Article Garden Tips
The Brampton Food Market Get the dates in your diary! Words: Paul Chapman
We don’t make it to every market, but when we do get along to the Brampton Food Market, with artisan bread from The Loaf, local cheese from Mark Ansell, perhaps potted meat from Granny Mary and a cake from one or other of the stalls, we can quickly amass the makings of a very tasty Saturday lunch. Often consumed a little bit later than usual, if we‘ve been tempted at the market by the bacon or sausage sandwiches from Moss Valley Fine Meats. It’s a friendly and sociable market - you’d be hard pushed to go along and not bump into someone you know, and it’s all about supporting local independent businesses.
Graham and Alison Wells run the market on behalf of St Thomas’ church, hiring the room renting the stalls and promoting the market.
“You can never tell when it’s going to be a busy or a slow day, if the weather is great it can be good, conversely sometimes people jump in the car and travel away from town. And if it’s bad weather the same can be said, you just don’t know.”
It’s factors like these that can make or break a market so I caught up with Graham Wells to see how things are going. The market is held once a month, the dates are always in S40 and we put a sign out in front of the church during the week before so people know, but because it isn’t every week, people sometimes miss it - even the regulars. So numbers do vary but are pretty steady overall. If you do enjoy it I’d really ask people to put the dates in their diary and come along to support us” says Graham.
“The market is a community event, it brings people together” explains Graham. He and his wife Alison attend the church and together they are an active part of the congregation and also run the Fair Trade stall at the market. Alison is a voluntary rep for Traidcraft in the UK and has a passionate desire to help achieve their mission. “For me the principles behind the food Page 44 www.s40local.co.uk
market align closely with the principles of fair trade – establishing direct trade between the producer and consumer, changing consumer behaviours to be more supportive of the local communities and economy, a more positive trade relationship.”
The market was started from within the church, they wanted to establish a regular community market that fit with the ethos of the church centre. Sally Anne Beecham helped establish the first markets and, since the beginning of last year, has handed the day to day operation of the market to Graham.
2015 Food Market Dates Saturday 6 June Saturday 4 July Saturday 5 September Saturday 3 October Saturday 7 November Saturday 5 December Sally Anne is the Operations Manager at the church and the market took up a lot of her time, time which is very pressured as the church centre’s use has increased over the recent years. She explained “I was looking for a way to share the workload and woke one night realising that Alison and Graham would be ideal for the job.” “We welcomed the idea” enthused Graham, “we live in the area, use the church and have been involved in the market and this allows us to carry out the Traidcraft role whilst providing a means for other stallholders to showcase their businesses.” “We typically have 16 stalls in total at each market, of which two or three are