In 'Britain Then and Now', which combines superb photographs from the Francis Frith Collection with an excellent text by Philip Ziegler, there appears the significant comment to the effect that "the quintessential British Town grew up to serve the countryside around it".
Ziegler goes on to explain the market was the main means by which it achieved this. He then adds: "On market day people came from villages and the rural surrounds in general for specific business reasons or because towns offered a more elaborate soci
al life."
It was very much within this context that in April 1921, the Daily News published a cartoon about Banbury and its market day characters. This was made up not only of sketches of people who were dressed for the occasion but also of popular haunts within the town.
The haunts included the courtyard of the Red Lion; the tchures leading from High Street to Market Place; Bishop's Palace and the half-timbered home of the Vivers family (17th century wool merchants); and a corner of the produce market where pigs and poultry were traded.
The artist has identified certain people who would have been regular visitors to Banbury on Thursdays.
The weekly ride into town was not just an opportunity to buy and sell corn at the Red Lion or to trade in livestock but an occasion to visit certain shops whose stock satisfied the range of rural needs. Typical of these were Hoods, the Banbury ironmongers, in Bridge Street. Customer awareness is illustrated by the advertisement directed at gun owners of all types.
Their line was "whether you SHOOT game, rabbits, rooks or pigeons you MUST have GOOD CARTRIDGES. Get them at HOODS'. Bywaters, also in Bridge Street, were implement agents for the likes of horse and tractor binders".
The year 1921 was close to the end of the era of street marketing of livestock. The horse and cart or waggon was being challenged by the motor vehicles and the consequence was that congestion was seriously affecting movement around the post-First World War town. It is highly likely that farmers such as those in the cartoon were starting to look to the future.
The town council must have been aware of this when in 1919 they bought garden ground at the junction of the Warwick and Stratford Roads. This 6½-acre site was deemed appropriate for an enclosed market. However, significantly the farming community did not share the council's enthusiasm. Instead it wanted land near the LNWR and GWR railways. The momentum needed to achieve this delayed the move to Grimsbury until 1925 and even then some buying and selling of animals in the town centre continued until the autumn of 1931.
The Red Lion was very much the preferred choice for business dealings in corn. These took place in the yard. The popularity of this inn was influenced by its reputation built up in the coaching era, its available space and also the existence of a range of hostelry amenities.
Other pubs such as the Old George had their farmer customers but the Red Lion possessed a 'market room' in which lunches (Market ordinaries) could be enjoyed.
A coffee room and a commercial room added to the attractiveness of the building. Frequent land and property sales meant that farmers also came to Banbury on days other than Thursday. Among the market-day personalities featured in the 1921 cartoon was William Lidsey. He came to Banbury in 1905 and settled at Hardwick where his new home was linked to farmland that had a long history of ownerships, beginning with the Bishops of Lincoln but also and later including the Copes of Hanwell.
It was not long before Lidsey became involved in local government and secured election to Banbury Borough Council. By the time he was made mayor in 1922 his social and political activities had widened considerably. He chaired the farm and allotments committee of the council, had become a borough magistrate, been selected as the vicar's warden at St Mary's Church and made his mark with the Warwickshire Hunt (he was a keen foxhunter until over 70).
At the mayor-making ceremony many interesting comments were made by him and council colleagues. There was general support for the selection of someone with a farming background. Cllr Bird said he was "glad a leading farmer was being nominated as mayor" but also stressed Lidsey's interest in town affairs.
Lidsey was diffident about his selection. Was Hardwick too remote from the centre of Banbury he pondered? Cllr Sid Mawle was quick to reassure him this was no problem. He reminded the members of council that when he had been mayor it would have served him well to have lived somewhere like Bodicote and not so close to the town clerk, who contacted him all too easily and frequently.
The cartoon that prompted this article included several other well-known people likely to be spotted on Market Day. These were not only farmers but also popular figures such as JA Page landlord of the White Lion and H Locke who regularly conducted poultry auctions surrounded by "a few characters about town".
- I am grateful to Martin Lidsey and Peter Jarvis for illustrations and information.
