Writing on the wall in flood-hit Hebden Bridge cafe is 130 years old

Contractor Russell Waring uncovered a wall of 130-year-old hidden posters at The Deli in Hebden Bridge. Picture: Ross Parry Agency

A CAFE in West Yorkshire hit by the Boxing Day floods has unearthed a piece of history after repair workers peeled back a layer of timber to discover a wall of hidden posters dating back more than 130 years.

The artwork plastered across the wall include preserved posters and adverts from as far back as 1882.

Workers discovered the hidden posters while renovating The Deli, in Hebden Bridge, and contractor Russell Waring believes there could be as many as four layers to still be uncovered.

Trips to Blackpool, Sunday Schools, sermons and shop openings are just some of the advertisements which lay hidden for 134 years.

Mr Waring said: “It’s a real piece of history - somebody has suggested that it might have been an outside wall.

“There’s four layers of it - so there could be even more.

“We’re just going to leave it as the the owner would like to preserve it in one way or another.

“There has been a lot of local interest in it, with people coming in to have a look.”

Amongst the findings was also a poster for a political by-election for the MP for the area who had be assassinated in 1882.

It is believed that fly-postings would have been popular amongst groups in the late 19th Century and were left - being built over.