Brighton Open Market

[Andy Lynes]

Prompted by the Granville Island Market thread on the Vancouver forum, I visited Brighton's Open Market today. My plan was to take a few snaps, post them on the Vancouver thread and say something amusing like "stop complaining, look what we have to put up with." However, what I saw this afternoon was just too depressing to joke about.

The Market appears to have been on the skids for a while, but since my last visit (quite a few months ago I have to admit) the number of fresh produce stalls seems to have plummeted, replaced by hardware, bike and miscellaneous junk shops. Mear's fruit and veg is still going strong but it appears that several other disappeared.

There is now only one fish shop where there used to be four and the number of butchers has also dwindled (none were open when we visited, although being a Saturday afternoon, the market was not at its liveliest).

Some stalls like Mear's and Thai Siam are keeping up standards:

...but overall I think the pictures tell there own story about just how run down and under funded the place is.

Frankly it's an embarrassment to the City when it could be a jewel in its crown. There are very few signs to the market, no free transport and the council has apparently told the individual stall holders that it is up to them to publicise the Market as best they can. The ridiculous canopy that you can see in the some of the pictures was the subject of much local derision, generally seen as a total waste of money.

Rumours that the council want to let the place die so it can be demolished and replaced with a car park or housing seem very believable after what I have seen today.

So much for the British Food Revolution.

[MobyP]

That fish stall... no ice... no cold storage... that's beyond the beyond (unless it's 20 minutes off a day boat).

[jamiemaw]

That fish stall... no ice... no cold storage... that's beyond the beyond (unless it's 20 minutes off a day boat).

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Even the canopies look surprised to be there.

Here's what we have to put up with.

Edited March 6, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[FaustianBargain]

OTOH, my favourite weekend haunt..

Borough Market and more Borough here too.

Edited March 7, 2005 by FaustianBargain (log)

[MobyP]

Exceptional pics, FB.

[FaustianBargain]

Exceptional pics, FB.

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danke.

revolution happens in instalments.

true.

[PoppySeedBagel]

Andy that is depressing - I never even knew it existed, though I live near to Brighton and go reasonably frequently - but I regret to say I doubt I'll bother...

Borough Market benefits from being an extremely old-standing market site which can't be used for anything but a market, and having on the market committee people who are very serious about food. However Borough is run basically as a charity, ie the stall holders are not charged anything like market rates for the area (thank goodness, or it would be total rubbish food-wise)

It may be worth finding out if there are any market charters for the Brighton site - there may be, as Brighton is a very old settlement I think - and then getting yourself onto the committee...

[Andy Lynes]

Very nice pictures, shows Borough Market at its best.

If revolution does happen in instalments, then Brighton and Hove council's subscription seems to have lapsed. Between the sea and the farm land of the South Downs, Brighton could be overflowing with fresh seafood, Sussex Downs lamb, artisan cheeses, and fruit and veg (we boarder Kent, the "Garden of England"). The Yellow Pages lists 11 greengrocers and fruit sellers and 23 butchers for the whole of Brighton and Hove.

Our restaurateurs should be working with and supporting local suppliers instead of dishing up ton upon ton of high-margin pizza and pasta. Our annual Food and Drink festival is a joke, run it seems in order to promote a few of the larger seafront hotels.

If there has been a trickle down effect from food on TV and in magazines and the nations obsession with celebrity chefs, Brighton is yet to feel it.

[jackal10]

Sad. I was at the Universit of Sussex in the 60's and remember the market as vibrant then. You could also buy fish straight off the boats, if you got up early enough.

Are there still day boats operating, and do they sell things like small slip soles locally still? These were fish that were not economic to transport, but cheap, very fresh and delicous.

[FaustianBargain]

let us dissect the issue. why and how did it come to this sad state of affairs? first, has there ever been a vibrant local market that has fallen to the pits or has it simply not developed?

[offcentre]

I have lived in Brighton for 5 years - and lived within 5 minutes of this market for the first 2 of these. I went to this market twice. Why? The butchers at the entrance looked like it sold cheap mass produced meat. I presumed the market would sell cheap, chemically produced produce. It was already on the downturn when I moved here. It looked grim. I presumed the produce would be grim. It looked like it catered for the discount shopper. Now, all these assumptions may be wrong, but they were my reasons.

We now have 2 farmers markets in Brighton. Had I thought of egullet when I went to one of these yesterday - believe it or not - a vegetarian farmers market (the produce, rather than the farmers themselves, due to the fact that it is held in a jewish hall) I could have posted some pictures of very good looking produce. It is small, but a good start.

As you say though Andy, surrounded by farms and the sea, we should be spoilt for choice down here.

[offcentre]

Sad. I was at the Universit of Sussex in the 60's and remember the market as vibrant then. You could also buy fish straight off the boats, if you got up early enough.

Are there still day boats operating, and do they sell things like small slip soles locally still? These were fish that were not economic to transport, but cheap, very fresh and delicous.

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There are a few decent fish merchants in the arches on the seafront. I have started buying more and more from them recently, and if they are to be believed a good deal of it is locally caught.

Scallops and sprats were both wonderful last week.

[Andy Lynes]

Do you know how often the farmer's markets operate - one of them is every other week isn't it? Definately something to be applauded, but no substitute for a daily market that can meet the needs of all the community. If properly invested in, I believe the Open Market could help to trigger the regeneration of the whole London Road area, and lets face it, it really needs regenerating. I hate to imagine what visitors to Brighton think when they drive down that main arterial route into the city.

[offcentre]

There's one on the first sunday of the month at the top of Denmark Villas by Hove station. I am pretty sure there's another on the second sunday of every month, but don't know the location.

There were about 25 stalls at the one on sunday. Nothing to get too excited about - especially as there was no meat. Initially it was to feature meat, but when they turned up on their opening day the meat stalls were told they couldn't operate there, even from stalls outside the building.

London Road is not pretty. It seems to have resisted the gentrification that has come to the rest of the city. The area caters more for the budget shopper. I think it would take a long time to establish a quality stall there.

Russells Sussex Farm shop has opened in Poets Corner stocking a small range of pre-packed local produce - smoked meats and fish, cheeses, breads and pastries. It acts as a pick-up point for organic veg boxes too and he makes good organic soups and things. I know Russell and he is eager to grow and offer a wider range. He has gone down well with the locals but because of the out-of-the-way location is finding it difficult to draw in people from the wider city.

[Carlovski]

It's still a cut above markets in most towns - fine if you want cheap underwear and mobile phone covers, but even if they do sell some food, you wouldn't want most of it.

[SBonner]

Andy,

Thanks for the images of the Brighton Market....Maybe after all the Granville Island Market is not such a bad place - I''ll stop complaining.

Stephen Bonner

Vancouver

[helenah]

I have thought about organising a regular food market in Hove but, to be honest, I haven't got the will to battle with the council for years and get absolutely nowhere. Customers I know want us to do it but I think I would lose the will to live if I tried dealing with the bureaucrats.....I really don't understand what the problem is with Brighton and Hove...they seem to be able to manage good farmers markets in most other towns and cities in Sussex (my favourite is Lewes the first saturday of every month).

A great place to buy fish is brighton and newhaven fish sales, down by Hove Lagoon. Most (good) restaurants in Brighton get their fish from them and it is straight off the boats. They now have quite a large retail section, where they've got a really good selection. I even managed to buy some fantastic razor clams from them last week. A sorry state of affairs though is when the majority of their wholesale catch gets shipped to Paris every week, where they seem to appreciate it more than us Brits

[Lindsay F]

I remember Brighton Market in the late 60's early 70's when, as an impoverished student, we would wait until last thing on Saturday to buy what was left dirt cheap.

We do have a reasonable Farmer's Market in seaford on the third thursday in the month, East Dean has a good Farmer's Market every wednesday morning. Highlights are the Sussex Downs Lamb and the Sussex Cheeses.

Fish, Newhaven is still the best, regrettably Rolf's, who had their own boat, closed down in Seaford over a year ago, but there are a couple of decent fish places down the quay at Newhaven.

Nice to have joined you all, I remember Andy from the BBC Food forums!!

[nwyles]

Wow, great pictures all round, esp. FB's

I am amazed to see whole phesants and rabbits hanging in the market. I shop at the Granville Island market fairly often in Vancouver and do not think I have seen the likes of that there. There is seafood displays all round but as far as game meats and birds - not at all. I am not sure if it to do with the public here - I have a difficult time selling game meats on the menu as people are more apt to stay mainstream - beef, chicken and lamb ( I even had one woman exclaim to me that she thought lamb an exotic meat ). Is that common in the market or did you have to seek it out ? Any "live" displays here would be in the seafood dept. although I have seen live frogs and turtles in Chinatown. I realize those shots were not live, but they were a short time ago.

[Robinjw13]

Good news for helenah, the people that run the Lewes farmer's market are going to organise one in Brighton. And whilst on the subject of Lewes and Brighton - there are excellent butcher and fishmongers shops in the white building by the river ('Riverside') in Lewes.... (came across this thread by chance - I'm a Japan forumite really).

[Adam Balic]

Do you know how often the farmer's markets operate - one of them is every other week isn't it? Definately something to be applauded, but no substitute for a daily market that can meet the needs of all the community. 

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This is a very good point. Edinburgh has a similar twice-monthly farmers market, and as nice as it is, it really is just a middle-class nice morning out rather then meeting the needs of the wider community as you say.

Not sure about the rest of the country? Are there any good daily (or at least regular then twice a month) markets in the UK that cater to more then just on section of the community?

[PS]

This is a very good point. Edinburgh has a similar twice-monthly farmers market, and as nice as it is, it really is just a middle-class nice morning out rather then meeting the needs of the wider community as you say.

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Adam

I read in the Evening News recently that the Edinburgh farmers market was going to become a weekly event and that a Leith farmers market, to be held every Saturday and Sunday, was being set up. Still nowhere near daily, but it gives me some chance of getting to a farmers market if I'm busy on a Saturday, which is normally the case.

Cheers

Philip

[Adam Balic]

Philip - that is very good news indeed, thank you for the information. After reading the issues in Brighton, I found the whole British food thing depressing, but this is very positive information. Scotland has some of the best produce in the world and it will be fantastic to see it consumed locally.

[offcentre]

Do you know how often the farmer's markets operate - one of them is every other week isn't it? Definately something to be applauded, but no substitute for a daily market that can meet the needs of all the community.  If properly invested in, I believe the Open Market could help to trigger the regeneration of the whole London Road area, and lets face it, it really needs regenerating. I hate to  imagine what visitors to Brighton think when they drive down that main arterial route into the city.

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I am pretty sure there is a farmers market this saturday at the Friends Meeting Place in Ship Street - "local and global stalls". This appears to be a monthly event.

So we now appear to be overwhelmed by farmers markets.

[Carlovski]

Hampshire has farmers markets every sunday, they used to be at a different place each week, but last Friday of the month was always Winchester. They have changed to do Winchester every other week, as that one makes the most money.