Yorkshire’s market town gems – Pride in Beverley’s ancient pastures

But confounding expectations has long been Beverley’s stock in trade. Besides, as its young mayor points out, it is one of the liveliest towns in the region, especially after sundown.

“The nightlife here is brilliant,” says Tom Astell, who conceived the festival. “At this time of year it would usually be bustling with people sitting outside in the evening.”

The day before yesterday – Yorkshire Day, coincidentally – was the date chosen to hoist the rainbow flag above the town in a celebration of diversity and community spirit. But the NHS upset the party by appropriating the rainbow motif for itself, and so Beverley Pride will have to wait a year.

Mr Astell had consulted the organisers of a similar event in Hull in making his plans. “It was going to run for the whole month, with flags flying from shops and a window dressing competition,” he says. Some of the flags will remain in place but the bigger question is whether all the shops that were to have flown them will still be in a position to do so in 12 months’ time.

Like many mayors who put on the chains of office this spring, Mr Astell had to deliver his inaugural address from an empty room, via YouTube. Unlike most civic heads, though, he is just 24 and the youngest in Beverley’s history. A veteran of the East Riding Youth Assembly and the UK Youth Parliament, he is following in the footsteps of his father, Peter, a fellow councillor who served two terms as Mayor.

He is also observing a culture of inheritance almost as old as Beverley itself – though one which usually applies to the ancient and somewhat arcane practice of bestowing the freedom of the town on the sons of elders, and occasionally apprentices. Until as recently as 10 years ago, the rules precluded women.

A second tier of freedom remains in place to administer the three areas of common pasture land that set Beverley apart from almost every other town in England. Pasture freemen, who must reside within the parish boundaries, are allowed to stock the green spaces of Westwood, Swinemoor and Figham with cattle, horses and sometimes sheep. It is not a purely ceremonial custom; some 1,000 animals can be seen grazing on the three pastures on most days.

Allan England, chairman of Beverley’s pasture masters, is passionate about preserving the tradition for future generations. A veteran of some 40 years, he is now 78. “I was the youngest one when I was first elected,” he says.

He is not sure exactly which year that was but he is in no doubt as to the date, for it never varies from March 1 – except when it falls on a Sunday, in which case it moves on a day.

The annual pasture masters’ poll at the Guildhall is unique to Beverley and sees 12 people elected from among the pasture freemen. “It’s a very odd election system,” says Mr England. “It starts at 9am and if no-one votes for 20 minutes, the mayor can close it.”

Sometimes, he adds, the turnout is quite low. It depends on the weather.

Yet it is a working system and has adapted with the times, he says. Four of the 12 pasture masters are now women.

“We’d been trying for years to get women on to the pasture roll, and we kept getting knocked back. About 30 years ago it was about to be nodded through, but then parliament was dissolved,” he recalls.

The ancient protocol by which approval had to be obtained from Westminster was eventually negotiated by one of the town’s MPs.

The 500-acre Westwood pasture, the biggest of the three commons and incorporating a fourth piece of land, was given to Beverley by the Archbishop of York in 1380, and is now home to the town’s golf club and perhaps the North’s most picturesque flat racecourse, as well as the cattle.

But Mr England says the town’s status as a livestock centre is not what it was. “On a Wednesday it used to be one of the biggest cattle and pig markets in the country, but that all went years ago and it lost a bit of its charm in the process,” he says. “A lot of people around Beverley kept four or five cattle before the war. But then the little people got pushed out by regulations governing where they were allowed to keep cattle and pigs.”

However, the town’s modern-day retail offering is holding up despite the privations of the last few months, says Tom Astell, who points to what happened during the recession of 12 years ago as a cause for optimism now.

“The 2008 crash killed a lot of towns across the country, while Beverley went in the opposite direction,” he says.

“Not only did it not kill us off, it actually made us stronger and there has been a lot of investment since. We extended the retail district with the Flemingate shopping centre and that brought us a cinema for the first time in years, and better leisure facilities.”

Nightlife in the pubs and in bars like the Firepit are famous throughout the Riding, “These places are full every night of the week,” Mr Astell says.

“The Saturday market is back up and running and that’s the beating heart of the town. I honestly think the community will come out of this crisis stronger and more united than ever before.”

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