Phase 2 of the Birmingham Wholesale market opened in 1975 and for the last 38 years the Wholesale Market has changed mainly for the better, with the introduction of health and safety regulations.
As a young lad going there it always excited me, it was magical, looking back now I can?t think why, because you meet the same sales staff and the same barrow boys each time you go. I was a ten year old when my dad fist took me and even though I didn?t realise then over the years I began to appreciate the atmosphere the smoke from the vehicles the hustle and bustle of the market pitches and the barrow boys always trying to play the fool, don?t get me wrong these people worked very hard but they managed to give the impression that it was easy, and for those reasons it got under my skin and even today except for having to get up early I still enjoy what I call going to work.
In the early days the vans and trucks were allowed to drive inside the market and park outside whatever pitch they were going to be using that day. The smoke from these vehicles wasn?t good especially with all the fresh produce around. Also you would see plenty of barrow boys stacking the barrows as high as they could and I can remember thinking how on earth are they going to lift that and take it to a vehicle, there are not as many barrows around waiting to be stacked up high anymore because most companies use forklift trucks nowadays.
Over the past few years there have been rumours that the wholesale market will close and be moved to a new location within Birmingham. The buildings are now in a poor state of repair and there are plenty of pitches empty, it?s a shame they didn?t take the safety aspect of health and safety more serious over the years because if they had of done they wouldn?t be looking at such a huge bill to repair this market place.
Council leaders have now backed plans to move the Birmingham Wholesale Markets out of the city centre. The city council has previously said the markets’ in Digbeth, were not “fit for purpose” and are too large. There will be more consultations over whether to move the markets to a smaller site in either Witton or Washwood Heath by 2016. Plans have now come out and the new market site will be half the size of the existing one, with 72 units available.
At the start of my blog I wanted to take a trip down memory lane my belief is, its more about the people and our way of life that makes the place it is, so moving the market to a new location may feel different but after the dust has settled it will feel like the old market in no time.