2,322 people visit Communities Market

Two thousand, three hundred and twenty two. That’s officially the number of people who visited Marlborough’s popular Communities Market yesterday (Sunday).

That precise figure comes courtesy of volunteers from Transition Marlborough who, armed with clickers, used scientifically-approved methods to count the footfall of visitors as they browsed stalls.

For lovers of statists, here are a few more:

39 – the number of stalls at the biggest market so far. The food section in Marlborough High Street boasted 28 stalls, while the inaugural arts and crafts market inside the Town Hall had 11.
98 – the percentage of stallholders who came from the SN postcode area, in keeping with the organisers’ hyper-local ethos. A fair proportion were from Marlborough’s SN8 postcode area.
11,000 – that’s (roughly) how many miles at least one of the visitors – a New Zealander – was from home. Other visitors came from Japan and Bermuda, and from within the UK there were shoppers from London and Cardiff.
4 – the number of cars left in Marlborough High Street overnight, despite the presence of No Parking signs. The problem led to the marquee being placed some distance away from the Town Hall – the organisers’ preference was to have the two abutting.

“Overall it was a really, really good day,” say Ellie Gill from Marlborough Communities Market. Trade was slightly slower than at previous markets, and we suppose the rain may have put some people off.

“Many traders sold all their stock although, thankfully, not until the end of the day. Our regular stallholders are better able to gauge the event, rather than selling out in the morning, and there was a constant flow of customers all day.”

Organisers are promising even more stalls in October. “We have more interest from traders than we have space to accommodate them,” said Ellie. “New to the market next month will be the The Cotswold Curer, a producer of free range British salami, and Paul’s Poultry, an award-winning pie maker.”

The Cotswold Cooks will also be back in October, selling teas, cakes and savouries from their 1950s themed beach hut.

As the nights draw in, the market will be operating winter hours. From Sunday, October 7 the hours of trading will be 11am to 3pm. November’s market will be held on the 4^th, with a special Christmas Lights market on Thursday, November 29 – the night the town’s Christmas Lights are switched on – replacing the December 2 event.