Visitors to the town’s Saturday Market cannot have failed to notice the growing number of empty stalls, and the lack of vibrancy that prevails. Whether it is due to the state of the economy or the lingering effects of the Pandemic, it is hard to say. However, we will look back at the history of both Beverley’s markets, and remember the times when they truly were the beating heart of the town.
When walking through the town centre, it is easy to overlook a small sign on the entrance of one of the public houses. The round plaque erected by the Beverley and District Civic Society on the doorway of the Angel in Butcher Row, marks the location where one of the characters in a major polical scandal once lived.
Surprisingly, for such a historic town, Beverley does not possess the most obvious of literary heritages, unlike Whitby with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and York and Hull with their bold references in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
During the golden age of picturegoing from the 1930s to the 1960s, Beverley boasted three cinemas, The Picture Playhouse, The Marble Arch and The Regal. Each was different and possessed its own character, both architecturally and in the experience they provided.
Old Beverley Recipes features popular dishes from over a century ago. Some are still familiar, though others long forgotten. All the recipes were supplied by locals, many whose names have become part of the town’s history, like Elwell and Goldthorpe.
Less than two weeks after its opening, F/Lt Raymond Keen of the RAF’s 78 Bomber Squadron arrived in the North Compound of Stalag Luft III. His aircraft, a Halifax II (W7931), had been shot down following a nighttime raid on Duisburg. After having spent the previous few days being interrogated at Dulag-Luft, a transit camp for captured airmen run by the Luftwaffe, the welcome he received in Stalag Luft III was not quite what he was expecting. Once more he found himself grilled, though this time by a select group of existing POWs. Furthermore, these same men seemed to take more than a passing interest in his movements there. In due course, he would find out why.