Dwindling

Our weekly market is not the lively bustling place it used to be. It has shrunk in size as stallholders have called it a day, retired or despaired of making any sort of profit.  Buyers have dwindled too, through age or preference for wider choice or convenience shopping. 

Instead of two rows of stalls along the centre there are now only a handful. On the right there are a couple of well-established  butchers, both selling cheese, butter and cooked goods too, and at the end the regular fishmonger (on holiday this week.)

On the left at the far end the Syrian stallholder sells a huge range of goods including freshly-made snacks and pastries, then a photographer with her cards and calendars, and a local woman who sells eggs and plants. In the middle there's a charity stall and  the vegetable growers with their fresh organic produce. Nearest the camera on both sides are stalls selling handmade knick-knackery.

Way back, I made a series of blips called  marketpeople and it struck me I should do some more. Of those stall holders, aside from the recent veg folk, the only one still attending is Phil the Fish. It will be a sad day when he eventually packs up and swims away.