ABSTRACT
This chapter explores ways in which identities were linked to place in Beverley in the post-war decades, and shows that place- and class-based identity could both overlap and clash. It discusses different ways in which identity as a 'Beverlonian' was understood and symbolised, including commonalities and divergences between middle- and working-class identification with the town. The chapter explores how Beverley identity was cross-cut with class distinctions that mapped onto residential areas. It argues that construction of an 'historic' identity for places is one of the ways through which elites elicit popular support for consensual images of community, diverting attention from political, economic and social inequality. Though the strength of identity with particular streets, exemplified by the traditions and symbolic construction of distinctiveness in Beckside during the 1940s, probably waned over the period, the social meanings attached to the east/west division of the town by the railway lines remained constant.
