Covent Garden Market In 1960 (Full Colour Video) | Our History

[Music] for years the planners have been talking of Shifting Covent Garden might but it's still there a stone's throw from Leicester Square in the heart of London sprawling over streets which have become some of the most congested in Britain flowers and 40 of all fresh vegetables and fruit sold in the country go through this Market no wonder the ordinary motorist finds it difficult to get through it [Music] it's a general Clearinghouse for produce from all parts of the world [Music] Flynn as the theater crowds are going home although selling doesn't start until five in the morning the present layout of the market dates back 130 years officially it covers six acres but it overspills into surrounding buildings and the business stretches over some 30 Acres that means 30 Acres of inflammable boxes which says the local Authority is a serious fire risk [Music] thousands of londoners have never got up early enough to see cotton Garden in full swing but it's one of the sites for tourists year after year and sometimes Elite reveler or two finds himself there [Music] this is the only wholesale flower market in the country but if you'd like to get up early you can buy retail too and right among the flowers and vegetables is London's most famous magistrate plot Bow Street which attracts a rather different clientele from the building opposite the Royal Opera House at 6 30 in the morning there are about 1500 heavy vehicles in the area not to mention all the hand barriers four hours later half that number will still be there unable to move and get on with the business of distribution if you complain about the blockage Market people will tell you that they were in the area long before other businesses and you try to get through at your own risk I set your own risk the police do their best to keep things moving but no wonder many planners doubt if a Central City area is the right place today for food markets foreign [Music] people who think Covent Garden has a distinctive atmosphere would have no doubt at all about billingsgate there's the Clearinghouse for all Britain's Fisheries handling some 600 tons daily fish comes in from all English Sports and a number of foreign ones as well it has to be got in and out quickly so as to be in the shops while it's still fresh talk about using your loaf you certainly need a strong head to work here even with a leather hat it's heavy work these hats are handed down through the generations nobody knows how old some of them are when they let the water in the cobbler puts a New Soul on the top the market works on a strict code of honor sales are by some and certain that the sample shown will be representative of the whole consignment nothing's written down prices are fixed verbally and both buyer and seller know that they can trust one another when the Day of Reckoning arrives some of the merchandise comes in a lie below the market there are boiling tanks for shellfish [Music] the business of billingsgate has decreased since the war many large concerns now buy direct from the key side of the fishing ports but plenty of buyers still appreciate a central point where they can take their pick of the catches from all pots [Music] a cry you'll often hear is up the hill this means a porter needs a shovel with a heavy load and it's a well-known way of making the odd beer money if you're nippy enough you can make quite a few Shillings in the course of a morning photos are paid by the number of boxes they carry so no wonder everybody's in a hurry at billingsgate thank you [Music] foreign [Music] there's something of a traffic problem here too but there are no plans to shift this Market some people think the disused coal exchange should be pulled down to make more room but love is a Victorian architecture oppose the idea one way to clear the roads is this new warfare building it's hope that fish from Scandinavia will be delivered Direct by fast Qatar saving time as well as traffic but there is still the question whether the city of London where land is worth more than anywhere else in the world is the right place for a fish market for more than half the day the area is deserted while City firms around the corner jostle for Office Space [Music] the central London markets known all over the world as Smithfield handle more than four hundred thousand tons of meat in an average year Smithfield claims to be the largest covered Market in the world it's certainly the best laid out in London some people are reminded of a cathedral by the lofty roof others struck by the preponderance of white coats think of a Hospital operating pit but certainly the noise on a busy morning is far from the peace and quiet of either meat comes from all corners of the earth Scotland and Venezuela New Zealand the Argentine there are even the rivals from Yugoslavia from time to time 350 three-ton lorries can park in the spacious Avenues around the market this area of the market was destroyed by fire some years ago immediately surviving firms offered space to their Rivals and things were soon moving again that's the sort of spirit they have in the market foreign in the meat market they have a different style of headgear Porters are paid according to the sort of load they carry some of them work for firms of wholesalers or carriers others are self-employed they are called bummeries But whichever system they work under men who carry meat out of the market must be licensed every year and you don't get a license without a good character foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] moving supplies has a parking space allotted for lorries this keeps the merchandise flowing faster than can be done in other markets the business of the day is open soon all the 29 Market Gates will be shut there's a restaurant just around the corner where many of the market Executives and dealers go for lunch what do they eat meat of course and these men are some of the best judges in the country of a chop for a stick [Music] this restaurant isn't large but it has been known to sell 350 pounds of steak not to mention other cuts of meat in one lunchtime it's the scale of eating you might expect from people who go shopping by the time [Music]

Channel: Our History

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Id: _kkt5UyGTZc

Length: 8min 38sec (518 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023