Shepton's Friday Market

By OokeyThomas | Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 14:57

How nice to see so many people attend the Market last Friday. After all the success or otherwise of our weekly market depends entirely on the footfall. If the public choose to stay away, then soon the stall holders will follow suite - and we all know the answer to that!

Friday Market - lower area (old Marketplace)

I must confess that I was not a regular visitor to the Friday market for some months, but the hurly-burly of my recent experience has changed my mind - I certainly won't miss the market in future. I should add that the initial wave of enthusiasm that was seen after the market was 're-launched' has subsided slightly (see picture) but I encourage everyone to go along, whether that is before work or in your lunchtime.

OK, there are many bargains to be had there, but there is much more to the weekly than the occasional bargains. Traditionally market traders and the general public would arrive from the surrounding villages, exchange news (long before the local newspaper), exchange or sale their produce, and enjoy social intercourse generally. Nothing of this has changed since Shepton was awarded its first Market Charter in 1219 - as I discovered last Friday.

Browsing the goods on offer and sitting beneath the shade of our Market Cross I spent two enjoyable hours locked in conversation with several people I had not seen in ages. This is what our market is all about - Oh, and by the way I bought a really nice joint of beef at a very competitive price - Hope to see you there next Friday.

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FRIDAY MARKET SURGERY ANNOUNCEMENT - Following on from the success of the market stand that Tessa Munt and I (Garfield Kennedy) took last month, we will be there again this Friday 23rd July throughout the morning - although because of other engagements, Tessa will be with me from 12 noon. We plan to take a stand (to Stand Up 4 Shepton) every month from now on and look forward to dealing with key issues that impact the town and country.

By CllrGKennedy at 23:38 on 20/07/10
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Not quite accurate... the decision to group all the stalls around the market cross was taken last week. It was always a mistake to have isolated stalls at the top of the town and it has never paid off. Only the nice plant guy has been able to make any money there. The charge has been set at £15 per basic stall... and that poor lone bloke selling really lovely olives (he's called Behruz) had come all the way from London. The MDC market supervisor wouldn't let him set up near the longer established olive-seller down in the body of the market stalls. Not surprisingly he won't be back! I sought a reassurance that he would not be charged for the privilege of standing in a quiet street for 4 hours twiddling his thumbs. It's a real shame since he's a kind and considerate trader. I'm not sure that we should be turning anyone away - but I did try (without success) to remedy the situation and get him into the main square next week.

I've been told that some stall-holders will be back but have taken a week off. Let's keep supporting them and telling others since better fresher tastier strawberries and raspberries at about a quarter of the price that the airport terminal (sorry, I mean Tesco) sells them for is worth paying MDC's stupid parking charges for, quite apart from the fact that it's a jolly atmosphere, the traders actually care about the produce they are selling you, and there's a range of cafes to choose from.

Oh - sorry, I forgot - the airport wants to get rid of these too - so best catch them before the mighty Tesco intimidate the beejaasuz out of MDC yet one more time.

By CllrGKennedy at 18:07 on 16/07/10
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3..2..1...Go?!

There were three, then there were two, and this week there is one solitary stall at the top of the town (and the road is no longer closed). What are Mendip doing to encourage stallholders to pitch up at the Market in Shepton? Are stallholders actually charged for the privilege of standing in a quiet street for a day? What about bringing in (back, for those who remember the market being in Commercial Road) the Farmers market...dont even charge them, just get some feet back on our Streets!!!

By Karma_Police at 13:21 on 16/07/10
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