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London's 850-year-old food markets to close

bbc.co.uk

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Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#261

Post by interludead »

vr46 wrote: post #12

Super sad, have spent a long of time in the area from riding right through the middle of it and parking my motorbike under it, to wolfing Turkish lunches and drinking in the pubs (not on the same day, drink-driving mavens). It is a bit of anomaly in the modern London, hard to get to and surrounded by roads that aren’t really fit for purpose anymore, but it’s these incongruous spots that make things interesting. I rem…

Those kinds of spots (places that are a bit rough around the edges but full of personality) are what make cities like London so special

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#262

Post by interludead »

johnzim wrote: post #15

What a shame. On a few occasions my wife and I woke up at ridiculous o'clock and made our way down to Billingsgate market on the underground. We'd come back with fish and a big salmon in a black bin-bag, which I'd do a progressively less horrific job of filleting each time. Our reward would be a bacon/sausage and egg butty and a stiff cup of builder's tea. Good times

That sounds like a proper adventure

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#263

Post by interludead »

hi_hi wrote: post #3

This makes me deeply sad. I use to live near to the market on St Johns Street, which is a direct route to the Smithfield. There was once a burst water main that serviced a nearby hospital that caused St Johns Street to be closed down as the flood uncovered bones which needed to be excavated and investigated. They eventually were identified as cattle bones which were a few hundred years old, from when the road was not…

It’s hard not to feel cynical when these decisions so often seem driven by commercial interests

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#264

Post by Symbiote »

fecal_henge wrote: post #258
DocTomoe wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know which planet you live on, but London's public transit is hellish on days where it works. The fact that there seems to be industrial action every other week, that the subway is slowly heating up, and major stations are virtually always overcrowded is not something I even take into consideration. Not when the local trains have a toss-of-a-coin chance of actually showing up at all, or even in a configuratio…

Certainly not my experience of London transport. I get a combination of trains, tubes and busses most days. I also grew up in rural England so I know what shitty transport is really like.

When they write "subway" and "transit" — not words used in London — I doubt they live there.

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#265

Post by seanhunter »

This is a bit misleading about Billingsgate fish market. They shut the real Billingsgate fish market next to London bridge a long time ago and moved it to canary wharf. The fact is London has changed a lot in 850 years and it probably doesn’t really make that much sense to have a wholesale meat market right in Farringdon any more, or even at all, when wholesale buyers can just order what they need direct from suppliers and have it shipped directly to them rather than gathering flies at an open market for a few hours somewhere in the middle because TRADITION.

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#266

Post by seanhunter »

BehindBlueEyes wrote: post #122
lpribis wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After translation via https://www.bullshitremover.com/ : > "Positive new chapter" = "We're closing this place down". > "Empower traders" = "Kick them out". > "Sustainable future" = "Nowhere to go". > "Financial support and guidance" = "Good luck, you're on your own". > "Unlock the huge potential" = "We'll figure something out, maybe".

no no > "Unlock the huge potential" = "We have big money with big self serving plans coming in." tldr from bsremover too: Smithfield: Big meat market, been there since 1860s. Billingsgate: Huge fish market, been there since 1327, now moving to make way for homes. So a real state take over, pretty much?

Billingsgate old fish market is an art gallery now. They moved the actual market to canary wharf ages ago.

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#267

Post by gregoriol »

Animats wrote: post #247

It took this long? Paris closed Les Halles in 1973.[1] New York's Fulton Fish Market moved in 2005.[2] A wholesale food market is a transportation hub. It needs good road access. If you can't easily get semitrailer trucks to it, it's in the wrong place. At one time Smithfield was served by underground freight rail, but that shut down long ago. Smithfield has a setup where maybe eight semis can parallel park on the st…

Another example is this fish market in Tokyo: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/tokyo-tsukiji-fish-ma...

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#268

Post by verisimi »

seanhunter wrote: post #265

This is a bit misleading about Billingsgate fish market. They shut the real Billingsgate fish market next to London bridge a long time ago and moved it to canary wharf. The fact is London has changed a lot in 850 years and it probably doesn’t really make that much sense to have a wholesale meat market right in Farringdon any more, or even at all, when wholesale buyers can just order what they need direct from supplie…

But tradition! 850 years!!

Next you'll be telling me that you use that new fangled electricity for lights, rather than candles!

Re: London's 850-year-old food markets to close

#269

Post by rasz »

roughly wrote: post #56
hnbear wrote: post #24

Statement from the City of London Corporation which is closing them down: > Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, said the > decision represented a "positive new chapter" for the markets as it "empowers > traders to build a sustainable future in premises that align with their > long-term business goals". This is a great statement. Like firing people to free them up to find jobs that better…

Christ, yeah - I came here to post the same quote. What kind of horrific shit does one need to go through in life to become capable of uttering that kind of horseshit with a straight face?

Im sure schools like Eton have special courses just for this.
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