Footfall fears for 775-year-old Yorkshire market

Ann Carrick of Carrick's Fish said she had seen "quite a few traders gone" from Bedale market

Shoppers in a North Yorkshire town are being encouraged to support their local market after a recent drop in footfall.

Bedale Market is one of Yorkshire's oldest, having received its charter from King Henry III in 1251 to host a market every Tuesday.

But Bedale Town Council is urging people to make the most of it after some traders said they were struggling to stay open.

Council clerk Nick Reed said: "It's literally the heart of Bedale. It's the oldest thing we have [and] we think it's very precious."

Carrick's Fish have had a presence at the market for almost 100 years, according to director Ann Carrick, 73.

The stall has passed through three generations, while the fourth, her grandson, already helping out with the business.

She said up until recently the business had also been operating a fruit and veg stall, but had had to close it in recent weeks.

"There's two staff to pay, and then you pay your rent as well, and it just wasn't making any money," she said.

"People go out I think more - you'll see all the cafes and they'll be full now, but people aren't cooking.

"They're all [having] ready meals, a lot of people, and I think that's more since Covid as well."

She said parking was also an issue, as well as less drivers passing through the town.

"I think with the bypass people don't come into Bedale now, they bypass it," she said.

The Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar bypass was opened in 2016, linking the A684 north of Bedale and the A684 east of Leeming Bar.

Adam Worsdale fears if people do not use the market, they will lose it

Further down the street, Adam Worsdale, 51, of Worsdale Farmhouse Baking shares these fears.

"[People] used to have to drive into town to go up the dale to Leyburn or Hawes, so they'd drive through town and see the market was on. {Now] it's like out of sight out of mind."

Mr Worsdale has been standing at the market for the last five years, after taking over from his father.

He said he had seen a "definite decrease in footfall".

"The younger generation don't seem to be supporting the market, it's tourists and the older generation," he said.

"It's getting smaller. In the past six months or so we've lost three stalls off the market, and there's two more of the stalls that are talking of retiring as well. If they go it's only going to leave one or two stalls."

He also worried that that parking issues could be a barrier for people making the trip, as well as a lack of public toilets.

"You could do with more stalls, but then that's a chicken and egg situation, what comes first? You get more stalls you get more customers, but you need more customers to get more stalls."

Bedale Town Council hosts the market, after taking over the running in 2006

For Mr Reed it is the people that make the market.

"It brings people into town, especially older folk - they come and buy things and have a chat to the traders. It's a social thing as well as a commercial thing," he said.

"We are not without hope that we might end up with a Sunday farmer's market sort of thing [...] it's still something we are looking strongly to do. But Tuesday is traditional, we're not going to lose that."

"There's some lovely little crafty things, there's plenty of places you can stop for a coffee and a cake, there's a nice walk down by Bedale Beck. We're a little hidden gem."

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