THE CHALLENGES OF THE STRAY FERRET - IN A FAKE NEWS WORLD.

On 10th June a rapt audience heard Tamsin O’Brien talk with elegance and passion about the Stray Ferret, digital media, the apparently inexorable rise of artificial intelligence and the threat posed by fake news. Rather than attempt our own report, we have (with Tamsin’s permission) experimented and asked AI for 400 words on what it thinks her views to be, on at least some of these subjects. The following is the result. All Tamsin has asked us to stress is how vital local news is to social cohesion with misinformation on social media spreading fear and civil unrest, Everyone present at the West Park Centre meeting can decide whether the following accurately reflects what we heard:

“Tamsin O’Brien, a veteran journalist and the founder of the digital local news outlet The Stray Ferret, believes that the traditional print media business model is dying. However, she argues that the rise of digital platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) presents dangerous new challenges. Her views focus on two main areas: how AI harms the money needed to make local news and how digital content spreads misinformation.

Historically, physical newspapers relied on printed advertisements and copy sales. When readers moved online, media companies tried to survive on digital ads. O'Brien has noted that this advertising model is no longer enough to cover the high costs of real journalism.

The problem is getting worse due to generative AI. Major search platforms use AI to scrape news websites and show full summaries directly to users. This means a reader gets the answers they need without ever clicking on the original news link. For local digital news sites, this drop in traffic ruins their ad revenue, making it harder to pay for professional reporters. O'Brien has observed competitor newsrooms cutting staff and lowering quality, filling their remaining pages with annoying pop-up ads just to survive.

O’Brien also warns that digital media and AI threaten public safety by driving a "misinformation epidemic". Online algorithms and automated social media tools prioritize speed over facts. Anyone can post unverified information that spreads quickly. AI makes this worse by rapidly churning out low-quality, automated text.
O'Brien emphasizes that real journalism requires skill, human experience, and external regulation. AI cannot replace a human reporter who goes out to investigate local councils or environmental issues. Without trusted human filters, communities risk losing accurate information entirely.

To survive the threat of digital and AI changes, O'Brien strongly advocates for a modern shift: paid digital subscriptions. Under her direction, The Stray Ferret switched from a free, ad-supported website to a paid subscription model.

She argues that in the past, readers thought nothing of paying for a printed local newspaper. Today, the only difference is that people read the news on their phones. By asking readers to pay a small monthly fee, independent news outlets can detach themselves from tech giant algorithms and AI search engines. For O'Brien, reader funding is the only realistic way to keep local, trustworthy journalism alive.”

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12th May – and a packed audience in the West Park Centre enjoyed the AGM of your Society and an illustrated talk by local historian Peter Rix. Our Chair modestly acknowledged that the talk might be the greater attraction so conducted the AGM at exemplary pace before introducing our speaker and “Flying on the Stray”.

Peter took us back to the earliest days of aviation or (as he was at pains to point out) the earliest days of heavier-than-air, manned flight, as distinct from hot air balloons, gliders and the like. 24th July 1911 was a key date for Harrogate. This was when a round Britain air race, sponsored by the Daily Mail, reached the town. We were reminded how early in the development of flight this was - only eight years after the Wright Brothers first took off; only two years since Bleriot crossed the Channel.

The race started from Brooklands with a short flight to Hendon and then on Monday 24 July the race continued to Edinburgh with the Stray in Harrogate as the first staging post on the way. We were fortunate to be chosen as, only a few months earlier, our council had resolved against air landings on the Stray. Happily, they were persuaded otherwise.

Thirty competitors entered the race but, for mechanical and other reasons, not all started. Only five reached Harrogate within the allotted time and found a town at fever pitch. Over 70,000 crowded the Stray to watch. First to land was Jules Vedrine followed by Andre Beaumont. Both were Frenchmen. This was unfortunate. Local businesses had commissioned a silver tea set for the stage winner but quickly revised the rules, ignored the inconvenient Frenchmen and awarded the prize to the next to land. At least James Valentine was an Englishman!

The success of the race resulted in immediate pressure for joy rides from the Stray. Not everyone was happy. There was a complaint concerning the distraction the Sunday flights were causing to the congregation at Christ Church. But with the First World War pleasure flying was prohibited and never really recovered. In 1922 a council committee resolved against such flights and, although this appears to have been occasionally ignored, the last fixed wing flight is thought to have been in 1934. Prohibition is now firmly enshrined in the Stray Acts.

Peter’s excellent talk was greeted by prolonged applause and hopefully he will be happy to repeat it as part of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Stray. We shall certainly hope so.

Paul Jennings writes:

On 7 May, about thirty members met at Swinton Castle, near Masham for a visit to this beautiful house. We were given a guided tour by the present owner, Mark Cunliffe-Lister, through the main rooms of the house, which is now a hotel. He told us the story of the house, which dates back to the late 17th century, when it was built by Sir Abstrupus Danby. It was almost entirely rebuilt later in the succeeding century by William Danby in a fashionable gothic, castellated style. The house and a vast estate in Wensleydale were then bought in the 1880s by Samuel Cunliffe-Lister, the Bradford industrialist, who made further additions to create its present appearance. Mark also told us about several paintings on display, including a large portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence of the Duke of Wellington, and those of many of his family. These included of Ellis Cunliffe-Lister, the father of Samuel and one of the first two Bradford MPs after the Great Reform Act; Philip Cunliffe-Lister, a minister in several Conservative governments between the wars and during the Second World War; and Lady Masham, herself disabled and campaigner on their behalf.

I then spoke a little more on Samuel Cunliffe-Lister and his career, making huge fortunes from first the mechanisation of woolcombing and second the processing of silk waste to make the world-famous Lister’s velvet at his colossal Manningham Mills in Bradford, completed in 1873. The mill also saw the great strike of 1890 to 91, provoked by wage cuts imposed after the US imposition of import tariffs. The strike failed but led to the creation of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893, the forerunner of the Labour Party. Troops were seen on the streets of Bradford during that dispute and Lister was also involved in another big strike after wage cuts at a colliery he owned near Featherstone. On this occasion, in September 1893, two strikers were shot dead by soldiers – the Featherstone massacre as it became known.

I also spoke about the years from 1939 to 1946 when Harrogate (Ladies’) College occupied the house, while the Harrogate school was used by the Air Ministry, after agreement with the minister, Philip Cunliffe-Lister and his wife. There is a display of photographs taken from the Illustrated London News of 2 December 1939, showing their time there, including having a lesson under the eyes of the Duke of Wellington and a dormitory in one of the long corridors.

After the tour we enjoyed afternoon tea in a lovely room under a portrait of Samuel. I couldn’t help thinking of how I had walked past his statue in Lister Park, Bradford, not far from his mill and where he built the Cartwright Hall art gallery for the city, every morning and afternoon for nearly eight years on my way to and from school. And of my own family, many of whom worked at the mill, dad there for the whole of his working life.

Finally, to complete a memorable visit, we were able to explore the beautiful park and gardens.

Thanks are due to Mark Cunliffe-Lister for making the visit possible and to Paul Fennimore for administering the arrangements.

15th April was a very special evening. A record turnout at the West Park Centre enjoyed a joint meeting with Harrogate Medical Society, part of Health in Harrogate 200 years. We were there to learn about Harrogate’s first hospital and why it was so important to the town.

The Bath Hospital (later the Royal Bath Hospital) opened in 1826 off Cornwall Road, close to the future Valley Gardens. The hospital went through many transformations over the years, not least a significant extension in 1889, before finally closing in 1994 with many of the old hospital buildings sympathetically converted into apartments.

Our principal speaker, Peter Holmes, a volunteer in the Valley Gardens, became intrigued by the former hospital “just over the wall” and his fascinating talk was impeccably researched. We were told that, at the start of the 19th century, health in Harrogate was two tier. Although, by modern standards, all medical care was primitive, the rich had at least some relief drinking the Harrogate waters and, as Peter described from a cartoon, “annoying Satan and cheating death”! The poor had no such relief.

Indeed, the very presence of the poor with their all too obvious ailments was an offence. A charity did exist for their benefit, surprisingly well funded by visitors to the various town inns but, by 1818, the trustees were driven to contemplating a bath house for the poor (largely to keep them away from the rich). Later that ambition extended to a hospital and The Bath Hospital was born. However, there were strict rules for patients – they had to be poor, worthy of charity, sound of mind. They mustn’t loiter round wells or in public places or be seen “strolling around”!

As the century advanced these rules were substantially relaxed, with much wider patient care and charges introduced for hydrotherapy treatments. Nevertheless, until the creation of the NHS in 1948, the hospital continued to be privately run, funded principally by treatment charges and generous private donation. For instance, in 1879 alone donations exceeded £500,000 in today’s money with legacies on top.

Peter was joined on stage by Fiona Evard, Carmel Duff and Domini Bryer who regaled us with vivid reminiscences of their time working at the hospital in the 1980s. By then it was a regional treatment centre for rheumatology before it was finally allowed to close, bringing down the curtain on 168 years of world-class care.

On Tuesday 10 March, members gathered at the West Park Centre for what proved to be an inspirational talk by Kathy Allday of the Knaresborough Museum Trust. Its title was Safeguarding Knaresborough’s Heritage: the work of the Knaresborough Museum Association.

Kathy has been a key player in its origin and development over the last seven years. It was back in the autumn of 2019 that a heritage-themed community festival was held. She recruited everybody with knowledge of the town’s history and any other local people with relevant information and artifacts. The resulting pop-up museum attracted some 750 people and from that the idea of a permanent town museum was born and a Town Museum Group formed. This would complement the existing Court House Museum and Castle by offering what they lacked, for example, archaeology and social history. Kathy went on to detail the hard work and time involved of seeing this idea to reality.

Temporary premises on York Place proved unsatisfactory before the present Heritage Centre was opened on the 27 April 2024 in the High Street, opposite the bus station.

Extensive refurbishment was completed with grants from the George Moore Foundation.
It would take a much longer piece than this to document all the work that has been done. This has included exhibitions, for example on World War Two and the linen industry; starting an oral history memories project; undertaking excavations, as into the Spitalcroft leper tunnel; supporting research, for example on the geology of the Nidd Gorge; 400 years of education in the town; and promoting outreach work with local schools and other community groups.

The Trust also publishes pamphlets and books, for example on the Castle Yard Riot, which are available to purchase.

The current exhibition is on the Forest of Knaresborough, of which Harrogate was once a part. It traces the history of the area from the ice age, through the royal hunting forest years, to enclosure and on to the present day.

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!

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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