The women of the Westwood

And for the first time in centuries women have this year taken on some of the responsibility for these pastures – Westwood, Figham and Swine Moor – where local people have been permitted from time immemorial to graze their animals. It's the Freemen of the Town who are in charge and until recently membership of this exclusive body was restricted to local men. It was passed down through the male line to people born in the town.

But the numbers of those eligible were declining and this year membership was extended to women whose fathers were Freemen. The rules on being town-born were also relaxed.

The late Jim Needham was one of a line of Freemen that stretches back to 1802. He had no sons but he did have daughters, one of whom is Dr Susan Neave, a historian.

"All of us were born at the Westwood Hospital," says Dr Neave. "One of the reasons that the numbers of Freemen was dwindling was that Westwood Maternity Hospital closed. Apart from home-births, all births were then moved outside the Beverley boundary. Boys who would have been eligible were being born outside."

These days, most of the cattle you see here belong to local farmers who buy grazing for the season. Up to 400 cattle can be grazed at Westwood and several hundred sheep across all three areas.

The management of the pastures falls to the Pasture Masters. Twelve are elected every year in a process with some rather arcane quirks.

Allan English, their vice-chairman, says: "It's a unique election because if nobody votes for 20 minutes the Mayor can close the election and say 'that's it'."

The next election in March is open to women. Although Dr Neave's sisters are Freemen, she is the only one who still lives in the borough and therefore the only one entitled to be elected a pasture master, or to graze cattle and sheep. She does not intend to stand for election however.

As a Freeman and a pasture master, Allan English is entitled to graze cattle at preferential rates. But unlike his forbears, he doesn't farm any animals. "You had a lot of smaller people like my father who had half a dozen cattle, and his own milk round and there was a lot of people in Beverley like that."

Cattle were grazed on the pastures during the spring, summer and autumn, and then brought into people's backyards during the winter.

The tradition of Freemen of the town being allowed to "get the benefit" from the soil of the pastures goes back to the reign of Richard II, when the King allowed the Archbishop of York to grant this in return for a payment of 100 shillings a year. The land (or more accurately the soil) is now owned by East Yorkshire Council. The Freemen own the grass.

This has led to some tricky stand-offs, according to Allan English. "I always remember years ago, our chairman telling me that the racecourse wanted to build a bungalow for the racecourse foreman and the council gave them permission. Our chairman said, 'No way will you build that bungalow because as soon as you start digging the footings out, I'll put my grass back'."

Much of the management of the grazing and the cattle is carried out by two neatherds – an ancient name for stockmen. They are employed by the pasture masters to keep an eye on the welfare of the animals.

Allan English says it is vital the pastures continue to be farmed but also that they are available for the public. As well as the walkers, runners and picnickers, it is also home to Beverley Racecourse and the Beverley and the East Riding Golf Club on Westwood Pasture.

Mike Drew, secretary of the golf club, the oldest in Yorkshire, says he's happy to share his course with the animals and the walkers.

"Occasionally we will have families who aren't aware of what's going on and set up a picnic in the middle of a fairway, but usually they're very polite and very helpful when you explain to them what they're doing."

Explaining the etiquette of golf to cattle can be more of a challenge. "Our greens have to be fenced to keep them off and it usually takes the cows about two days to work out how to get through the fence, but it's not a major problem."

The rules of golf deal with balls which fall in scrapings, or divots caused by animals. Unique to Beverley is a hazard rule specific to

cattle, or rather what cattle leave behind.

"You don't have to splash out, you are allowed to take relief (to drop the ball within a club's length of the cow-pat). They took relief, why shouldn't we?"

Beverley Racecourse's chief executive, Sally Iggulden, says: "It's a very privileged area to be in. The surroundings are absolutely beautiful and we're conscious of how lucky we are."

It does present some challenges. On non-race days, the public are free to walk their dogs on the course and the cows like to wander here.

"We have cattle grids in place to stop them coming in, but they're very, crafty. They're quite good at negotiating them."

For both the racecourse and the pasture masters it is important that the livestock continues to live on this ancient common. For the past three years the charge for grazing cattle has been kept down to 35 per head per year.

It's not the money which matters to pasture masters, but the vital job these animals do.

Allan English adds: "If we didn't graze them we'd have to cut it. The animals keep it well down."

For Dr Neave it's all part of the Beverley identity.

"History's my professional field and I was very keen to ensure the tradition of having the Common Pastures run by a body of Freemen didn't die out. But I also felt very privileged to become part of the history of the town by being sworn in as one of the first women Freemen."