Saltash Market

Our first excursion at Saltash market

It was a great pleasure to attend the first ever Saltash market with Craft Bottle Beers at the start of October. Saltash is the sixth largest town in Cornwall but really only separated from Plymouth by the expanse of the Tamar. I'm sure there would have been some local shops concerned about the effect the market may have had on their business, but these proved unfounded on the day.

The market took place in the town centre where a side street was closed to accommodate the stall holders, keeping them and the public safe from passing traffic. In truth the content of the market was a little disappointing with a few charity stalls, clothing and craft stalls, but a distinct lack of food and drink offerings. This was a great opportunity missed by many of the local producers as how else can you trade in a busy market town like Saltash for a minimum amount of money on a Saturday?

Diverse Events who organised the market on had done a good job attending the needs of stall holders and one hopes their efforts don't go unrewarded as this is potentially a great little market in its infancy. The reaction from the people of Saltash was certainly positive with many delighted that this new event might become a regular monthly feature. All it needs is a bit more support from the local producers and it could be really good.

For Craft Bottle Beers we did very well and certainly well on a par with other events we have attended. I've learned you can never predict the most popular beers and in true Murphys Law, the most popular beer style were Stouts and Porters, of which I had only a limited offering! The Bellinger's Gallipoli was soon snapped up with its First World War link proving very popular, whilst the Penpont Porter quickly followed to leave us with a few bottles of the tasty Hunters Pheasant Plucker, which also soon went. I guess as the colder weather approaches the darker beers have more appeal and that I should have predicted.

One hopes that the success of the first Saltash market, but more importantly its potential as a regular monthly event will start to interest more producers. Farmers style markets and craft fairs can have a significant benefit to small towns bringing in customers who visit specially for the market and also spend time and money in local shops so everyone wins. I'd just say to any potential stall holders, do book into the remaining events before Christmas, Saltash was very welcoming and you might be surprised how well you do.