Briar Black / 08 December 2024 / Categories: City, What to see, What to do

Smithfield Market

I am bloody furious

What the bloody hell are the City of London thinking. It has taken me two weeks to get my head around this latest travesty. Smithfield market closing after at least 850

years. Some texts reference trading at Smithfield as early as the 12th century.

The local authority voted on 24th November. 2024 to close the historic market and relocate traders to a 1 billion pound new site in Dagenham much to the dismay of family businesses trading at Smithfield for as long as they can remember.

My father was a livestock trader, my grandfather a butcher so my family have links to Smithfield and I can remember it being a special day when we got to go and see all the early morning action when the rest of the world was asleep.

Of course it comes down to money, the massive quadrangle of the market is millions and millions in prime City of London real estate.

I want to ask the question though, doesn’t the market really belong to the traders that breathe life into it every day?

I don’t think any local authority has the right to sell off their assets at the expense of the local people involved.

Some things are just worth more than money and I for one think Smithfield is one of them.

Where in the world can you go at 6am in the morning, have a pint with someone just finishing work and see custom farm yard interiors at the same time.

Smithfield attracts approximately 5 million visitors per year, I suppose the City of London think that will be more once they have turned it into another shopping, cinema, dining, experience centre development.

Like we need another one of those. There are shopping mall mausoleum developments all over the UK, real estate propositions none of the independent business owners can afford to rent already.

Stop. No more. Is there a petition for Smithfield?

I honestly don’t get it. The traders are going ballistic and it’s estimated several million people visit Smithfield every year. Surely there is a way to monetise this traffic instead of letting a 1000 years of hard fought for business and survival of the people slip away like it doesn’t matter.

I love London. I think it is up there with the best cities in the world. I love all it has to offer and don’t want to see any of our heritage and history cast aside. That said, I’d rather see Buckingham Palace go before Smithfield.