be a celebratory peal and the bells will be unmuffled.

Harrogate barbershop group encouraging new singers with fun course

Harrogate Harmony Barbershop Chorus is encouraging men to take up barbershop singing through a fun five-week course.

The course, which will take place at St Peter’s Church on Cambridge Road, is aimed at both newcomers and those who already enjoy singing.

There are no auditions or a need to read music and no experience is necessary. Men of all ages are welcome.

The course culminates with a concert to entertain family and friends in the final week.

The course begins on Wednesday July 27 at 7.30pm.

It costs £10 for the five weeks, which includes all course materials and tuition.

Greg Tunesi, a member of Harrogate Harmony, said:

“Being part of an ensemble, creating a harmony in music and in friendship is good fun, relaxed and informal. When you sing well amongst 16 to 18 other men, it’s an amazing feeling and produces a beautiful sound.

“Those attending will have singing in four-part harmony explained and demonstrated to them. They will then be guided as to which voice part, tenor, lead, baritone or bass best suits their voice”

For more information visit www.harrogateharmony.org.uk or contact Harold Blackburn at haroldblackburn2@outlook.com or on 07949 267344 to book a place.

English version of Bach masterpiece to be sung in Harrogate

A new English version of Bach’s St Matthew Passion will be performed during Holy Week at St Peter’s Church in Harrogate.

The oratorio will be sung on Wednesday by the choir of St Peter’s Church, Vocalis chamber choir and the professional Harrogate Bach Players.

John Longstaff, director of music and organist at St Peter’s Church, will direct the performance.

Mr Longstaff and Andrew Greenan, the internationally acclaimed soloist singing the bass arias, have translated the 400-year-old passion into English.

Christine Murphy, of Vocalis, said:

“This is an unmissable opportunity to hear Bach’s St. Matthew Passion complete in Holy Week, in a new English translation, which seeks to communicate the text as clearly as possible while respecting Bach’s natural speech rhythms.”

The other professional soloists are the tenors Joseph Doody and James Micklethwaite, who were both born locally, Philip Wilcox (bass), Jenny Stafford (soprano, pictured) and Heather Lowe (mezzo-soprano).

St Matthew Passion was first performed on Good Friday in 1727 and has become an Easter tradition.

Tickets cost £15 and are available by calling 07425 161425, via Eventbrite or on the door, subject to space.

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: Walker-Neesam Archive

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

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.

My radical blueprint for Station Parade and Cambridge Street

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 second of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 4: A radical blueprint for Station Square

If I had unlimited financial resources and full planning powers, plus the power for compulsory acquisition, I would buy the tower block next to the railway station and demolish it. I would also demolish the single storey shoe box that passes for a railway station, and realise David Cullearn’s vision that the architect of the Victoria Centre once outlined to me. David Cullearn of Cullearn and Phillips, Architects, was the author of the design for the Victoria Centre that won the maximum public support when the designs were exhibited in the Lounge Hall around 1989.

He once told me that his dream would be to repeat the curved frontage of the Victoria Centre on the other side of Station Parade, where the Palladian design would be continued as far as Station Bridge. This would provide the eastern boundary of Station Square with a magnificent stone-faced architectural framework, that would surely overwhelm all visitors arriving by rail and bus.

Victoria Centre copyright Walker-Neesam Archive

The Victoria Centre when it opened in 1992. Photo copyright: Walker-Neesam Archive

At the Victoria Centre, I would reverse the alterations of 1999, and restore the surrounding walk way, the top floor’s open air balcony, and the original set of atria which allowed sunlight to flood down to all floor levels. The arid plaza outside would be re-integrated into the Station Square gardens and filled with flower beds, grass and trees, so that visitors could see that Harrogate was indeed a town of flowers, grass and trees.

As for the former railway goods station, hidden away behind the ugly brick wall of the 1938 bus station, a feature of old Harrogate that I suspect is known only to a few people, I would convert this already roofed structure into a permanent market, whose location next to the bus and railway stations could not be improved. The Victorian brickwork would be revealed, and the repaired building would become a valuable amenity.

Oh yes – I nearly forgot. I would restore Station Square’s underground public lavatories!

Queen Victoria monument, Walker Neesam archive

Queen Victoria monument. Pic: Walker Neesam archive

Vision 5: Cambridge Street

Cambridge Street could do with smartening up and were I to be given unlimited financial resources and total planning control, I would smarten it up in the following manner.

Cambridge Street today — in need of smartening up.

First, I would set up a Cambridge Street retailers group charged with co-operating over such things as improving paving, lighting, planting, seating and above all, signage. I would introduce an element of uniformity by re-erecting the Victorian lamp posts so cavalierly removed and use them as a base for floral columns of flower baskets. The ugly and over-sized plate glass windows would be replaced by windows more in harmony with the buildings in which they are located, with well designed signage.\

More could be made of the little garden at St. Peter’s Church, which would be improved by a set of steps from the pavement, and several benches – all of which would be subject to strict no-alcohol rules!

When the first market went up in flames in 1937, the lovely clock tower survived, but alas, it fell victim to the demolition mania of the age, and the intact structure was torn down. It was one of Speyhawk’s proposals to rebuild the clock tower as part of its Victoria Gardens project, which unfortunately was never realised, so I would rebuild the clock tower at the eastern extremity of Cambridge Street to provide it with a “point de view” that would not only hide the ugly and jarring brick wall of the old Bus Station, but would add once again a very useful time-piece to Cambridge Street.

Cambridge Street, 1998, with the old clock tower

And as I’m at it, I would repeat some of the above processes in Oxford Street, Parliament Street and James Street, the last of which would have all the disfiguring coats of paint removed from its stone frontages, with both sides provided with ornamental metal and glass canopies over the pavements, so that shoppers would have all-weather protection throughout the year.

Vision 6: Library Gardens and Princes Square

With my mythical unlimited financial resources and total planning control, my next vision would probably be contentious, but nevertheless remains my vision. I would swap Library Gardens for Princes Square, as was the original intention of the Victoria Park Company. Until 1929, Princes Square was a pleasant and largely residential square filled with gardens and ringed with mature trees. Then, in 1929, the council decided to try to encourage more motorists into the town centre by making it “car friendly”, so to the fury of many of the residents they chopped down the trees, dug out the gardens and turned the central area into a car park.

Princes Square

Today, Princes Square cries out for pedestrianisation, which would still permit traffic to flow along both Raglan and Albert Streets. The square could be provided with grass, flower beds, trees and benches, and would be a great boost for the cafes and restaurants already established there, some of which already set out tables and chairs on the broad pavement. But it could be made so much better, and become a pleasant green oasis only a few yards from James Street.

As for Library Gardens, which were sold to the council in 1885, when it accepted a generous offer from the Carter brothers to convey 4,532 square yards of land at the junction of Victoria Avenue and Station Parade, on the strict understanding that the land would only ever be used to build a Town Hall for Harrogate. This obligation has never been honoured by successive councils, although a start was made in 1907 with the opening of the public library, the first part of Henry Hare’s magnificent plans for a Municipal Palace in full Edwardian baroque, complete with clock tower. Alas, the rest of the superb monumental building was never finished, and its completion is something I would love to do.

Library Gardens

I am appalled by the reduction of democratic control of their own affairs that the people of Harrogate have suffered over the last 70-odd years, and hope that one day the administration of such things as education, highway planning and many more matters will be returned to local people to administer. When that time comes, maybe in 50 or 100 years time, Harrogate’s Municipal Palace will be completed to house them.

In the final part of the series tomorrow, Malcolm looks at ways to improve the Royal Baths and Prospect Square.

Harrogate drama group returns to the stage with Oliver!

The St Peter’s Players’ annual show returns next week with a production of the musical Oliver!.

The Players, who have been performing for over 20 years, are made up largely from members of the congregation of St Peter’s Church in the centre of Harrogate.

Members range from nine to 80 years old and include the vicar, The Reverend Dr Alan Garrow, who will be playing the comical Dr Grimwig.

The performances will take place daily from November 4 to 6 at St Peter’s Church on Cambridge Street.

After two years apart, the 55-strong group were keen to get back to rehearsing and found inventive ways to deal with covid.

John Hain, the director of the production, said:

“For people who haven’t been in a group, getting together for the first time in a long time, especially for the children, it’s been a joy.”

“The hardest thing has been that people can’t come to rehearsals because they’ve been self-isolating. So, we’ve had a few people attending rehearsals remotely!”

Last year, the Players were forced to cancel their production, producing a short film instead.

Mr Hain explained:

“The last production we did was during lockdown and was a film cobbled together from everyone’s clips done at home. We wrote the script specifically around the restrictions, and the result was surprisingly successful, raising over £800 for the church.”

Tickets cost £10 and can be bought online. Children under 16 go free. All proceeds go to St Peter’s.

Your chance to learn barbershop singing in Harrogate

Harrogate Harmony Barbershop Chorus is inviting complete novices to learn to sing.

The group is holding five weekly lessons for £10 aimed at newcomers and people who have not sung for a long time. Men of all ages are welcome.

The lessons start on October 20 and will be held at the choir’s new venue, St. Peter’s Church in Harrogate.

Greg Tunesi, a member of Harrogate Harmony, said:

“Being part of an ensemble, creating a harmony in music and in friendship is good fun, relaxed and informal. When you sing well amongst 16 to 18 other men, it’s an amazing feeling and produces a beautiful sound.”

“Those attending will have singing in four-part harmony explained and demonstrated to them. They will then be guided as to which voice part, tenor, lead, baritone or bass best suits their voice”

Mr Tunesi emphasised that no experience is needed, nor is it necessary to read music.

Harrogate Harmony has performed regularly at the Valley Gardens since the 1940s to the present day.

Harrogate Harmony members are accompanied by a ukulele when it performs at clubs, societies, and care homes.

The group is open to men of all ages, with yearly membership costing £100.

For more information contact Harold Blackburn on 07949267344 or at haroldblackburn2@outlook.com

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Vision 7: Royal Baths

Vision 8: Prospect Square

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Vision 4: A radical blueprint for Station Square

Vision 5: Cambridge Street

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Vision 6: Library Gardens and Princes Square

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