CARMARTHEN has had a market for more than 800 years but it has not seen anything like this.

Seventy-four traders selling everything from Timbles and Things to Prince Charles approved cakes, antiques and Welsh hams, are packed into a bright new £4million market hall.

The shutters came down and the old Market hall  was locked up for the last time on Saturday (April 4th) as the last customers and traders left the old market hall before the demolition men moved in.
Carmarthen has had a market since Roman times and as long as there has been a town, people have met to trade there.

The first recorded Charter was granted by Henry II in 1180 and was renewed by successive monarchs.

It gave the right to hold fairs and markets in the town and ever since, the market has been a meeting point for locals and visitors alike. 

The vacated market hall was built in 1981, retaining the original clock tower, which served as the market office.

The area around Carmarthen has been a magnet for the counter-culture since the 1960s with the market offering an interesting mixture of traditional goods and handcrafts.

A huge variety of local cheeses, vegetables, home cooked meats and cockles and mussels with that whiff of the sea have attracted shoppers from across the region.
Farmers markets, which are now popular throughout Wales, originated in the town and are still held every month in the market precinct.

Looking to the future the market remains as important as it has always been to the town’s character.

The brand new facility is one of the most modern in the country and will sit at the heart of the £74million St Catherine’s Walk scheme to be completed next year.

Welsh Pennant stone and slate has been used to create a mix of ancient and modern and the main entrance has a historic story board etched in slate.

The bright new hall with natural northern light flooding in from an atrium styled roof is temperature controlled, has all mod cons and will not suffer the same cold in winter and hot in summer troubles.
The uniform market stalls all have security shutters, bright lighting and all they need for individual needs.

A collection of crafts, home produce, antiques, gifts, fashions and items for the home can all be found one roof, along with a huge array of bread, cakes, cheese, meats, fruit and vegetables and fish and flowers to take home.

Families who have traded through the generations have moved into the new hall with only four traders deciding to bow out with the old.

They are Marion Baskerville, Dilys Edwards, Anna Trottman, Wyn Thomas, Mavis and Mansell Williams.

Mavis said her husband, 70 in July, had been running errands for their home produce stall at the age of 12 before he took it over and it became his life, and then her’s, when she married him.
She said: “Carmarthen Market has been a lifetime of fun. It would have been great to go on. I have walked round the new development. It is simply magnificent and we will still be regular visitors – on the other side of the counter.

“We have so many memories and laughs. One old farmer and regular customer called in for two faggots. I asked who they were for and he said: ’One’s for me and the other for the rat.’ When I suggested that was not a nice thing to say about his wife he did not call round for a while and I have always wondered who the faggot was for?
“That is the fun of the market. It is a laugh a minute and people have time to chat and will talk about anything.”

As well as the 74 stalls there follows in the second phase of development 21 shops outside the market hall where the fishmongers will be.

It is the mix of national chains with a blend of independent traders which will continue to give Carmarthen its unique and distinctive character, and cement the town’s position as a premier shopping destination in South Wales.

One of the markets best know stalls  is Siop y Pentan. Wyn Thomas opened the traditional Welsh gift shop with two partners, now deceased, in 1972.

“Most of my pals were miffed that there were traditional gift shops in Cardiff, Llanelli, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli while Carmarthen didn’t have one until Siop y Pentan.
“We never looked back and have regular holiday customers from America, New Zealand, Australia, China and most parts of the world.

“Surprisingly, we have a solid customer base visiting us from Gower.
“I have always thought our shop was more regional than just Carmarthen. It has something to do with the traditional personalised Welsh love spoons. People visit the shop from all over Wales for those.”

Wyn is not transferring to the new market but he has ensured Siop y Pentan lives on selling on to Andrew Davies, whose late mother Nancy, worked with Wyn in his shop.

Anna Trottman is another whom is not continuing with her wooden toys and had made cards.
She said: “It is the end of an era for our business of 21 years. But I will be a regular visitor and have arranged to work with Linda Langdon in her antique market for a couple of days a week. This market thing is in the blood you know.”

Oldest market trader not continuing is 86-year-old Dilys Edwards, from Kidwelly, who closed her haberdashery shut on Saturday for the last time.
“The spirit is willing but the body is not,” she said about continuing.
“I have so many friends as colleague market traders and customers who have become livelong friends, leaving the stall is going to be a huge wrench.”

Mavis Bakerville and her china stall is another bringing down the curtain.
She said enthusiastically: “I will be a shopper in the new market where I have so many friends. The pace of life in a market is different. People have time. As a market trader you are a doctor, minister and best friend where shoppers tell you all about the highs and lows of their lives. I could write a book. Now I have the time I might just do that.”

As well as the 74 stalls there follows in the second phase of development 21 shops outside the market hall where the fishmongers will be.

It is the mix of national chains with a blend of independent traders which will continue to give Carmarthen its unique and distinctive character, and cement the town’s position as a premier shopping destination in South Wales.

The new market is part of the St Catherine Walk development which incorporates a Debenhams store and other high street names, multiplex cinema, restaurants, and a multi-storey car park. It is expected to be completed before the end of 2010.

The development is expected to create around 500 jobs and attract thousands of visitors and shoppers to the area.