There’s been a market in Ormskirk the town where I live for over 400 years. I forget what a cool thing this is. This is not a tourist market selling souvenirs and this is a working everyday goods kind of market. You can buy food or shoes or toys. My favourite stall is run by a friend and former lecturing colleague who has many degrees and publications to his name but now runs the sweet stall. It’s always a pleasant thing to stop and put the world to rights with him and, of course, to buy sweets. Next to him there’s a stall which sells cakes and the speciality of the town a particular gingerbread so famous that Queen Victoria used to buy hers here and have it shipped to London. That was when the town was a major rail head. If you’ve read Warhorse (it was a book before the musical) this is the town they used to ship the horses from too. Anyway it was market day and I had to go into town to see a man about my dodgy back.

We have a couple of chiropractors here which strikes me as odd in such a tiny place. I go to get tuned up once a month. Keeps me in trim for scuba. I say it’s a small place but we have a big University here. I used to work there. There’s some ‘town and gown’ but to be honest I think a lot of the businesses and even the market might struggle without the influx of students. There are plenty of bars and places to eat a book shop, three health food shops and a whole pile of charity shops though the indoor market (once open all week) has gone about to be turned into student flats. There are a lot of formerly historic buildings which have become student flats. It is an odd mixture. For many who come here to study the small town feels safe for others it is too small and they choose to commute from the city so they have the best of both worlds.

Market day though is pensioner central. Many people come in from surrounding areas specifically to come to the market. Thursday is old folks day and Saturday is a bit more of the general population. Even our ‘Big Issue‘ guy likes market days as they are better for sales. It is hard to imagine the place as a major hub given its current small stature but back in the day that is exactly what it was. Sometimes, when people are swerving to get around a pensioner and trolley parked inconveniently mid footpath, I like to remind myself that I have no idea what past glories these people have. You never know. I also want to ask that you look up next time you’re in a small town. Anywhere without huge modern skyscrapers. Look up. Even in the centre of a city. Above the shop fronts you’ll get a view of what was there before. One of our shoe shops was a theatre and inn. Unless you look up you would miss the relief of a ship cast into the wall and may not see the archway that lead to the coaching yard.