Kitchen Garden Forum

I knew that Billingsgate was moving - I've been to their school twice. But it was a bit of a shock to learn that Smithfield (I've never been) is also moving. As well as a wholesale meat market (like some discos I went to in the 1970s) it was also a place of executions (not the discos). People being hung, drawn and quartered. I'm like, well, if you've been hung you'd not know about the rest of the process so you wouldn't care, would you?

This is not the case. A skillful hangman can hang you 'within an inch of your life' so you can be cut down and be alive to witness the drawing, ie taking out your entrails. By the time they got around to the quartering my guess is that if you weren't already dead you'd be pretty close to it.

Anyway, (this isn't new) Smithfield is moving out to Dagenham. I dunno. There's a housing shortage. Land is at a premium. But I kinda value tradition. It seems a shame that Smithfield is moving after 800 years.

Even Billingsgate has changed. When I first went to their school (on a day course), it was the Billingsgate school. By my second visit that school had closed and it's chef/director/author, CJ Jackson, the font of knowledge of all things fish had taken it over. Thank goodness she saved the school. Highly recommended, by the way!
https://seafoodacademy.org/

I know and accept that as time marches on there's 'progress' and change is inevitable. It doesn't stop me feeling sad that we're losing - or throwing away - some important pieces of history.


https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/foo ... 41659.html

I feel that a nation which doesn't value and preserve its history doesn,t really value it's soul and it,s a shame that these old historical sites are being squeezed out or moved elsewhere.. they were generally sited in certain places for a reason, ie transport links and often the new locations mean compromised sites which never work as well.

Well, yeah, but the whole infrastructure of the city has changed. No more rookeries (I hope). We now have motorised transport - trains and buses (and cars) - instead of horse and carriages. So there's no need to design inner cities according to Henry VIII time.

The location and layout of these big markets just won't be the same. Do they need to be the same? Will they be convenient or more inconvenient for their usual customers to get to?

Our usual local fishmonger in Kent does a regular trip to Billingsgate market. How is this change going to affect them - and fish prices? My English geography isn't great but I think Dagenham is north east London, so will that mean more fuel? Dunno about crossing the river.

All the 'at sea' fish caught down here has to go to Billingsgate as not allowed to be sold in the fish kiosk off the boats. That's South Dorset to London & some is even returned back down here to the pubs. There is of course opportunities to purchase direct from on shore hobby fishermen & they are having a great year. Mr was chatting to one of these guys that got a 8lb bass off the spit today, that was sold to the beach Cafe, but the kiosk got some smaller ones. The lobsters & scallops come from some set up in Poole that is independent as they are all scuba guys so don't put out traps & get included in these insane rules.

Carbon footprint & tyre turn says this is not clever!