The signs they are a-changing

Firstly, I apologise to followers of my "Signs" posts, who must have thought I'd lost interest in the topic .

Secondly, I really must apologise to GSM for not recognising their outstanding effort in erecting new banners.

It's just such a pity that they're crap. For a visitor to get the full message they must walk the length of the centre aisle, eyes up, reading every sign. What dingbat came up with that idea? A visitor, who had walked from one end of the market to the other, was heard to say "What a pity they don't have any signs to tell us when it's open".

I know it's a dreadful challenge to appreciate the obvious way to do things, but previous management saw the light and I duplicated their solution on this very blog. Something like this:

at each entrance would do a much better job.

No Ben

Another post prompted by a commenter:

Is Ben yesterday's news now?

Certainly not. I have good news and bad news. First the good news:

• Alex is back! HOORAAAAAAY!!

And the bad news:

• Ben isn't.

Please carry on commenting on the original post at "Ben" about his shafting.

A spark of inspiration

In a comment on "If you can't stand the heat...", Anonymous said:

Whistler could we possibly have a section regarding the electrics on the Market. If I remember rightly it was a trader who wired us all up in exchange for free rent, unfortunately this trader was not qualified in electrics in any way. I thought that all major electrical work in business premises had to be carried out by a registered Part B electrician?

This is going to be a bit dull, but bear with me.

Upon the abolition of the power bars (which had become grossly hazardous themselves) it became a requirement that individual extension leads must be used to carry power from the new boxes by the roof columns to each stall. Extension leads were kindly made available for purchase from the market office for a very reasonable cost and many traders bought them.

Unfortunately they were all wired incorrectly, were electrically unsafe and downright dangerous. As my commenter says, they were assembled by a trader who received a generous rent concession in return. That the trader was of a more artistic than practical bent was regrettable.

I think most of us know the most basic principle of wiring a plug (and also an extension socket) - get the right wire in the right place. The arty sparks can't be faulted on that one. There is more to it than that though. Three more essentials for correct wiring when making up an extension are:-

1. No bare wires should be visible in the plug/extension socket - the bare wires should be hidden by the retaining screws. the retaining screws should be screwed down firmly.
2. The cable should be securely held in place by the cable-clamp - the clamp should hold the outer cable and the inner wires should not be visible outside the plug/extension socket.
3. The earth wire should be longest of the three so that it is the last to be disconnected if the cable is pulled from the plug/extension socket.

The first point was mostly covered. The second was sometimes fine, sometimes not with the clamp not always bearing on the outer sheath. The big failing, especially bearing in mind the patchy application of the second point, was the third. In all cases examined, the shortest wire in the extension sockets was the earth. This was due to a failure to understand wire routing in an extension socket, an apparent inability to look at the simple picture in the socket showing you what to put where and a total incomprehension of the function of the earth in electrical safety.

So, for the sake of saving a few quid on an electrician or other suitably qualified person, traders have been using unsafe equipment sold to them by GSM.

If you're a trader and still have one of these leads, please get it checked by someone who knows their live from their neutral.

Tumbleweed

I do worry about this market. I'm sure everyone, from traders to local visitors, will have observed how much quieter it is now. Is there a recession? No, but there may be one on the way. Traders need to encourage customers to patronise them however they can. GSM needs to promote the market and encourage their customers - traders - to take stalls and pay rents.

It I were GSM I'd be worried indeed. Last Sunday there were twelve spreads (a trader taking an extra table that would otherwise be empty), the Sunday before thirteen, the Sunday before that ten (including one over three tables). This is at the peak of the tourist season.

I make that a loss to GSM of £1,800 over three days. Some spreads may have been permanent traders taking a day off, mitigating the loss somewhat with their half rent, but still...

On top of Old Smokey

This is a follow-up to "Smoke gets in your eyes..." which rather than relegating to a comment I think deserves its own space. I have been given the minutes of the first Market Trader Representative Meeting held on the 20th April 2008. GSM/USM were represented by Barny, Patrycja, Ben and John Burton.

Item 3 concerns the new Wednesday market.

The traders asked: Can we cook on site?

GSM/USM replied: This will depend on the individual e.g crepes or bain marie or microwave ok. No smelly or smoky activity allowed, nor a common seating area. Individual seats at stalls allowed.

I repeat; No smelly or smoky activity allowed.

So why the change? And if they didn't find it acceptable for Wednesdays, why is it now allowed on every trading day?

There's a new old joke doing the rounds in the market: How can you tell if the market managers are lying? Their lips move.

Smoke gets in your eyes...

...and your hair and your clothes.

I entered the market from the eastern end of Turnpin Lane at the weekend and as I turned the corner by Mr Humbug my eyes started to water. I was also struck my the overwhelming smell of burning fat.

This has become a feature of the market of late, ever since the glorious Wednesday food market opened. This week, however, the wind was coming from a direction that forced all the smoke and stench into the market hall. The actual cooking was taking place at the northern end of the market, the smokier stuff (pig and sausage cooking) located under the entrance portico, but the whole market stank.

I can well imagine how off-putting this was to visitors. For those intending to enter the market from College Approach there must have been little incentive to actually come in. One look at the Wednesday banner and the pall of smoke filling the portico would turn the most inquisitive tourist away, let alone anyone looking for an arts and crafts market.

For the traders, it must have been exceptionally miserable. I remember the occasional waft of bacon from the Meeting Place - even some vegetarians of my acquaintance found that appealing - but this is a wholly different thing. The smoke and stink was bad enough for everyone; I can only imagine how the vegetarian, Muslim and Jewish traders felt. I bet the management didn't waste a second trying to imagine that.

Roasting pork and frying sausages on an industrial scale inside Greenwich Market is such a risibly bad idea that I can't understand why the management hasn't changed its mind yet. Let me make it clear that I am not opposed to cooked food at the market - I support these traders - it's the location that's wrong.

There have been attempts at bringing cooked food to the market before (remember Anson's excellent barbecues?). They have, wisely, always been situated in the car park or nearby in Durnford Street. I think this must be because the more astute managers have realised that such enterprises must be open to the sky. Cooking generates fumes and smells and these have to be allowed to escape.

Let's have a hot food offering at the market - I think it could be good for everyone - but please locate it where common sense dictates.

Rather more entrancing

Re "Entranced", I just unearthed pictures of the market's entrances taken just last year and I thought you might like to see them for comparison.

Here's the east end of Turnpin Lane:

Blighted by Frank the Yank's doors (not a problem when it was the Cricketers - see below) of course, but still a whole lot more inviting. Note the Greenwich Market sign above Frank's doors.

The Nelson Road entrance has Warwick Leadlay in place and the signs from hell missing:

Shame about the Teddy Bear shop - another victim of rising rents? Even in its closed state it still looks better than the Biscuit mess.

The College Approach entrance looks rather approachable:

Again, note the Greenwich Market sign between the two leftmost columns. A duplicate of the one above the Cricketers/Powder Monkey it helped people at the end of the street to spot the market. No misleading banner and no pall of greasy smoke either.

As promised, here's a picture of the Cricketers, with inward opening doors, before Frank the Yank got his hands on it:

Makes for a better entrance to the market, doesn't it?

By the way, how the hell did Frank the Yank get away with fitting outward opening doors?

Entranced

In one of yesterday's posts I remarked upon the difficulty visitors have finding Greenwich market. Having found it, however, they may still be put off bothering to enter.

Three of the five entrances to the market are off-putting in the extreme. Worst of the bunch visually is the east end of Turnpin Lane:

To the right, there is the horrid scaffolding narrowing the already confined entrance by almost one-half. To the left, Frank the Yank has had his bar fitted with outward opening doors which are locked open, narrowing the entrance still further. GSM complete the hostile picture by having no signage whatever. Would it occur to you to look for one of London's great markets here?

On the south side of the market is the slightly grand Nelson Road entrance. This looks to me like an original Joseph Kay feature, only slightly marred by the pipes and cables routed through it:

The let down here is the emptiness of the shops on both sides. Warwick Leadlay's fascinating shop should be on the left, but I understand they were unable to justify the price hike by Greenwich Hospital when their lease came up. By the by, you'd think Greenwich Hospital, given their naval connections, would have nurtured Warwick Leadlay. Not only was the shop stuffed with maritime prints, model ships, Nelsonia and the wonderful Warwick himself, but Anthony Cross, his business partner, is on the council of the 1805 Club, a charity for the preservation of Georgian naval monuments.

The all but empty Biscuit store on the right is going for the "under offer" longevity award. The shop has been cluttered with Biscuit's promotional material for ages, but there's still no sign of life. Completing the unhappy picture, visible through the arch in the centre, is GSM's "we're only open on Wednesday and we only sell food, so bog off" sign. No surprise there.

And finally, Kay's splendid but restrained north entrance:

Greenwich Hospital isn't doing the portico any favours at the moment by framing it with scaffolding. But that just makes it hard for people to find the market, it doesn't stop them going in. That honour falls to the dead hand of GSM.

I know you'll be getting a terrible feeling of déjà vu, but here it is again - that accursed sign. At the risk of repeating myself; this is not a food market and it isn't only open on Wednesday. This sign puts people off. For **** sake GSM - stop being so intransigent and get rid of these blasted signs.

Ben

I have decided not to comment here on individuals any more, but there is one person who has attracted more positive comments than any other. As his plight has attracted so much attention, I believe it would be wrong of me to ignore the comments mentioning Ben in various places on this blog.

I am making no fresh comment of my own, just bringing together your many comments in one place.

Anonymous said...
...It was so bad this Sunday that even Ben was portering.
09 JUNE 2008 19:29

Greenwich Whistler said...
...Thursday and Friday markets, run perfectly well up to now by Ben alone. Not surprisingly Ben was less than pleased at having his market days screwed up and made as miserable as the weekends.
...I've been told how much better things were done by Ben.
10 JUNE 2008 18:52

Anonymous said...
Talking of things disappearing, where's our Assistant Manager Ben gone. The market misses him.
15 JUNE 2008 07:14

Anonymous said...
The Cry was heard through out the market.
Bring back Ben,we want Ben. Bring back Ben,we want Ben. Bring back Ben,we want Ben. Bring back Ben,we want Ben. Bring back Ben,we want Ben.
16 JUNE 2008 05:55

Anonymous said...
BRING BACK BEN AND ALEX!!!!!!!!
Ben is such a lovely, great guy who will allways help someone in need. The market without Ben is like Cake with no egg. You can try using a "substitute" but its just not as good! He will be missed dearly if he nay returns and market life wont be the same without him.
I sense a real struggle through the next month or so for the market 'Staff' as alot of the workload that would normally be covered by either Alex or Ben ( Like Beining in the market ALL the day. (now some are too quick too leave or hide away in the office with the door locked.) Things WILL be forgotten, problems WILL occur! The somewhat 'jolly' atmosphere of the market is flipside and general moral is down! Its having effect!!!
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS LOVELY PLACE!!!
21 JUNE 2008 11:28

Anonymous said...
We wholeheartedly agree with the above comment regarding Ben, he is a very lovely, helpful,compassionate guy who would help anyone if he could. We don't know the reason why we have not seen him for a few weeks but whatever it is I hope he realises that he has a lot of support in the Market due to his integrity over the years.
22 JUNE 2008 20:34

desperate stallholder said...
I didn't know where to leave this comment but just wanted to say.... this weekend has been horrible. Alex has been suspended. Ben is nowhere to be seen. A trader has been asked to leave the market by the management. I feel totally worn out and tired. The atmosphere is awful. I feel like we are working under a dictatorship in a different country. Yet nobody seems to be listening to us. WHAT MORE DO WE HAVE TO DO GREENWICH HOSPITAL BEFORE YOU HEAR US!!!!!!!!!!!!!It's quite unbelievable.
22 JUNE 2008 21:32

Anonymous said...
So does anyone know what's happened to Ben?
23 JUNE 2008 13:50

peacemaker said...
Options to explain Ben's disappearance.
Abducted by aliens
Joined a travelling circus
Gone on to bigger and better things
Let's hope it's option three, he deserves it.
Miss you Ben.
23 JUNE 2008 14:04

Anonymous said...
I'm sure if Ben and Alex had been running the market on Sunday, the car park would've been open before traders formed a queue out onto Church Street, the porters would've been able to get to the storage, the traders wouldn't have sat around waiting to stall out quite so long and John wouldn't have been sh*t on.
23 JUNE 2008 14:54

heyoka hannah said...
I quite agree with some of my fellow traders. Let us not give each other a hard time. One trader at the weekend noticed how a porter and stallholder lost their livelihoods and that the fantastic Ben is nowhere to be seen...
23 JUNE 2008 15:16

Anonymous said...
I still really want to know what has happened to Ben. If GSM have got rid of him then they really have gone mental. He is their most professional and hardworking member of staff. He should be the Manager. Have you noticed the chaos since he has been gone? No offence to the others - Ben is just better at the job than they are.
06 JULY 2008 07:05

Anonymous said...
I think his failing was people really liked him. He mucked in on all level's he was easy to approach and you got a straight answer in a couple of minutes . Not the most creative of people which I'm sure he would admit but a fantastic people person. Great for a market team I would of thought!I think there has been a major error of judgement if he has been sacked but what do I know I.m just a stall holder!!!
06 JULY 2008 07:24

Perhaps I can invite GSM to explain Ben's sudden departure?

Time flees

What's happened to the market clock? It hasn't worked since Christmas but now it's disappeared. Having a non-working clock in the market was risible anyway (given where we are I think visitors expect to be able to believe in the accuracy of our public clocks), so I don't understand why it was left in that state for months. Now it's gone with no word of explanation. One can only hope that someone's having it fixed and will replace it soon.

A bit more of a barney

I had a lot of emails last night about one topic; so many I've only just managed to sort out the full picture.

So it was true. I reported in "A bit of a barney" the terrible news that Barmy (my thanks to an anonymous commenter for that one) himself would be "managing" the market yesterday - and so it came to pass. Ben seems to have been shoved out to Elephant & Castle so Barmy has a free hand to screw up the weekdays as effectively as the weekends. How's he getting on?

According to my informants, brilliantly. He began by taking until almost 10 am to allocate half a dozen traders - finished before 9 if Ben's in charge. As always, the Chinese were dealt with last. The last trader to turn up (Chinese actually) was made to wait while he enjoyed a chat with some of the antiques guys before being allocated a pitch. Making a dog's breakfast of that simple task wasn't enough though.

One Chinese trader, who has always had the same pitch for years, was declared "regular" rather than "permanent", meaning Barmy could give away her normal pitch on a whim. He tried, she resisted and got her pitch. He continued the dispute later in front of other traders and the public (very much his style and the subject of a forthcoming post). If Barmy gets his way - and when doesn't he - she'll be out by the toilets next week.

He's in again today - can't wait to hear from you guys...

A breath of stale air

I've been left such a good comment on the "atmosphere" in the market that I feel it should be reproduced in its entirety here:-

Climate change is hitting Greenwich Market

Anyone walking through the market recently, on a hot & busy weekend will have noticed the hot & sticky atmosphere _____airlessness ___ & that it's a few degrees hotter & more humid than in the sun.
It's the greenhouse affect ___so what's new?
Some Wally thought they could play with the architecture & put up a splash guard between the main roof & the roof above the surrounding shops. This was to protect the edge stalls from getting wet when it rains. An admirable idea, but not thought through.
This was done in spring, when the main weather ahead should ( with a little luck ) be sunny & warm.
This splash guard has the affect of stopping the circulation of air , increasing the heat & humidity,plus making it unbearable for visitors and traders alike.
We haven't even got to the height of Summer yet. People won't come in on sunny days , if its going to be stinky hot and humid.
Who gave planing permission for this ?
The splash guard seems to be permanent ___ no hinge or slide arrangement , to open it up & let the air circulate
OPEN IT UP AND LET US BREATH
As a regular visitor to the market, I hope something will be done about this before the real heat of summer kicks in.
Stinky Hot of Greenwich

Says it all.

Basket case

Today, "Nostalgic Trader" commented on "Every picture tells a story":

And I remember the days when we had hanging baskets going round the whole market. They looked beautiful at this time of year.

How right you are. As far as I remember they were all around the market, fully stocked year round and were watered daily. In March 2004, though not at their summer peak, they looked like this...

...but in April 2008, the same view looks somewhat different:

I can't remember when the baskets were removed, but I have many photographs from the intervening period and not one shows a trace of greenery. I've also just noticed, and remembered, the "sails" that were suspended from and softened the outline of the roof's cross-members. Also gone.

A sign of the times - revisited

I just left a comment on the original post concerning the Food Market signs, but I think I should make more of it here. The OFFICIAL (never understood why they feel the need to shout about it) Greenwich Market website is, rightly, promoting its new food offering. The site is at http://www.greenwichmarket.net/ Here's what the home page looks like today:

All well and good, but what's missing? Just like the new blue banners, there's no mention whatever of arts, crafts, antiques or anything else. Just food. Note to traders - jack it in and start flogging food. Or fight back.

Every picture tells a story

What a difference ten years makes. Here's a picture of the Coach corner of the market in 1998.


And here's how it looks ten years later.


I'm speechless.

A sign of the times?

I've been asked to draw attention to the strange attitude to signage in Greenwich Market these days. I'm sure regular visitors and traders can remember the banner above the market floor that advertised the opening times for the benefit of all. This was removed last year (for the Christmas decorations?) and six months on still hasn't been restored. In April 2008 three new banners did go up advertising the new Wednesday food market, due to start on the 7th May. The two inside the market looked like this...

...and the one outside like this.


Spot anything odd? Imagine you're a visitor to Greenwich. Perhaps you've heard about the famous arts & crafts market or the antiques & collectibles market. Perhaps you're looking for a shop that offers something the chains outside the DLR don't have. Well you're not likely to start looking for them in a food market, are you?

I understand there was a consensus among other traders that the new Wednesday market should be given a break, so they said nothing about the possible negative impact on their trade until after the new market launched. Decent bunch, eh? So imagine their chagrin that in mid-May, more than three weeks after they were first erected and after the Wednesday market's second week of opening, the signs were still there...

...and at the end of May...

...and today, the 5th of June.

Apparently footfall, and hence income, has been down for non-food businesses since the signs went up. I have heard reports of visitors expressing surprise upon wandering in and finding shops and arts and crafts stalls. Some traders have reported being asked by visitors why they are packing up at 5:30, when the sign clearly says they should be open until 7 pm. And there's still no banner advertising the general market.

Don't get me wrong - I'm delighted the market's food traders are being promoted at last. It's just that the last time I looked, Greenwich market was a place of arts, crafts, antiques and unique shops plus a food court. Not just a food market. Note to the management: please wake up and ditch these signs. How about signs promoting all the market's businesses?