Darlington’s best-known market stall closed for good yesterday. * PETER BARRO**N watched a sad day unfold...*
IT’S 3.53am. Daylight is still a few hours away, and there’s a spit of rain in the air as the headlights of a white van shine through the gloom.
Dave Gaskin is arriving at the Skerne Gardens nursery – tucked away off Barmpton Lane, on the outskirts of Darlington – for the start of a working day that’s been his way of life for the past 32 years.
But this is a day 72-year-old Dave has been dreading – the last day he’ll be preparing a delivery of fresh fruit and veg for Darlington’s grand old Victorian market.
Beneath a high-vis jacket is his company uniform – an avocado-green coat, with “J.J. Blair & Sons” in banana-yellow on the breast pocket.
Dave Gaskin stocking up the van before the final delivery (Image: Peter Barron)
It's 4am and Dave Gaskin is starting work at the Skerne Gardens nursery (Image: Peter Barron)
It’s a name that’s stitched into Darlington history but, 151 years after it opened, this is the last day Darlington’s best-known market stall will serve customers.
When 81-year-old Robin Blair – the friendly, rosy-cheeked face of Darlington – passed away on July 6, it signalled the end of a fruit and veg era, with October 9, 2026, chosen as the day the family stall would close for good.
“It’s a sad day,” admits Dave, who worked as a draughtsman with Cleveland Bridge before he got to know Robin as a customer. The pair clicked as friends and Dave ended up as Robin’s trusted right-hand man.
“I think of him every day. He worked hard all his life but he always had a smile on his face, and he knew what he was talking about when it came to plants and produce. That’s why people loved and respected him so much.”
The business was founded by Jack Blair in 1875, then run by his son, Joe, before the natural progression to grandsons Robin and Keith.
Robin made his first appearance at the market when his cot was parked under the family stall. He worked his first paid shift – for a shilling – when he was five.
While Robin loved the hustle and bustle of the market, brother Keith preferred to be in the background, managing the Skerne Gardens nursery on the other side of town.
Keith died suddenly 13 years ago. Then, when Robin passed away this summer, it was decided the market stall would have to close.
Over the years, Dave has got used to getting up at 3am alongside Robin, but now he's on his own for the early shift at the nursery.
Cauliflowers, carrots, tomatoes, cabbages, leaks, peppers, satsumas, peaches, grapes, and apples… you name it, they’re all wheeled in boxes from a lock-up with the temperature set at five degrees to keep the produce cool and fresh.
Once the van is fully stocked, Dave turns his attention to setting up the Skerne Gardens shop that’s jam-packed with yet more produce, as well as tools, an array of weird and wonderful garden ornaments, and Christmas decorations.
On the wall, near the till, there’s a fading photograph of Robin and Keith above a certificate recognising a charitable contribution of £1,302.91 to St Teresa’s Hospice.
A plastic owl bird-scarer is perched on a set of scales, while a real one hoots somewhere in the darkness outside.
“From tomorrow, I’ll get another four hours in bed – that’s going to be strange,” smiles Dave as he uses a penknife to trim the ends of today's prime parsnips.
By 5.17am, Dave is ready to jump into the van to drive to the eerily deserted town centre to unload and set up the market stall.
Upon arrival, he discovers there's been a power-cut. "It'll be Robin having a last laugh," he suggests.
Luckily, power soon returns and Dave has the stall ready for an 8am opening as the town clock chimes overhead.
Christine Hanlon is the first member of staff to arrive. She's served on the stall for 34 years, and describes it as "a terribly sad day".
"Everything feels flat – we were like an extended family, and I’m going to miss it so much,” she says.
She’s quickly joined behind the counter by Alwyn – Robin’s wife of 51 years – and other staff members, Hayley Mann, and Tracy Richards.
“It’s the second saddest day of my life, after the day Robin died,” says Alwyn. “He was the kindest man. He loved Darlington and loved his life at the market. He wasn’t interested in money or flash cars, he just wanted to serve his customers.”
The first customer arrives within minutes. Debbie Eccles has bought her fruit and veg from the stall for 21 years. “It’s going to be a sad day for Darlington – the market will never be the same,” she says.
Victoria Stewart is next in line. “My mum was a regular customer, and I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember,” she says. “I welled up when I heard the news because I just loved Robin and all the staff. Once they’re gone, I don’t know if I’ll come in anymore.”
Regular customer Victoria Stewart makes a final purchase (Image: Peter Barron)
Trevor Miller arrives to tell the staff how much he's going to miss them. “I always had a good natter with Robin, bless him, and all the others. It’s the end of an era,” he adds.
Joseph Kemp, now 82, was a Saturday boy at the market 73 years ago, and he knew Robin and Keith for decades.
“They'd do anything for anyone, and it’s sad to see everything they worked so hard for come to an end,” he says.
Loyal customers continue to call in throughout the day, bidding their fond farewells, making their final purchases, and adding their names to a book of remembrance for Robin.
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Then, as the town clock strikes 3pm, the J.J. Blair & Sons stall closes for the final time after more than a century and a half of service to the people of Darlington.
“It was good while it lasted but nothing lasts forever,” says Dave Gaskin, who will continue to work at the nursery, but no longer make the trip across town to the market he and his old friend, Robin, loved so much.
As he turns the lights out to cheers and applause from generations of the Blair family who’ve gathered for the occasion, he can’t help shedding a tear.