In October 2022, Queensgate Market, Huddersfield, closed for good after 52 years .
Kirklees Council deemed the operation of two town centre markets, including Queensgate Market, as ‘unsustainable’. Anyone who had visited the market in its final decade would have struggled to argue. A couple of decent stalls remained but it was largely empty units and low-end shops.
It’s a snapshot of traditional markets and retail centres in towns across Britain in an era of Aldi and Amazon. But if you’re envisaging a dystopian future where only supermarkets and online stores exist, park your pessimism for a moment.
Indoors at eye-level, Todmorden Market Hall doesn’t look that different to what was Queensgate Market. The difference is Todmorden Market Hall is busy. Well, busy for a miserable Wednesday afternoon.
And butcher Nick Fielden, who has worked at the market for 38 years, tells me it’s ‘heaving’ on a Saturday. Nick, who has run the stall for eight years, says: “We’ve gone from strength to strength. We’ve got busier.”
He admits he’s noticed the market’s older customers ‘dwindling’ but they’ve been replaced by out-of-towners actively travelling to Todmorden to shop. Nick says: “On Saturday [the market] is heaving and 80 per cent of customers aren’t from Tod.
(Image: Dave Himelfield)
“We get people from Leeds and Manchester.
“Last Wednesday, we had a couple from Devon. They were quite posh.
“The woman spent £60 on sausages and came back on Friday and bought a job lot.”
When thrifty supermarket chain Aldi opened a store a few hundreds metres away in 2021 , Nick braced for a financial hit. But it didn’t happen. He says: “We thought Aldi would have an effect but it hasn’t whatsoever.”
A couple of stalls are today closed and curtained off but that’s because it’s half-term and the tenants are looking after their children and grandchildren. There are no empty units. In fact, there’s a waiting list, says Ian Armstrong, a markets inspector for Calderdale Council.
(Image: Dave Himelfield)
Ian manages Todmorden Market Hall and Borough Market, Halifax as well as council-owned markets in Brighouse, Elland and Hebden Bridge. I ask Ian if Todmorden is one of the best performing markets and he nods without hesitation.
But why? Todmorden Indoor Market isn’t ‘posh’ or expensive. In fact, the building, which opened in 1879, could do with a lick of paint. “It’s traditional and people like that rather than it being segregated,” says Ian.
Todmorden Market Hall isn’t zoned like more modern markets. Leeds Kirkgate Market has a distinctive food section while Barnsley’s famous market has a cavernous food hall. Here you’ll find a sandwich shop opposite a card shop, opposite a barber’s, opposite a watch repair shop.
“The cornerstone is to keep it traditional,” says Ian.
Todmorden Market Hall is also traditional in that it’s full of atmosphere. There’s a friendly, cooperative atmosphere among traders. Rather than see each other as competitors stall holders help each other out.
(Image: Dave Himelfield)
To soak up the ambience, sit in the tiny open plan pub in the centre of the market hall or in one of the cafes. They’re inexpensive, easy-going spots to people watch as you sup and eat.
One of the newest stallholders is Mercedes Whitham who runs Cheese and Thank You which specialises in cheesecakes. She’s been at Todmorden Market Hall for less than a year – and she’s already expanding into the adjacent unit.
Mercedes also likes the ostensibly random layout of the market hall. “People will shop at one stall, see another stall and shop there too,” says Mercedes. “I’m expanding just because I’m doing so well. I’m taking the opportunity when I can.”
OK. So we’ve established that Todmorden Market Hall is traditional but so was Queensgate Market. Todmorden is quite a hip place thanks to the ‘Hebden Bridge effect’, but that’s been the case for almost 20 years.
(Image: Dave Himelfield)
Besides, Todmorden has had its fair share of post-Covid casualties. Acclaimed South American cantina Yakumama and fine diner White Rabbit closed early last year.
So why is Todmorden Market Hall an outlying beacon of hope?
Because it’s also quite ‘foodie’. While the food offering is traditional, it is evolving. You can buy an exceedingly cheap and filling ham sandwich as easily as you can buy gourmet Greek olive oil and French paté. Alexander’s Gourmet Med stall has long been worth a visit to the market alone.
Butcher Nick makes and sells unusual sausages, such as boerewors, a rarity outside South Africa. And I’m told a fine purveyor of burritos may be moving to the market.
Perhaps most of all, Todmorden Market Hall is fairly cheap which means the townsfolk still use it. For the same reason, visiting urbanites are more inclined to spend, try the goods, love the goods and return for more.
The word is out there; the market has become one of retail’s most coveted things.
As Stevie Boon, who runs a card shop in the market, says: “Tourists come. People love it. It’s a destination.”
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