Great idea St Saviour’s Market Norwich
Who would have thought it – a market made up entirely of shipping containers. You see them usually piled high on the decks of those super container vessels that plod inexorably in and out of major ports and you wonder why they don’t just topple over. I think I would feel safer on an oil tanker!
However back to the market. The Norwich City authorities decided to do away with a massive car parking area just under the flyover on the inner ring road in order to create this sort of “Pop-UP” market using more than 80 containers.
Each container houses an independent business, such as a cycle shop, a hair dressers salon, a retro-fashion shop or an artist’s studio. There are places to eat, places to obtain hot drinks and (I am told) even a photographer – but I couldn’t find him, or her.
It’s a great idea, but I think there are drawbacks. It’s not really in a fashionable area of town and even those who used to shop in Anglia Square just opposite can no longer do so because it is being pulled down. On the other hand the market is on many bus routes and there are convenient stops for those who don’t want to walk too far.
Another drawback is that there is little indication when the majority of businesses are open. Secured, closed containers are not terribly attractive and really rather dampen down any buzz that the place might have.
My visit was on a Saturday morning, just before lunch time, but with the absence of scurrying shoppers, eager to collect supplies for the weekend, it felt like something of a damp squib. Perhaps a green grocers or a butchers would have livened the place up, but artists studios and retro vintage clothing shops are a bit unlikely to attract the crowds on a Saturday.
I wondered if there had been a tradition of a market around the church of St Saviour. I think the historians have tried very hard to discover one but sadly there is no actual evidence for it. I’ll bet there was one – it’s the sort of thing that seemed to happen around ancient churches.
Even so I found the variety of salespeople fascinating. If you are in Norwich it is worth going to see. I can recommend the Palestinian food take-away. Home cooking a la middle east – go for it. The customers were queuing up for it. See you there.
