YORK local historian Prudence Bebb has published a new book, looking at life in Regency Beverley.

Previous books by Prudence, of Poppleton, have focused on Regency York, Scarborough, Harrogate, and Whitby, and also Georgian Poppleton.

Switching her attention to East Yorkshire's county town, she has carried out extensive research into a range of subjects, including the Minster and its vandalism problems, the town's school and its funding difficulties, and the way Beverley dealt with law and order issues, including the use of the gallows.

She also tells of an excited town on racedays in the early 1800s. "Gentlemen in dark blue coats with brass buttons and high neckcloths discussed 'Horseflesh' over a glass of wine," she writes.

"Anxious and excited voices commented on 'the going'. The rain had died, the ground was no longer squelchy and which horse would it suit best?

"Sometimes the gentlemen themselves rode their own horses in the race."

She reveals that vandalism - from smashed windows to graffiti - is far from a modern phenomenon, with Beverley Minster coming under regular attack by children from a nearby school in Regency times.

"Grey heads were shaken and shocked voices bemoaned the decline in morals and behaviour; things had not been like this when they were young."

Life In Regency Beverley is published by Sessions of York for £6.50, and Prudence hopes it will become available shortly in most York bookshops.

Updated: 10:10 Wednesday, July 09, 2003