Keith Tordoff: A week in the life

There was such synergy between the two parties that it soon became clear to me that the two companies have the potential to bring together something very special ultimately benefiting the community and commuters.

Nidderdale and of course Pateley Bridge were the beneficiaries of this meeting with the Sunday winter bus service being saved. It was fantastic that the owners of Harrogate Water who are residents of Nidderdale recognised the vital part a bus service plays in an area for the community by coming to its rescue.

It is always great to catch up with Methodist Mike and Methodist Julia which usually involves us having a chat on the street or in our shop. On this occasion we met at Just Delicious to have a coffee and a chat with a lady called Jill Quinn from Dementia Forward. Dementia forward is a local charity which covers the North Yorkshire area and we were all there to look at initiatives to help people with dementia and their families. Following our chat I am looking forward to trying to assist with engaging with the whole of our community in supporting this worthwhile cause. More about this very soon.

The big day arrived on Tuesday and Tim, Kirsty and I headed off for the Yorkshire In Bloom Awards which were being held at York Racecourses. Getting to the stalls proved problematic as we got diverted on the A1 and just made it in time for the start of the awards. We were ready for the starters gun and ready for the ‘orf’. Bang and we’re orf with lots of competition and quite a few fences to get over. It was quite amazing to see at least three hundred people in the room from towns, cities, communities and businesses all waiting to see how they have fared in this prestigious competition. Pateley Bridge were in for a long wait as the Small Town category we had entered was not going to be announced until after lunch. On our table we had the pleasure of the company of the Mayor of Harrogate Anne Jones who was there representing Harrogate. Presenting the awards on the day was Lady Emma Ingilby from Ripley Castle.

Lunch over and the moment arrived and it was announced “Pateley Bridge have been awarded the Silver Gilt award”. At last over the finishing line and proud as punch.

Up I went onto the stage as the Chairman of Nidderdale Chamber of Trade, the organisation who had entered Pateley Bridge in the competition to be presented with the certificate by Lady Ingleby.

Reading the judges remarks and scoring sheet it turned out that Pateley had missed out on gold by three points. A photo finish and just pipped at the post by a head. Slight disappointment but tempered by the judges’ comments such as “Pateley Bridge High Street clearly does have the wow factor’, Pateley “is no doubt a future gold medal winner”. High praise indeed especially when you consider Pateley Bridge has not entered the competition for a number of years and the entry was only made in January with judging taking place in June of this year. A massive thank you to members of the Nidderdale Chamber of Trade and the many people who supported this community venture. Leaving York Racecourse we decided that we would be going for gold in 2018.

Talking of gold I am really looking forward to this Sunday’s Charity Film Night Spectacular where amongst films being shown will be clips that the public have not seen including ones of the 2012 London Olympics. I will be writing next week about the film industry icons and VIP’s who came along to walk the red carpet in Pateley Bridge.