Britain's biggest Breweriana collector on the hunt for missing trays that tell of Yorkshire's social history

Forty years on, the former director of Reebok has built his own mini-museum, but still there are niggles that will not go away.

Some 15 trays are believed missing somewhere in Yorkshire, crested with brewers’ trademark designs from the John Smith’s magnet of Tadcaster to the huntsman from Tetley & Son.

To Mr Percival, his vast collection of some 1,500 trays can never be complete until he can track down these last mementos before it is too late.

These trays are “social history”, said the 59-year-old father, with colourful designs that speak of a lost past.

He said: “Most brewers produced trays. Most are long gone. This is about the preservation of brewery history.

“I know of at least 15 Yorkshire trays, and 80 nationwide, where I’ve got evidence that they were made. These are the ones I really want.

“It’s quite an exciting chase. It’s the thrill of trying to find a tray that just might exist.”

Mr Percival, of Rutland, is a life-long Notts County supporter. Aged 18, in the pub after an away-game, he accepted a tray from a landlord who had offered one to a beermat collector nearby.

It was a memento from the match, he thought, and soon it became an away-game tradition. He started looking at car boot sales, then specialist advertising fairs, before eBay upped the ante.

As time has gone on he has amassed what he believes to be Britain’s biggest collection of ‘Breweriana’, with Victorian and Edwardian mirrors and match strikers, show cards and mats. A double garage is now a mini-museum, with his jug collection alone standing 200 strong.

Now retired, his collection is so vast it is very rare to find a tray he does not have, and it tends to antique dealers or collectors who alert him to new finds.

Missing

But somewhere in Yorkshire, in attics or cabinets, some may still be hidden. Saved as souvenirs or memories perhaps, and now long forgotten about.

The region has a big brewing history, with many people who would have been employed. Mr Percival’s appeal is to past workers or their descendants, who may have some hidden away.

“There will be people, who worked in those breweries, who might have kept some,” he said. “It’s getting more difficult to find them, as generation after generation has gone. Only last week I had a call from someone who’s grandma had one in the attic all this time.”

The Yorkshire trays tend to have simpler designs, said Mr Percival, often featuring brewers’ trademark symbols.

Tetley’s once invited him in for a ‘swap’, and he managed to secure nearly 30.

Collection

He said: “Some people collect beer mats, but to me they’re a bit small and boring. These are so colourful and bright, and to see 300 on display is amazing. They are really nice objects.

"People see them and they’re lost for words, remembering that history and design skill. For me it’s all about the thrill of the chase. It’s adding, one more, and one better.”

Brewery trays began life in the 1870s as ‘waiter trays’, when beer would be brought to the table by servers, advertising brands and wares.

Richard Percival’s focus is primarily pre-war, black backed enamel, brass or copper. Among those missing is a Russells & Wrangham tray from Malton, lime green with a horseshoe and jockey, one advertising ‘Matchless Ales’ from Sheffield Free Brewery, and one from Hull Brewery featuring an old farmer drinking a bottle of ale.

To view the collection and find out more about the missing trays visit www.brewerytrays.co.uk. _____________________________________________________________________________

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