livestock 1
Member
I sold lambs for many years in the early 30’s around then
Long forgotten Livestock Marts
- Thread starter llamedos
- Start date
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Not strictly a market but Waterloo Bridge London
Some still retain rights to drove livestock through London
Some still retain rights to drove livestock through London
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Location
- Staffordshire Moorlands
Interesting piece on DFAM Facebook page.
A new dawn approaches...
Lest we forget our forefathers who paved the way...
ON February 21, 1878, Darlington Town Council held a meeting that ended at least 800 years of history.
The Northern Echo dedicated a whole paragraph - albeit a long paragraph - to it.
The mayor, Theodore Fry, presided over the meeting.
Alderman Henry Pease gave a brief report. Alderman Edward Kipling seconded the resolution, which the rest of the council carried unanimously.
And that was that. The practice of holding a cattle market in the town centre streets - a practice that had begun in the 11th Century under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham - was formally discontinued.
Business was transferred to a new cattle mart, which the council had built for £14,000 on pastureland near the shed that in those days served as Bank Top railway station.
It was a bitterly contested move. For centuries, Darlington's prosperity had been built on the market, which made it the agricultural capital of Durham. As well as farmers, shopkeepers and publicans benefitted from having so many people in the town centre every Monday fortnight.
But, as Echo Memories told last week, as the 19th Century drew to an end, the council came to the conclusion that it was not acceptable to have hundreds of cattle, horses, pigs and geese "gorming" about in High Row - which was itself part of the Great North Road - and doing what comes naturally to animals all over the cobbles.
The Bank Top market opened on Monday, March 4, 1878.
The Darlington and Stockton Times stated: "The morning trains brought with them shoals of country folk on various errands bent; ruddy faced and long-coated dealers, plump and good tempered farmers' daughters, and those shabbiest of shabby men - the drovers. " Under the hammer that first morning were 11 bulls, 198 cows and heifers, 1,762 lean cattle, 115 pigs, 351 lean sheep and 60 fat sheep.
Most people seemed happy with the market, apart from those shabby drovers. They felt the top of the bank was too exposed to the northwest wind and there was nowhere for them to shelter after their long journeys in from the dales.
The Darlington and Stockton Times said: "The coldness of the situation will, of course, soon be lessened by the erection of buildings upon the corporation land that surrounds the site.
"The corner of the avenue that leads up to the cattle ground would form an excellent spot on which to erect a coffee palace, after the fashion of those in Liverpool, for apart from the tremendous business that market days would be sure to bring, it would have a great attraction for people arriving at Bank Top station. " The paper also thought that only one class of animals was unhappy about the new location.
"Among the beasts, pity could be claimed for the pigs only, " it reported. "At finding themselves in such clean quarters, they were distressed past the possibility of consolation; in vain their owners sought to reassure them by affectionately whipping their nostrils and twisting their tails up in corkscrew fashion: the porcine distrust of wholesomeness was not to be overcome and the creatures, presenting their least elegant aspects for public criticism, hid their offended faces from the gaze of the vulgar. " The new mart did not have a monopoly, though. In the 1860s, the Duke of Cleveland - Lord Barnard of Raby Castle, who had a history of being contrary - leased land in Barnard Street to auctioneers Thomas and George Tarn for a fat cattle mart.
Barnard Street is off Duke Street, and the auction mart was where the telephone exchange is today.
However, the market fluctuated. It closed in 1878 when Bank Top opened, and its site was turned into allotments, but in 1893, it reopened in direct competition.
This triggered a re-run of the debate about the future of Darlington's cattle marts.
In 1910, when the council acquired Feethams field, where the bus station is today, there was a Tescostyle discussion over locating the mart there.
The First World War intervened. Afterwards, it was decided to concentrate once and for all on the Bank Top site. Barnard Street closed and £7,525 was spent turning Bank Top into "one of the most commodious and up-to-date markets in the north".
Using an inscribed silver key, Mayor John George Snaith - himself a butcher who had fingers in many business pies - opened the refurbished market on April 9,1927. He spoke of the town's hopes for the market - it now contained two banks to accelerate transactions - but he also presented some revealing figures. In 1868, 69,405 animals were sold in Darlington. In 1926, 42,700 were.
Then he handed over to auctioneer William Bainbridge, who sold the first shorthorn bullock, weighing 143/4 hundredweight, from Great Burdon, to Charles Johnson, of Skinnergate, for £35.80. He sold the first pig, bred by George Harrison, of Gainford, for £18 10s to renowned butcher GH Zissler.
And so the cattle market has stayed on its spot for 130 years. Streets of housing have grown up around it, and they have not always rubbed along happily.
In 1995, there was talk of it merging with Barnard Castle mart at Scotch Corner, only Richmondshire council objected for fear of what would happen to markets in Leyburn and Hawes.
There is currently a proposal for the market to move to the A68 at Heighington, which would leave Darlington town marketless for the first time in at least 1,000 years.
THE new mart's first neighbour was Waverley Terrace, which must have been completed shortly after Bank Top station opened in 1887.
Waverley, of course, is the name of Edinburgh's station at the end of the East Coast Main Line. It takes its name from Sir Walter's Scott epic historical novel, Waverley, which was published in 1814.
THOSE scruffy beggars the drovers came from great distances driving their animals, which were portable germ factories.
They distributed disease as they went. In the days before the cleanliness of the market, when the animals gormed around on High Row, those that arrived with a clean bill of health went home with a contagion.
In October 1865, a cattle plague swept the NorthEast, killing animals and halting markets.
The Darlington and Stockton Times reported that auctioneer Mr Flavell was "in the fields" of south Durham, preparing to sell stock. He would, said the paper, conduct three open air sales: Sedgefield (for farmers from Foxton, Shotton Thorp, Old Acres, Embleton, Trimdon, Fishburn, Garmondsway Moor and Morden), Ferryhill (for Chilton, Bishop Middleham, Mainsforth and Cornforth) and Bishopton (for Carlton, Redmarshall, Great and Little Stainton, Newbiggin and Stillington).
The paper said: "The jobbers will then, it is hoped, attend the sales and the risk from the disease will be reduced to a minimum. "
A new dawn approaches...
Lest we forget our forefathers who paved the way...
ON February 21, 1878, Darlington Town Council held a meeting that ended at least 800 years of history.
The Northern Echo dedicated a whole paragraph - albeit a long paragraph - to it.
The mayor, Theodore Fry, presided over the meeting.
Alderman Henry Pease gave a brief report. Alderman Edward Kipling seconded the resolution, which the rest of the council carried unanimously.
And that was that. The practice of holding a cattle market in the town centre streets - a practice that had begun in the 11th Century under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham - was formally discontinued.
Business was transferred to a new cattle mart, which the council had built for £14,000 on pastureland near the shed that in those days served as Bank Top railway station.
It was a bitterly contested move. For centuries, Darlington's prosperity had been built on the market, which made it the agricultural capital of Durham. As well as farmers, shopkeepers and publicans benefitted from having so many people in the town centre every Monday fortnight.
But, as Echo Memories told last week, as the 19th Century drew to an end, the council came to the conclusion that it was not acceptable to have hundreds of cattle, horses, pigs and geese "gorming" about in High Row - which was itself part of the Great North Road - and doing what comes naturally to animals all over the cobbles.
The Bank Top market opened on Monday, March 4, 1878.
The Darlington and Stockton Times stated: "The morning trains brought with them shoals of country folk on various errands bent; ruddy faced and long-coated dealers, plump and good tempered farmers' daughters, and those shabbiest of shabby men - the drovers. " Under the hammer that first morning were 11 bulls, 198 cows and heifers, 1,762 lean cattle, 115 pigs, 351 lean sheep and 60 fat sheep.
Most people seemed happy with the market, apart from those shabby drovers. They felt the top of the bank was too exposed to the northwest wind and there was nowhere for them to shelter after their long journeys in from the dales.
The Darlington and Stockton Times said: "The coldness of the situation will, of course, soon be lessened by the erection of buildings upon the corporation land that surrounds the site.
"The corner of the avenue that leads up to the cattle ground would form an excellent spot on which to erect a coffee palace, after the fashion of those in Liverpool, for apart from the tremendous business that market days would be sure to bring, it would have a great attraction for people arriving at Bank Top station. " The paper also thought that only one class of animals was unhappy about the new location.
"Among the beasts, pity could be claimed for the pigs only, " it reported. "At finding themselves in such clean quarters, they were distressed past the possibility of consolation; in vain their owners sought to reassure them by affectionately whipping their nostrils and twisting their tails up in corkscrew fashion: the porcine distrust of wholesomeness was not to be overcome and the creatures, presenting their least elegant aspects for public criticism, hid their offended faces from the gaze of the vulgar. " The new mart did not have a monopoly, though. In the 1860s, the Duke of Cleveland - Lord Barnard of Raby Castle, who had a history of being contrary - leased land in Barnard Street to auctioneers Thomas and George Tarn for a fat cattle mart.
Barnard Street is off Duke Street, and the auction mart was where the telephone exchange is today.
However, the market fluctuated. It closed in 1878 when Bank Top opened, and its site was turned into allotments, but in 1893, it reopened in direct competition.
This triggered a re-run of the debate about the future of Darlington's cattle marts.
In 1910, when the council acquired Feethams field, where the bus station is today, there was a Tescostyle discussion over locating the mart there.
The First World War intervened. Afterwards, it was decided to concentrate once and for all on the Bank Top site. Barnard Street closed and £7,525 was spent turning Bank Top into "one of the most commodious and up-to-date markets in the north".
Using an inscribed silver key, Mayor John George Snaith - himself a butcher who had fingers in many business pies - opened the refurbished market on April 9,1927. He spoke of the town's hopes for the market - it now contained two banks to accelerate transactions - but he also presented some revealing figures. In 1868, 69,405 animals were sold in Darlington. In 1926, 42,700 were.
Then he handed over to auctioneer William Bainbridge, who sold the first shorthorn bullock, weighing 143/4 hundredweight, from Great Burdon, to Charles Johnson, of Skinnergate, for £35.80. He sold the first pig, bred by George Harrison, of Gainford, for £18 10s to renowned butcher GH Zissler.
And so the cattle market has stayed on its spot for 130 years. Streets of housing have grown up around it, and they have not always rubbed along happily.
In 1995, there was talk of it merging with Barnard Castle mart at Scotch Corner, only Richmondshire council objected for fear of what would happen to markets in Leyburn and Hawes.
There is currently a proposal for the market to move to the A68 at Heighington, which would leave Darlington town marketless for the first time in at least 1,000 years.
THE new mart's first neighbour was Waverley Terrace, which must have been completed shortly after Bank Top station opened in 1887.
Waverley, of course, is the name of Edinburgh's station at the end of the East Coast Main Line. It takes its name from Sir Walter's Scott epic historical novel, Waverley, which was published in 1814.
THOSE scruffy beggars the drovers came from great distances driving their animals, which were portable germ factories.
They distributed disease as they went. In the days before the cleanliness of the market, when the animals gormed around on High Row, those that arrived with a clean bill of health went home with a contagion.
In October 1865, a cattle plague swept the NorthEast, killing animals and halting markets.
The Darlington and Stockton Times reported that auctioneer Mr Flavell was "in the fields" of south Durham, preparing to sell stock. He would, said the paper, conduct three open air sales: Sedgefield (for farmers from Foxton, Shotton Thorp, Old Acres, Embleton, Trimdon, Fishburn, Garmondsway Moor and Morden), Ferryhill (for Chilton, Bishop Middleham, Mainsforth and Cornforth) and Bishopton (for Carlton, Redmarshall, Great and Little Stainton, Newbiggin and Stillington).
The paper said: "The jobbers will then, it is hoped, attend the sales and the risk from the disease will be reduced to a minimum. "
- Location
- S. Staffs
The right to drive cattle or sheep through London goes with being given the Freedom of the City iirc, my fathers cousin Margaret was Master (?) of the Worshipful Company of Launderers and was given the Freedom of the city, when she told us about the right to drive cattle we thought we might actually try to do it until she put her foot down!
Seamer market near Scarborough had 1000 fat cattle at its peak in the 50’s and 10,000 sheep. Unbelievable really
From looking on Google maps most of it is a retail park now but looks like some undeveloped waste ground still there as well
I remember going to seamer in the late 80s was a busy little mart then. Especially for pigs. Also remember FMC slaughter house right next door to it.
Willie adie
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
I recall early to mid 90s up hear feeding ewes making £1
I remember people shooting and burying them to save on commission at the mart.
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Cowbridge
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Priddy Sheep Fair, Mendips in the 70's
Several auction houses had concurrent sales on the same site
Several auction houses had concurrent sales on the same site
Held on the Green for centuries. Started due to Black Death in Wells.
Used to go when we were children - great fun with the fair and always come home with brandysnaps!
Dad bought us our first ewes from there - Cluns.
I think F & M finished it, but the thatched stack of wooden hurdles were still in the middle of the Green when I last went by.
Looks like Graham Harraway's wagon on the right with green roof.
Last edited:
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Ben Read wagon there
Barry Cox Merc there
Austin Cornelius wagon there
Graham Hansford (I think)
Yes the Slab House pub was still going a few years back, where they put the poor souls who'd perished out of the village on a stone slab I believe
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Bakewell old market
- Location
- Staffordshire Moorlands
borderterribles
Member
- Location
- South Shropshire
But at least the business continues as C&R Livestock Haulage Ltd.
Came across this couple of years ago , found it in Dad's jacket pocket probably the last time he went 
. July1984
. July1984
