Thursday, June 04, 2020

ALMOST A YEAR SINCE BRIGG AUCTIONS ENDED SUDDENLY


It's now approaching a year since Brigg Blog took this picture to illustrate a post about the closure of what many people still call Stennetts Market, held on Thursdays near the railway station.
The ending of auctions was sudden, unexpected and came in June 2019.
North Lincolnshire Council responded by inviting offers from people interested in running auctions on the site where various goods were sold, including produce and poultry.
At various times since then the topic has been raised during Brigg Town Council meetings, with replies always stressing the unitary authority's continuing wish to find a replacement operator.
Brigg Blog spoke to Coun Rob Waltham, the Leader of  North Lincolnshire Council, about this yesterday. The council is still seeking someone suitable to take over.
The auction's history can be traced back more than 100 years.
For some time, sales were held on land off Manley Gardens and later on part of the old stockmarket site, near Barnard Avenue (now occupied by the Tesco store).
Things then continued on Station Road, close to the railway station, centred in a metal shelter.
Scores of people attended on Thursdays in search of bargains - often arriving early in the morning and later visiting businesses in Brigg town centre before heading home.