A wartime memorial like no other
Locals can tell how near we are to peak tourist season by measuring two queues: the one outside the Jorvik Viking Centre, and that snaking from the entrance to Bettys on the corner of St Helen’s Square. Bettys popularity as York’s tearoom destination of choice is seemingly indestructible. Despite an explosion in the number of cafes in the city, many of them stocked high with delicious home-crafted bakes, the demand for the Bettys experience never wanes. Maybe it’s the Fat Rascals, enormous buns unique to the business. Or Bettys dayglow macaroons. Or the waitresses in their Agatha Christie-era starched aprons.
You might be forgiven for thinking Bettys was always awash with refined gentility. After all, the York decor was inspired by that of the Queen Mary, after founder Dickie Belmont (original name Fritz Bützer) journeyed to New York on the ocean liner. But during the Second World War, Bettys became a home-from-home to a much more earthy clientele. Two years after its 1937 opening, Bettys York was thriving – but the rationing and staff shortages of war hit it hard. Worse still, it was the target of an incendiary bomb. Luckily, the fire was quickly put out and the cafe went on to play a pivotal wartime role. In 1939, the premises were granted a liquor licence and Bettys Bar became the haunt of airmen from the many bases around the city. Five hundred of them scratched their names on the mirror behind the bar with a diamond ring.
Info
Address 6-8 St Helen’s Square, York YO1 8QP, +44 (0)1904 659142, www.bettys.co.uk, customer.service@bettys.co.uk | Public Transport 7-minute walk from both Tanner Row and Bootham Row car parks. Closest bus stop: St Leonard’s Place | Hours Daily 9am–9pm| Tip If the queues seem too long, there is another, smaller Bettys on Stonegate.
Twice, the authorities tried to requisition Bettys for official use. But the owner saw them off. As Jonathan Wild wrote in the company’s official history, “Dickie Belmont smiled at the memory of his ripostes, both times so short and sharp that the authorities relented, realising that to close Bettys was unthinkable.”
You can still see the wartime mirror downstairs in Bettys today, perhaps York’s most unusual memorial to its fighting forces.
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