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MarketTimesApril2015

37 t There’s good and bad news about Maidstone market. The good news is that the Kent market is still pulling in the punters, with up to 50 traders standing either the Tuesday or the Saturday market. The bad news is that these days the market is a shadow of its former self. Dating back to the granting of its charter in 1247, the market has been held in various locations in Kent’s county town, moving to its current Lockmeadow site in 1892. until 15 years ago it was a phenomenal crowd puller, as the market manager and long established traders can testify. Bob Holmes, who has managed the market for Maidstone Borough Council for the past seven years, is a former police officer who remembers being put on point duty every Tuesday because the traffic congestion was so bad. “People used to come to this market from all over Kent and the southeast,” Bob recalls. “All the traffic had to come over one bridge to get to the market and it was my job to direct the traffic,” he added. “The market was so busy you could hardly get through it — you had to walk sideways.” In those days there were more than 300 traders. Roy Eldrick, who has been selling flowers on Maidstone market for 30 years, said: “There were 340 stalls when I started trading here. Now you are lucky to get 40. “There used to be seven fruit and veg stalls, six flower stalls, several catering vans and you could get everything from jellied eels to puppies, rabbits and kittens on Tuesdays when the cattle market was on.” Alan Sorrell, who has been selling bankrupt stock on the market for 40 years, said: “It used to be such a busy market, but we still have a good line and after all these years we have plenty of regular customers.” So what killed the goose that laid the golden egg? As well as the usual suspects including changing shopping trends, the rise of the pound shops and internet shopping, Maidstone suffered when the Lockmeadow Leisure Centre was built on the site 15 years ago. A clue to its problems lies in some statistics about the town. Maidstone has three shopping centres in different locations and the town is now the fifth best shopping destination in the south-east. It is in the top 50 in the uK. Sadly, that success appears to be at the expense of the market. The Bob Holmes, a former policeman, has managed Maidstone market for the past seven years Alan Sorrell has fond memories of the boom times on Maidstone market where he sells bankrupt stock


MarketTimesApril2015
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