Street Market report.

Once again the sun shone on the street market (eventually) and Silverton again went into party mode. As the mists and drizzle lifted around about the official opening time of 10.00am people once again thronged the Fore Street to sample the wares on disply at the host of stalls stretching from the Lamb Inn to the square. Although it seemed to this observer that attendence may have been hit by the unpredictable weather and the worsening financial situation it still appeared that several thousand turned out to enjoy themselves and support local charities. The Silvertones showed off their musical talents at the Methodist church twice during the day and the Silverton Drama group performed their pantomime in the 'little rec' twice also. The one complaing I have heard about that production was that the performers needed to project their voices better, but otherwise the production seems to have been well received. As ever, many from the village gave up their time to staff the gates and to do the other behind the scenes jobs that any sort of occasion of this type demands. Also worth noting, the performances by the Splott brothers providing their own unique brand of entertainment.

Despite the worsening financial situation the pubs seemed to be busy through the day selling considerable amounts of Sweeny Todd ale alongside their other liquid refreshments and their usual range of food including the now traditional filled baguettes at the Lamb. As ever it was good to meet old Silvertonians making a return to the village, especially Diane and Jenny who have now made street market a time for their annual pilgrimage back home. It was also good to see Martin Morris again paying us a visit from Glasgow. It has to be said though that, as far as I know anyway, there were not too many of the more gossip column type stories that events of this type sometimes generate. Still you cant have everything.

The day was, as ever, rounded off by the Tug O War in the late afternoon and the evening musical performances. This year we had the notable sight of the official Lamb Inn team being knocked out by the upstart 'Lamb Chops' in the ToW final. Rumours that this victory would lead to the shield going on display in Dave Haggets shop could not be confirmed. Despite making the Rolling Stones look like the Artic Monkeys agewise, The Cougars again did their rock and rolling to a packed house in The Lamb Inn shed and Shufflebones did their Stones based thing at the Silverton Inn although there were some complaints about the brevity of their performance.

So as far as we can tell, Silverton and the friends of Silverton, enjoyed themselves once more. the event seems to have passed off peacefully and it was good to see more stalls again selling craft products rather then secondhand goods. A large number of photographs were taken during the day, some of which are all ready on view here, one which will not be on view here though is one of our layout advisor propping up the bar of the Lamb Inn as it was deemed unsuitable for those of a nervous disposition. (It was also a bit of a cheat having been taken yesterday).

All in all the village once again rose to the occasion and showed that it still remains a real community despite all the changes that have taken place here in recent years. Well done to all those who made it happen and if there are questions about whether the street market formula perhaps needs a bit of revamping they can wait till another day.