Markets upturn for Oswestry
Oswestry's markets are seeing a major upturn in their fortunes with the number of stalls trebling in the last two years.
There were fears that, like other towns across the UK, the border town could lose its markets altogether.
But as the sunshine brought out the shoppers at the outdoor market yesterday the chairman of Oswestry Town Council's markets committee, revealed the the markets were now bucking the national trend.
Councillor Paul Milner said that while the number of stalls were not reaching the heady heights of the 1960s and 70s figures were rising.
Figures show that in 2017/18 there were weeks there there were only five stalls on the Saturday market. In 2018/19 there were many weekends with about 20 stall holders.
Reversed
"We must thanks the traders who stuck with our markets and did not leave us. With the new initiatives brought in by the council and our markets manager, the trend has reversed and we are now seeing numbers of stalls climbing," he said.
"Oswestry town council continued to believe in the markets when other towns closed theirs and for that I am extremely grateful."
Councillor Milner said that the decision to move the stalls from the Bailey Head to Bailey Street had been the catalyst for the upturn.
"It is now paying dividends for the markets and the town. When the markets are busy then the whole town is busy. The gamble of going down the street is paying off."
Oswestry has weekly outdoor markets on Wednesdays and Saturday and a monthly Friday Artisan Market. It also has a thriving indoor market open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
