We are pleased to announce that Harrogate Spa Society was formally incorporated as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in October 2026, establishing a new non-profit organisation dedicated to shaping the future of Harrogate as a living spa town. The incorporation marks an important step in turning our vision into a lasting organisation, creating a foundation for new partnerships, projects and investment in the town’s cultural and natural heritage. Our work brings together land

For much of the twentieth century, Britain’s spa towns had something they no longer possess: a national body bringing together the places, people, waters and ideas that made them distinctive. Its story feels surprisingly relevant again. Spend enough time digging around in the history of Britain’s spa towns and the same name begins to appear: the British Spa Federation. It turns up in old handbooks and advertisements, medical papers and council records. Bath, Buxton, Cheltenha

Mariánské Lázně, Czechia · 18 September 2026 At half past seven in the morning, Mariánské Lázně had apparently decided that a municipal band was a more civilised way to begin the day than an alarm clock. Music drifted across the town as the first visitors emerged from their hotels, many carrying the distinctive little porcelain cups with spouts designed for sipping mineral water. Beneath the elaborate façades of grand spa hotels, people were already strolling through the gard

Baden bei Wien, Austria · 16 September 2026 Some thirty kilometres south of Vienna, where the city begins to dissolve into the wooded hills and vineyards of Lower Austria, lies Baden bei Wien, a small town with a rather distinguished history of encouraging important people to take time off. Emperors, aristocrats, musicians and fashionable society spent their summers here, exchanging the grand affairs of the Habsburg Empire for sulphurous baths, garden promenades, concerts and

Vichy, France · 12–13 September 2026 Some towns have a high street; Vichy has developed an entire civic culture around the proposition that taking a pleasant walk ought to be one of life's more important activities. With its graceful colonnades, splendid parks, ornamental fountains, elaborate thermal buildings and an opera house thrown in for good measure, this elegant little city in central France makes a rather convincing case. Arriving from the Pyrenees as part of my journ

Bagnères-de-Luchon, France · 5–8 September 2026 Bagnères-de-Luchon has the pleasingly improbable character of a place where a nineteenth-century grand tour, an Alpine holiday and a rather ambitious experiment in hydrotherapy have all arrived at the same address. Along the handsome Allées d'Étigny, cafés and restaurants spill onto the pavements beneath elegant old façades, while the Pyrenees rise so dramatically behind the town that they occasionally make the architecture seem

Last night, Harrogate Spa Society was invited to join the United Nations Association Harrogate for an evening exploring the Harrogate Cure and the possibility of reviving Harrogate as a living spa town for the 21st century. The session was organised by Clive Wilson, who invited George Eglese to introduce the work and open it up to discussion with members of the UNA and others working across sustainability, health, community, environment and place. Beginning with a passage fro

Wildbelt made an appearance as a Field Station at Knaresborough Forest Day on 13 August 2026. Wildbelt is a developing landscape framework connecting the Nidd, Crimple and Oak valleys around Harrogate. It brings together nature recovery, active travel, community stewardship, local food and culture within one long-term vision. At Forest Day, a large map introduced the wider landscape and provided a focus for conversation. Books, images, objects and project material helped peop

A growing collection of books, images, objects and ephemera is providing a research foundation for Harrogate Spa Society and its work to advance Harrogate as Britain’s Living Spa. Harrogate Spa Society is developing a new archive concerned with Harrogate’s mineral waters, landscapes and spa culture. Bringing together historic material with contemporary research and documentation, the Harrogate Spa Archive will support the Society’s publishing, interpretation, exhibitions, pub

Harrogate’s Cure begins with water, but it has never been contained by it. To take the Cure was to enter a whole pattern of life. Mineral waters and bathing were accompanied by walking, fresh air, rest, gardens, company and time away from ordinary routines. The treatments mattered, but so did the conditions in which they took place and that relationship can still be read in the landscape of Harrogate today. From the springs and bathing rooms around the Royal Pump Room and Cre

We were delighted to take part in the teamHDFT Conference at Pavilions of Harrogate, held as part of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust’s celebration of 200 years of healthcare in the town. The conference brought together colleagues from across the NHS and its wider network to explore the future of healthcare, patient care, workforce, sustainability and the green agenda. The day opened with Professor Jackie Andrews, Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive of HDFT

Around 50 residents, councillors, landowners and environmental specialists gathered at Pannal Village Hall this week to explore the creation of Crimple Common and a continuous greenway through the Crimple Valley. The initiative, known as Crimple Commons, aims to protect and restore the valley as a shared landscape for nature, climate resilience and public access. Early proposals include the creation of a new community common on land around Weston’s and Leeds Road, alongside h

George Eglese and Shan Oakes presented the Harrogate Wildbelt to the quarterly meeting of the Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership at Harrogate Civic Centre on 3 April 2025. The partnership has worked to protect the Nidd Gorge and Bilton Fields since 1983. It was originally formed by Harrogate Borough Council with conservation groups, recreational interests, landowners and local representatives. Over four decades, it has provided a forum for balancing nature conservation, agricult

What if a British town was designed around nature, water, and wellbeing? This video is a recording of a public presentation by George Eglese, delivered at the Harrogate Town Plan Forum, exploring a nature-led vision for Harrogate as a 21st-century spa town. Drawing on Harrogate’s unique geological heritage, mineral springs, hidden waterways, and historic landscapes, the talk sets out how water and nature could once again sit at the heart of urban life. It explores how becks,

Beautiful paintings depict spa scenes against the background of the ornate 'water temples' Earlier this month, I visited the West Bohemia Spa Triangle - a trinity of historic spa towns in Czechia that form part of UNESCO’s Great Spa Towns of Europe. For anyone who hasn’t been, Czechia is incredible. Their attitude toward food and beer is exactly what you’d expect - generous, hearty, and entirely unapologetic. But what struck me most wasn’t the beer culture - it was how deeply

There’s a growing conversation in Harrogate - one that’s been a long time coming. Could this town, known for its rich spa heritage, reclaim its identity in a way that feels relevant today? Could it move beyond nostalgia and become a place where water, wellbeing, and nature are once again central to its future? These were the questions at the heart of “Growing the 21st Century Spa Town,” a recent workshop that brought together over 30 key players - from North Yorkshire Council

The group sets off into the Crimple Valley The sun was out as we set off into Crimple Valley, walking the land owned by North Yorkshire Council. A light breeze moved through the trees, carrying the hum of insects and the occasional burst of birdsong. It was the kind of day where nature seemed to lean in, inviting us to slow down, look closer, and listen. Crimple Valley sits due south of Harrogate, forming a natural boundary between the town and the historic village of Pannal.

Buxton Crescent, built in the 1780s for the Duke of Devonshire Earlier in the year, we visited Buxton, one of the UK’s key spa towns. Nestled in the Peak District, it’s smaller than Harrogate, but walking through its streets, we were struck by the similarities - the architecture, the grand public gardens, even the way the town’s hilly terrain shapes its landscape. Pavilion Gardens sits at the heart of Buxton much like Valley Gardens in Harrogate, and its Pavilion echoes our o