Several of the Harrogate district’s most popular visitor attractions are offering free or half price admission until Sunday.

National Lottery Open Week is being staged to thank lottery players for contributing to good causes.

Places that have benefited from lottery funding, including Fountains Abbey in Ripon, RHS Harlow Carr and Ripon Museum Trust are among those taking part.

RHS Harlow Carr

Anyone who presents a lottery ticket or scratch card (digital or physical) at the National Trust-owned Fountains Abbey‘s visitor reception can visit the historic site for free.

Fountains Abbey. Photo: J Shepherd

RHS Harlow Carr is offering 2-for-1 entry for anyone that presents their lottery ticket or scratch card.

Ripon Museum Trust is offering a 50% discount to lottery players on Saturday to individuals and family groups that show a National Lottery ticket or scratch card on arrival at its three venues. They are the Liberty Courthouse, Prison & Police and Workhouse museums

Helen Thornton, museum trust director, said:

“We’ve been fortunate to receive National Lottery funding which enabled us to purchase the Workhouse Museum site and also to progress our future development plans.

“This is our way of saying thank you to everyone who has bought a National Lottery ticket, helped us on our journey and made a vital contribution to supporting good causes.”

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Darren Henley, chief executive of Arts Council England and chair of the National Lottery Forum, added:

“The National Lottery Open Week is a fantastic opportunity for hundreds of venues and projects across the UK to say thanks to players who raise £30 million each week for good causes.”

Further details about National Lottery Open Week available here.

From facilities designed for the seriously rich to listed buildings of religious and historic significance, the Ripon Civic Society’s design awards shortlist embraces a wide range of architectural splendour.

Grantley Hall, the multi-million pound luxury hotel, fine dining and wellness retreat, is among the contenders in the Best New Building category for the Hazzard Silver Cup.

Grantley Hall is also shortlisted for the best restored building award, where it is competing again, amongst others, St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church at Coltsgate Hill. where renovation was made possible because of the £500,000 raised by parishioners and grant funding.

Opened in 1862, the Grade II* listed building is recognised as one of finest parish churches in England.

The Pugin reredos that provides the backdrop for the high altar at St Wilfrid’s was refurbished as part of the church’s restoration.

St Wilfrid’s is also shortlisted for the society’s Craftsmanship Award, where it again competes against Grantley Hall.

Both face stiff competition in this category from Ripon Cathedral’s Fallen Angels project, which saw the restoration of carvings and canopies in the medieval quire.

Ripon Cathedral’s Fallen Angels project is shortlisted for the civic society’s design awards. Picture: Ripon Cathedral

Grantley Hall is also in the running for The Younge Rose Bowl for Best Environmental Improvement, where it is up against Ripon City Wetlands, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Oscar’s Wood and High Batts Nature Reserve.

Ripon Claro Lounge is shortlisted in the Best Contribution to City Centre Revitalisation category

Contenders for the Taylor plate for Best Contribution to City Centre Revitalisation are the Claro Lounge and apartments in Market Place South, The Magdalens pub in Princess Road and The Water Rat at Bondgate Green.

Society chairman Christopher Hughes, said:

“Our usual biennial awards last held in 2018 have, as a result of covid restrictions in 2020, become quadrennial this year, and whilst we were anticipating a larger-than-usual response we have almost been overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of nominations submitted.

“Over the past few weeks our four judges have been considering and fine tuning a list of over thirty submissions, many of which had award-winning potential.

“Finally, and with not a little difficulty, we’ve arrived at a shortlist of which we are extremely proud and which we believe showcases the remarkable quality of projects in our part of Yorkshire”.

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The award presentations will take place at Ripon’s Workhouse Museum on the evening of Thursday, April 7.

The winners of two of the awards — The John Whitehead Award for Civic Excellence and the Helen Whitehead Award for Best Project — will be announced on the evening.

From Ripon’s priceless regalia, to readings for children in the library, today’s Sights and Sounds event had something for all the family.

Seven of the city’s best-known locations opened their doors between 11am and 2pm to provide free entertainment and interactive fun for families.

The programme, organised by Harrogate Borough Council,  included activities ranging from participation in a Victorian school lesson at the Workhouse Museum, to a visit to the bell tower at Ripon Cathedral.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe, who opened the event.

Visitors to the Prison and Police Museum, on St Marygate were able to find out how fingerprints have been used to catch criminals since the Victorian era, while being able to make their own inky impression to take home with them.

Retired solicitor Simon Crosfield, who works as a volunteer at the Courthouse Museum, let these two youngsters know what it’s like to face a judge.

At the nearby Courthouse Museum on Minster Road, visitors learned about how the city’s criminals were brought to justice in bygone days.

In addition to the array of activities at the three heritage attractions run by Ripon Museum Trust, the cathedral, which celebrates its 1,350th anniversary this year, hosted an exhibition featuring community services provided by 14 local organisations.

The city’s silverware and other treasures, collected over centuries, were on display at Ripon Town Hall where they were the focus of talks in the Mayor’s parlour.

There was an opportunity to watch Ripon Youth Theatre rehearsing at the city’s Arts Hub.

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In addition to the array of activities at the three heritage attractions run by Ripon Museum Trust, the cathedral hosted an exhibition featuring community services provided by 14 local organisations.

Freddie (left) and Taylor were among those to join in an interactive storytime at Ripon Library

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Those who were seeking more interactive entertainment found it at Ripon Arts Hub on Allhallowgate, where they watched a working rehearsal by Ripon Youth Theatre and were then invited to join in an Oliver! workshop,

Storytime readings were held at the library for children aged 0-6 and 7-11-year-olds, where community information stalls were also on display

 

Arts and community groups from across the city, are coming together to play a role in the new Ripon Theatre Festival

Taking place from June 23 to 26, the festival aims to brighten the open spaces and venues in the city with professional and community performances.

Plans include puppetry, dance, drama, street theatre, storytelling, children’s activities and family shows.

Festival director Ian Holloway and representatives from the organisations that make up the festival team, introduced themselves to an audience of 40 potential participants, volunteers and supporters at a meeting held in Ripon Arts Hub last week.

Festival team members, from the left: Ian Holloway, Tina Salden, Simon Hewitt, Katie Scott and Julia Whitham

The event is being made possible with funding from a growing number of businesses and organisations, including main sponsor Wolseley, which has been a leading employer in the Ripon area for more than half a century.

Family shows are planned for Ripon’s Spa Gardens

Volunteer Co-ordinator, Tina Salden, said:

“There are many roles for volunteers to help out as stewards and marshals or to serve refreshments, look after visiting artists or direct visitors and audiences.

Help is also needed ahead of the Festival with publicity around the region to ensure that the events are enjoyed by as many people as possible.” Anyone who missed the meeting, but who wants to get involved can contact info@ripontheatrefestival.org.

Fifty-two year 6 pupils from Holy Trinity Junior School in Ripon have used their lockdown experiences to empathise with how Victorian children might have felt as inmates at Ripon Workhouse.

The children have been working towards their Bronze Arts Awards with staff at Ripon Museums, poet and Ripon Poetry Festival founder Andy Croft and animator Dawn Feather.

They encouraged the pupils to imagine themselves in the shoes of poor and desperate Victorian children entering the workhouse.

They wrote poems under the titles Dread, Fear, Grief and Nothing. They recorded the poems as spoken word with sound effects and made their own chalk drawing animations that were presented as powerful audio-visual pieces.

Carrie Philip, Ripon Museum’s learning and outreach manager, said:

“It became clear that the fear and uncertainty the children had experienced during the past two years of covid helped them to identify with child inmates in the Victorian workhouse.

“They produced beautiful and compelling pieces of creative writing as an emotional response to experiencing the workhouse. They should be immensely proud of their achievements.”

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Pupils were awarded their Bronze Arts Award with feedback praising their excellent animated spoken poetry. The experience went beyond the immediate task at hand and will hopefully inspire the group to explore other creative endeavours.

Holy Trinity headteacher Paul Bowlas said:

“We were thrilled to work in conjunction with Ripon Museums to provide a broad and creative experience for the children of our school.

“Working together on the arts award provided a much-needed experience which not only helped children educationally but was also very good for their health and wellbeing.”

The animated poems can be accessed through Ripon Museums website www.riponmuseums.co.uk

Ripon Museum Trust has received £40,100 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to safeguard its heritage buildings and provide much-needed support for essential costs during the coronavirus crisis.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown began, Ripon Museum Trust has been without the visitors, volunteers and staff essential to the upkeep of the three museums – The Workhouse Museum & Garden, The Courthouse Museum and the Prison & Police Museum.

Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust said:

“Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we are in a much stronger position to emerge the other side of the pandemic with the strength to welcome visitors again and to reach out to our audiences. We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”

The emergency funding has come from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which has made £50 million available to assist those most in need across the heritage sector.

The UK-wide fund will address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.

Ros Kerslake, chief executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.”

She added:

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as Ripon Museum Trust during this uncertain time.”

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Like Ripon Museum Trust, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery. This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and spans the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.

Through National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance.

Museum buildings across the Harrogate district remain closed, but at the weekend Ripon Workhouse Museum launched the ‘Inside Out Museum Trail’ which will see its Front Garden, Master’s Garden and Victorian Kitchen Garden open to the public on selected days in June and July. Places on the trail are limited to ensure social distancing is maintained and booking is via the Museum Trust’s website.