Harrogate

Coordinates: 53°59′35″N 1°31′57″W / 53.993, -1.5324

Harrogate is a wealthy town in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the larger Harrogate local government district. It lies close to Knaresborough - the urban area of the two towns had a population of 85,128 according to the 2001 census, and is now estimated to be over 90,000.^[1]

History

Prior to the discovery of its naturally iron and sulphur rich water, Harrogate was two minor villages (High Harrogate and Low Harrogate) close to the historic town of Knaresborough. The first mineral spring in Harrogate was discovered in 1571 by William Slingsby, who found that water from the Tewit Well possessed similar properties to that from the springs of the Belgian town of Spa, which gave its name to spa towns. The medicinal properties of the waters were more widely publicised by one Edmund Deane, whose book, Spadacrene Anglica, or the English Spa Fountain was published in 1626. Following this Harrogate developed considerable fame as a spa town.

Today the site of the Tewitt Well is marked by a dome within the Stray, an area of open parkland some 200 acres (800,000 m²) in size that runs through the centre of the town. The Harrogate Stray was created in 1778 by an act of Parliament. The act fixed the size of the Stray at 200 acres (0.8 km²), and even now when part of it is removed, due to road expansion etc, it must be replaced elsewhere. During the Victorian period, part of the Stray hosted a racecourse (horses). Other wells can be found in Harrogate's Valley Gardens and the Royal Pump Room museum.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Harrogate was extremely popular among the English élite and was frequented by nobility from around Europe. Its popularity declined after World War I. During World War II, however, Harrogate's large hotels accommodated government offices that had been evacuated from London. This paved the way for the town's current function as a commercial, conference, and exhibition centre. The town hosted the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2007, two metal detectorists found the Harrogate hoard, a 10th century Viking treasure hoard near Harrogate. The hoard contains almost 700 coins and other items from as far away as Afghanistan. The hoard was described by the British Museum as the most important find of its type in Britain for 150 years.^[2]

Places of interest

There are many fine examples of building and architecture about the town, including the Royal Hall theatre, a Grade II listed building designed by Frank Matcham. As the only surviving Kursaal in Britain, the Royal Hall is an important national heritage building.^[3] Restoration work was completed in 2007, and the Hall was formally opened on January 22 2008, by HRH Prince Charles.^[4]

Harrogate is now one of Europe's largest exhibition and conference centres^{[citation needed]} including the Harrogate International Centre and has many guest houses, hotels and restaurants catering for the regular influx of visitors. The town also acts, to some extent, as a dormitory town for commuters working in the cities of Leeds and Bradford.^{[citation needed]} Harrogate is very prosperous and as such has some of the highest property prices in England with many £1 million+ properties in the town and surrounding villages.^{[citation needed]}

Bettys Tea Rooms are a regionally renowned tearooms. They are owned by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate - the same company that makes the more nationally well-known Yorkshire Tea. Bettys also has cafés in York (2 tearooms), Ilkley, and Northallerton, and has recently (2005) opened a second one in Harrogate at the Harlow Carr Gardens. It famously has over fifty tea pots located around the tea rooms.^[5]

Harrogate hosts the Great Yorkshire Show annually.

Awards

Harrogate was the winner of the 2003 Britain in Bloom in the category of 'Large Town'. From there it went on to win the European Entente Florale competition in 2004. This reprises its win in the first ever Entente Florale competition in 1977.

In 2005, a Channel 4 TV show listed Harrogate as the UK's 3rd best place to live. In 2006 it came 4th in the same league; the programme claimed that it placed lower due to "a slight dip in exam results", though presenter Phil Spencer noted that it was his personal favourite.^[6]

Sport

Rugby union, football, cricket, water polo and hockey are popular sports in Harrogate played at plenty of schools and local clubs.

Harrogate Town FC situated on Wetherby Road play in the Conference North division and finished 6th in the season. They have a natural, good-natured rivalry with newly promoted Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C., of the Northern Premier League First Division, located at Station View.

Harrogate RUFC is a National 2 division team and based at The County Ground, Claro Road.

Bilton Cricket Club, situated off Bilton Lane provides opportunities for players of all ages to play in Local League Cricket, Bilton Cricket Club have a good natured rivalry with Harrogate Cricket Club with Bilton defeating Harrogate in their last clash at St Georges Road in the Black Sheep Trophy in 2006. Harrogate cricket club is one of the strongest clubs in the Yorkshire league. Until 1995 the town hosted one Yorkshire county game per year at the St George's cricket ground.

Running is also a popular sport at Harrogate Harriers, who run from Harrogate Squash Club on Harlow Hill and at Nidd Valley Road Runners, who share the premises of Harrogate Railway Athletic FC. Members compete in road races, cross-country and fell races or simply run for fun and to keep fit.

Transport

The town is served by four railway stations: Harrogate, Hornbeam Park, Pannal (towards Leeds) and Starbeck on the Harrogate Line to Knaresborough and York. Trains are operated by Northern Rail, with one daily service to London Kings Cross operated by National Express East Coast. Trains run every half hour to Leeds and Knaresborough, and every hour onto York. There are extra non-stop commuter services at peak times between Harrogate and Leeds.

Buses are every 20 minutes between Harrogate and Ripon, and Harrogate and Leeds on Harrogate and District route 36.

Harrogate is strongly connected to Leeds, in both rail and road transport. This is also evident in the volume of high school students coming from Leeds to Harrogate everyday. The strong transport connection is very important for some of the Harrogate schools, especially Rossett School. Road transport to Leeds is via the A61 (North & Central Leeds), A658 (North West Leeds/Leeds Bradford International Airport) and A660 (for North East Leeds)

Governance

The MP for the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency is Phil Willis, a Liberal Democrat. He was elected in 1997, ousting the Conservatives who had won the seat at the previous three general elections.^[7]

Other

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The local radio stations are BBC Radio York on 104.3 & 103.7FM and Stray FM on 97.2FM.

Harrogate is a flavour of Mackintosh's Toffee.

Harrogate Nights, is a popular alcoholic beverage, which was created in Harrogate.^{[citation needed]}

Alongside Runnymede, Surrey, people in Harrogate drink alcohol to more hazardous levels than anywhere else in the UK.^[8]

The Harrogate postcode, HG, is the only one on the UK mainland without a major branch of the supermarket chain Tesco.^[9]

Schools

• Ashville College
• Harrogate Grammar School
• Harrogate High School
• Harrogate Ladies College
• Harrogate Tutorial College
• Rossett School
• St. Aidan's C of E High School
• St. John Fisher Catholic High School

Suburbs

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Like all large towns, Harrogate has many suburbs. These include;

• Oatlands, is a wealthy suburb in the south of Harrogate. The suburb includes 2 schools, Oatlands Primary School and Oatlands Infant School, and a set of allotments.
• Woodlands, is a large area of the town covering a part of the south east of Harrogate. Neighbouring the districts of Starbeck/Knareborough Road. It is home to Harrogate town football club, Woodlands primary school, Morrisons and Sainsburys supermarkets as well as the Woodlands pub.
• Bilton, is a very large area of Harrogate with many churches, stores and schools situated in Bilton.
• Jennyfields, is a large area of Harrogate, it has one school, a primary school called Saltergate.
• Duchy, is an affluent area close to central Harrogate where most of the houses are large detached homes converted into apartments. There are several private schools in this area most notably Harrogate Ladies College. There is also a golf club and open countryside for walks etc.
• Starbeck, is a large suburb to the east of Harrogate. There are several shops along the local High Street, as well as a station with trains to Harrogate onto Leeds, Knaresborough and York. A high frequency bus service links Starbeck to Harrogate and Knaresborough. A number of schools, churches and convenience stores are situated in Starbeck.
• Pannal, is to the south of Harrogate, off the A61 road. It retains much of it's village character, although is considered a suburb of Harrogate by the majority. A commuter station links it to Harrogate onto York and Knaresborough, and Leeds.
• High Harrogate, is an inner suburb to the east of the town centre. It is focussed on Westmoreland Street and the A59 road, where a number of shops and cafes are located. Expensive terraced houses line The Stray, which stops in High Harrogate.
• Low Harrogate, is an inner suburb to the west of the town centre. It is traditionally the focus of most the tourist activity in the town, with the Royal Pump Room, Mercer Art Gallery and Valley Gardens.
• Harlow Hill, is a suburb to the west of the town, accessed by Otley Road. It has a number of new developments, and an office park. It is most well known for Harlow Carr Gardens. Harrogate Spa bottling plant is also on Harlow Hill, as is a water treatment centre.
• New Park, is a small area to the north of Harrogate, known for it's primary school. There are a number of terraced houses in this area, as well as some light industrial and commercial premises.
• Wheatlands, is a wealthy suburb to the south of The Stray. It is exclusively residential, with the exception of 2 high-performing schools, St. Aidan's and St. John Fisher.
• Knox, is a very wealthy part of Harrogate, joined to Bilton by a pedestrian bridge over Oak Beck. Originally, a ford allowed road access via Bilton, however now, road access is via the A61 road. It is known for it's large country-style mansions.

Town twinning

Harrogate is twinned with:

• - Luchon, France (Since 1952)
• - Wellington, New Zealand
• - Harrogate, Tennessee, United States

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 1982
• Association of Harrogate Apprentices
• Harrogate (Stonefall) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
• List of spa towns in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Harrogate Borough Council
• Harrogate Today, local newspaper
• Harrogate Confidential.com, local online magazine about Harrogate
• Harrogate Golf Club
• Harrogate Rugby Union Football Club
• Harrogate Hockey Club
• Harrogate Theatre
• Harrogate People, Places, Events, Historical Brochures, etc.
• Bilton Historical Society
• Project Gutenberg etext of Edmund Deane's Spadacrene Anglica
• Norwood College, Harrogate
• Harrogate at the Open Directory Project

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