In a small pretty village 8 miles west of Durham lies Lanchester in County Durham. Here we visited the monthly farmers’ market in the car park of the Kings Head pub. There are usually 60 stalls trading here but when we visited there were around 30 because of a competing event. The stalls were well spaced out with lots of room to meander along the stalls. There were food stalls and craft stalls too and the pitches were £25.
The most unusual thing about this market is that there was a nominal entry fee of 1p. Apparently this is a quaint old law dating from somewhere around the 16th Century which stated that if you attended a Sunday trading event you had to pay. Apparently done away with in other council areas but still upheld in Derwentside. It seems odd that it is the attendees that need to pay rather than the stallholders – nonetheless a nice, albeit unusual touch. Monies collected go to charity.
We arrived at the end of the day where footfall was minimal but many stalls had little stock left, so trading had been good earlier. We met Brian from https://www.PieDemand.co.uk who had sold out.
We enjoyed a fabulous venison burger at For the Love of Game and had a lovely chat with Erica Stuart from Eridale Preserves about the local EHO’s helpfulness.
Most of our time was spent talking to relative newcomers, Jonathan and Fliss from https://www.Facebook/SipandSaddle/. We were amazed at how they had transformed their old horsebox into a beautifully restored unit with fridge, freezer and handwashing facilities on board. Now a drinks Bar, ready to roll into any venue and start serving Pimms and G&T’s!
This village market also had the honour of hosting a company that had won the North East’s Best Bakery award for 2019-20, @sweethartsbakery. After buying their delicious bread, we could see why.
| Pitch Cost | £25 |
| Market Day | Last Sunday /M |
| Market Times | 11.00 – 15.00 |
| Contact For Stalls | Tris Raine | eventinfo36@gmail.com | 07460 412221 |
| Facilities | Pub for loos? | Mobile coffee unit is a stallholder |
| Parking | Serious lack of parking in the village. More parking would mean more customers |
| Added Benefits | Hot food with game burgers and baked potato stall when we visited |
Thoroughly pleasant market, though with the promise of 60 stalls next month it did make us wonder if there would be enough footfall for all 60 stalls to have decent takings.
We had a joint prize for best stall signage at this market – going to https://www.TheHedgehogBakery.co.uk and to https://www.AlesByTheSea.co.uk , both for having the most stand out signage that clearly showed what they sold from a distance!
Overall, not a bad market, apart from the lack of parking, and the stallholders were very friendly and generous with their time. Perhaps a small improvement could be moving the stalls a little nearer to each other, with narrower walkways, to create more of an atmosphere and a feeling of a crowded buzz.
Happy Trading!