Covent Garden Closes (1970-1979)

The Nine Elms site must certainly now be a contender for the title of Europe's largest supermarket brand new it's 68 acres includes spiral staircases closed-circuit television and parking for 2,000 commercial vehicles and 1,000 cards much talking and planning and money has gone into it it's estimated to have cost 40 millions to move the old Covent Garden from its central London site where the markets been since the Middle Ages the new market will absorb all and more than the old one but as always with change feelings are mixed are you gonna miss Covent Garden oh yeah yes it won't be the same over there definitely not are your machetes for you won't that's gone I mean you stopped really no effect it's all done it this is the market really isn't it that's just our concrete jungle over there yeah don't think it'd be any good to anybody only the people making money to us what would the property developers they've knocked all the tradition our London you'll have Piccadilly Circus mix that will be the next one he'll be just like a concrete jungle I've got to move with the times and Eliza done professor Higgins that's all gone by the board if you know my great-great-grandfather introduced ammonia well what's the adversities in it well my solely off it all the office girls all the nurses we now know that be like a factory over there with regards to work yeah but that's only one side of the picture concrete jungle or not many others feel that life will be a lot easier at nine Elms with all its modern amenities and it's easy access to the market things you'll work out for the best seriously yeah sad about the atmosphere but good and bad together it's good thing we going what are you gonna feel about working there after working here well the conditions can't be any worse than they are here again have you seen them over there yeah well we'll be nice and clean be easy we'll all be I'm nice and early I mean some mornings we're stuck here off every corner 20 deal yeah excuse me can I have a quick quick word with you are those heavy Oh leave him there for a bit then yeah listen you sad about the garden for goals you've got 70 probably not be a 29-years myself I mean it's a long lonely time isn't it yeah there's a lot of old people we're not gonna go over there I miss the old characters won't you miss the atmosphere yeah what do you miss the atmosphere but then we've been here 300 years or at least the marketers and changes about come about the right time I think the new Covent Garden Market is expected to do at least half as much again of trading a year and forklift trucks will help to speed that up and shift the more than one and a quarter million tons of fruit and veg worth many millions of pounds each year the old traditional Porter and his Barrow will not be seen in the new market but he was very vital in the old when no vehicle could move in the narrow jammed streets and roads of Covent Garden many of the traders had been there for years generations of the same families when porters ran competitions of basket carrying like these the go schmidt family were trading and by the time Covent Garden closed last week they had been there for over one hundred and twenty eight years trading from stores like this lovely you obviously being a member of the family went into the business was it because you wanted to or because it's tradition out of school fast enough to get up here I hated school for some unknown reason or my love covergirl love always gasps difficult because you know you can't go out of a weekday evening at all can you tell me a typical day when you were younger Oh a typical day well I would be truthful none of these youngsters like my name you know what a day's work is truly compared to my other day we were not under cover then we were in the open there was no roof over alleys we have 2,000 tarp orders sheet hanging up on whatever we could hook it dude to keep some of the rain off and we will lit up my American laughs Joel I mean we're logged down here you know we get 10 and 15 tan lorries up here on roads that are intended for horses and carts which we're only ever built forces and cuts and this is causing chaos you won't see any of the public in the new market or very few I would think hmm because there's an enclosed market it'll be very much easier to do your business I have the hours will be short runs over there'll be something lacking obviously yeah you know it won't be the same old Covent Garden I don't think then you've only been here for a few months haven't you I have why did you come here well I work for courageous they take the power for three or four weeks to kill you know the kill it is a phrase isn't it to kill it is the phrase this is it what's the garden gonna be like when it's quiet and it's moved tonight now finished and last Friday it closed the stall shut down traders and porters some glad Sun sad moved over the weekend and the bell in the old flower market rang to mark the end of trading for the last time but will the new Nine Elms ever take the place of Covent Garden

Channel: British Pathé

Views: 21,531

Keywords: vegetables, Reuters, documentary, poters, 3374.05, British Pathe, Garden, Covent, fruit, markets, BritishPathe, footage, colour, London, UN 4664 H, newsreel, aerial

Id: u5VsgkO4Y6Q

Length: 5min 33sec (333 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 13 2014