Blog

Ripon Museums found an interesting and innovative way to bring the history of the town to people who were unable to visit while the museums were closed.

The garden has just come through its first growing season under my tenure as head gardener, what a first year it has been! A furloughed garden team, no volunteers or students all on the back of winning Christies Garden of the Year award was not how I envisaged my first year here at Newby.

The beautiful Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park is currently closed to the public but its teams of skilled gardeners and volunteers are hard at work maintaining and improving the 45 acres of stunning woodland and gardens.

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is home to important landscapes, rich in heritage and wildlife. One of its jewels is Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, the country’s largest monastic ruin, and a UNESCO world heritage site. Cared for by the National Trust, it routinely tops the top ten lists of Britain’s favourite historical attractions, thanks to its landscaped gardens, deer park, ancient oaks, follies and vistas in a spectacular setting by the River Skell.

Written by Iain Mann Manager of Nidderdale AONB

All images: National Trust Images_Chris Lacey

Explore the landscape heritage and wildlife of the Harrogate District with ten great walks for autumnal afternoons and winter wanders.  These walks vary from long to short, simple to more adventurous so there is something for everyone.

It’s been a very challenging year in many ways which means things will be a little different this Christmas, but there’s still lots of family fun to be had at the visitor attractions across the Harrogate District – Here are five of our festive favourites:

A stunning display of decorated Christmas trees will be lit up around Knaresborough for this special tradition as the annual Christmas Tree Festival becomes a trail around the centre of the market town spreading the festive feeling to shoppers, visitors and local families.

If you live nearby then the Harrogate district can offer you some welcome time outdoors this November.  Whether you are looking for somewhere to stretch the legs, escape the confines of the house or recharge and refresh yourself this November, you will find something perfect on your doorstep.  

Readers of Which? Travel this week rated Nidderdale AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) as one of their favourite beauty spots in Yorkshire and Humber.  Alice Crosby, Woodland Officer at Nidderdale AONB, tells us more.

This National Apple Day may be a little different, but Beningbrough Hall Gardens are open, and Joanne Parker gives us an glimpse behind the scenes of Beningbrough's walled garden at this celebrated time of year.

After a day in the countryside, what could be better than the welcoming sight of a real fire at your restaurant, hotel or holiday cottage? Here are just a few of the warm welcomes in the Harrogate district.

Things may be a little different this October half term and Halloween, but there’s still a lot of family fun to be had across the Harrogate District.

Markenfield Hall, reputed to be England's oldest continuously inhabited manor house, is open to the public on a few days each year for special tours.

Something spooky is coming to Lightwater Valley this Half Term from Saturday, 24^th – Saturday, 31^st October as the North Yorkshire park is hosting a hocus pocus half term full of activities to keep young families eerily entertained in-between rides.

Put one foot in front of the other and go walking this September and October across the Harrogate district.  The autumn months and the coming of winter paints Yorkshire in fabulous colours and you can explore it all across the Harrogate district with these five walks.

A grand piano, an iconic beauty spot and a time for reflection…   Ann Chadwick of Cause UK tells us why she and her sister Clair arranged for a pianist to play a piano in possibly the most inconvenient place imaginable.

Locations across the Harrogate district have carried their sense of drama onto both big screen and small with countless appearances in film and television, here are just a few of our favourites.

Knaresborough is a delightful market town with the ruins of a medieval castle perched on a cliff top and winding streets and passageways leading down to the River Nidd below.

The kids may be going back to school and the nights are coming in just little earlier, but across the Harrogate district there is still a taste of summer to be enjoyed.  We share some of the best places to find it across the area.

One of Harrogate's accommodation provider's is rated among the best of the best worldwide.

Every August the hills around Nidderdale turn a deep and vibrant purple as the heather comes into flower.   We share eight of our favourite places where you can explore this landscape and see the heather for yourself.

One of our regular travellers couldn't wait to enjoy a weekend away this month.  It turned out it was not so different and just went to show we can still enjoy a hotel stay post lockdown.

We're so pleased to be able to welcome visitors back to the glorious heart of Yorkshire.  Welcome back to food, shopping, gardens and heritage.  Welcome back to Harrogate!

As part of the national Know Before You Go campaign, we want you to enjoy a great visit to Harrogate, with all the information you need for a wonderful day out.

Thousands of beautiful, white, paper angels are being created and displayed in hope and in memory of loved ones and heroes. The final dramatic installation should be open for public viewing during August and September.

We talked to Olivia MacCunn of The Japanese Shop in Harrogate about working in one the town’s more surprising retail offerings. Olivia is no stranger to blog posts as she has also contributed to the content on the shop’s site which is a fascinating source of Japanese culture, history and quality products.

Be recognised as a responsible business for people to visit and spend time with the new nationally recognised scheme from Visit Britain.  We're Good to Go is free and open to all.

The tourism year can be hard to predict at the best of times.  England's oldest tourist attraction is named after the prophet Mother Shipton, so the irony of this particularly unpredictable year is not lost on Jay Stelling of Mother Shipton's Cave and Petrifying Well.

Katherine Musgrove, Garden Manager at RHS Garden Harlow Carr describes how the gardens have blossomed during the many months of lockdown before reopening to public this month.

We spoke to Keith Caygill, Director of Best of Britain Day Trips, about the challenges facing his business.  

If you are missing your favourite pub quizzes, we have a special event that you can enjoy from home while raising money for local charity, Henshaws.

Amanda George, Public Relations Officer for Knaresborough Lions, explains how this much loved event is going virtual and how you can get involved.

Further socially distanced digital rummagings through the museum collection have been taking place this week, Assistant Curator Nicola Baxter took a few minutes to share her findings with us.

We spoke to Simon Cotton, Managing Director HRH Group about diversifying a restaurant during a pandemic and this is what he told us in his own words.

The Harrogate Museums team share some of the curious items in their collections, and the stories behind them.

Claire Jones and Andy Merrick share their journey in creating the idilic glamping site of Strawberry Safari on their old railway site and horticultural nursery.

When husband and wife team Gabby and Paul Palmer took over the renowned Mackenzies Smokehouse and Farm Shop just off the A59 at Blubberhouses, they like the rest of us had no idea what would face us in the Spring of 2020.  Gabby told us their story.

Harrogate's festival celebrting women in beer and brewing will go on in a special virutal form for 2020.  The festival's creator Rachel Auty tells us all about it.

We have collated some ideas for creating a relaxing spa day at home and look forward to the time when we can welcome you to enjoy the Harrogate spa experience in person.

Find out why the Yorkshire Agricultural Society is promoting ‘Farm to Fork’ in their new campaign.

Will Roberts from the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park updates us on what the team have been doing over the past few months and welcomes their new Head Gardener.

See how this ancient tradition has adapted to the current situation.

Learn a little more about the largest parish church in Harrogate, a venue for services, weddings and community activities.

The team at Harrogate's ever popular Fodder share how they are adapting to serve their customers during the Coronavirus 

Why not spend some of your time at home learning how to mix a really good cocktail with these recipes from Spirit of Harrogate?

If you are missing the exotic flavours of your favourite holidays or restaurants, you can recreate them in your own home thanks to these ideas from Las Iguanas.

The story of Bettys tea rooms does not start in Yorkshire but in Switzerland...

Find out more about the legendary Mother Shipton of Knaresborough and the curious properties of the Petrifying Well.

Spirit of Harrogate have provided us with this inspiration for something we can enjoy at home.

For those (of a certain age), the ‘get out of jail free’ card, the ‘bzzzzz’ of Operation, and high stakes of Buckaroo will bring back warm, fuzzy or – let’s admit it - murderous memories.

Rainy days, family Christmas’s, sibling rivalry. It’s a potent combo. But board games are back, and they’re big.

A few ideas of places to go to enjoy the natural beauty of the season.