CHIPPY MARKET TODAY

Reprinted from the Chipping Norton News.

News team member, Sylvia Michaelides wrote this account of the Wednesday market:

To find out more about the market I first approached Ray Herbert, its supervisor since 1985 – he collects the rents and sends them to WODC. He sees that all runs smoothly and there are paths to enable people to pass between the stalls. As to the gradient, he says this makes for a more interesting layout and encourages people to wander along to see what lies ahead.

I then had a chat with the stall-holders to see what they thought of our Chippy market. All of them remarked how warm and polite Chippy people are! First there was Michael Dolan who has been making and selling baskets here for 24 years. He hails from the Somerset levels where willow grows naturally. He has one assistant and they also make mats and small tables and chairs. Only jute and cane are imported for these. Local willow is used for the baskets. His day starts at 4am. He leaves home daily at 5am and looks the picture of health. Next is Sawards fruit and vegetable stall which has been under its present tenancy for over two years. Its popularity is evidenced by the length of its queues. Opposite is Julian Barlow who specialises in agricultural and industrial footwear. He also has children’s shoes and work jackets.

The Beldom sisters – Sharon and June – have been bringing pet foods for 14 years. They are a really friendly pair. Opposite Paul Turner from Birmingham sells meat wholesale and retail. Jean-Pierre Philippe who comes from Perros Guirec in north Brittany but now lives in Malvern has a regular stall selling many varieties of French bread and pastries.  Next is Martin Eldridge with his cakes, biscuits and confectionery. Beside him is Abi Rai with a large display of anoraks, fleeces, shirts and trousers. He has been coming to Chippy market for ten years and says he would prefer the market to be on the upper side to the car park near the Co-op. He thinks this would make it more accessible to customers.

Nigel Price has what used to be called the Swag Stall inferring the goods were illegally acquired! Not so now – there are all sorts of household utensils and things for the kitchen, etc. Nearby Fred Fleming has been selling stationery here for the past 12 years and has been especially busy over Christmas. Ali Javanmardy sells a delicious range of Greek cheese and olives and brings a touch of the Mediterranean to chilly Chippy. Then of course there is Susie Dowdy bravely serving fish – often with icy fingers. She gets her supplies from Scotland, the Irish Sea, the North Sea and Iceland. She knows her customers and their requirements often before they ask.

Finally there is Michael Gibbard who is Chippy born and bred and used to have the fruit and veg shop where Coles the Jewellers is now. After a spell with a mobile shop he now sells plants and flowers which he buys from Birmingham and Holland. He also has two special nurseries which grow for him – one at Icomb near Bledington and the other at Lancett on the Fosse Way. Market Day is always especially busy and Chippy folk and local villagers flock into town to do their shopping and most of the town’s regular shop keepers recognise that the market attracts customers from a wide area and helps the town to prosper and flourish by increasing trade over all.