#lylm2014

We had a good time visiting Old Spitalfields Market in East London. Karl was quite taken by some of the hats on sale...

We had a really good time visiting Leeds Kirkgate Market in October. My husband, Karl used to live in Leeds when he was a student and he's told me about the market's there before. But this was the first time I've had a chance to visit them. We took a trip to Leeds in October and spent a full day wandering around the different halls which make up Kirkgate Market, each hall having its own distinctive style and layout. Particularly stunning was the architecture of the 1904 Hall at the very front of the Market (Boar Lane). You can see a photo of the roof above. The 1904 Hall is also home to the world's smallest Marks & Spencer shop. In fact, Marks & Spencer actually started in Kirkgate Market. As there's also a M&S stall in the Grainger Market, this was particularly interesting to us. We spent a morning walking the M&S Heritage Trail around Leeds. We started off with the help of the very enthusiastic staff in Kirkgate Market, and finished at the M&S Company Archive at Leeds University (also pictured above). The archive was full of surprises. It looked at the growth of M&S from Kirkgate Market as well as highlighting the market tradition of the firm. There were even some old photographs and paintings in the archive of the Grainger Market's M&S Penny Bazaar, which was nice to see. We can definitely recommend a trip to Kirkgate Market for anyone visiting Leeds.

We need your help! We know you guys got up to some very awesome and amazing things for national markets fortnight and we are wondering if you managed to capture it? It doesn't have to be dead slick and professional...that's what the fab Steve Pickering from Warrington markets is going to do. Did you capture it on your iphone or ipad? Maybe the local college or Uni students recorded on the day.....did local TV make an appearance. Can you get the footage off them? Or better yet you commissioned some yourself. We all know that a picture can say a thousand words....well videos do more than that and they can also cross language barriers. In September alongside the NABMA (National Association of British Market Authorities) annual Conference, London shall also be hosting the WUWM (World Union of Wholesale Markets) Conference.....and these guys are going to want to know all about Love Your Local Market. This year five European Countries signed up to participate in LYLM with more following suit for 2015.....the appetite to adopt this very British initiative is taking off and your videos could be just what we need to demonstrate how unique, vibrant and innovative the UK Markets Industry can be. Now Mr Pickering has already had me alongside robots for this, as well as being shot in the head ( and very nearly deafened) by pirates, doing some filming already....so please don't let it be in vain. You can contact Steve to either send him YouTube links, a USB stick or whatever other ways you can get the footage to him by email: [email protected]

We visited Pickering yesterday. It was a bank holiday so the market where our shop is based was closed. And we'd read on the Love Your Local Market page that Monday is market day in Pickering, so we thought we'd take a little trip! We had a great time! The day started with a wander down the market and around some of the shops in the town centre. We were pleased to see so many independent shops about. And there was so much to do in Pickering! After lunch we visited the Wizard of Oz trail and exhibition in the St Peter & St Paul Parish Church. That was also well worth a visit, with its medieval drawings painted onto the plaster of the Church's nave. My husband, Karl had a great time visiting Pickering Station. It's looking fabulous and it was a real treat watching a working steam train pull into the station. Later on with walked up to Pickering Castle and then around before setting off home after an excellent day.

You can read more about the Grainger Market on our Web site - we've create a special section all about the Market where our shop is!

We love having our shop inside Newcastle's a Grainger Market!

#seashanties arr! #lylm2014 #smugglersmarket #plymouth (at Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park (Official))