The newly established market began in May 2012, on a warm, sunny day. It was pretty crowded with stalls ranging from foods to hand-made clothes, bags and other crafts; thrown in were second-hand books, vinyl and bric-a-brac. The vibe was lively. Not so the second time. Perhaps it was partly the rain, but people didn't seem to buy much more than beer and burgers. Or so most of the traders said. This is odd for an area that is packed with take aways and pound shops. It is also a shame, because there were some very good stalls at reasonable prices.
Children's hand-made dresses, hand-made cushions, fair trade, recycled and vintage goods, chocolates, hams, breads, cupcakes and wine (to name a few) offered Levenshulme the chance to buy the kinds of stuff only found in town or at other specialist markets. Where else, in M19, can you buy such beautiful ranges at such prices? For example, hand-made dresses were less than £18.00, fair trade corn brooms were just over £6.00, and a cracking curry could be bought for £3.00! There were quality vintage china tea set trios for tenner, organic wines for £7 and lots of £1 and £2 small items. But, for some reason, it didn't all quite work. There were seasoned traders alongside local folks selling home-made crafts and making badges. All are fine - but it felt like a weird mix between a hippy commune and a decent market. These different goods could possibly rub along together, but people were moaning about paying more than a couple of quid for anything.
I really hope this market will carry on, because Levenshulme could do with a better retail mix - unless, of course, Levenshulme residents prefer to go to town and pay by credit card at big stores. And, while back in their local area, purchase everything they need from kebab shops and bargain basement shops. read more