Market Places, Public Places.

Traditional markets have declined in recent years for all sorts of reasons including the bad press they have received and their portrayal in the media as scummy places full of rogues. It is certainly true that markets have harboured dodgy traders but overall they have been vibrant places that have injected energy and excitement into many towns and cities. Nearly all the older towns of England are referred to as 'Market Towns' for good reason. Market days were special. They were not only days for shopping but for socialising. Pubs and cafes were buzzing, the streets were noisy with banter, greetings and gossip. You could take your goods and produce and be a seller yourself. Money taken would circulate locally. The markets also provided  great deal of informal employment  for young people and older people who did not have regular employment. To use modern jargon, they were 'inclusive'.

Compare this with modern shopping centres. They are privatised spaces the sole purpose of which is to relieve customers of their money. If they don't have money they are not wanted. Only chain stores can afford the rents for the shop units. Goods are probably made in China. The money taken is paid into the accounts of large businesses. There is no local input. There is no informal employment. They are dead places. Night comes, they are locked up. Security guards patrol.

I can't help making a connection between shopping in these modern hell zones with the current sorry state of our street life with all its anti-social behaviour that culminated in last weeks riots.

When we started to stand market thirty two years ago [!] in Leicester the town centre market was thriving. Nearly every trader had several people working for him or her. The traders and their employees all spent money on the market themselves. Bus routes converged on the market. Saturday  afternoons were wonderful. It felt like being at a big party. There was  tremendous bustle and noise. If you stopped and listened it sounded like chips being fried: thousands of words being exchanged. It was a public space full of lively interaction. We loved it. Apart from anything else it was a great social life. The three lads that we employed in succession later become close friends. They have fond memories of all the banter, the incidents that occurred, the characters that wandered about the market [including some with mental health problems that we gave informal support to]. It was  an important part of our friends' education. It was a situation in which money wasn't everything.

Where, now, can a young person acquire such a rich experience?  I don't know. Sadly markets such as Leicester are a pale shadow of what  they used to be. The lifeblood has been sucked from them by the decline of public transport, the decline of public spaces and the decline of town centres. I can't help thinking that this is linked to public behaviour and the ethos of our time which is that money is everything.

If we could revive our street markets and other public spaces I feel sure that England would become a happier place. I still stand market. It probably doesn't make sense from a purely economic view but there is still real life to be enjoyed there, real people having real conversations and I still love doing it.

Where do we stand?

Friday: Stamford Market opposite the museum [now closed due to 'cuts']
Saturday: Melton Mowbray opposite  Ye Olde Porke Pie Shoppe.
Sunday: Cambridge. Market Place next to the granite fountain and Cafe Mobile.

Visit. Hear me rant in person!