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A war veteran who had seen service with the RAF in Burma, Peter had spent a year in hospital after crashing behind enemy lines. He brought valuable brewing experience to Arkell's as a former director at the Tadcaster Tower Brewery.
Peter, who was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1997, once said: "My initials are 'PA' - Pale Ale. I was born in the brewery and I married a brewer's daughter. I'm in it up to my neck!"
With Sir Noel, Graham and Peter as a board of directors, the Sixties was to see another groundbreaking era in the history of Arkell's as it took its first steps in the wine and spirits market, buying out local firm Brown and Plummer's, which was actually owned by one of Peter's cousins.
It was another example of Arkell's adapting to shifting fashions in the drinks industry while still applying the same business methods that had served them so well for over a century. It would ensure Arkell's Vintners of its current status as the leading wine merchants in the area under Sales and Vintners Director, Nicholas Arkell.
Further diversification came in 1967 when Arkell's formed a partnership with Derek Austin to supply the growing demand for amusement machines in pubs and in 1979 it also secured a 50 per cent interest in Edmont's Joinery, a company employing 70 people which carries out much of the refurbishment of Arkell's pubs.
There were changes, too, back at the brewery, where the mineral plant was closed in 1962 and the cooper's shop - made redundant by the introduction of metal casks in 1960 - sadly followed in 1968.
In the boardroom, Peter Arkell became chairman in 1971, a year before the death of Graham Arkell and ten years before Sir Noel, Peter's father, passed away. Meanwhile, a new Arkell generation - the fifth - was being groomed to help lead the business towards and beyond its 150th anniversary.
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