​

Caring for the River Nidd

On 11th February David Clayden gave an elegant but alarming talk on the state of our rivers. It is easy, said David, to think of Harrogate as not on a river system but this would be totally wrong. We depend upon a web of watercourses draining into two becks (Oak and Crimple) before flowing into the Nidd - and the whole system is in trouble.

15 years ago David retired to Harrogate intending to fly-fish, but so alarmed was he at the poor state of the rivers that now he chairs the Nidd Action Group with the very appropriate acronym of “NAG”!
David posed a series of questions:

Why should we care?
He stressed how vital rivers are to life and wellbeing; meeting so many needs – water storage and abstraction, power generation, urban and agricultural drainage, flood control, the removal and dilution of waste. And what a contribution they make to our physical and mental health.

What has gone wrong?
We have such poor water quality. Our rivers ecological health is assessed on a scale running from “Near Natural” to “Bad”, stopping off at “Good”, “Moderate” and “Poor”. The Government wants 80% of all rivers to rate “Good” by 2028 – the present figure is 14% with the Nidd classed as mostly “Moderate” through to “Bad”.

And the problem?
Principally a wide variety of pollution – industrial, commercial, residential, agricultural – with inadequate control.

Who is responsible?
The polluters – which is all of us. Every time we clean our cars on the drive, the run-off goes through the drains straight into the river. And how much do we think about it? Then there are all the rule makers and regulators – the Government, the Environment Agency, the local authorities, the water companies etc. etc. Do they give the effort and financial resources needed? Do we care enough that they do?
For instance, our own Knaresborough Lido has been designated a “safe bathing area” but this means only better monitoring and long-term actions – not that it is safe to swim in!

What should be done?
There is no shortage of legislation, plans, reports etc. aimed at tackling the problem with a White Paper currently under debate.

Better rivers need more of us to care; more of us to support the work of organisations such as NAG.
For more information see: https://www.niddactiongroup.org
And for raising the issues so vividly, we are greatly in David’s debt.

At our meeting on 13 January, we were delighted to welcome Harrogate Town Council in the form of Councillor Chris Aldred (the current Mayor) and Councillor Mark Warr. Both talked engagingly about the opportunities and challenges facing the town’s newest authority.

The Mayor began by reminding us of the long and complex history of local government; how Harrogate Corporation was formed in 1884 only to be replaced in 1974 by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council. In 2023 both these authorities were scrapped in favour of a new North Yorkshire Council - and all of this without any direct reference to the electorate.

Although the advantages (mostly financial) of a single unitary authority were much paraded, local government became more, not less, complex. First there came an elected Mayor for York and North Yorkshire, then the realisation that Harrogate and Scarborough were the only two areas of the county not to have their own parish or town council.

To address this anomaly Harrogate Town Council was brought into being last April with Chris Aldred becoming our first Mayor. He described the inaugural year as a period of assessment, of consultation with key stakeholders (including our Society), and of setting priorities. It was therefore very pleasing to hear that, among the Council’s priorities, three are also key objectives for our Society:
• information boards at strategic locations in the town
• the Neighbourhood Plan
• an on-line events calendar open to all

To assist with this, Chris announced the Council’s intention to appoint a dedicated Events Officer later in the year.

In response to questions, both speakers were at pains to point out that all councillors are unpaid volunteers and that almost all local services will continue to be delivered by North Yorkshire Council unless and until it can be agreed that the Town Council should take them over. Clearly there will need to be the finance available to do so. Augmentation of services will not be a speedy process.

Full details of the Council’s activities, budget for next year and aspirations can be seen by visiting the website: www.harrogatetowncouncil.gov.uk;

The talk was received with great interest, as was the opportunity to admire the mayoral chain at close quarters!

Our December social gathering was yet again a great success. Assisted by wine, soft drinks mince pies and pastries, members mingled, chatted and were locked in fierce competition in our quiz, specially devised by member Dr Paul Jennings. A large prize of gold coins was awarded. Many thanks to all who helped with the preparations, food and serving drinks.

Our November meeting on Ernest Farrar - Harrogate's Forgotten Composer was a moving and insightful tribute to a local talent. Andrew Hitchen, BEM, captivated us by adopting the format of a musical concert, allowing us to hear recordings of Farrar's evocative orchestral music, including the powerful Heroic Elegy.
Farrar's life was central to Harrogate's musical scene. He regularly conducted the Harrogate Municipal Orchestra and was a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Frank Bridge. He served as the composition teacher of Gerald Finzi.

We also learned of his brief but close friendship with writer J.B. Priestley while serving in the same regiment. Priestley described Farrar as "a creative artist, free from all meanness and jealousies". His musical contributions were tragically cut short when he was killed in action in WWI, just two days after reaching the front.

The event was a wonderful success, highlighting the society's theme of celebrating unsung local heroes.
You can find a number of examples of Farrar’s music on YouTube, including the full version of his tone poem, The Forsaken Merman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06msw9l9KmU

Who knew rubbish could be so captivating?!

On Wednesday at The West Park Centre, Dr. Henry Irving of Leeds Beckett University led us on a fascinating journey, showing how our approach to waste reflects two centuries of social and industrial change.

Here are some of the key takeaways that sparked an engaging Q&A session following Dr Irving’s talk:

🗑️ Discovering that the basis of modern landfill technology—"scientific tipping"—was pioneered in Bradford during WWI, notably using 600,000 tonnes of waste to construct Odsal Stadium!
♻️ Learning how WWII forced a radical shift in behaviour, making source separation and "salvage" commonplace for the first time.
🚮 Discussing how Harrogate's current 41% recycling rate mirrors the national average, and how the town's former tips (like Stonefall) shaped its landscape.

This was a brilliant, well-attended session, showing how history provides essential lessons for our future sustainability.

Thank you to Dr. Irving and to all our engaged members and guests for the lively interaction!

​

On Wednesday evening, Harrogate Civic Society enjoyed a fantastic start to our autumn season of events, beginning as we mean to go on with an excellent talk by historian Graham E. Seel.

Graham's clear and engaging talk on Edward Wilson Dixon and the construction of the Roundhill Reservoir near Masham was a subject that felt particularly relevant given the recent dry weather and hosepipe ban. It was fascinating to hear about how one man's vision solved the town's critical "water famine" over a century ago.

Despite his many engineering achievements, Edward Wilson Dixon is almost unrecorded in Harrogate, with just a stone plaque at Scargill reservoir and another on the Harlow Water Tower. Perhaps he is deserving of a brown plaque!

Graham's talk highlighted Dixon's ingenuity, especially in how he outwitted the Leeds Corporation to secure the necessary legislation for the project. The audience marvelled not only at the photos of the great feat of engineering that was the building of the reservoir itself but also all the work in providing a tramway, light railway, bridges, and the hutted village featuring the “Lesser Majestic.”

The atmosphere was vibrant, with a great turnout of both members and first-time visitors. We were delighted to host the event at the West Park Centre once again. Many attendees took the opportunity to view "The Harrogate Story" exhibition, a permanent installation that was inspired by the work of former HCS member and local historian, the late Malcolm Neesham. The exhibition is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11 am to 3 pm.

We extend our sincere thanks to the West Park Centre for their warm welcome and to Graham for sharing his expertise with us. The evening was a great success, and we look forward to seeing you all at our next event.

On Sunday 22 June eighteen Society members visited the impressive Victorian cemetery at Undercliffe, Bradford. History Group member, Paul Jennings, who led the visit writes. We assembled at the Lodge of the cemetery a fine and breezy Sunday morning for our visit. We first heard an introduction from John Jackson of the Cemetery Charity on the story of how the cemetery was rescued from potentially wholesale destruction by Bradford Council's compulsory purchase of the site and the fantastic work of restoration and continuing management undertaken by the Charity. I then conducted a guided tour of some of the monuments dating from its Victorian heyday when thousands of Bradfordians were buried there, from the great and good to more humble citizens: the town's first Mayor Robert Milligan beneath the tallest monument, to the landlord of the Unicorn Inn, whose granite headstone has a little unicorn carved into it. I also included some graves of people with Harrogate connections, of which there are several, including one with the most impressive location with a spectacular view over the city of Bradford. There is buried Gertrude Smith, whose tragic death I described in a piece for the Society website in the Articles section of the History page. See https://www.harrogatecivicsociety.org/historypeopleindex/people05

Our thanks to the Charity volunteers for their hospitality, including refreshments, and for making possible a fascinating visit for a modest donation of £5 each.

The photos show the group by the Lodge and again inspecting some of the monuments, including to the right one of six listed, that of the Behrens family and in the far distance at the end of the main avenue, the Smith family obelisk. Our host, John Jackson, is wearing the hat.


Paul Jennings

Our May meeting on the Walker-Neesam Archive was a truly special evening.

Held at St Paul’s URC on Tuesday evening, over 70 Civic Society members and guests were in attendance as Danielle Little, Curatorial Apprentice at Harrogate Museums presented on the value and sheer scale of Malcolm Neesam’s collection.

It began with a heartfelt personal tribute from Henry Pankhurst, sharing touching memories of his friendship with Malcolm.

Danielle Little, then provided a remarkable insight into Malcolm's legacy. We learned about the vast scale of the archive with over 150,000 items including extensive photographs and historical documents from century-old music programmes and handwritten scores by local composers to personal correspondence and detailed notes on every aspect of Harrogate. This archive isn't just boxes full of paper; it's the living memory of our town, meticulously gathered by Malcolm.

Danielle also explained the meticulous cataloguing process, and the exciting plans to make this treasure trove of Harrogate's history accessible to all. The ultimate goal is to make this entire resource publicly accessible online, allowing everyone to delve into Harrogate's past like never before.

It's inspiring to know this vital collection is being carefully preserved for future generations. We encourage you to keep an eye on updates regarding this exciting project!

A huge thank you to Danielle for her engaging presentation and to everyone who attended!

We are proud to support such a vital initiative for Harrogate's heritage

On 11 April at the West Park Centre over 100 members and guests heard a fascinating talk on the Harrogate Egyptian Collection by Dr Ken Griffin who is the curator of the Egypt Centre at Swansea University.

The Collection of more than 800 objects is currently on loan to Swansea for cataloguing and research. Part of the collection was previously displayed at the Royal Pump Room Museum. The title of the talk, Causing their Names to Live, derives from a common Egyptian expression found on monuments dedicated to deceased relatives.

Harrogate’s museum is one of many regional museums with a collection of Egyptian antiquities. The objects were primarily donated by two local collectors, Benjamin William John Kent (1885–1968) and James Robert Ogden (1866–1940), who had assembled their collections in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

As the Harrogate collection had been largely understudied, the curators thought this might be an opportunity to send it to Swansea on loan. Discussions took place, and May Catt, Visitor & Cultural Services Manager, visited the Egypt Centre in September 2022 to see the museum and our storage. Impressed with the facilities and resources in Swansea, discussions progressed, loan agreements were drawn up, objects were removed from display, carefully packed and transferred.

On Tuesday 28 February 2023, over 800 objects arrived in Swansea from Harrogate Museums, where they are remaining on loan for three years. During this time, the collection is being researched, displayed, and
presented online, making the objects more accessible to Egyptologists and the wider public.

How and why Messrs Kent and Ogden formed their collections are two of the main questions this project
hopes to answer. In the case of Benjamin Kent, much of his collection was inherited from his father,
Bramley Benjamin Kent (1848–1924). Many of the objects were acquired from the local Harrogate dealers, J.E. & E.K. Preston, whose premises were on Montpellier Parade. Less is known about the formation of J.R. Ogden’s collection, although we do know that he received donations from Harold Plenderleith (1898–1997), Sir Henry Sutcliffe Smith (1864–1938) amongst others. He also acquired some of his objects from S. G.
Fenton & Co., a London dealer in antiquities and armour. It is also likely that Ogden bought from J. E. & E. K. Preston, who he seems to have known.

The objects are quite diverse and includes stelae, statues, pottery, stone vessels, shabtis, amulets, canopic jars, a coffin, funerary cones, mummy masks, jewellery, papyrus, terracotta figures, and many more object types. There is even a few non-Egyptian items that arrived, including Etruscan mirrors and a large collection of cuneiform tablets, bricks, and cylinder seals. Perhaps the most famous object in the collection is the Anubis mask.

Much more information on this collection can be seen on https://harrogate.abasetcollections.com/
from which some of this article has been sourced.

Over 40 members attended the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Harrogate Civic Society held on 2 April at the West Park Centre.

Angela Fahy reports:

The Chair, Mike Newby, welcomed members to the meeting and began by inviting Stuart Holland to give a short presentation about the West Park Centre, its history as a church and the plans for its future development.

After the formal approval of the 2024 minutes the Chair presented the Trustees Annual Report. He recorded the many successful events and trips that had been held during the past year. The events subgroup had been co-ordinated by Angela Fahy for many years and, as she was now stepping down from the committee there was an urgent need for a new co-ordinator to work with the existing team of volunteers or the Society’s programme of events was in jeopardy. Also recognised was the hard work of Stella and Geoff Brown for their organisation of the Heritage Open Days that are supported by the Society. Chris Dicken was thanked for his leadership of the Plaques subgroup, which he will continue although he is stepping down from the Committee; also Henry Pankhurst and the team for their work on the regular monitoring of planning applications. David Siddans was thanked for the work of the communications group and so were all members who are involved with the work on the Neighbourhood Plan, which the Society has led together with Zero Carbon Harrogate. Thanks also to those involved with the History subgroup; the town’s history being one of the key reasons why many new members join the Society. One future possibility is for there to be new opportunities to share in conversations about different aspects of the town’s history. In relation to the finance section of the report, Paul Fennimore reported a healthy state of affairs and highlighted the substantial surplus income that had been received as a result of Harrogate on Film, which would be unlikely to reoccur. Also, some gifts that had been received for new plaques were currently being held by the Society until payment was due. The Trustees Annual Report was approved by the meeting.

Election of Officers and Committee
The Chair thanked both Angela Fahy and Chris Dicken, who were stepping down from the committee. Also, thanks to Andrew Brown for his time as interim chair of the Society and to Paul Fennimore for taking over as treasurer. He also acknowledged the valuable contribution of Brian Dunsby who, together with his wife Beryl, had been doing excellent work as the Society’s membership secretary until Brian’s sudden death in January.

The New Committee
Michael Newby (Chair)
Andrew Brown (Vice Chair)
Nick Brennan (Secretary)
Paul Fennimore (Treasurer)
Henry Pankhurst
David Siddans
Michael Laycock
Tony Thorndike

With no new nominations received in time for the AGM, the Chair reminded the meeting that the committee could co-opt new members during the year.

On March 11th, Harrogate Civic Society welcomed Nicola Pullan, Assistant Curator of Social History at Leeds Museums, to delve into the remarkable life of Leonora Cohen. The event, timed to coincide with International Women's Day and Women's History Month, drew a large and engaged audience eager to learn more about this influential suffragette.

Nicola's presentation, drawn from extensive research in the Leonora Cohen archive at Leeds Museums, painted a vivid portrait of a woman who defied expectations. From her early life in Leeds, where she witnessed firsthand the inequalities faced by women, to her pivotal role in the suffrage movement, Leonora Cohen's story is one of unwavering dedication to social justice.

The talk explored Leonora's involvement in key events of the suffrage campaign, including her arrests, her hunger strikes, and her daring actions, such as the Tower of London protest. Nicola also shed light on Leonora's time in Harrogate, where she ran a vegetarian boarding house that provided refuge for fellow suffragettes, including the elusive Lillian Lenton.

Nicola’s presentation went beyond the well-known narratives of the suffrage movement, highlighting the vital contributions of women like Leonora Cohen, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to drive change.
The evening concluded with a lively Q&A session, where Nicola answered questions about Leonora's life, her activism, and the broader context of the suffrage movement.

Harrogate Civic Society extends its sincere thanks to Nicola Pullan for her insightful presentation and to all who attended for their enthusiastic participation.

Our February meeting proved to be a resounding success, thanks to a captivating presentation by Elizabeth Smith from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. With almost 50 attendees, the event generated a great deal of interest in the history and vital work of the CWGC.

Elizabeth shared fascinating insights into the Commission's origins, its work during both World Wars, and its ongoing commitment to commemorating and caring for the graves of 1.7 million Commonwealth war dead.
The sheer scale of the CWGC's global reach, with war graves and memorials maintained in 153 countries, is truly impressive.

We extend our sincere thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her expertise with us, and to everyone who attended and contributed to such an engaging and informative evening.

The evening raised over £150 in donations for the CWGC's work.

We encourage you to learn more about this important work by visiting the CWGC website
https://www.cwgc.org/ or exploring the CWGC sites closer to home, such as Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

What a fantastic turnout for our January meeting yesterday evening!
A huge thank you to everyone who braved the cold to join us for Chris Dicken's insightful presentation on Harrogate's Heritage Plaques. We were delighted to share this fascinating aspect of our town's history with you.

Chris, Chair of our Plaques subgroup, took us on a captivating journey through the history of the plaques, explaining their unique characteristics, the process of creating and installing them, and the diverse range of subjects they commemorate. We learned about the importance of the plaques as a tangible representation of Harrogate's rich heritage, and how they provide concise and interesting historical information to residents and visitors alike.

Did you know that Harrogate boasts 94 unique plaques, each one commemorating a significant person or place? Each plaque offers a glimpse into our town’s past, from our spa heritage and grand hotels to local heroes and famous visitors.

We encourage you to explore these gems for yourself. Chris has spearheaded the development of some fantastic online resources for the plaques, including our dedicated Harrogate Heritage Plaques website (harrogateplaques.org), which has an interactive map and trails. There’s even an Android app to guide your discovery. It's a wonderful way to learn about Harrogate's history and appreciate the work we do to preserve it.

Thank you again to Chris for his dedication to this project and for sharing his expertise with us. And a special thanks to all our members and volunteers who make events like this possible.
Zach Greaves (Artus Digital Marketing)