The Saturday market, which has traditionally wound down as the clocks go back, will trade through the winter this year in a trial the stallholders’ committee hopes will become permanent.
The decision follows a summer in which footfall held up better than many expected, helped by shoppers looking closer to home. Traders say a run of well-attended market days convinced them there is an appetite for the square even in the cold.
Changes for the colder months
Running through winter means a few practical tweaks:
- A shorter trading day, closing an hour earlier as the light goes
- A cluster of hot-food and drink stalls near the cross
- Shared cover so smaller traders are not left exposed in the wet
The committee is also in talks with the parish council about the market square resurfacing, nervous that a winter of works could clash with the trial just as it finds its feet.
Stallholders are keen to stress that the market lives or dies on regulars turning up. A steady Saturday crowd through November and December, they say, is the difference between the trial becoming a fixture and quietly folding by spring.
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Further reading: Marketplaces explained
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