Dear Reader - Keeping decisions local + changed days at The Club in Harrogate

The subject of Yorkshire devolution and combined local authorities may sound like the answer to insomnia for some but it could end up mattering to all of us who live in the Harrogate district.

Now that the Government has closed the door on a ‘One Yorkshire’ proposal and the idea of one elected mayor for the entire county, the possibility of Harrogate becoming part of something called a “combined authority” of York and North Yorkshire has opened up.

The idea, as already happens in the Tees Valley, is to create a single voice on strategic matters such as economic development, transport, and infrastructure etc - and grab more money off the Government.

It all sounds good on paper and, unless you are in possession of a fully operational crystal ball, who’s to say it won’t turn out for the best.

Still, I’d like to ask a question. Why does the trend for an elected this and elected that always seem to involve the creation of much bigger organisations at a further remove from local people?

As a young boy, I remember the 1970s when the town I lived in lost its council in a local government shake-up.

Grangemouth may have been an industrial town since it burst into life from small beginnings in the 19th century but it had always been a prosperous one.

Under the reorganisation engineered by the Heath Government, it not only lost its powers at a stroke, it went on to be hit in the pocket as its interests were folded into a larger new Falkirk District Council.

It’s true my hometown is still there but it’s never been quite the same since.

Harrogate may come under 'super mayor' in Yorkshire devolution

I’m not a great joiner of clubs but I was happy to join The Club in Harrogate a few years back, mainly because of its past.

Founded in 1857 as visitors poured into the town to 'take the waters', this historic members-only institution first opened its doors at its leafy Victoria Avenue address in 1886.

It wasn’t just the great and good from Harrogate itself who would arrive for its hospitality in its Victorian and Edwardian era heyday, it was the great and good of Britain and Europe.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular visitor, coming back time after time to indulge his passion for playing billiards on The Club's biblically heavy table located on the upper floor.

Goodness knows how they got it up the stairs.

As I already said, I’m not a great joiner of clubs in general. In my penultimate year at university I did once join three clubs in the space of a month but, sad to say, only with an eye to making my CV for future jobs appear more interesting.

But what clinched it for me this time was simple - that Sherlock Holmes connection.

When I first joined The Club it felt like an under dog. It needed new blood and it has certainly got it under Andrew McMillan, its current president.

Open to all, it now boasts a bigger and younger and more diverse membership.

An ongoing restoration has seen several of its most important rooms brought back to their full glory.

The Club hasn’t forgotten the past - historic paintings of the town’s mayors get pride of place on its walls.

But what strikes me most is something else it can now boast - a healthy future.

Film legend helps Harrogate Homeless Project