Leek 32

32 Post &Times, February 24, 2010 LPT-eO1-s2 [PL]
Leek Cattle Market’s 50th anniversary
Cattle Market bucks trend to
Leek Cattle Market has survived the many problems
hitting the farming industry to celebrate its golden
jubilee at its present home. Reporter Leslie Jackson
looks back at the highs and lows of the past 50 years
LEEK Cattle Market is now the last
remaining livestock auction house in
Staffordshire.
Its reputation has blossomed and
buyers and sellers from Wales, Yorkshire
and the Eastern counties are
regulars to the site on Tuesday mornings.
The 50th anniversary of the market’s
move from Haywood Street to
Junction Road, in 1960, will be
marked next week with a dairy and
calf show and sale.
The site is owned by Staffordshire
Moorlands District Council and
leased to Leek Auctions Ltd.
Auctioneer Graham Watkins, who
hopes to pass the business on to his
son, said: “The last 18 months have
been phenomenal. The market is
attracting farmers and dairy cattle
from all over the country.
“We have an enthusiastic team and
I look forward to a successful
future.
“I would like to thank all the
former staff who served the market
over many years. They have helped to
contribute to our success.”
Mr Watkins linked up with dairy
specialist Bagshaws, of Uttoxeter, in
September 2008 to operate the site.
He is assisted by three other auctioneers,
market manager Bruce
Daniels and Mark and Meg Elliott.
They are joined by a 25-strong
workforce including office staff and
drovers.
The market also holds a store cattle
sale once a month on a Saturday,
which attracts more than 500 cattle.
Mr Daniels, who has been involved
in the market for 40 years, said: “After
many markets closed, the pattern of
farmers has changed.
“Since joining up with Bagshaws,
the dairy and store cattle has
increased. The sheep section is now
selling to near capacity.
“It is great tosee lorries arriving
from Warwickshire, Shropshire, Lincolnshire
and all over the country.”
The market has needed to survive
numerous challenges, ranging from
BSE to low prices determined by
supermarket giants.
And while many other markets
Main picture: An auction takes place
at Leek Cattle Market while the
other pictures capture scenes from
busy days at the market.
Pictures by Wesley Webster
have fallen by the wayside,including
one at nearby Uttoxeter, Leek has
experienced a renaissance.
Last February saw the busiest
sheep market on record, with 1,800
animals penned and queuing on the
road.
In the store section last March, an
animal realised £1,000 for the first
time in the town’s history.
And in December, Leek Cattle Market
hit the national farming headlines
when it experienced record
prices for dairy cattle.
Farmers across the Staffordshire
Moorlands, and from further afield,
insist that the market is essential to
their businesses.
John Goldstraw, from Calton, said:
“Farmers generally go to one market
a week and many have chosen Leek.
It is excellent news it is thriving.
“It is so close for us and it puts no
stress on the animals as the journey
is only short.
“The operators have made some
brave decisions over the years after
other Staffordshire markets closed.”
Stuart Heath, who farms at Rudyard,
uses the market
most weeks.
He said: “The
market is booming.
It has gone from
strength to
strength.”
Beef and sheep
farmer Dave Kidd,
of Flash, rates Leek
Cattle Market “up there with the very
best”.
The 21-year-old said: “There is a
great atmosphere.
“Working in Flash we are blessed
with being so close to Leek and the
thriving market in Bakewell.”
Retired George Fallows, of
Cheadle, returns to Leek most weeks
to soak up the atmosphere he enjoyed
in his time as a farmer.
The 62-year-old said: “There has
been a real upsurge lately and it
makes you proud to have the local
auction house so revered.”
Jonathan Darlington, aged 25, of
Mow Cop, has attended sales since
the early 1990s.
He said: “The upturn in fortunes
“The upturn in fortunes over
the past year or so has been
unbelievable”
Jonathan Darlington, of Mow Cop
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Supporting Leek Cattle Market on their 50th Anniversary
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unbelievable.
“Things are one hell of a lot better
than I have ever experienced.
“We are getting some fantastic
numbers in store cattle and quality
comes in numbers.”
The market’s success has also
ensured butchers across the Staffordshire
Moorlands are guaranteed
quality meat.
J W Ash Butchers, in Ball Haye
Street, Leek, has used the market for
three generations. Owner Peter
Lymer said: “My dad and grandad
went to the market and now Ibuy
from there.
“We go every week and the market
has certainly come alive.”
Andrew Bould, who runs a
butchers in Derby Street, Leek, said
his family had used the market for a
century.
Mr Bould said: “Our business has
been using the market for 100 years.
He added: “The market has
improved rapidly. It is always busy.

LPT-eO1-s2 [PL] Post &Times, February 24, 2010 33
Leek Cattle Market’s 50th anniversary
celebrate 50-year milestone
The only thing it probably needs is
more fat cattle for the meat trade, but
hopefully this will come forward.”
The market was given a £300,000
refurbishment in 2006.
Staffordshire Moorlands District
Council provided £170,000, with the
rest coming from regional development
agency Advantage West Midlands.
Councillor Ben Emery, portfolio
holder for arts, culture and tourism,
said: “We’re delighted to have been
associated with the livestock market
throughout its 50 years in Junction
Road.
“I wish the market every success for
the next half-century.”
A dairy and calf show and sale will
be staged at the market on Tuesday.
Boulds of Leek Ltd
Congratulations to Leek Cattle Market
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Bacon and Gammon Joints
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Visitors will receive a commemorative
catalogue published by Leek
Auctions Ltd and site owner Staffordshire
Moorlands District Council.
800 years of markets: Page 34
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Write to the
editor, Post & Times, Smithfield Centre,
Haywood Street, Leek or email newsdesk@
thepostandtimes.co.uk
©NM
Keeping farmers fed is a recipe for success
COOK Jean Wain has been serving up
tasty dishes to hungry farmers for the
past 20 years.
Jean, pictured, took over the canteen
at Leek Cattle Market, in Junction Road,
in 1990.
Her grub has proved to be so popular,
she needs five members of staff to help
serve up breakfast and lunch.
Jean said: “The market is very busy and
attracts farmers from all over the
country, which means the kitchen is
also very busy.
“It is very satisfying when farmers who
have travelled a long way say they have
enjoyed the food.
“I have enjoyed the last 20 years. There
have been a lot of laughs despite the
BSE crisis and then foot and mouth,
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For afree initial confidential discussion,
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Suzanne Preston
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01782 848838
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01889 563550
Other offices in Newport, Burslem
and Alsager
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which closed us for about 12 months.
“I could not have built up the business
and carried on without my staff. I really
do appreciate what they have done.”
Shortly after Jean first opened, the
canteen was targeted by arsonists.
She added: “We could only provide
sandwiches from a office until portable
units were brought in.
Jean and her team have also raised
£4,000 for charity.
A few years ago, she bought new
mugs, charging a 20p deposit. When
the mugs were returned, she refunded
the money.
However, many of the farmers chose to
put the coins in a jar on the counter.
A total of £4,000 has been donated to
Cancer Research UK.
69 Derby Street, Leek, Staffordshire, ST13 6JL
Tel: 01538 373308
Sale of freehold property by auction, private
treaty or tender.
Valuations for all purposes of property, livestock
&machinery
Letting and Management of Agricultural,
Land &Residential Property
Compensation claims for wayleaves and
easements and disturbance claims
Single Farm Payment matters incl. sale and
transfer of entitlements.
General Practice and Land Agencymatters
Director and Shareholder of Leek Auctions Ltd
Iwish to thank everyone who has supported the market over
the past 50 years and look forward to your continuing support.
Also my thanks to the manystaff and fellow Auctioneers
who have served the Market so well over the years.
www.grahamwatkins.co.uk
©NM

34 Post &Times, February 24, 2010 LPT-eO1-s2 [PL]
Leek Cattle Market’s 50th anniversary
Auction at heart of town for centuries
WEEKLY livestock
markets have been
closely bound up with
Leek’s history for
more than 800 years.
The first charter to hold a market
was granted by King John, in 1208, to
the Earl of Chester, afeudal overlord
of the Moorlands.
Although Leek was then only a very
small settlement clustered around
the Old Church, the market made it a
place of considerable importance for
miles around.
For many years ownership of the
market rights was in private hands,
but in the 19th century it passed to
Leek Improvement Commissioners,
the forerunners of the present
district council.
By then livestock sales took place on
the area now occupied by the
Monument, and in 1870 the
commissioners bought nearby land
in Haywood Street as a site for a new
market, which opened for business
four years later.
The market remained in the heart of
the town, and every Wednesday iron
pens adjoining the footpath were
filled with cattle. They were then
sold on by the leading auctioneers –
Sam Mottram and J Oakes Ash.
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Between the pens in Haywood Street
and the houses in Cromwell Terrace,
the large open area now occupied by
the bus station was known as the
Horse Fair, although sales of horses
had become a rare event by 1960.
Most of the market trade was in
cattle but a small shed next to
Cromwell Terrace was the setting for
sales of pigs, sheep, calves and
poultry.
The Haywood Street market may
have been the last word in 1875 but
by the 1950s trade was outstripping
the accommodation and sales were
held on Thursdays as well as the
long-established Wednesdays.
The Improvement Commissioners
had discussed the new market for
many years before it became a
reality.
History repeated itself in the 1930s
when the need for another new
market was recognised by Leek
Urban District Council.
But the intervention of the Second
World Warmeant it was 1960 before
the cattle market could leave
Haywood Street for Junction Road.
There have been many changes in
farming over the centuries but
buying and selling cattle still calls
for the same old shrewdness in
©NM
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Top left and above, the original cattle market outside the Talbot Inn in Leek.
judging stock and weighing up
bargains.
In the same time, the value of money
has changed drastically. The
Haywood Street market cost just
over £1,000 and in 1960 its
replacement cost less than today’s
price of a small house –£85,000.
Quite apart from the improved
facilities, one of the big benefits of
the new market was the greatly
increased space –seven acres instead
of the cramped one-and-a-half acres
at Haywood Street.
Another impetus in the need for a
new market was the move towards
TB attested herds and
accommodation for more than 200
such beasts was an important part of
the Junction Road plans.
The new premises also provided
greater comfort and ease of viewing
for buyers and sellers, ample car
parking and plenty of room for
hauliers to load cattle wagons.
©NM
The welfare of animals was another
influence, and so milking facilities
were provided as well as sick pens,
while hay, straw and water were
readily available.
Work on the Junction Road site
began in 1958 and the council and its
contractors were praised for
bringing the market into operation
so quickly.
The main contractor was H Brereton
and Sons Ltd, of Tunstall, and many
other local companies had a hand in
its completion.
The opening of the market was
invested with due ceremony and
celebration, attended by more than
3,000 people.
There was a large entry of stock
from far afield and a record number
of prizes on offer.
Every seat, and all the standing
room, was full when the first sale
began.
The market was opened by Leek’s
MP Harold Davies, who paid tribute
to agriculture’s huge influence on
the nation.
He wished the market prosperity and
hoped it would add to the reputation
of the Queen of the Moorlands.
Everyone took it as a good omen for
the market’s future when a Friesian
cow, entered by a Yorkshire farmer,
gave birth to a bull calf in the ring.
In keeping with the mood of
celebration, record prices were paid.
Mr J Naden, of Buxton, bought the
supreme champion, a Friesian heifer
entered by Lancasters, Congleton,
for £140.
He also bought the reserve
champion, another Friesian, from a
Yorkshire farmer, for £120.
TELL US YOUR MEMORIES AND
STORIES FROM THE MARKET? Write to
the editor, Post & Times, Smithfield Centre,
Haywood Street, Leek or email newsdesk@
thepostandtimes.co.uk
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