Floating Market

Hello and welcome to the Water Rd Podcast.

And this episode comes from Market Drayton in Shropshire.

In fact, we're on the Shropshire Union Canal and we're here

because this weekend there's a floating market, so the canal is

lined by more than a dozen boats, all belonging to licenced

waterways traders and the locals are thronging to buy their

wares. I'm going to go and find out

more about it. So with Julie and you're on the

committee of the Roving Canal Traders Association.

Yes, I'm in charge of publicity. I do all the advertising for the

markets. So just tell me a bit about the

the RCTA. What does it do?

Who's a member? Well, it's for boat owners and

people who want to trade off their boats.

A lot of people live on their boats full time and we get

together, we do floating markets.

It's really nice because we we meet each other and then we part

to go different ways. Then we come back and we do

markets again and that's how people make their money and pay

for their boat licences so. Obviously sometimes you've got a

big market like this with loads of traders, but sometimes you

just trade on your on your own on the on the tow part.

Yes, sometimes a few of us get together and just do a little

market. We call it a pop up because it's

supposed to be done informally in a spur of the moment.

So what's the big thing about trading on from a boat, do you

think? It provides you with the money

to afford the boat. I mean, that's why I do it.

And also it's a nice social thing to do and it's a reason to

go to a certain direction because the markets are in in

certain places. So we all get together and we

all aim for the same destination.

So there's quite a few of them throughout the season, isn't

there? So do you sort of you you you're

doing a loop really. Yes, it's designed by the

committee to form a loop so people can all go off in the

same direction and. Just tell me about what you're

doing 'cause you're you're sat here painting.

Yes, well, I'm a canal artist. I paint.

I decorate boats and paint things for boats.

I've been doing it for 25 years. I enjoy it very much.

And the roses and castles, just tell me about those 'cause

they're really traditional, aren't they?

Yes, they are. The roses we believe came from

the Potteries, from Meashamwe. People in the factories realised

they could make money by offering to paint people's

boats. So they left the factories, went

on to the canal which runs through Meisham and they put

roses on boats. And the castles are an Eastern

European castle. We believe when the Eastern

Europeans came over they brought with them their images of

castles and to make their boats pretty, they put the castle

scenes on the castles they've seen on the way across Europe.

Because actually the the roses look quite complicated, but when

I see you people doing them, they're just a few strokes.

They are a few strokes, they're very simple, but you have to

know the formula, have to be taught.

It's quite difficult to grasp at first.

It's done with enamel paint, which is like thick nail

varnish, so it's a very special paint.

And you can tell people by their rose, the way they've painted

it. We've all got our own style and

I've taught roses and castles. I encourage people to develop

their own castle and their own rose, which is their special

rose. So we all be what we try to have

our own rose. And people sometimes bring me

work to identify and they've got something on their boat they

say, do I know who painted it? And quite often I like to think

I can't tell them who painted it.

And I imagine that sometimes you're going along and you see,

I don't know, teapot on a boat or something, and you say, oh,

that's one. Of mine.

I did that recently and the lady said to me, no, no, it's not

yours, it's mine. No, you don't understand.

I painted it. Could I?

Please have some beetroot, beetroot, some rhubarb and fig

and dams and chutney. Please, lovely.

It was a difficult choice. Thank you very much.

Right, so one of the traders here is my good friend Helen

from Wild Side. Just tell me about your

business. We started in 2012 with the

business launched, which was following on from an accident I

had in 2010, which meant my current career was no longer

going to work so I needed to look at something else and I

started foraging and making jams as a result of extended

convalescence. Following on from that, we

started the business because suddenly people kept buying

them. And how does the boat come into

that story then? Well, we have permission from

the Canal and Rivers Trust to forage on their land, which if

you're selling forage goods is really important.

And they're I think the large third largest landowner in the

country. It's true that most of their

land is underwater, but of the bits that aren't underwater,

there's a lot of fruit trees because a lot of lot keepers

used to have their own cottage gardens and they're now

abandoned. And there's a lot of wild

seedlings that have grown on the towpath.

And it's particularly useful when you're when you're on a

boat because you can reach bits of overhanging trees that you

wouldn't be able to from the ground.

So we're talking jams and chutneys and all that sort.

Of and marmalades. Now, we haven't actually found

the fruit trees for growing oranges and lemons yet on the

towpath, but what we do to try and make those have a foraged

element to them is that we add alcohols that we've infused with

foraged things. So we do, for instance, slow

whiskey, Seville marmalade, and other such things.

And how does a floating market like this work for you?

Well, we're part of the RCTA, they get together and organ do

all the organisations. So sort out all the insurance or

the safety certificates, all that kind of thing.

They organise for you and for a nominal fee we get together and

it's like an extended pop up of traders.

I think there are, we're in Market Drayton this weekend and

I think there are 18 other trade boats here.

And it always works well when you're trading in company

because it makes more of a spectacle and and in passersby

are more interested. So for us it's useful trading

with other people. So I just noticed that you seem

to have quite a few paper bags and you've obviously been buying

stuff. Yeah.

What have you been buying? I've got myself some jam and

some cheese and an embroidery kit as well for my daughter for

Christmas. So what brought you down to the

floating market? So I live on a boat and we're

currently moored up on the Llangothlin and I went to the no

saw one last weekend and I really enjoyed it and my in laws

are down and they want to go to one too.

So you're quite a a floating market addict then?

Yeah, yeah, I really like supporting the boaters because

obviously I live on a boat as well, so it it's just nice to be

able to support other boaters with making money so they can

carry on living on boats and things.

So yeah, and there's the Curry boats down there, and I'm quite

obsessed with the Curry boats. Ever thought about making stuff

on your boat and becoming a trader yourself?

I think there's too many hoops to jump through to trade from

your boat, to be perfectly honest, and I don't have

anywhere near the skill that a lot of these people do.

I do paint, I enjoy it, but I could never sell it.

I'm with Emma and I'm on your boat and you're a fine artist.

Yes, I've been painting all my adult life, but it wasn't until

I I bought the boat four years ago, I was still painting and

creating piles of artwork and I was thinking, what do I do with

all this art stacking up? So I found out about the Roving

Traders Association, joined up and now I can sell my art.

For the very first time in my life.

I'm selling what I'm producing, which is fantastic.

And does the canal give you plenty of things to paint?

So it's sometimes I'm overloaded with the amount of choice I have

to paint. Obviously very nature inspired

canal boats, canal scenes, but abstract art as well on on top

of that. But mostly canal work,

definitely. And I see you've got some

originals and you have prints made of some of your stuff as

well. Yes, I paint my original and my

husband, he prints what I paint and I sell as greeting cards,

prints, small framed prints. In fact, when he first bought

the printer onto the boat, when we bought the boat, I was really

quite cross because I thought, what on earth do we need that

for? Because I at the time I didn't

know that I was going to be selling my art.

Where on earth are we going to put this printer?

He was adamant he he was going to keep it.

He said, well, we might need it one day.

And thank goodness he did, because half of my art is

original and the rest is print, so we've got a little business

on the boat here. So is that an important part of

your life, actually having something to do?

Well, it was actually just a couple of days ago.

I said to my husband, what would we be doing if we weren't doing

this? Would I feel like I was just

floating aimlessly around with no purpose?

So this has given me a purpose. I'm obviously still being

creative, more creative than I've ever been.

But also, we've made so many friends on these voting markets.

We dip in, in and out of these markets and choose which ones we

want to go on. So sometimes I won't see someone

for weeks and weeks. It's like seeing an old friend

again. So yes, definitely it's a new

dimension to our boating life. And how much of your boat does

your workshop take up? Well, this is a bone of

contention because when I'm actually painting, I'm taking

over the whole dining area. I've got pots of paint and paint

brushes all over the boat and then of course we have to store

the frames so they are stacked in all areas.

In the summer, when we're very busy selling, we're quite often

tripping over them. Everything has its place, so we

can't really bring too much on board because we've got art that

takes precedence really. I'm Kate, I'm a stained glass

and I live aboard Bears the Flow narrow boat.

So just tell me about the, the sort of things that you make to

to sell on the on the boat. All sorts of things.

Favourites are 3D Dragons, but they're very hard to store on a

small space. So I make bears, letters,

angels, mushrooms, cows. And why is it a good thing to do

on a boat? Does it not take up much room?

Oh, it takes up room. At the back of the boat there's

a six foot workshop which we had specifically designed, laid out

and the Bale thruster locker is full of finished items.

And being glass, do you have to fire them somewhere then?

No, no, this, this is the Tiffany technique.

So you cut the glass, you surround it with copper, and

then you solder it together. I have previously done kiln

work, but kilns and boats? No, it's too big and I would be

afraid that when everything's molten, a boat would go past too

fast and rock the boat. I have trouble with soldiers.

I like to solder on the back deck because I can hear when the

other boats are coming in and I need to to stop for the moment

until they've gone past. And that's, of course, an

electric boat. Well, across the other side of

the canal there's a small grassy area with lots of people sitting

and eating and drinking because this is what you might call the

food court area. So on this side of the canal

we've got the Curry cruiser boat.

There's a boat that's a coffee shop and is also doing quite a

trade in ice creams. There's the crepe.

Boat. And right at the front is the

baked on board pizza boat where they've actually got a wood

fired pizza oven in the weldeck. I'm David.

I'm Lynn. And I noticed that you'd just

had your lunch from the Curry Cruiser.

What was it like? It was very, very good indeed.

A surprise that he can get that done on a boat up to restaurant

standard. Great value, cheery company.

Very, very good indeed. What did you actually have?

I had the samosa chat smashed smosa chat which never heard the

like of it before. That was good.

And yours? I had chicken tikka rat which

was delicious. The rat was homemade, which was

amazing. And it was, yeah, truly

stunning. And what brings you down to the

market today? Well, we live in Drayton so we

like to support whatever's going on and we're here to support

this, which is great. It's much bigger than it was

last year I think more, more people and more boats, which is

lovely to see. And are you regular canal users?

We don't have a boat, but we do walk along the canal a lot.

I'm with Paul from the Baked on Board Pizza Boat and thanks

first of all for taking the time because I know you've been

really busy today. You're very welcome.

Yes, we've had a very good day so far.

A bit more of the day to do, but yeah, so far so good.

So just tell me about the setup on your boat, because you seem

to have an enormous pizza oven on your, well, deck.

The oven and the deck that it was that was built for it to

stand on is about 3/4 of a tonne.

And it was manufactured by a company who make pizza ovens

specifically for mobile units. They put them into horse boxes

and trailers and things. And we said we're going to buy

an Arrow boat, can you put it on it?

And they, well, they didn't put it on, but they supplied it,

Yeah. So just tell me about your setup

then, because you've got a hatch where you're serving people and

you've got the the pizza oven right at the front.

Well, it's it's obviously like everybody's boat.

It's tight for space. As you can imagine.

It's it is it is my kitchen. So it's my home kitchen, but it

also serves as the pizza kitchen.

So the the oven sits right in the bow And then we've got

serving hatches on both sides. So depending on which way we're

facing, one side is this this way around is slightly better,

but either side we can serve from usually when on the market

to have one of my girls who comes and helps me.

So Tracy's with me today and we just, I make them and cook them

and she boxes them and sells them and takes the money and it

just works. I've been doing it for seven

years. It must take out quite a lot of

space in the boat. I mean, pizza boxes take up a

lot of space. In the summer, when it's at its

peak, which it is now, I live with tinned tomatoes under my

bed and pizza boxes all the way along the wall in my bedroom.

Because that's just the nature of the thing.

And we have adapted it this winter slightly so that my bed

now, instead of all the stuff that's in the kitchen, which

needs to come out the kitchen when we're serving, used to go

on the bed. And then you used to make pizza

boxes with the girls sat on the bed or whatever.

Now the the bed has been changed.

So the bed goes up against the wall, created some storage down

below. So you just you just we find our

way. But yeah, it's it's pretty

tight. And obviously you attend markets

like this. Do you sometimes just, you know,

go onto the towpath and and open up?

For very much so. So at the beginning of the

season in February, we look when the when the festivals are, when

the floated markets are, get the calendar out and plot things.

And then when I'm not doing these sorts of things, I've got

my own regular route where I go. I do Barbridge and Beeston and

Waverton and Tatton Hall, and I do Renbury and Whitchurch and

Northwich and Middlewich and Nantwich and Audlem.

So I try and get to all of those places 3 or 4 times during the

course of the season. So.

You get regular customers. Oh yeah, very much so.

Yeah. We have a loyalty card scheme

and we've got lots and lots of regular customers.

Lots of customers who are here today are regular customers of

mine who come to us pretty much wherever we go.

So as long as we're in the area. So yeah, it's, it's a, it's a

mix of the two. What you doing before?

I mean, how did you end up doing pizzas on a boat for?

I lived in Cornwall for Best Buy well over 30 years and worked in

pubs and then subsequently ran pubs and then myself, my ex.

We needed to get out of it. Pubs were about to get the

better of me all together because it the ones I was

running was it was a particularly big busy pub with

letting rooms and it was just it was too much and I was getting

older. So we started having narrow boat

holidays, fell in love with it completely, and then thought how

can we earn a business? So lots of different ideas came

and went, but eventually we settled on the Pizza Robin.

We'd researched it, other people were doing it, but not in this

part of the world. So Pizza Robin came and suddenly

the rest is history. And seven years later, here we

are. And that's all from this busy

floating market in Market Drayton.

And I have to say, the mushroom pizza from the Pizza Boat was

really good. The Water Rd is produced and

presented by Lee Adam Porter. In the next episode we'll be on

the Staffs and Worcester Canal hearing about the Bratch Locks

angling and what it's like to have a log by wash flowing

underneath your house. It's not as loud as you might

think, but it's actually quite comforting to hear the rustle of

the water. If you've enjoyed the podcast,

please follow or subscribe so you'll be alerted when new

episodes are published. And please leave us a nice

review because it really does help other people to find us.

And don't forget, all previous episodes are always available to

listen to. Thank you for listening to The

Water Ropes.

The Story