It was a morning full of upbeat moments and poignant reflections as BBC Radio 2 show host Vernon Kay brought a VE Day Tea Party to Beverley.
Vernon’s 9.30am to noon show on Thursday was delivered live to the airwaves from a packed Beverley War Memorial Hall. It featured nostalgic music from the likes of Glenn Miller and Vera Lynn, dance from a local lindy hop troupe Kingston Swing, and recollections from local people who witnessed the spectacle of VE Day for themselves, 80 years ago.
Also welcomed to the tea party was singer Calum Scott, who hails from Beverley, and who performed two songs before hurrying off to catch a train to London to sing at tonight’s live BBC concert for VE Day 80 from Horse Guards Parade. Civic guests, veterans, WI members and community leaders helped to make up the live audience in the Beverley venue.
The show was opened by the East Riding Town Crier Mike Wood before Glenn Miller’s In The Mood got everyone… in the mood for the occasion. Vernon explained that the whole reason for the visit to Beverley was down to regular listener Linda, who first got in touch with the show last September.
She was at her local oncology department waiting for the first of 12 chemotherapy sessions and Vernon wished her luck and asked her to keep the show informed of her progress. Linda was welcomed to the tea party with Vernon saying it was a “joy and a privilege” to have her there and to see her looking so well.
He said: “You’re the reason we are here, we thought, do you know, we’re going to have a tea party for VE Day and why not go and see Linda?” Linda said: “I sent you an invitation and you gladly accepted. I am really, really pleased.”
A Freeperson of Beverley (individuals who are granted certain rights and privileges within the town), Linda said she had always lived there and Vernon agreed with her that it was a “beautiful town” and he had seen a lot of it while trying to find somewhere to watch Wednesday night’s Champions League game between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain. The audience was also introduced to phlebotomist Dee, who was involved with Linda’s treatment, and Linda was delighted by the amount of listeners who had got in touch about her cancer journey, and their own, and spoke of the support of the charity, Look Good, Feel Better.
Calum dedicated his first song, You Are The Reason, to Linda. He later sang White Cliffs Of Dover, which he was also due to perform at the concert in London, and said he was “honoured” to sing it, as well as it being one of his granddad’s favourite pieces.
Calum said he had performed in front of the Royal family before. “I sang for the King’s coronation in the King’s back garden and that was incredible. Every encounter I’ve had with the Royals has been so special and I am so honoured.
“I remember ten years ago working at Hull City Council and now I get to perform for the Royals. I’m living a dream.”
Asked by Vernon what he did at the council, Calum said: “I was HR. It’s gone from parking complaints to singing for Charles.”
Earlier he had spoken about touring for six months with Ed Sheeran. He said: “It’s just been mental, stadiums across the world. It’s been pinch-me moments for sure.
“Ed Sheeran is a lovely bloke, he’s just as down to earth as you see him. I just learnt a lot of humility from him and a lot of confidence as well, he gave me the confidence to stand in front of 80,000 people every week; he’s just a force to be reckoned with and who knows, maybe a duet in the future.”
Calum said he was going to tour his third album, Avenoir, which he was proud of and “probably my most confident work”. “It still going to make people cry but there are some bops on the album and some amazing duets that I can’t say any more about or I’ll probably be killed.”
BBC Look North host Peter Levy spoke to Vernon after first joking he was not old enough to remember VE Day. He said: “There’s a lot going on in Beverley today, especially at the church [St Mary’s] tonight – it’s open for people to take a picnic along and enjoy the music and everything.
“Beverley – as you have got the flavour of this morning – is a fantastic town, a lovely, lovely place. By the way, when I finish I’m not going to Buckingham Palace, I’m going to the centre of Hull.”
During the broadcast, travel reporter Ellie Brennan, former breakfast show presenter on BBC Radio Humberside, was at the Riverview Café, in Beverley, where she spoke to Dr Robb Robinson about ship-launching, sideways, in Beverley. She also visited the Kings Head, in Market Place, to hear about the veterans’ breakfast club that meets there.
The show also included audio clips of VE Day from the BBC Archive, voice notes from listeners, and more information about the history and people of Beverley. You can listen back on BBC Sounds, where the show is available for the next 29 days.