On Friday 20th June I made an important visit to Beverley in East Yorkshire a town which I only came to know in the 1990's and which I had been planning to photograph for sometime. My visit commenced with the Minster which is a magnificent building inside and where the views from all directions are stunning.
I had stayed overnight at the Travel Lodge at South Cave on the extension of the M6 into Hull a few miles before the Humber Bridge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times although never so cheaply. The usual price for a night's stay is £51 whereas I paid £9, having booked some six ago, I had fancied a fish and chip supper and knew from a previous visit that there was a Chinese restaurant Takeaway in the Village that served the meal and at the excellent price of £3.40, about £1 less than in South Shields. It is a very attractive village with a few stores at the centre and a couple of Inns. I enjoyed the meal in the car on a pleasant evening and then remembered that in order to get back I had to continue the journey to North Cave passing two modern adjacent prisons in the middle of nowhere and then rejoin the motorway back to Motel. I could have had fish and chips as a sit down meal in the Little Chef adjacent to the Travel Lodge for over double the price paid (I also used a couple of pounds of petrol, if not more to be added), but the pleasure the meal was not about comparative costs but eating using my hands in the car looking on over the village.
I went to sleep earlier than usual and woke around six using the extra hours to write of my day before setting off after one cup of coffee around 9am. I headed towards Hull and the Humber Bridge but instead of immediately taking the Beverley turn I went round the junction to the Home Farm Premier Lodge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times and where from the grounds and the gardens it is possible to have a close up view of the start of Humber Bridge.
Only then I took the road to Beverley stopping about a third of the way to photograph a third establishment where I had previously stayed in the past, the Innkeepers Lodge with a Toby Carvery on site or across the way Brewers Fayre Inn with an attractive water wheel feature and a variety of levels and nooks and crannies to host a dinner party. On the returned journey I also called in at the Morrison's Supermarket for a light evening meal of a chicken and bacon sandwich with a few pieces of salad and a few crisps, a small Danish pastry and a pot of tea. This cost slightly more than the fish and chips of the previous evening but was appropriate given that I had a hot meal at midday. The opportunity was taken to buy some olive oil which I needed and some Morrison's decaffeinated ground coffee, as well as some bananas and a pack of three Eccles Cakes which would serve as a late evening snack with a drink and three packs of dried figs which I had been recently unable to buy at home.
It was at the next roundabout that I had my first view of the Beverley Minster in the distance and held my breath at such a wondrous sight wishing there was immediate opportunity to stop and photograph. After parking the car, I made my way immediately to the Minster a building which I had visited to attend services, visited as a tourist and visited to sit and reflect. I have a professionally made video of the inside of the church but not having learnt to transfer to DVD and then to capture individual frames I purchased the two pound permit number 747 to take photographs for private use and mentioning that I previously visited several years before I was told that a new stained glass window and a new artwork added in 2004 to mark the pilgrimage we all make in life.
Although the Minster has such an imposing structure upon the landscape and the length of the church is proportionate to its height there is also a more intimate and personal feel than experienced in such buildings in general, During the visit I overhead one small party being told that Henry VIII had sold the church off for scrap to the local authorities who had then decided to maintain the building as it then was. The present Gothic Style building, the fourth known to have existed on the site was commenced in 1220 to 1260 as its first phase as early English Gothic, then as Decorated Gothic 1308 -1349 and then the final phase 1380-1420 as Perpendicular. There are treasures dating back to the 14th century including the canopy understood to have been created for the memory of a Lady Percy, then the most powerful family in the North of England. There are also important carvings in the North Aisle which provide much of our knowledge of the musical instruments from the 14th century. A former Bishop of York, John , who founded a monastery on the site, was buried in the church 721 AD. I have included a selection of photos of views of the church at a distance and internally Beverley 101 and which I hope will communicates something of the power and spiritual presence of the Minster on the Town. If you are a Catholic and Protestant, or of other faiths which are not against the creation of such architectural monuments to faith and spirituality, and even if you have no belief in a supreme creative being, I challenge you to visit Beverly, find somewhere to stop and view the Minster at a distance and then visit inside and just sit an reflect on your life and the world and not be moved.
As with most towns there are several features which give the place its unique identity. It has a long shopping roadway, part pedestrianised which commences at the Wednesday Market which is being developed with attractive lightly coloured single bricks to extend the outdoor seating area for the Inns and bars and restaurants around the area and where previously one could park a few cars, especially convenient for the takeaway which was used on more than one occasion, There are also several tea rooms and coffee houses and here in a side lane close to the Marks and Spencer's' Simply Food store, I enjoyed a lunch of a chicken breast, with freshly bought and cooked vegetables, followed by a cup of coffee. The pedestrian road here has names such as Butcher's Row and Toll Garvel
To one side of the main pedestrianised street are the offices of the East Riding County Council, I first got to know of this area from the novel of Winifred Holtby, East Riding, and this was the first occasion that I went to look at the range of buildings which form the civil centre and where one man has mounted a campaign about what happened to his children when the Council's Social Service Department intervened. He has an assembly of placards telling his story and is supported by voluntary helpers and sympathetic interest groups. As he does not obstruct the pavement in this quite part of town it appears that the authorities allow him to vent his anger at what happened in this way.
The main shopping area then widens into a very pleasant oblong area used for car parking except for Saturday when it is filled a wide range of stalls, hence its name, the Saturday Market. On every side there are pleasant designed ye olde English buildings, some are Inns developed into small Hotels. There are some modern courtyards for shops, offices and eating places on the right hand side of this area off side street but have so carefully been designed that the old and new merge with much harmony. The one exception is the building known as the Treasure house which has been added to the Victorian Library as is an interesting but odd concoction with a Tower from where there is a great view to the Minister and the Town which I did not realise until too late I could have climbed and photographed the view. Another Day, another Time, hopefully.
At one side of the Market there is a building which used to house a small theatre where I saw Curtis Stigers perform one evening. This was the former Corn exchange, next to which there was an antiques show room which I have also visited. The buildings have been gutted leaving the façade and is up for sale. Across from the former Corn Exchange is the Dog and Duck former Coaching Inn with a small unit of double bedrooms with ensuite facilities on two floors in the former coaching yard. I stayed here once over Christmas and recently found the receipt when creating space in a filing cabinet to assemble all the papers related to my birth and care mothers.
A little way to one side of this area as there is now a road which heads towards what is a gateway called a Bar marking the end of the mainstreet there is located the most prestigious Hotel in the town the Beverley Arms. According to John Midddleton in his story of Hotel there was a previous building, the Blue Bell but in 1794 it was rebuilt as the Beverley Arms in 1794. The Hotel has been traditionally been at the centre of County Life when visiting the town and the place where successful Parliamentary candidates would address the population on election nights. Randolph Churchill stayed while on service locally during World War II and is known to have been joined by his wife, the celebrated Pamela Harriman, make of a President and subsequent U S Ambassador to France. I have had short stays here on deals which included he evening meal. I have the receipt for my stay somewhere but it was significantly more than the 42.5 for a single room in 1941, or 50p in 1946. Lunch would have been 15p afternoon tea 5p and the evening dinner 20-25p However the hotel receptionist was paid £1.87 for a long week from 7am till 2pm and 6 pm until 1 am. Even in 1962 when I was surviving a local authority further education grant a fillet steak garni could be enjoyed for 72.5p Beverley before the reformation was one of the largest towns in England and one of richest. The subsequent martyr John Fisher came from Beverley, his name given to the Independent Catholic School at Purley I attended between 1952 and 1955. Religion and racing are the main attractions of this English Town.
On one occasion when staying at the hotel my room overlooked the church of St Mary's created 13th to 15th and regarded as one the great Parish church in the UK. It is often confused for the Minster, or regarded as a mini Minster, and there is another very imposing old church in another part of the town St Nicholas, next to which is the impressive World War Memorial, set in an attractive garden. The nearby ice cream parlour and tea room in North Bar Within has closed after its owner died. There various Inns and restaurants in the area I tried to remember those where I have eaten meals. There are Eastern and Mediterranean eating places but this is a quintessential English community town with antique stores and art shops, and several book shops including one which appeared cavernous books everywhere from floor to ceiling, as well as major contemporary book seller and the ubiquitous W H Smiths. The buildings are a mixture of Georgian and Victorian and there are single parking bays on both sides of the road way and also some benches where I rested for a while after going through the gate house and crossing the busy roadway to North Bar Without where there are further old fine Town Houses, a few converted into business use and one old Inn. There is also the Rose and Crown on the corner where I have a meal and some quirky buildings around the Bar itself. Nearby there is the modern modest Conservative club building across the road from a modern restaurant serving food from India where two for the price of one can eat a five course banquet for £9.95, but this may be for certain times and days of the week
However it is when you turn West at the Bar that you come to the other unique feature of Beverley after travelling past an attractive residential area set back from a small area of common land on either side where there is no place to stop and which then widens into what is the ancient Westwood open pastures, 500 acres of gentle hilly grasslands. The Westwood itself is to the left surround this edge of town with some walkways along which people come to walk and exercise their dogs. There is more open ground to the other side stretching back some distance and there is a fork in the road. Continue ahead and eventually you will come to Beverley Race Course and one of the main roads leading to York. I took the a sharp left fork to first park my car where for the length of long roadway you can drive your car onto the verges as this is free land given to the Townspeople in the 14th century. Mind you it is not misnamed pastures for herds of cattle graze freely here crossing the road ways so there are driving speed restriction and animals do cross and will come to view cars and their passengers. Amazingly to both sides there is the Town's golf course with green and fairways created within the area of pasture, so look out for golf balls as well as animals.
If you continue on this road, as I did, you engage in an attractive 10 miles or more drive before being able to double back into Beverley on the other side of the Pastures and it is from here that you can stop on reaching housing and take photographs of one end of the Minster. Continuing on this road you reach the junction with the road to the Humber Bridge but in this instance I continued and just at the Minster turned sharp right by a small area of Minster open land which was one a larger space but where some very attractive private housing has been created over recent decades. The winding road continues for over mile through attractive countryside, a riding stable and some residential properties. At the end of this journey you join a road from Beverley to Hull which I was to travel the next day by the 264 bus. I took the road back to Beverley passed on the right hand side a thatched Inn famed for 2 for 1 meals where a plate of three chops and array of finely cooked vegetables will work out at under £5 as long as there are two of you. There are also chef specials each day on a blackboard and although some distance from town it is very popular. There are similar establishments in countryside close to Beverley some with attractive views others with facilities for young children and some where you should take a gold bar or two to pay for exceptionally prepared and served food. However the casual or brief stay visitor will have no need for such excursions as there are some 40 Inns, most if not all serving food, especially during the day, although it is wise to arrive early especially on Market days when the 30000 local population is swelled by visitors from the surrounding countryside, and from Hull.
I turned back into town stopping at the Beck a human created waterway where barges once brought supplies from the river Hull which in turn reaches the great Humber a river which opens to a great width, significantly great than the Mersey and making the Tyne appear no more than a stream! There are some old Inns with watery connections in the area of the Beck as well as a mixture of Housing.
A feature of the town is its traditional small railway station, with signal box by the road crossing and where train pass at regular intervals into Hull or up the coast to the seaside towns of Bridlington and Scarborough. It was finding somewhere to park so I could use station facilities and photo the closure of the crossing that I discovered a glorious view of the Minster. You can take a train from here to Hull or Bridlington or Scarborough, or these days if you have the all England pass you can take the bus from the small station at one side of the town centre.
Finding my way back to the Travel Lodge was a problem because having decided to Morrison's' for the evening meal and supplies I missed the main road from the town to South and North Cave but was able to take a secondary road through some delightful countryside more by luck than design. Back at my accommodation I had to wait a couple of hours to learn what had happened as Durham were playing again in the 20 20 cup, the weakest team in the Northern sector of the competition. We won it was an important win because Nottingham have become the other front runners with Lancashire falling away and Yorkshire winning after its loss of opening games. This now makes Sundays game at the Yorkshire ground of pivotal importance as only two of the six teams are certain to qualify and the battle is between Durham and York who are to play each other twice and then the final home game with Lancashire. Before then it was back to Beverley on Saturday to catch the bus to Hull, although as I later learnt there is also an hourly bus from the villages where I could have left my car. The weather forecast was not a good one
I had stayed overnight at the Travel Lodge at South Cave on the extension of the M6 into Hull a few miles before the Humber Bridge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times although never so cheaply. The usual price for a night's stay is £51 whereas I paid £9, having booked some six ago, I had fancied a fish and chip supper and knew from a previous visit that there was a Chinese restaurant Takeaway in the Village that served the meal and at the excellent price of £3.40, about £1 less than in South Shields. It is a very attractive village with a few stores at the centre and a couple of Inns. I enjoyed the meal in the car on a pleasant evening and then remembered that in order to get back I had to continue the journey to North Cave passing two modern adjacent prisons in the middle of nowhere and then rejoin the motorway back to Motel. I could have had fish and chips as a sit down meal in the Little Chef adjacent to the Travel Lodge for over double the price paid (I also used a couple of pounds of petrol, if not more to be added), but the pleasure the meal was not about comparative costs but eating using my hands in the car looking on over the village.
I went to sleep earlier than usual and woke around six using the extra hours to write of my day before setting off after one cup of coffee around 9am. I headed towards Hull and the Humber Bridge but instead of immediately taking the Beverley turn I went round the junction to the Home Farm Premier Lodge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times and where from the grounds and the gardens it is possible to have a close up view of the start of Humber Bridge.
Only then I took the road to Beverley stopping about a third of the way to photograph a third establishment where I had previously stayed in the past, the Innkeepers Lodge with a Toby Carvery on site or across the way Brewers Fayre Inn with an attractive water wheel feature and a variety of levels and nooks and crannies to host a dinner party. On the returned journey I also called in at the Morrison's Supermarket for a light evening meal of a chicken and bacon sandwich with a few pieces of salad and a few crisps, a small Danish pastry and a pot of tea. This cost slightly more than the fish and chips of the previous evening but was appropriate given that I had a hot meal at midday. The opportunity was taken to buy some olive oil which I needed and some Morrison's decaffeinated ground coffee, as well as some bananas and a pack of three Eccles Cakes which would serve as a late evening snack with a drink and three packs of dried figs which I had been recently unable to buy at home.
It was at the next roundabout that I had my first view of the Beverley Minster in the distance and held my breath at such a wondrous sight wishing there was immediate opportunity to stop and photograph. After parking the car, I made my way immediately to the Minster a building which I had visited to attend services, visited as a tourist and visited to sit and reflect. I have a professionally made video of the inside of the church but not having learnt to transfer to DVD and then to capture individual frames I purchased the two pound permit number 747 to take photographs for private use and mentioning that I previously visited several years before I was told that a new stained glass window and a new artwork added in 2004 to mark the pilgrimage we all make in life.
Although the Minster has such an imposing structure upon the landscape and the length of the church is proportionate to its height there is also a more intimate and personal feel than experienced in such buildings in general, During the visit I overhead one small party being told that Henry VIII had sold the church off for scrap to the local authorities who had then decided to maintain the building as it then was. The present Gothic Style building, the fourth known to have existed on the site was commenced in 1220 to 1260 as its first phase as early English Gothic, then as Decorated Gothic 1308 -1349 and then the final phase 1380-1420 as Perpendicular. There are treasures dating back to the 14th century including the canopy understood to have been created for the memory of a Lady Percy, then the most powerful family in the North of England. There are also important carvings in the North Aisle which provide much of our knowledge of the musical instruments from the 14th century. A former Bishop of York, John , who founded a monastery on the site, was buried in the church 721 AD. I have included a selection of photos of views of the church at a distance and internally Beverley 101 and which I hope will communicates something of the power and spiritual presence of the Minster on the Town. If you are a Catholic and Protestant, or of other faiths which are not against the creation of such architectural monuments to faith and spirituality, and even if you have no belief in a supreme creative being, I challenge you to visit Beverly, find somewhere to stop and view the Minster at a distance and then visit inside and just sit an reflect on your life and the world and not be moved.
As with most towns there are several features which give the place its unique identity. It has a long shopping roadway, part pedestrianised which commences at the Wednesday Market which is being developed with attractive lightly coloured single bricks to extend the outdoor seating area for the Inns and bars and restaurants around the area and where previously one could park a few cars, especially convenient for the takeaway which was used on more than one occasion, There are also several tea rooms and coffee houses and here in a side lane close to the Marks and Spencer's' Simply Food store, I enjoyed a lunch of a chicken breast, with freshly bought and cooked vegetables, followed by a cup of coffee. The pedestrian road here has names such as Butcher's Row and Toll Garvel
To one side of the main pedestrianised street are the offices of the East Riding County Council, I first got to know of this area from the novel of Winifred Holtby, East Riding, and this was the first occasion that I went to look at the range of buildings which form the civil centre and where one man has mounted a campaign about what happened to his children when the Council's Social Service Department intervened. He has an assembly of placards telling his story and is supported by voluntary helpers and sympathetic interest groups. As he does not obstruct the pavement in this quite part of town it appears that the authorities allow him to vent his anger at what happened in this way.
The main shopping area then widens into a very pleasant oblong area used for car parking except for Saturday when it is filled a wide range of stalls, hence its name, the Saturday Market. On every side there are pleasant designed ye olde English buildings, some are Inns developed into small Hotels. There are some modern courtyards for shops, offices and eating places on the right hand side of this area off side street but have so carefully been designed that the old and new merge with much harmony. The one exception is the building known as the Treasure house which has been added to the Victorian Library as is an interesting but odd concoction with a Tower from where there is a great view to the Minister and the Town which I did not realise until too late I could have climbed and photographed the view. Another Day, another Time, hopefully.
At one side of the Market there is a building which used to house a small theatre where I saw Curtis Stigers perform one evening. This was the former Corn exchange, next to which there was an antiques show room which I have also visited. The buildings have been gutted leaving the façade and is up for sale. Across from the former Corn Exchange is the Dog and Duck former Coaching Inn with a small unit of double bedrooms with ensuite facilities on two floors in the former coaching yard. I stayed here once over Christmas and recently found the receipt when creating space in a filing cabinet to assemble all the papers related to my birth and care mothers.
A little way to one side of this area as there is now a road which heads towards what is a gateway called a Bar marking the end of the mainstreet there is located the most prestigious Hotel in the town the Beverley Arms. According to John Midddleton in his story of Hotel there was a previous building, the Blue Bell but in 1794 it was rebuilt as the Beverley Arms in 1794. The Hotel has been traditionally been at the centre of County Life when visiting the town and the place where successful Parliamentary candidates would address the population on election nights. Randolph Churchill stayed while on service locally during World War II and is known to have been joined by his wife, the celebrated Pamela Harriman, make of a President and subsequent U S Ambassador to France. I have had short stays here on deals which included he evening meal. I have the receipt for my stay somewhere but it was significantly more than the 42.5 for a single room in 1941, or 50p in 1946. Lunch would have been 15p afternoon tea 5p and the evening dinner 20-25p However the hotel receptionist was paid £1.87 for a long week from 7am till 2pm and 6 pm until 1 am. Even in 1962 when I was surviving a local authority further education grant a fillet steak garni could be enjoyed for 72.5p Beverley before the reformation was one of the largest towns in England and one of richest. The subsequent martyr John Fisher came from Beverley, his name given to the Independent Catholic School at Purley I attended between 1952 and 1955. Religion and racing are the main attractions of this English Town.
On one occasion when staying at the hotel my room overlooked the church of St Mary's created 13th to 15th and regarded as one the great Parish church in the UK. It is often confused for the Minster, or regarded as a mini Minster, and there is another very imposing old church in another part of the town St Nicholas, next to which is the impressive World War Memorial, set in an attractive garden. The nearby ice cream parlour and tea room in North Bar Within has closed after its owner died. There various Inns and restaurants in the area I tried to remember those where I have eaten meals. There are Eastern and Mediterranean eating places but this is a quintessential English community town with antique stores and art shops, and several book shops including one which appeared cavernous books everywhere from floor to ceiling, as well as major contemporary book seller and the ubiquitous W H Smiths. The buildings are a mixture of Georgian and Victorian and there are single parking bays on both sides of the road way and also some benches where I rested for a while after going through the gate house and crossing the busy roadway to North Bar Without where there are further old fine Town Houses, a few converted into business use and one old Inn. There is also the Rose and Crown on the corner where I have a meal and some quirky buildings around the Bar itself. Nearby there is the modern modest Conservative club building across the road from a modern restaurant serving food from India where two for the price of one can eat a five course banquet for £9.95, but this may be for certain times and days of the week
However it is when you turn West at the Bar that you come to the other unique feature of Beverley after travelling past an attractive residential area set back from a small area of common land on either side where there is no place to stop and which then widens into what is the ancient Westwood open pastures, 500 acres of gentle hilly grasslands. The Westwood itself is to the left surround this edge of town with some walkways along which people come to walk and exercise their dogs. There is more open ground to the other side stretching back some distance and there is a fork in the road. Continue ahead and eventually you will come to Beverley Race Course and one of the main roads leading to York. I took the a sharp left fork to first park my car where for the length of long roadway you can drive your car onto the verges as this is free land given to the Townspeople in the 14th century. Mind you it is not misnamed pastures for herds of cattle graze freely here crossing the road ways so there are driving speed restriction and animals do cross and will come to view cars and their passengers. Amazingly to both sides there is the Town's golf course with green and fairways created within the area of pasture, so look out for golf balls as well as animals.
If you continue on this road, as I did, you engage in an attractive 10 miles or more drive before being able to double back into Beverley on the other side of the Pastures and it is from here that you can stop on reaching housing and take photographs of one end of the Minster. Continuing on this road you reach the junction with the road to the Humber Bridge but in this instance I continued and just at the Minster turned sharp right by a small area of Minster open land which was one a larger space but where some very attractive private housing has been created over recent decades. The winding road continues for over mile through attractive countryside, a riding stable and some residential properties. At the end of this journey you join a road from Beverley to Hull which I was to travel the next day by the 264 bus. I took the road back to Beverley passed on the right hand side a thatched Inn famed for 2 for 1 meals where a plate of three chops and array of finely cooked vegetables will work out at under £5 as long as there are two of you. There are also chef specials each day on a blackboard and although some distance from town it is very popular. There are similar establishments in countryside close to Beverley some with attractive views others with facilities for young children and some where you should take a gold bar or two to pay for exceptionally prepared and served food. However the casual or brief stay visitor will have no need for such excursions as there are some 40 Inns, most if not all serving food, especially during the day, although it is wise to arrive early especially on Market days when the 30000 local population is swelled by visitors from the surrounding countryside, and from Hull.
I turned back into town stopping at the Beck a human created waterway where barges once brought supplies from the river Hull which in turn reaches the great Humber a river which opens to a great width, significantly great than the Mersey and making the Tyne appear no more than a stream! There are some old Inns with watery connections in the area of the Beck as well as a mixture of Housing.
A feature of the town is its traditional small railway station, with signal box by the road crossing and where train pass at regular intervals into Hull or up the coast to the seaside towns of Bridlington and Scarborough. It was finding somewhere to park so I could use station facilities and photo the closure of the crossing that I discovered a glorious view of the Minster. You can take a train from here to Hull or Bridlington or Scarborough, or these days if you have the all England pass you can take the bus from the small station at one side of the town centre.
Finding my way back to the Travel Lodge was a problem because having decided to Morrison's' for the evening meal and supplies I missed the main road from the town to South and North Cave but was able to take a secondary road through some delightful countryside more by luck than design. Back at my accommodation I had to wait a couple of hours to learn what had happened as Durham were playing again in the 20 20 cup, the weakest team in the Northern sector of the competition. We won it was an important win because Nottingham have become the other front runners with Lancashire falling away and Yorkshire winning after its loss of opening games. This now makes Sundays game at the Yorkshire ground of pivotal importance as only two of the six teams are certain to qualify and the battle is between Durham and York who are to play each other twice and then the final home game with Lancashire. Before then it was back to Beverley on Saturday to catch the bus to Hull, although as I later learnt there is also an hourly bus from the villages where I could have left my car. The weather forecast was not a good one
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