Talk:Harrogate

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Karl Marx (qv) came to Harrogate for three weeks in November 1873. He'd been researching at the British Museum in London, fell ill (again!) and was advised to take the waters at this then famous spa town. He stayed at the Swan Inn with his daughter, ran out of money (again!) and had to write to his friend and backer Engels for more. It's alleged that Engels, knowing of Marx's spendthrift ways, sent him a packet of five pound notes cut in half, promising to send the matching parts when Marx sent him a receipt. Anyone who knows this genteel town would be amused by the presence within it of the founder of communism.

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[edit] Etymology of "Harrogate"

The origins of the name of Harrogate are somewhat uncertain, so I'm not sure whether it is worth including a reference in the article. There are a few sources on the net that quote "Har Low Gata", meaning 'Grey Hill Road'" as being the original form. But I can find no source in RL for this. That said, the word "gate" in a town's name does usually derive from a scandinavian word meaning "road" or "way".

"A history of Harrogate and Knaresborough" by the Harrogate Local History Group has some details about the origin of the name. The earliest recorded references to the town come from Knaresborough court rolls dating from 1332. A variety of spellings are used including "Harugat", "Harougat", "Harowgat", "Heywraygate", "Harowgate", "Harwegate" and "Harlougate". The last one suggests "road to Harlow", but it is one of the least common forms of the name.

Apparently the first recorded citizen of the town was one John of Harrogate who was unfortunate enough to be caught hunting in the King's woods and brought before the magistrates in Knaresborough.

Harlow Hill is a prominent local landmark, so it is likely candidate for the origin of the town's name. That said, the site of Haverah Park (a Royal Park) lies just beyond Harlow Hill. Haverah used to be known as Haywra and so is also a potential source of the name.

Another history of Harrogate translated "Harlow" as meaning "Soldier's Hill". As mentioned above, a number of 'net sources translate it as "Grey Hill".

Myself, I reckon the name existed in a few different forms and was taken by different people to relate to different local landmarks. This led to various different pronunciations and spellings, until we stumbled upon the current form. So the origins of the town's name reflect a typically human confusion.

The first two ("Harugat", "Harougat") seem most likely to me. The local pronunciation is 'Arrer-gut'. The 'gut' is consistant with the way Scandinavians pronounce their word for street. Only very posh people and southerners say 'Harrow-gate' so I doubt 'Harrow' or 'Harlow' had anything to do with it. From what I remember 'Harlow' is not particularly close to the original High and Low Harrogates in any case.GordyB 08:44, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

The local pronunciation of Harrogate is "Harrow-gayte". The only people who live in Harrogate are very posh people. The pronunciation "Arrer-gut" derives from the way people from Leeds say it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.69.232.203 (talk) 13:04, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

I live in Harrogate and pronounce it Arra-g't. The g't at the end doesn't have a pronounced vowel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.4.179.109 (talk) 12:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] FIRE?

I've lived in Harrogate for nearly 20 years and have never heard of FIRE. The link just seems to point to some pictures of t-shirts and something on fire. I wouldn't exactly call it "One of the towns most loved social activities".


Cheers for the edit Rjstott.

FIRE is a floating club "thing" that - it's *REALLY* not worthy of an entry on wikipedia ;)

[edit] Leeds Connections

Has the reference, "Harrogate is strongly connected to Leeds, and is part of the Leeds City Region," been checked? Because as a Harrogate resident I'm not sure this is accurate, certainly not based on all the taxes, etc that I pay -- additionally, they are technically in different counties, covered by different police forces, councils, etc.

There is no official connection but Harrogate is just commuter belt for West Yorkshire.GordyB 08:39, 29 October 2006 (UTC)


Recently the Harrogate Advertiser refered to the Leeds City Region. I have added a link below to reference the "Region" User:wrapsim5 11.25, 17 March 2007(UTC)

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/About_Leeds/Leeds_city_region/page.aspx

"Leeds City Region comprises the 10 local authority districts of Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield, and York, which reflects the true area of how the economy of Leeds and the other cities, towns and rural areas in the city region functions; for example, 95% of people who live in the city region also work in the city region."

This is ridicuous. Harrogate has nothing to do with Leeds what-so-ever. I have lived in Leeds my whole life and know this for a fact. Harrogate is in North Yorkshire and Leeds is in West Yorkshire, so they are completely different places. This was probably written by some Harrogate wannabe bad boy who knows of Leeds's poor reputation compared to Harrogate's(which has a reputation as a beautiful tourist destination). Harrogate has NOTHING to do with Leeds. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.69.232.203 (talk) 12:56, 4 November #2007 (UTC)

Harrogate is a commutor town of Leeds, to say otherwise is just snobbery. I live in Wetherby and am under no illusions about the importance of Wetherby (granted Harrogate is larger and in a different county). Harrogate is void of industry (even more so then Wetherby) and the town centre is void of any ammenities that a town must offer to be an 'independent' town. The above comment is just middle class snobery over a town with an identity issue and a dillusion of importance. Trust me, I have been.

User:Mtaylor848

[edit] Population discrepency

When the right hand infobox was added on 1 March 2006 [1] by Achmelvic the population was entered as "73,510", whereas the first paragraph states "85,128 according to the 2001 census". I've altered the population in the infobox to 85,128. I googled and http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pop2001/harrogate.asp seems to state the population is 150,000 so hey, if anyone knows the deal, please change it! --RickiRich 02:27, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tesco

According to http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2007/01/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_11.shtml Harrogate is one of four UK postcodes that do not have a Tesco. Is this [a] true and [b] worthy of mention? Grant McKenna 00:21, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Considering that the other three places are extremely remote parts of Scotland, it is amazing. Definitely worth a mention.GordyB 16:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC) I THINK YOU WILL FIND THAT HARROGATE HAS A TESCO NOW IN STARBACK, TESCO EXPRESS!!!!SO YEAH!

Yes there is not a tesco mainstore, but there is a tesco express petrol station. and a land site owned by Tesco, which they plan to build into a massive supermarket. see this: http://www2.harrogatetoday.co.uk/tesco/tescohome.asp?offset=1280 Philbuck222 14:02, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Just read about the Green Party's involvement in a campaign against the Tesco proposal. See: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3234 --Richardob 02:29, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merger proposed (Oatlands, North Yorkshire)

The following discussion is archived. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

The result was: Merge --B. Wolterding 17:04, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

I propose to merge the content of Oatlands, North Yorkshire into here, since the notability of that article has been questioned. In fact, Oatlands seems to be part of Harrogate (not an independent settlement), and the article is very short, so it could well fit here.

Please add your comments below. Proposed as part of the Notability wikiproject. --B. Wolterding 17:42, 27 September 2007 (UTC)


do it. BUT add add other boroughs. (bilton, jennyfields, knox) Philbuck222 19:50, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

  • I'll merge the text, but I'll leave it to others to add more

borough. That would best be done by someone more familiar with the topic than I am. --B. Wolterding 17:04, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

[edit] The "Woodlands" section

"Woodlands has been the scene of many Gang related attacks some involving drive by shootings over recent years which are linked to local gang 'woodlands man dem'. The area gained a notorious reputation for the infamous 'Woodlands riots' in 1987"

Sorry - what on Earth is this nonsense? I've lived here for years and I've never heard of any drive-by shootings, much less any "Woodlands Riots"! This is total fantasy. If you have any evidence of these "events" please cite it, otherwise - stop talking crap. Nsign 10:55, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

All the sections about Bilton and Jennyfields are crap. They are not rough and they are not poor. The areas are in Harrogate, which is a tourist town in North Yorkshire, and one of the most expensive areas of England. Harrogate knows nothing of social problems and such. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.69.232.203 (talk) 13:00, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


Harrogate knows nothing of social problems. Christ! What illusion are you under. I know such things are relative, but every town has it's areas. Granted the riots sounds rubbish although I do remember the shootings on Look North. User:Mtaylor848

I'm beginning to think the whole suburbs section should be trimmed significantly, there's no way of knowing what the author actually means by "middle class" and "working class" but since I've just seen some fantasyland statements about how certain areas of the town are "rough", I suspect it may be a bit over-exaggerated. How do we even verify whether an area is "predominantly working class"? - Zeibura (Talk) 18:20, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Zeibura. The whole suburbs section does seem to be some sort of Harrogate fantasy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.69.177.185 (talk) 00:57, 5 January 2008 (UTC)