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Remembrance Sunday is three weeks away and Ripon is wrapped in a ribbon of red, with poppy displays at key locations and routes into the city.
Ripon Community Poppy Project, founded by Hazel Barker and former mayor of the city Stuart Martin, created its first display in 2018 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice signed in November 1918.
Every year since then thousands more poppies have been produced by a team of tireless knitters, whose painstaking work adds to the displays that respectfully honour the dead of two world wars and other conflicts.
In addition to Ripon Town Hall, the knitted poppies adorn the bandstand (pictured above) and gates (below) at Spa Gardens, where a Remembrance Sunday Service will be held at 11am on November 12.
The display at the junction of Kirkgate and Duck Hill.
The poppy displays can also be seen on planters outside the cathedral, railings in the city, at roundabouts and all access routes.
On November 9 the Community Poppy Project is holding a Concert of Remembrance at Ripon Cathedral. Starting at 7pm, it will feature Ripon City Band, the Dishforth Military Wives Choir and a performance from Brackenfield School, Harrogate.
Tickets costing £13.50 are available from Stuff 4 Offices on Fishergate and the Wakeman’s House Cafe at Market Place South. Proceeds from the event will help to support the project’s continuing work.
Those who fought 83 years ago in the Battle of Britain, were remembered in a service held at Ripon War Memorial on Sunday morning.
The battle, which started in July 1940 and ended on October 31 of that year, was at its height in mid September and is recognised as the first major defeat inflicted on Germany in World War II.
For Karen Harrison, who attends Spa Gardens each year to pay her respects to all who took part in the conflict, there was an added poignancy, as her late father Leslie John Tweed almost lost his life at the hands of the Luftwaffe, but lived to tell the tale.
His story was recounted by Mike Chambers, chair of Ripon and District Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (pictured above with Canon Matthew Pollard, who led Sunday’s service)
The retired squadron leader told how 19-year-old flight sergeant Tweed, flying a Hurricane fighter aircraft, became engaged in an aerial battle at 20,000 feet over Kenley near Croydon on September 6 1940.
After attacking a German Junkers JU88 aircraft, the young pilot’s plane was hit by return fire and he prepared to abandon it, but after removing his helmet and goggles he passed out.
Regaining consciousness at 1,200 feet he found the canopy splattered with his own blood and baled out, landing in a tree, suspended by his parachute over the wreckage of his aircraft.
Following hospital treatment flight sergeant Tweed returned to duty on December 12, 1940 and went on to serve in the RAF until 1972 when he retired as a flight lieutenant.
Mayor of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke laid a wreath on behalf of the city council.
Ms Harrison, who is secretary of the Ripon and District Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association laid a wreath in memory of her father and all members of the RAF who, like him, played their part in the Battle of Britain.
The civic party at the war memorial
Others to lay Wreaths included Group Captain Gareth Prendergast, Station Commander at RAF Leeming and Squadron Leader Anthony Beasant of Menwith Hill, along with a member of the 886 (City of Ripon) Air Cadets, who were in attendance.
The Air Cadets stood to attention for the arrival of the RAF guard of honour
Ripon City Band, whose director, Mark Sidwell (pictured left) played the Last Post.
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GALLERY: St Wilfrid’s Procession brings thousands to Ripon’s streets
Arrival at a Ripon Cathedral bathed in early-evening sunshine, signalled the conclusion of the 2023 St Wilfrid’s Procession.
It was the end of a 7.5 mile journey along residential streets and into the city centre, where thousands of people had gathered.
For the actor playing the part of the city’s patron saint and Colin the 19-year-old Cob Cross Clydesdale, there was a guard of honour provided by Ripon City Morris Dancers, as horse and rider approached the iconic building in time for a service of celebration.
Prior to that the rousing music of Ripon City Band (pictured above) resounded on Kirkgate as the procession made up of decorated floats and people in fancy dress carefully navigated the ancient street.
There was a carnival atmosphere throughout the day as crowds lined the streets to watch the parade go by and gathered in the Market Square for a Saturday afternoon of free family-focused activities and entertainment organised by the volunteers of the St Wilfrid’s Procession Committee.
Time to celebrate for these members of the procession
Among the musical entertainers were the One For All Choir, who performed to a large crowd in front of Ripon Town Hall.
Also singing and dancing throughout the day, were those who circled the city streets on the 20 decorated floats that took part in the procession.
The floats came with many imaginative themes and designs from superheroes, to one inspired by the TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine.
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Ripon Proms concert to raise money for two charities
Two charities are set to benefit from a Last Night of the Proms concert being staged by the Rotary Club of Ripon at the city’s Holy Trinity Church.
Ripon Community Link Walled Garden and Yorkshire Dales Motor Neurone Disease Support Group will share proceeds from the sale of tickets for the event being held on June 30.
The concert will feature soloist Jessa Liversidge, accompanied by Ripon City Band and include a performance by the community link Sing and Sign Choir.
Event organiser Wendy Richardson said:
“During pandemic the café at the walled garden had to close to become a classroom as members had to be taught in small groups.
“When the pandemic ended it was decided that it would give members wider life-skills and more catering opportunities to convert the café to a proper catering kitchen. This is working well with members preparing food to sell at the shop and outdoor café which of course had to close in the winter months.”
The foundations are being put in place for the new development at Ripon Walled Garden
She added:
“Planning permission has been granted for the new café and shop and work is already under way, with the aim of opening later in the summer. funds permitting.”
David Stubley, Rotary Club of Ripon’s new president, who takes over the post at the end of June, lost his father to MND and this prompted him to choose Yorkshire Dales Motor Neurone Disease Support Group as one of his charities for 2023/24
There are at least six known sufferers of MND in Ripon alone and the club wants to help by contributing to the ever-growing research funds raised by rugby players Rob Burrows, Kevin Sinfield and the late Doddie Weir.
Tickets for the June 30 concert cost £14 and can be obtained by clicking here.
They can also be purchased from The Little Ripon Bookshop on Westgate and Stuff 4 Business on Fishergate.
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Thousands pay their respects as Ripon remembers the fallen
Thousands of people gathered at Spa Gardens and on nearby streets, as Ripon remembered the dead of two world wars and other conflicts this morning.
Services were held at the war memorial and in Ripon Cathedral, with both attended by the Bishop of Ripon the Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd. John Dobson (pictured below) and clergy from the cathedral.
Spa Gardens, which like all other parts of the city has been decorated with thousands of red hand-knitted poppies created by the Ripon Community Poppy Project, provided a fitting backdrop for the ceremony at the memorial.
It was here that Andrew Cowie, president of the Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion, read out almost 400 names that appear on memorials at the gardens and in the cathedral.
Following a two-minute silence, wreaths were laid, including one on behalf of Ripon City Council, put in place by the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke (pictured below).
Wreaths were also laid by other dignitaries and representatives of all branches of the armed forces and the emergency services.
The service included hymns accompanied by Ripon City Band and the Last Post and Reveille played by Linda Graham, while lone piper Peter Spencer, of the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Pipe Band played the lament Flowers of the Forest. which preceded the two-minute silence.
Royal Engineers from Claro Barracks, were present, alongside retired service men and women and members of the Ripon Branch of the Royal British Legion.
Following the service in Spa Gardens 60 soldiers based at Claro Barracks led a march to the cathedral, passing Ripon Town Hall, where the mayor took the salute.
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Thousands expected to line Ripon’s streets for Saint Wilfrid’s parade
In this 1,350th anniversary year for Ripon, full celebrations for the city’s patron saint are making a return for the first time in three years.
Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, meant that there was only limited activity organised in those years by the St Wilfrid’s Procession Committee to keep the tradition alive.
But on Saturday, the parade, which attracts thousands to the city’s streets, will be back in force – starting on Studley Road at 1.30pm and finishing at Ripon Cathedral at 4.15 – where a service will be held,
The 24-stage parade timetable and route, which will see numerous temporary road closures, can be seen by clicking here.
The St Wilfrid parade will finish at Ripon Cathedral, where a service to celebrate the city’s patron saint will be held at 4.30.
Led by an actor on horseback, playing the role of St Wilfrid, the parade will be accompanied by the award-winning Ripon City Band and will include decorated floats with designs created by businesses and organisations.
Held on either the last Saturday of July or the first Saturday in August each year, the St Wilfrid’s Parade is a unique event, whose origins date back to 1108 when King Henry I granted a royal charter to the City Of Ripon to hold an annual fair.
St Wilfrid is celebrated as the man, who in AD 672, founded the church in the location where Ripon’s iconic cathedral now stands and the stonework in the crypt, dating back to that year, is the oldest remaining building remnant to be found in any English cathedral.
Ripon City Council event
While the revelry is on-going around Ripon’s streets, the city council is marking a much more recent tradition on Market Square from 2pm on Saturday.
The Celebrating Yorkshire Day event starts at 2pm with free fairground rides for all the family, a climbing wall, face painting and Punch and Judy shows.
At 6pm, local singer songwriter Freddie Cleary, kicks off an evening of free musical entertainment and he will be followed on stage by tribute acts, either side of the 9pm setting of the watch ceremony performed by one of the Ripon hornblowers.
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Ripon remembers with 75,000 hand-made poppies
Ripon is being wrapped in a cloak of red as the city prepares for next month’s Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.
This year, with no covid restrictions in place, Ripon Community Poppy Project is installing its largest display to date, involving 75,000 hand-made woollen flowers, alongside banners and flags.
These reminders of those who lost their lives in two world wars and other conflicts, can be seen throughout the city centre, from Spa Gardens to the cathedral, on roundabouts on the bypass and at other locations.
Ripon Town Hall, decked in Remembrance poppies
Hazel Barker, who along with Councillor Stuart Martin and Carol Dunkley, runs the project, with support from an army of volunteers, told the Stray Ferret:
“We decided to do something special to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I in 2018 and it captured people’s imagination.
“The initial plan was to produce a poppy trail from Spa Gardens, where the war memorial is located, to the cathedral and it has grown from there.”
The display outside Ripon Cathedral.
Cllr Martin, who represents Ripon at city, district and county council level, added:
“We started off with no funding and put out an appeal on Facebook asking if people could help us by knitting poppies and the response was phenomenal.
“As well as getting strong support from the local community, Hazel started receiving deliveries of poppies made by people living in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Malta and other countries.”
The community poppy project continues to thrive, with knitters – both female and male – in the city and further afield providing their assistance.
At its core is the Knit and Natter group that meets between 9.30am and 11am each Monday morning in the Sun Pavilion Cafe in Spa Gardens.
Ms Barker said:
“They are knitting all year round and as well as making the poppies, they are producing decorative items for other events, such as next year’s celebration of the queen’s platinum jubilee.”
One of the specially produced banners attached to railings in the city centre
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal British Legion and the messages ‘RBL 100’ and ‘Lest We Forget’ have been included on poppy wreaths.
The legion’s Ripon branch and the community poppy project, will benefit from the proceeds of a fundraising concert of remembrance being held at Ripon Cathedral on the evening of November 11. Tickets costing £15 are available from Stuff 4 Offices on Fishergate.
A centrepiece of the event, which will include performances from Ripon City Band and the Dishforth Military Wives Choir, will be a replay of a video first shown in November 2018, when it was projected onto the front of the cathedral.
Cllr Martin said:
“It was produced, with the support of sponsors, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and is both spectacular and moving. This time, we will be showing it inside the cathedral.”
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