Conversation with United Nations Association

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 from the historic Harrogate Cure, the presentation traced the town's development around its remarkable mineral springs, therapeutic landscapes and culture of health and sociability. It explored how water, walking, nature, treatment, culture and hospitality once operated together as a town-wide system, and how much of that physical and cultural inheritance remains in Harrogate today.

The conversation then turned to what a contemporary revival might mean.

Discussion ranged across Harrogate's distinctive mineral waters, UNESCO and the European spa-town model, green social prescribing, active travel, economic development, education, tourism and the relationship between Harrogate and its surrounding landscapes. A recurring theme was that much of what a contemporary spa town needs already exists. The opportunity is to reconnect it, make it visible and create a stronger shared framework around it.

The second half of the evening was structured as an action-learning session, with the group considering a more immediate question: how can people and organisations across Harrogate actively participate in shaping the Cure?

Ideas included work with schools and young people, walks and small public events, collaborations with existing community organisations, connections with health services, cultural activity and new ways for people to contribute their own knowledge, projects and expertise.

Our thanks to Clive Wilson for convening the evening, and to everyone who contributed so generously to the discussion.