19 June
Yesterday was a hit n missed day. Just after the 1
o’clock news I set off down town for a couple of hours, with a small shopping
list in my wallet. I got everything eventually on the list after a couple of
doubling backs and rides out of sequence. The one item I did want and didn’t
put on the list, didn’t get bought, and that was the main reason for going out.
Ah well … … …
Being Wednesday, it was market day here in Dorktown. I
have to say I was more than a tad disappointed by it. It seems to getting
smaller by the week. Yes, the Wednesday market is supposed to be a smaller
market than the main Saturday market, but even so, I should thing that the size
has reduced by around 25%. The Saturday market is also getting smaller. The
stall holders are blaming the council for increasing their rents. It seems that
there has been and unwritten agreement that regular stall holders, who paid and
extra charge for the same place each market day, could sell that place onto to
another person, Now the council has decided that they will no longer allow the practice
to continue.
Whatever the reason, the markets are not as large as
they used to be. At one time there were stall for bedding, hardware, tools,
pots and pans and another one for tableware. There were four stalls selling
fruit and veg, now there are just two, and two large plant and flower stalls.
With so few stalls now open, the competition is very weak. But even so,
footfall is a lot less these days.
Perhaps part of the problem is that there are so many
charity shops in the town centre. I remember Saturday’s being a big day for us
when came into town on the bus from Arley, a mining village about five miles
away. The weekly shopping trip with my mam and dad was something to look
forwards to. At that time Queens Road and Market Place was really bustling, and
part of it was down The Clock, The Peacock, The Castle and the Red Lion, all within
a couple of hundred yards of each other.
The Castle was the one we went to because it had a
large yard out the back with tables and chairs there. It was ideal for
families; dad had a pint of Ansell’s mild (the best pint in the country he used
to say). Dave and me had Vimto but I can’t remember what mam had though. Now though,
none of them exist. Next door to the Red Lion was Coleman’s, a fishmonger and
fruit and veg shop. That’s gone too.
Parking was never really an issue at that time simply because
there were very few cars about. Once the old gas works had gone, the site was
used as a free car park for years. To park in town now it costs a fortune, just
as it is all over the UK. That’s another reason for low footfall, which can only
get worse when the development of the Co-op car park along with the upper Abbey
Street.
The rise of the supermarkets have also hit the market.
The only three supermarkets in town now is Asda, Sainsburys and the Co-op. Yet just
those three supply everything most people need. I think it’s time to re-think
the need for two markets a week now.
Today’s photo …
Part of the market
Today’s funny …
An older
man comes into a small fruit store and sees a new delivery of fresh
fruit. “Give me two pounds of kiwis and wrap every kiwi up in a separate piece
of paper, please,” he says to the saleswoman. She does. “And three pounds of
potatoes, please, and wrap up every one in a separate piece of paper, too.” She
does it again. “And what is that there,” he asks pointing out a basket in the
corner. “Cherry tomatoes,” says the saleswoman, “but they are not for sale!”
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