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Goathland's New Farmers’ Market Attracting a Wave of Visitors to the Moorland Village

The picturesque village deep in the North York Moors National Park which attracts thousands of visitors every year has a new claim to fame.

Goathland, known to millions of people as the fictional village of Aidenfield in ITV’s popular period crime drama, Heartbeat, now plays host to the first farmers’ market in the North York Moors National Park and in its first six months has been attracting about 1,000 people to check out the two dozen stalls every month.

Set up with the help of funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is administered by North Yorkshire Council in the county, the organisers of the market are hoping to build even further on the initial success.

Goathland Community Hub and Sports Pavilion trustee, Keith Thompson, said:

“We started in June and thought we would have a few stalls and attract a few hundred people to visit. But we had 24 stalls and more than 1,000 visitors and traders were sold out within a matter of hours. Traders came from across the county – Harrogate, Knaresborough, Rosedale, Glaisdale, Whitby and of course Goathland itself.

“We quickly decided to make this a monthly event and encourage local entrepreneurs and small local businesses to come along. We are very quickly building up a reputation as a market to visit.”

One of the features of the market is providing the capacity for local people to sell their own wares and for a local charity to raise funds. The gate for each market is manned by a different charity or community group – the November market raised more than £350 for the village cricket club and when the Whitby Young Farmers took a turn, they left with £600.

There are two village stalls, with one for local people selling their own produce such as vegetables from an allotment, Christmas decorations or cakes, while the other is manned by Cath Jenkinson who sells second hand books and jigsaws for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. She is using the market to add to the £13,000 she has already raised for the charity.

The Goathland Community Hub and Sports Pavilion was opened in 2017, built from scratch after trustees raised £200,000 to create a home for the cricket club and a social hub for the village. It is now available for hire for events as well as hosting wellbeing, yoga and tai chi classes, domino nights and school events while also housing its own library. The library opens every Wednesday with about 1,600 books to choose from.  

The financial support from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund of just under £20,000 helped to pay for a hard-standing area and chair store paving the way for the market.

Mr Thompson added:

“The farmers market was the next step in providing more for the community and our visitors. It is the only one in the National Park – there are plenty in towns on the edge but nothing in the park. When we decide to do something in Goathland we make it happen, but we have been blown away by this success.

“We are very grateful for the funding, they took a chance on us and it is working. Tourism is a big thing here in Goathland with the steam railway and our links to Heartbeat.  

“Last month we had a couple from Stoke who called on their way back from a holiday in Sandsend, they were so impressed that they said they would be back – these are the people we want to encourage to come over and over again and tell their friends too.”

The 450-strong population of Goathland swells by thousands every year when people visit boosting the incomes of the tea rooms, hotels and pubs and now the farmers’ market. It is home to a station for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which has starred in many films including as Hogsmeade Station in the first Harry Potter movie as well as the recent Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible films.

North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, who is chair of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Local Partnership Group in the county, said:

“This market is already proving very popular in Goathland and doing exactly what this funding sets out to do – boost the local economy and add community value for local people.”

North Yorkshire Council’s division member for Esk Valley and the coast, which covers Goathland, Cllr Clive Pearson, added:

“Goathland is already a honey pot for visitors and this new market is bringing even more people into the village which is benefitting our local businesses.  I look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength as it cements its regular spot in the monthly cycle of events in the community.”

The next market is on December 21 from 10am until 2pm. There is no market in January and February, but it will be held on the third Saturday of every month from March.

North Yorkshire Council has supported a variety of business and community groups through different grant and support schemes via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. More information is available online at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/uk-shared-prosperity-fund

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