(Image: Chris Lloyd)
IT really is the end of an era in Darlington’s indoor market with the closure of JJ Blair & Sons’ stall after 151 years.
It is so sad for the Blair family, who lost Robin, the public face of the market, only a couple of months ago, and it is sad for the devoted staff – like Dave Gaskin and Christine Hanlon, to name but two – who have given so many decades to the stall and the people of Darlington.
It is also sad for the covered market. Without Robin’s cheery greeting, it was only half the place it once was; without Blairs’ stall, it is no place at all. It is now bereft of traders, and there must be huge questions about its future.
Its food and music offerings do bring it alive on weekend evenings, which is good to see, but is that enough to sustain it throughout the week?
High Row will feel very empty during the day with the massive Binns on one side shut and the large covered market on the other side unused.
The town centre, soon to be without a post office, is emptying out: now there’s no permanent fruit and veg for sale, there’s no fresh fish shop and only one butcher. There are several attractive delicatessens and a couple of very good bakeries, it is true, but why is Darlington unable to cling to these staple shops, unlike, say, Northallerton or Stokesley?
Is it down to management of the town centre, parking charges or pedestrianisation? Or is it because of changing consumer habits where people increasingly choose supermarkets or choose the convenience of home deliveries?
Whatever the reason, without Blairs, Darlington is a lonelier place with a diminished offer – a market town that now barely has a market.