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MarketTimesFebruary2016

It’s not as famous as its literary festival, but the small Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye hosts a popular weekly market which is as eclectic as it is friendly. NICOLA GOULD reports Hay-on-Wye in Powys is a picturesque 6 little town, close to the border with England, that has put itself on the international map with its annual literary festival and its unique reputation as the “town of books”. There are up to 24 book shops in the town and giants of the literary field attend the summer festival that was established in 1988. But before books there was the market — and what a market it is today. Dating back 700 years, it was the place where farmers and smallholders brought their animals and produce to sell every Thursday. For centuries it was a heaving, buzzing market that was the lifeblood of this rural, hill farming area. There were 41 inns in the town and people would bring pack ponies laden with panniers of produce to market from their homesteads miles away. Life wasn’t easy — as the tragic death of Rosa Blanche Williams attests. On the 12-mile journey home from market in December 1925, her horse fell and she broke her ankle. Unable to summon help, she froze to death, aged 39, leaving seven children motherless. In modern times Hay-on-Wye has become much more gentrified, attracting incomers including media types and well-to-do executives looking for a retirement retreat from their high-powered working lives. The market, run by the Chamber of Commerce, had dwindled until, 15 years ago, chamber member John Evans was asked to take over its running for a few weeks or more. All these years later he is still helping to run the market, now with the assistance of Clare Purcell, who brings new marketing skills and old-style values to the job. “We are a bit of a double act,” Clare says. John built up the market to full occupancy. It is held in four separate locations, the car park in Memorial Square beneath Hay Castle, the Grade II listed Cheese Market, the nearby Butter Market and the area around the clock tower where the ancient market was held in Broad Street. “Building up the market happened by word of mouth, and over time you get to know the traders who become friends,” said John. He is one of many incomers who have had successful careers elsewhere but feel privileged to have found a home in Hay-on-Wye — and want to give something back to the community. “The market is run by the Chamber of Commerce on a licence granted by Powys County Council and it is integral to the economy of Hay-on-Wye,” John said. “Over the past 15 years it has become bigger and bigger,” he said. When John took over there were stalls in the car park and the Butter Market, which was restored in the 1980s. As new traders came forward, John started placing stalls around the clock tower. Then, in 2014, the town began a campaign to save the Cheese Market, which had been used to store the market stalls and was in a dilapidated state. John said: “The Council was planning to sell it on the open market, but we launched a campaign to keep it under the banner — “Do you want the Cheese Market to become a Starbucks?” Clare Purcell and John Evans manage Hay-on-Wye market as a double act One of the longest serving traders, Michael Price, has run his fish, poultry and game business on the market for 36 years


MarketTimesFebruary2016
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