Hornsea is a seaside town on the Holderness Coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, dating back to at least the early medieval period. During the 1st World War, the Hornsea Mere, a lake of around 1.2 by .6 mile (2km x 1km) was briefly the site of RNAS Hornsea Mere, a seaplane base. It has a resident population of almost 9,000, although this increases substantially in the summer months due to the large number of Caravan Parks to the north and south of the town.

Notable people from the area include Brian Rix, the celebrated Comedy Actor, and master of farce who was born in 1924 and who later became ‘Baron Rix of Whitehall, in the City of Westminster, and of Hornsea in Yorkshire’. Brian was at one time the highest-paid actor to appear on BBC Television, and it was estimated that he lost his trousers on stage an amazing 12,000 times. He married Elspet Gray, an actress in his own Theatre Company, and they were together for over 64 years, both domestically and professionally, until she died in 2013. Their first child was born with Down Syndrome and Brian was a tireless campaigner for disability causes and was President of Mencap from 1998 until his death in 2016.

Also with a local connection to the area was Brian Rix’s older sister Sheila Mercier, born 1919 who was also an actor and went on to play the part of Annie Sugden, the Matriarch in the long running ITV Soap Opera Emmerdale Farm for over 20 years. The program was originally set in the fictitious Yorkshire Dales village of Beckindale from it’s inception in 1972, the village changed it’s name to Emmerdale in 1989, lost it’s agricultural connection and continues to this day as the award winning Yorkshire based Soap! Sheila was a centenarian and died in 2019.

The economy includes a mix of tourism and small manufacturing most notably the world famous Hornsea Pottery was established in Hornsea in 1949 but sadly closed in 2000. However it’s legacy is still very much alive through a strong collector’s market, preserved Museum collections and ongoing Community efforts to celebrate it’s history. The original factory site has been redeveloped and is now the home of Hornsea Village, a shopping and leisure destination, which includes ‘The Potteries’ a space dedicated to celebrate the town’s ceramic history.

Hornsea Ex Servicemen’s Club is located quite centrally in the town, although a little hidden away, and is open from 12 every day and boasts Sky Sports, Snooker and Pool Tables, and Live Entertainment every Saturday and Sunday Night. Membership is open to all, whether ex Service Men and Women or not.

The Artist for Saturday 1st November is The Corsairs

The sounds of the 50’s 60’s & 70’s