Continental Markets

Kendal, Cumbria – November 19th 2009

Continental markets are a bit strange at the best of times, but in the year’s worst downpour, they’re sad as well as strange.

Kendal had put on a ‘Continental Market’ during the time that Cumbria suffered its highest rainfall ever recorded – what a shame! We went there on November 19th, the day that there was severe flooding over many parts of the Lake District.

The continental market was rather sad to see, for not only was in bucketing down with rain, it was windy and the only people who might have qualified as potential customers all had their heads down and collars pulled up. I attach a few pics, not very clear as it was not only wet, it was also quite dark.

Continental markets are a nice idea in principle, but I find them rather samey: French sausage, French cheese, German sausage, the people doing the selling are clearly from France or Germany or wherever is appropriate to their product, so I suppose they travel from place to place, staying in hotels, and trying to clear a few vanloads of produce. Whether this is economically sensible for them, I don’t know. I guess it’s touch and go.

One of the stalls selling French sausage had oddly-translated display tickets, and I wondered whether this was done on purpose so as to seem quaint and foreign. It had ‘Sausage Coated in Chile’ (I like that one, even if it is contrived), ‘Sausage in the Goat’s Cheese’, ‘Sausages of Duck’, ‘Sausage Has the Garlic’ and ‘Smoked Sausage Pork’s (pig)’. Possibly we’re getting a little picky as we grow older, but none of these looked to be especially good quality, so we didn’t buy anything.