| The Cattle Market |
The village has had a
market, according to records, from around 1221. The permission
to hold a market in the village was granted to a Richard de Wyke.
For most of us the market conjures up
images of The Square and nearby roads bustling with cattle
lorries, tractors and trailers, landrovers and cars with
trailers, all with signs of having recently conveyed some kind
of livestock.
It is understood that lorries were getting
bigger and the amount of traffic in general was the downfall for
a small village with narrow access roads. The market eventually
closed and moved to the more-accessible market at Hallworthy.
(See the article below as reported by
the Cornish & Devon Post) |
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Here are a few images
of
the cattle market in action.
You can almost smell the
atmosphere from here! |
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As reported by The Cornish & Devon Post
Week
St. Mary bids farewell
Market
moving to Hallworthy
By
Colin Brent
The hammer came down on 69 years of history at
Week St. Mary on Saturday when the weekly
fatstock market closed down – a victim of its
own success.
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Mr. Jack
Ridgman
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The market, which handles on average 120
cattle and 1200 sheep a week, has
outgrown its site at Week St. Mary.
Auctioneers Kittows are transferring it
to the larger Hallworthy premises.
Celebration mingled with sadness as
farmers gathered for the final sale.
Jack Ridgman. A former fatstock officer,
recalled seeing the first Week St. Mary
market in 1918.
It started when two local farmers, Chris
Venning and William Paynter, sold six
cattle and sixteen sheep in the village
square.
Said Mr. Ridgman: “I was seven years
old. At those early markets the cattle
were all Devons with loop horns. I saw
the market start and now I will see it
finish, but it’s a sad day for Week St.
Mary.” |
Mr. Gerald Horrell
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Mr. Cliff Orchard, the market Chairman
for twenty-four years, has bought more
stock there than anyone. He remembered
the market closing for a time in 1947
because of a local outbreak of foot and
mouth disease. The harsh winter of 1963
also prevented the market from
operating.
But he also recalled happier moments:
“About two years ago some sheep were
being unloaded and they ran off across
the village square, they got into a
holiday chalets site where there was a
cover over an outdoor swimming pool –
one of the sheep jumped onto the cover,
went straight through it and ended up in
the pool!”
Mr. Orchard said the market had been
good for Week St. Mary, but people had
to accept that change was inevitable.
“Prosperity has brought us problems, but
at least we are going out on a high
note,” he added.
Week St. Mary sub-postmaster, Mr. Jeff
Roberts, said the market closure was bad
news, but he understood why it had to
go. “Some villagers are pleased because
it will be quieter here, but I think the
majority are sad to see it close,” he
said.
The closure does not mean the end of
work for Mr. Gerald Horrell, who has
cleaned the market for more than thirty
years. He will be dismantling the pens,
many of which will go to Hallworthy.
Kittows became involved with the market
in the 1920s when they acquired land
adjacent to the square.
Senior partner, Mr. John Dennis, who has
been coming to the market for
thirty-eight years, was there on
Saturday as his sons, Peter and Richard,
carried out the last auction with Mr.
Simon Alford. On offer were 88 cattle,
545 sheep – and a solitary pig.
When the last graded animal was sold,
Mr. John Dennis took the microphone and
thanked farmers, the Ministry of
Agriculture officials, hauliers and
market staff for their help over the
years.
He told “The Post”: “For sentimental
reasons I am saddened to see the market
close, but it is progress – we must have
larger premises – Week St. Mary market
is a victim of its own success.”
Mr. Dennis said that at Hallworthy the
same strict market procedures would be
carried out – cattle for grading would
have to be on the premises by 10.30 am
or they would be ineligible.
The market will be missed at Week St.
Mary’s Green Inn, where landlady Mrs.
Diane Hobbs cooked up to 30 meals each
Saturday for farmers.
Mrs. Hobbs penned a 20-line poem to mark
the closure, which ended on an
optimistic note: “We’ve had plenty of
fun, now bidding is done, staff at the
Green Inn can lay in till one”.
Mrs. Hobbs said “We’re very sad to see
the market go, not just because of the
business it brought, but because it’s
part of the village”.
The Green Inn had a special market day
licence extending its Saturday
lunch-time session to 4 pm, but the pub
will now close at the standard time of
2.30 pm.
Hallworthy, which already operates a
market on Fridays, will hold its first
Saturday market this week – the only
Saturday fatstock market between there
and Taunton.
(All of the the photographs in this
article are credited to and
acknowledgement given to Primrose
Studios which we believe has ceased to
trade but we acknowledge their copyright
accordingly) Reproduced by kind
permission of the Cornish & Devon Post
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Guiding
hand - Kittows senior partner Mr. John
Dennis
Going,
going, gone!
Mr. Richard Dennis and
Mr.
Simon Alford, of Kittows,
selling the
last of the sheep.
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