Festive market founder 'hugely proud' 25 years on

Marian McNeir [centre] co-founded Bath Christmas market 25 years ago

As Bath Christmas market celebrates its 25th year, one of the founders said she was "hugely proud" it had become a model for other festive markets across the country.

The market, which started in 2001 with just a few local businesses and artisans, now hosts more than 250 traders, many who return year after year.

Marian McNeir, co-founder and former councillor, said the original vision was to create a festive event to encourage tourists back to the city after the "disastrous effects" of the foot-and-mouth epidemic that year.

Since then, the market, in the heart of Bath and the shadow of the abbey, has evolved into a top attraction, which last year had an estimated 444,000 visitors.

The first Christmas market in 2001 had just a few chalets

Ms McNeir, who had the idea for a market with fellow councillor Greeta Dawson said not many people had shared their initial dream.

"We wanted wooden chalets, little white lights, fir trees on the roofs and everything as natural as possible, with really lovely things that people might want to buy as Christmas presents," she said.

"Our vision was that it should be for local firms, who benefited from selling their goods, especially so that local people could come and enjoy it.

"Some people did [share our vision], thank goodness, but a lot of people didn't, as they didn't know what a Christmas market was."

David Gladden is closing his shop in Bath after his final Bath Christmas Market

Wood turner David Gladden, 73, who sells handmade gifts ranging from door wedges to waddling ducks, is running his stall for the final time after 21 years this year.

He said a lot had changed since the early Christmas markets.

"At first no-one really knew what one was," he said,

"I can remember looking through the windows of our craft fair in the Pump Room overlooking Kingston Square where the huts that comprised the market that first year were going up, thinking, 'how will that work?', but it did - massively.

"No-one really believed the scale of its popularity and as a result it grew in size exponentially and each year saw its range and scale increase."

David Gladden turned his wood working hobby into a career

Mr Gladden became a wood turner after leaving his job as a history teacher.

"In the beginning I was an exhausted young teacher making a decent amount of pocket money selling things I turned on a lathe in the staffroom at school," he said.

He decided to turn his hobby into a career, opening a shop first in Salisbury, which closed earlier this year, then one in Abbey Green, Bath.

He said he would miss the hustle and bustle, as well as his customers, when he finally stopped trading.

"When you open the doors, you immediately get half a dozen people coming in - it's constant, we don't have any moment of the day or night free during the period of the Christmas market," Mr Gladden said.

'Very magical'

Lawrence Swan, who owns Hands Tearoom on Abbey Street, remembers the first market and the excitement among tourists in the early days.

"It was really only 12 to 16 chalets, so it started off very small and was all to do with local artisans, so probably people making soft toys, dolls and wooden items at home in their garden sheds," he said.

"Over the years we've watched it develop and grow.

"It's fair to say that many other major cities took our seeds and planted them in their own cities and started developing their own markets as well."

Mark Teideman [left] has run a stall at Bath Christmas market for the past 20 years

Mark Teideman, owner of Cherry Tree Preserves, said the Bath Christmas market had become a family affair during the 20 years he had been running a stall.

"I do them when I possibly can and my sister's doing the stall for me at the moment," he said.

He said his younger son had also run the stall and had set up his own business "potentially inspired by the market as he's now in the food industry".

"It's absolutely phenomenal to think of the history - some of the stalls are banked up right against the baths.

"The fact that the Romans were sat there and swimming around a couple of thousand years ago - and the architecture, makes the whole thing very, very magical for us," he added.

The market became very popular after just a few years trading

The Bath Christmas market is open daily from 10:00 GMT and runs until 14 December.