Page 38 - MarketTimesDecember2017
P. 38

Designer Jasper Conran described Stroud as “the Covent Garden of the Cotswolds”, and the London Evening Standard said the Gloucestershire town was “Notting Hill with wellies”.
the town’s trees have been top of the protest list.
church hall 50 years ago.
Ken’s wife Myra, who helps him run Hania
Had either visited the town’s Friday and Saturday Shambles market, they might have concluded it was more of the same.
So Stroud is the sort of place you would expect a market to thrive — and thrive it does. Cheese man Ken Stevens, who has managed the outdoor market for Stroud District Council
That was the beginning of the modern-day Shambles market.
It’s far from a shambles, but there is nothing uniform or orderly about the eclectic mix of organic veg stalls and vintage linens and kitchen utensils lining the ancient alleyway in the shadow of the old town hall and St Laurence Church.
for the past ten years, says the market is a popular attraction on a Friday and even busier on a Saturday. He has a list of traders wanting to trade then.
Ken said: “We started this cheese business in 1981 and we have been on this market all this time. We also supply local pubs, hotels and restaurants and stand four markets.”
And the indoor market in the church hall is also a happy mix of arty, crafty, quirky stalls where you will not find a branded product.
The market can trace its roots back 700 years when the Lord of the Manor built the town hall and the shambles where the town’s butchers traded.
Ken said he was happy to manage the outdoor market when the council asked him. The council is hugely supportive of the market, Ken says, but they leave it to him to run.
“Bohemian,” is how Ron Cree, who sells second-hand books and runs the indoor market, describes Stroud.
The building boasts a blue plaque to mark the fact that on June 26th 1742 John Wesley preached from one of the butcher’s blocks.
Not a lot has changed on the Shambles in recent years, although it did receive a £20,000 boost from the Mary Portas initiative five years ago. The investment included a new veg stall and canopy and new red umbrellas
The townsfolk have been protesting about one thing or another since the Stroudwater Riots in 1825.
At some stage the market died, but it was rekindled by Ken’s father-in-law, Ken Collins, who started selling household goods in the
Many of the outdoor traders have been on the market for years. Gilda Naumann has been selling organic fruit and veg for the past 30 years.
Development and the unnecessary felling of
The town was the birthplace of the organic food movement and the Saturday farmers market, held in the corn market, remains a popular attraction.
Cheeses, said: “My dad was the first trader but others traders joined him and several moved outside.”
  Ron Cree runs Stroud indoor market where he has had a book stall since 1995
Ken Stevens, who runs Hania Cheeses with his wife, Myra, manages the outdoor Shambles market for Stroud District Council
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