Page 37 - Market Times April 2024

FEATURE • RAWTENSTALL
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Sweetie Sue, otherwise known as Sue Duxbury, has been selling old-fashioned sweets on Rawtenstall market for the past 20 years
and veg on Rawtenstall market 38 years ago, has recently relocated from the outdoor to the indoor market, providing the last piece of the fresh food jigsaw.
Mark remembers the very busy days of market trading, including at Rawtenstall. His dad is still selling fruit and veg at 85 at Bacup and Burnley.
“I was trading outside but there was a gap for fruit and veg indoors, so it made sense for me t0 move indoors,” he said.
Sue Duxbury, universally known as Sweetie Sue, has been selling traditional sweets on the market for 20 years. “It was a good market when I started but it started to decline about 15 years ago after Asda and Tesco opened here,” she said.
“Jane Boys brought it back and ever since the market has gone from strength to strength. Saturdays are amazing — just like it was 20 years ago.”
And the healthy footfall has enticed more traders back to the market. They include Trevor Best who began selling antiques and other goods on the indoor market 14 months ago.
“I came here one day to take a look. I decided to try it out with encouragement from my son. We both like antiques. And I haven’t looked back,” said Trevor, who named his business Horse and Cart Antiques as he is from a farming family which once delivered milk by horse and cart.
And Linzi Byrne of Cedar Dreams Jew- ellery is also pleased to have started her business on the market in 2020.
“I started with a pop-up stall for four months, then I moved on to a permanent one and it is ideal for me, trading two days a week in a lovely, friendly atmosphere,” she said.
But change is afoot following a success- ful bid for £4.5 million of Government funding to transform the market once more.
Work will start in January 2025 and be completed in 2026, with plans to keep it open during the work and ensure existing traders retain their options to trade.
Architects’ plans suggest the café hub will become the new entrance. It will move from a two-day to a five-day-a- week enterprise, with provision for any traders who may find this difficult. There will be new units outside and food and eateries inside with a bigger seating area.
Traders are generally happy about the investment. Mark Smithies said: “You have to move forward.”
And the last word must go to Sweetie Sue. “I honestly never thought markets would make a comeback, but they have,” she said.
Linzi Byrne started her jewellery business on the market in 2020
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FACTS & FIGURES
l Market days: Thursdays and Saturdays. Foodie Fridays are held on the last Friday of the month
l Market rent: Rent varies
l Rawtenstall’s claim to fame: located in central Lancashire, the town of Rawtenstall was once a hive of cotton mills. When the cotton industry declined, the town turned to shoemaking. It is famous as the home of the traditional herbalist and temperance bar Fitzpatrick’s Herbal Health which is said to be the oldest brewer of sarsaparilla and dandelion and burdock in the country.