Harrogate Summary

[STOPGO]

Great Yorkshire Show going ahead today despite the recent heavy rains.

[Val Verde]

Originally Posted by STOPGO

Great Yorkshire Show going ahead today despite the recent heavy rains.

Cancelled after it's first day due to heavy rains resulting in muddy car parks the first time the GYS has been cancelled due to the weather. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-18778798

[Leeds No.1]

Seems a bit of a silly decision to me. The problem is with car parking, so why not just close car parks and ban cars?

Yes, it's not ideal, but why does everyone have to arrive by car?

People from extreme rural areas may need to drive some of the distance, but they could still park away from the site in Central Harrogate, car parks near stations or side streets and walk.

[di Livio]

The Mile Post now has a boxy steel frame adjoining the main stone building. It should be a reasonably sized Sainsbury's Local when completed.

Had an encounter with a chav teen on Commercial Street (Harrogate) yesterday, but nobody wants to hear about such things, apparently.

On Princes Street, I saw a white V6 Audi with a number plate of 'V6 WAD', which made me even angrier.

[Val Verde]

A few things I noticed in Harrogate over the weekend includes that Jessops Camera shop has relocated from James Street to the larger former Caffe Latino / Hawkins Bazaar unit on Cambridge Street. An interesting move considering I would have thought Jessops would be a retailer in retreat id have thought considering rise of the internet. Also Victus restaurant on Beulah Street part owned by Formula One driver Jenson Button has suddenly closed just under a year since opening in September 2011. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/...tton-1-4827086

Seems very sudden to close Victus down particularly when I noticed bailiffs notices over the windows it says a lot and it was somewhere I would have considered going at some point and appeared busy whenever I walked past making the claims of struggling under the current economic circumstances a bit suspect.

I wonder if Victus's closing could finally open the doors for Nandos to open in Harrogate town centre?

Finally Habitat on the corner of Station Bridge and Station Parade is still vacant a year after closing. Surely there must have been interest in that unit either from a home type retailer such as say Dwell or possibly a John Lewis Home Store (perhaps complicated if JL ever takeover the Beales department store opposite although the old Habitat would make a logical annexe to that store), a different type of retailer (I presume something like a Wilkinsons or Poundland would be seen "snobbishly" as beneath the standards seen in Harrogate to open there or maybe perhaps a small format supermarket or store relocated from elsewhere in Harrogate such as perhaps a Currys PC World replacing the small Currys on James Street) or even something else alltogether such as perhaps a restaurant although I guess it's out of the way location must be a disadvantage although there must be some footfall by those going between the main town centre (Cambridge Street / James Street) and the Odeon Cinema or Waitrose supermarket? It seems a bit of a waste to see that unit left empty for so long considering it's size. http://www.pudneyshuttleworth.co.uk/..._-_Habitat.pdf

[Leeds No.1]

Heals or Dwell would do well in that unit, but I thought Nandos were interested in it?

I hope JL have their eye on the former Beales department store.

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Val Verde

Also Victus restaurant on Beulah Street part owned by Formula One driver Jenson Button has suddenly closed just under a year since opening in September 2011. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/...tton-1-4827086

I think part of the problem was the location. Beulah Street has an 'opposite the bus station feel' and the glamour of the unit was undermined by being situated in such an unfashionable part of town (I preferred Starbucks, if only for its large glass window which encourages the study of the strange creatures known as homo sapiens). If Victus had opened on or near Montpellier Parade it could have been a different story.

[Leeds No.1]

I agree, it was the wrong location. I also heard that service was poor- I personally found it fine but many have said they had bad experiences with slow service.

[Val Verde]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

Heals or Dwell would do well in that unit, but I thought Nandos were interested in it?

I hope JL have their eye on the former Beales department store.

I can't see Heals at the old Habitat as I thought they closed a number of branches including one in Manchester. On an off topic note does anyone know how popular the Leeds branch of Dwell is as whenever I walk past it I never notice that many people inside. Still a Nandos at the old Harrogate Habitat should do well considering location between the main shopping area and the Odeon close to many other restaurants.

As for Beales I thought that store is still open (unless your mixing up Beales with Sunwin House and latterly Westgate who previously occupied what is now Beales) although that store must suffer from what is a slightly unfamiliar brand name ( I don't think I have ever seen an advert for Beales) compared with the likes of Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis. It would also be interesting to see how much of a long term future Hoopers has considering it has just last weekend closed a branch in Carlisle and now only trades from four towns (Harrogate, Wilmslow, Torquay and Tunbridge Wells) presumably suffering from a poor economy of scale making it a possible takeover target from a much bigger retailer (most probably HoF imo) I'd have thought.

As for reducing the bus station appearance of the area around Harrogate bus and railway station isn't there a planned extension of the Victoria Centre proposed on land used as a surface car park or has that development quietly been axed with the recession?

[Leeds No.1]

Heals are struggling, but Harrogate is quite a safe bet. Taking Harrogate Borough on its own, it is not in recession unlike most of the country. It's clearly a prosperous place where people will and do spend money on premium home furnishings. In terms of retail, consider that there are retailers that have survived in Harrogate for years that major cities are only just getting, from Cath Kidston to Jaeger.

Yes, Beales is still open. I thought it had closed, but apparently not as I went past today. Beales is a weak brand, but I think Hoopers has a strong customer base in its local areas. House of Fraser could take it over if it were struggling, but a merger with Fenwick might keep the stores more unique and targeted at their market.

I'm not aware of any planned extension of the Victoria, which as far as I'm concerned was ruined when it was 'renovated' in 1999. You may be thinking of the Harrogate Interchange development though, which has been proposed for years and never got off the ground. I thought Caddick acquired the site, but that was years ago.

The project is essentially the demolition of the existing station buildings and a new, extended station with retail and apartments above. It would be a quasi-extension of the Victoria I suppose.

http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/Document...ncComments.pdf

http://www1.harrogate.gov.uk/localde...ocumentID=7722

[Leeds No.1]

Also, in other news today...


Harrogate tops cancer care league table

'Harrogate and district NHS foundation trust has just been ranked as offering the best cancer care out of 160 trusts in England by Macmillan Cancer Support. The charity reached its conclusions, unveiled todayon Wednesday, after analysing the results of the Department of Health's recent cancer patient experience survey 2011-12, a huge exercise in which 71,793 patients answered 64 questions about their care between September and November 2011 ... It is the second time running the trust has come out on top ... Harrogate was in the top 20% for 55 of the 64 questions and not in the bottom 20% for any of them.'

'The trust, whose catchment area includes 200,000 people in Harrogate and north Leeds, is used to accolades. It got a double excellent rating from the Care Quality Commission for quality of services and use of resources in 2008 and 2009. Providing such excellent care in a complex, demanding and emotionally draining area such as cancer is of particular credit to a small- to medium-sized district general hospital that is not a specialist centre for the disease. It sees 600-800 new cancer patients a year and treats inpatients with cancer on general medical wards as it has no dedicated cancer wards'

...

'Harrogate is not standing still. Last week it cut the turf on what will be the new £9m Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, where cancer patients will be treated from October 2013. The Macmillan Dales unit is too small for the growing number of cancer patients it sees as a result of the ageing population and the unit's reputation, which brings in patients from outside its usual catchment area.'

NHS trusts in England 2011-12

Best-performing

1 Harrogate and district NHS foundation trust
2 South Tyneside NHS foundation trust
3 Papworth hospital NHS foundation trust (Cambridgeshire)
4 Northumbria healthcare NHS foundation trust
5 Gateshead health NHS foundation trust

Worst-performing

1 Imperial College healthcare NHS trust (London )
2 Whipps Cross university hospital NHS trust (London)
3 King's College hospital NHS foundation trust (London)
4 The Princess Alexandra hospital NHS trust (Essex)
5 North West London hospitals NHS trust (London)

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

I agree, it was the wrong location. I also heard that service was poor- I personally found it fine but many have said they had bad experiences with slow service.

I found the service a bit slow, especially when all I went in for was a cup of coffee. Does a coffee really need to be delivered to the customer?

[Gherkin]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

'Harrogate is not standing still. Last week it cut the turf on what will be the new £9m Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, where cancer patients will be treated from October 2013.

After a bit of Googling I found these; but have no idea who the architects are:





Nothing like a serene private garden for cancer/chemotherapy patients adjacent to a busy road!

[di Livio]

Harrogate is one of my favourite places at the moment, but there seemed to be a few loadsamoney Harry Enfield types around yesterday. One car had the numberplate 'LAV I5H', and a guy was puffing on a cigarette as his Porsche powered aggressively around James Street.

[Immunda Leodis]

They sound like awful people. Spawn of the devil. They should be rounded up and shot. How did you manage to cope with such a horrible experience?

[Aaronj09]

Lol.

Well, they aren't the type of people you want to see. The seem like gritty Yorkshire blokes or something stereotypical and cringe worthy.

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Immunda Leodis

They sound like awful people. Spawn of the devil. They should be rounded up and shot. How did you manage to cope with such a horrible experience?

If you're talking aout ignorant, uncultured, loud, boorish people with no class, taste or manners, then yes, they are awful people who are horrible to be around.

[Leeds No.1]

I saw 'BI6 FAN' in Harrogate yesterday. Not quite as bad as 'LAV I5H', but still pretty bad.

Harrogate is nice in many ways, but the council should show a bit of leadership and move it up a league. It could compete better with York and should be trying to attract brands like John Lewis. There's a large car park just behind Montpellier Hill that could be developed, and I've always thought the car park behind the Royal Baths should be a public square with parking underground. It's surrounded by bars, and there's no large paved area in the town either.

Cambridge Street needs renovating - the tree planters are far too obtrusive and on a busy Saturday, make the street very crowded. The entire area around The Cenotaph and Cambridge Road/Oxford Street should be pedestrianised, and perhaps James Street too.

Also, if it takes some public money to get the station area redevelopment underway, it should be considered. It would provide desperately needed new and modern retail space in Harrogate, as well as giving a more attractive entrance to the town. Transport really must improve drastically for the sake of the conference industry too.

Harrogate is essentially a pretty large town desperate to grow, but with small town NIMBY thinking that is restricting it from reaching its potential.

[God's Own City]

the best thing that could happen to Harrogate would be electrification of the York-Leeds line via Harrogate, and the introduction of modern electric trains running an ever-15-minutes service throughout the day. Would make Harrogate easily accessible off the East Coast Main Line, and relieve both Leeds & York roads, making it a much more desirable commuter location than it currently is.

[Rob]

On the subject, I saw a red Ferrari with a couple of lovelies in it in Leeds last year, with the number plate 'G1RLS' - it was a pretty cool sight.