Why don't we have decent markets in the UK?

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I'm in Brussels, and walked through the most amazing market near the station.
Fruit, vegetables, breads, fabric, clothing, hardware. Anything you could possibly want.
I live in Bristol, and there's certainly nothing like it here.
Are there decent markets in the UK, or do we prefer getting stuff from supermarkets?

Honestly i rarely go to a market for regular shopping

Its just not convenient.

I imagine it's a catch 22, often markets here are filled with some cheap China resellers, grocers selling bruised stuff in bigger quantities than i need and the odd decent seller (but usually in my experience that's meat, and bakery type items), the decent people then struggle to get the footfall so either ramp up their prices or leave, confirming the view that its over priced and nothing there. It is on every week. Most big towns will have a weekly market but it's usually a weekday during the day which massively stunts your audience

There is a fairly decent farmers market near here, which I sometimes go to but i drive past multiple supermarkets on the way, and then have to pay for parking if i can get it, and then have no firm idea of what will be available that day. Its also only monthly so even with the best will most of my veg/meat isn't coming from there

The reality is there I can't get a lot of what I need so end up having to go to a supermarket anyway, so in all it's not worth the faff

I used to love a market. Haven't seen one for years. I know that Western International and Petticoat lane market are still on in London.

Salisbury market (Tuesdays and Saturdays) is very good. I live in London and we have some pretty decent ones like East Street market in Walworth and there's a good one in Islington.

Used to be one in the town where I grew up. Then they re-developed the site, moved it out of town to combine with the cattle market, and it's just a glorified boot fair these days, not a proper market at all.

I think supermarkets and Amazon have just replaced them in the UK, can't see that they'll make a comeback TBH.

There are some good markets out there, though what I consider to be good may be rather different to what you do.

Personally I really like the markets in Edinburgh and I loved Keswick’s market.

In my area/region I feel like there are more markets now than ever perhaps I’ve just became more aware of them but there are a few new ones that I really need to get to.

I love a good fruit and veg market but the quality can be hit and miss. Also you cant pla. Well as you don't know what they will have. I don't think they will make a come back because like me I am sure ma y ppl get all of their shop delivered at the same time.

Our local market (Thursday and Saturday) is a shadow of what it was. People just don't use them.

It's probably because councils charge them huge licence fees to pitch up their stalls in town it just makes it unviable. There is a really good market in Plymouth in a purpose built postwar building which I do miss. Now I'm in Exeter and there isn't a likewise market here except maybe a few stalls on a street corner once or twice a week. There is also a flea market where they close off a road in town but that's like every month. I love the markets in Spain.

30+ years ago I worked in Bristol and st Nicholas market used to be like that. Fresh artisan breads, fabulous vegetables and a stall that sold loose flour, spices, pulses etc. It was my regular lunchtime stroll. Shame if it’s no longer there, I have fond memories.

I'm really surprised that you Bristol hasn't got decent markets OP. I can barely move for markets in Briz! What about the White ladies rd Farmers market? Or the Tobacco Factory market? Or the Harbour side market? Or the one on Corn St for Brica abrac? Or St Nicks? That's just off the top of my head.

I remember my dd complaining that her French teacher used to bang on every lesson about how wonderful the markets are in her hometown.

DD said “When I grow up I’m going to move to France and teach English, and bore the kids to tears by describing at length the products you can buy at our local market: three packs of no-name batteries for a pound, a big towel with an Alsatian dog on it, a huge selection of phone cases and disposable vapes, and when you’ve finished shopping you can treat yourself to a jacket potato with beans and a cheese slice in a polystyrene container”.

In the teachers defence, I bloody love a French market.

We have an indoor market but I never use it as would have to drive to town, pay to park and even then could only buy what I can carry which would be very annoying as I had to shop for the week on a Saturday.

Re bristol, I was thinking of proper markets, not the ones full of sourdough this and fermented that. Which, true, there is not shortage of in Bristol.

Market in Leicester is excellent, as is Oxford. Several good ones in London.

Because we have gone the way of mass convenience. If such markets appeared today, they simply wouldn’t be used enough to sustain them. UK work/life balance doesn’t support it.

Used to have a good one in Leicester, used to buy my veg from Linekers (yes family of that lineker), plus all kinds of non food stalls, fabric was excellent but they started gentrifying it a while back and I’ve moved away so no idea now. I’m in Bristol and the “market” is basically overpriced “street food” and tat you can buy cheaper elsewhere, except sometimes I’ve found records , there were finds there. I really don’t get this street food trend, it’s expensive for the portion size and nowhere to sit down.

Lymington market is good.

We have the Grainger Market in Newcastle which has fruit, veg, bakery, cheese shop, butchers etc..loads of small businesses in there. While it is great, I'm not going into the city centre to buy groceries.

This is exactly it. Our local market is basically fleece tops with wolves on them, that one optimistic person selling scented candles, one fruit/veg stall selling all the basic fruits/veg you can get at Tesco at a higher price (as opposed to galangal or plantains etc) and someone reselling junk they bought from the charity shop opposite their stall.

I just don't want to buy anything that they're selling.

I used to adore markets as a child, our town had an indoor and outdoor market with dozens of exciting stalls selling all sorts of things that were actually useful and needed. Most people took a two-wheeled shopping trolley to carry their shopping. The council shut both down, traders lost their livelihoods, and when the new council reopened them a decade later, the proper traders had moved on to other ways of earning money. It's not that I prefer going to Tesco, it's that I can't get what I need at a market.

Norwich has a brilliant permanent outdoor market. It’s always busy and has lots of very good stalls.

Our market is fine tbh. Butchers (3-4), two cheesemongers, a dairy, two bakers, three delis, coffee, a pub, toys and gifts, fruit and veg, flowers, random tat, hardware. At the weekend we get the pie man, the street food people and the smallholders too. We don't have rag trade any more, that's all that's really gone. Everything else runs fine.

Just a normal small market town in the North.

The most ridiculous thing about what was done to our local market is the signs for the town (installed after the markets were shut) state "historic market town" under the town name. 🤣

Because people want everything from Tesco, OP. It’s not just convenience and speed. British people don’t like talking to people. They don’t want to chat to market stall people or tell them how much cheese or ham they want, they want to anonymously shop using those little phone things to scan barcodes.
Also we are much less financially literate. I don’t think people know just by looking how much things are likely to cost. For example, I would have no idea what a kilo of tomatoes looks like. I would be worried that I would get a shock when they told me the price.
I think we have been conditioned to shop a certain way. The only time I would shop at a market was on holiday and/ or I had enough money in my account to not panic.

I agree OP. I live in Bristol too and you're fine if you want sourdough! But I lived in Italy for years and people do their regular shop at markets. Everything from fruit and veg to fresh fish and clothes. They are a joy to explore. I've not encountered anything similar in England or Wales (don't know about Scotland or NI).