End of an era as last trader leaves Hemsworth market

Hemsworth Town Council has pulled the plug on what remained of the market because of a lack of traders and customers.

The market moved from its old site to the town centre precinct near Home Bargains in 2016.

Trader Barrie Kellock, who spent more than two decades selling to customers in Hemsworth, said: “If it has to be this way then there’s nothing I can do about it – if it’s finished, it’s finished.

“It went through what most markets did and it was mostly just me there by the end but I was happy and I had no complaints.

“When I first started at the old place it was full of people, they queued right out into the car park. Then it just went down and down. It’s sad when you look back to how it used to be.

“One of the big problems is you can buy anything you want now without leaving the house.

“But I wanted to tell my customers why I’m not there anymore and thank them for the years they’ve given me. I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Mr Kellock will continue to hold his stall at South Elmsall Market on Saturdays.

The town council said there were very few consistent stallholders aside from Mr Kellock and it was no longer financially viable. It said Home Bargains, which owns the land, did not want to take over the running of the market.

A spokesman for Hemsworth Town Council said: “Consistently there was only a single stall so the market was clearly underused.

“The council felt that the cost of staff time and resources – including overtime at 6.30am –were too high for just one stall.

“And of course, the cost is ultimately borne by the precept payers of the parish. Therefore, the council took the decision to discontinue the market.”