THE YORK BRIEF ⏰ Friday, 13 November 2026
Armed patrols at York's Christmas Market as traders have their say, Linton-on-Ouse on edge, a food bank in a shed, £1.5m from parking permits, and a very lucky garden gnome.
Morning, York, and happy Friday the 13th. Armed police are now patrolling the Christmas Market and other busy spots, traders have had their say on day one, and Linton-on-Ouse is nervous after an asylum centre got the go-ahead elsewhere. Plus a food bank's fight to stay in a shed, £1.5 million from parking permits, and a garden gnome that was nearly sacrificed for York City.
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👮 Armed patrols at the Christmas Market, as traders open with fingers crossed
Armed officers will be on high-visibility patrol at York Christmas Market and other busy places this festive season, including the Designer Outlet and its Winter Wonderland, North Yorkshire Police says. Chief Inspector Mark Proctor of the force's Firearms Support Unit said the patrols are there to reassure people, deter crime and protect crowded places, that the officers are happy to chat, and that their presence "should be seen as a positive measure". Police are asking everyone to stay alert and report anything that looks out of place. Traffic is already banned from the city centre while the market is running, under an anti-terror order. On the first day yesterday, traders told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they expect plenty of festive cheer but know customers are feeling the pinch: Rob Collins of Herbie's mulled wine and cider stall said he hasn't put his prices up this year, and Simon Long of the Shambles Sausage Company, in his 12th year, reckons Mondays and Wednesdays may get busier now the market shuts on Tuesdays. Not everyone is a fan of the rest day, though: Collins told the BBC it is "disappointing" and that he had to lay off a few staff because of it. Council leader Cllr Claire Douglas says around a million people visit during the market, and the Tuesday closure is "a test".
👉 Read more: YorkMix · York Press · BBC News
Behind the hoardings: what's just been applied for in York, the food places that have just registered with the council, and your weekend sorted.
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📰 NEWS
🏚️ Linton-on-Ouse on edge after Bicester asylum site approved
The government has granted planning permission to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers at a former MOD site at Bicester in Oxfordshire, and villagers in Linton-on-Ouse, where the government wants to house 1,200 people at the old RAF base, are worried about what it means for them. The Linton plan has not been approved. The Linton-on-Ouse Action Group says the two are separate proposals and that the Home Office's latest position is that Linton is still subject to feasibility assessments that could take months, but it adds that the Bicester decision shows the government "is prepared to use this planning route for former military sites".
👉 Read the full story at YorkMix
🥫 Food bank in a shed asks to stay a bit longer
John McGall, who runs the I Am Reusable Community Food Bank from his property on Aldborough Way, near Leeman Road, has applied to extend its temporary planning permission after two years of failing to find a permanent home. It now helps around 100 people a day, with more than 60 volunteers, and 19 people have written in support. Three neighbours have objected, citing queues, traffic and its effect on a quiet residential street. "The ones who will suffer are the ones who use it," Mr McGall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
👉 Read the full story at YorkMix / LDRS
💷 £1.5 million from residents' parking permits in two years
City of York Council has raised more than £1.5 million from residents' parking permits since January 2024, according to a Freedom of Information request by car dealer cinch. Income rose by nearly 19% even though the number of permits fell by 4.2% between 2024 and 2025, which the council puts down to fee changes in April 2024, when a standard first permit went from £109.95 to £115. The Lib Dems' Cllr Stephen Fenton says residents shouldn't be treated "as a cash cow", while the council says the money covers running and enforcing the schemes.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🚆 A bumpy afternoon on the rails and the ring road
TransPennine Express trains between York and Manchester were disrupted yesterday afternoon after a person died on the line near Wakefield, with delays expected until about 7pm. On the roads, there were severe delays on the A64 eastbound near Copmanthorpe in the morning rush, and a crash on the A64 near Bishopthorpe Road slowed eastbound traffic in the afternoon. Worth checking before you set off this morning.
👉 Read more: YorkMix on the trains · York Press on the A64 · YorkMix on the crash
⚖️ Neighbour nuisance cases at York magistrates
Two neighbour cases brought by City of York Council were before York magistrates. Craig Owston, 46, of Apollo Street, pleaded guilty to breaching a noise abatement notice and was ordered to pay £556, his second such case in four months. Separately, Jeanette Linsey, 50, and Martin Pattinson, 46, of Moorcroft Road, Woodthorpe, were convicted in their absence of failing to bring in a pest controller to deal with a rat and mouse problem, and must pay £1,587 between them; the council says it is now considering stepping in directly.
👉 Read more: York Press on the noise case · York Press on the rodent case
🎭 Tributes to Jim Welsman, "a driving force" of York theatre
Jim Welsman, a stalwart of amateur theatre in York, has died in York Hospital aged 87. He performed with York Opera in the 1980s, chaired York Musical Theatre Company from 1999 to 2012, launched the York New Musical Festival in 2013, and was a former chair of Theatre@41 on Monkgate. Its current chair, Alan Park, said: "Everything we're able to do today at Theatre@41 is because of Jim Welsman."
👉 Read the full story at YorkMix
🏙️ AROUND THE CITY
☕ Curious Coffee Company comes to Clifton
The former Boots pharmacy opposite Clifton Green is being turned into the fourth Curious Coffee Company café, joining Easingwold, Haxby and the Padel Farm at Sutton-on-the-Forest, and it's due to open later this month. Owner Eddie Copley-Farnell, who used to live down the road, says it's "like coming home". Expect breakfasts and lunches by day, pizza, small plates and a glass of wine in the evening, and 15 new jobs.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🧸 Reuse Santa wants your old toys
The Reuse Santa appeal is back for its eighth year, collecting clean, complete and working toys, games, books and puzzles for families in need across York and North Yorkshire. Donations are taken at all household waste recycling centres from Sunday 15 to Sunday 29 November. No toys that plug into the mains, please. More than 5,000 toys were passed on last year.
👉 Read the full story at BBC News
🏨 Aparthotel signs approved for Parliament Street
City of York Council has approved signs for Mansley Serviced Apartments at 4-7 Parliament Street, the former shop whose conversion to tourist accommodation was first approved in 2021. The firm, which has aparthotels in London, Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Inverness, says the York site will have kitchens, en-suites and a rooftop garden.
👉 Read the full story at YorkMix
🎁 Gift boxes from Yorkshire makers
Acomb's Helen Quinn has launched Thoughtfully Yorkshire, curated gift boxes of handmade things from small independent makers, including Scents of York candles and Viscount Folly tissue box covers inspired by York landmarks. Each box comes with a "Meet the Maker" card. There's a launch event at the DoubleTree by Hilton York on Saturday 30 January 2027.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
⚽ SPORT
City want to win one for Harry
York City head coach Scott Lindsey says the team will try to win for Harry Marchant, the 19-year-old lifelong fan from Haxby who was wounded in last Saturday's shooting in Krakow, when they visit Rochdale tomorrow (Saturday 14 November, 3pm). "We're thinking about you and we'll try to win for you on Saturday," he said. Harry is in a stable condition after surgery, and more than £14,000 has now been raised to bring him home, with donations from players including Ollie Pearce, Ryan Fallowfield and Frankie Maguire.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
George Hill gets a double England Lions call-up
Yorkshire all-rounder George Hill has been picked for both the England Lions red-ball and 50-over squads for their tour of South Africa. He flies out on 25 November for a camp in Pietermaritzburg, followed by five games against South Africa A in December.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🎭 CULTURE
🟢 Shrek the Musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Volunteer-run NETheatre brings Shrek the Musical to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre for 11 shows from Friday 20 to Saturday 28 November, with forest-themed lighting and projections, two alternating casts (Team Fiona and Team Dragon) and, yes, tap-dancing rats. The show is also supporting charities including The Children's Heart Foundation.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🕯️ Three Christmas concerts with Alistair Griffin
York singer-songwriter Alistair Griffin fronts two nights of The Big Christmas Concert at Q Church on Priory Street on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December, with a live band, candles and singalongs, then a candlelit Fairytale at York Minster with the Ebor Quartet on Wednesday 16 December.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🚶 The man who walked the world, at the Theatre Royal
Karl Bushby, who spent 28 years walking around the world, tells his story at York Theatre Royal on Sunday 22 November at 6.30pm. Tickets are still available.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
🎩 A Dickens of a Christmas at Castle Howard
Castle Howard's Christmas has opened, with each room themed on a Charles Dickens book, from Oliver Twist to A Christmas Carol, and more than 80 dressed trees and 30,000 baubles. There are collection pieces on show for the first time, including a Victorian carriage made in 1879 for Rosalind, 9th Countess of Carlisle. It runs until 3 January 2027.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
📅 THIS WEEK IN YORK
⛸️ Today (Friday 13 November): Yorkshire's Winter Wonderland opens for its 21st season at York Designer Outlet.
🎄 Every day except Tuesdays: the Christmas Market on Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square, 10.30am to 7pm.
⚽ Saturday 14 November, 3pm: Rochdale v York City, away.
🎨 Until Sunday 15 November: last weekend for the Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition at York Art Gallery.
🧸 From Sunday 15 November: Reuse Santa toy donations open at household waste recycling centres.
🎶 Monday 16 November, 7pm doors: Del Amitri at York Barbican.
Sources: YorkMix, YorkMix, York Press, York Press, BBC News, York Barbican
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🧙 AND FINALLY...
When York City conceded in the 95th minute at Rochdale in April's title decider, fan Paul S. Wilson was "a broken man". Then Josh Stones, "our Sweet Ginger Buffalo", equalised, and City went up. Paul has now told the whole season, month by month, in a new 156-page book, York City, The Added Time Assassins, named after the 16 goals City scored after the 90th minute. Among the confessions: on the morning of that Rochdale game he pledged to get rid of a garden gnome on his wall, wearing a York City scarf, if City lost. The gnome survives. The book is £15, sold by Paul outside Vallados Lounge on matchdays (cash only) and at Haxby Sports Bar, among other places. City are back at Rochdale tomorrow. Gnome, stay strong.
👉 Read the full story at York Press
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