Places

Main attraction: black puddings

Bury Market: best in UK

On the outskirts of Bury, the signs that welcome you to the Metropolitan Borough are typical of those that want to promote a small but proud town.

They boast that the town was a finalist in the 2005 Britain in Bloom competition and that industry is still as important as it ever was. 'Industry conquers all' is the town’s motto, after all.

But they also claim that the town is home to a 'world famous' market, a boast which might have seemed a little fanciful until last week, when it was named as the best in the UK by the .

So what is that makes Bury Market so special?

Best in the UK: Bury Market

Klint Turner has kept a flower stall on the market for two years. He’s originally from Wigan and keeps three other stalls on various markets in the North West but admits that “Bury is the busiest, without question.”

“Saturdays are definitely the busiest day of the week,” he said.

“We get people coming here from all over. Last week I spoke to people from Wigan, Lancaster, Liverpool, Stafford, Barrow-in-Furness,” he added.

Bury black pudding

And one of the main attractions that people coming back for is local delicacy, the Bury black pudding. Ruth Butterworth of Radcliffe works on Chadwick’s black pudding stall and puts the market’s success down to its friendliness.

“There’s a really good atmosphere with the customers here,” she said.

“I’ve served people from America and China while I’ve been here but it’s not just the puddings they like, it’s everything. Tripe, all the local delicacies – they like sneaking them back home,” she laughed.

Stood at the black pudding stall, the melting pot of customer accents is a comforting sound. Hubert Hunter travelled from Oldham for his fix of the dried pig’s blood that makes up a pudding.

“I’m not surprised it’s been named best in the UK. It’s worth making the effort to come here from Oldham.

“The parking is convenient, my wife likes the atmosphere here and there’s much more choice. If you can’t find what you want here then you can’t find it anywhere,” he said.

Carol Haynes from Macclesfield shared these sentiments. “It’s nice to wander around the stalls because there’s nothing like this in Macclesfield. You can get everything here,” she said.

Other shoppers from Milnrow, Leyland and Bury itself felt the same. Whilst it would be easy to scoff at the suggestion of the market’s fame, this award could be the start of something much bigger for Bury.

They’ve already got the most important people on the right side.