These days Alnwick Market is a picture of health and vitality, with a full contingent of gazebos filling its traditional home, the medieval market square at the heart of this ancient Northumberland town.
The number of market days has increased from two to four in the summer and footfall is plentiful, with an ever-increasing number of tourists attracted by the burgeoning number of stalls and the eclectic mix of crafts, gifts, fashion and goodies.
Yet it wasn’t always so. It’s hard to believe but just a year ago the market was on the verge of collapse after the large, private operator that had the lease announced that it was shutting up shop from October.
The traders, whose numbers had dwindled to around 14, were devastated. Many relied on the three months running up to Christmas to boost their incomes.

Fortunately, a community-minded Alnwick woman was not prepared to sit back and let the market die.

Tracey Sprigg (above) stepped up to the plate and persuaded Northumberland County Council to allow the stallholders to trade in Northumberland Hall on Market Place in the run-up to Christmas.
The relocation proved a success, and that convinced the Duke of Northumberland Estate, which holds the charter, to offer her a year-long lease to run the market from April to this December, its traditional trading months.
Tracey hails from Whitley Bay and arrived in Alnwick 17 years ago to run a bed and breakfast. “I fell in love with Alnwick but I noticed there wasn’t a lot of marketing to promote local businesses,” she said.
So Tracey began some marketing herself.
As a labour of love she produced leaflets and launched a Facebook page called All About Alnwick eight years ago to encourage more people to visit the town and patronise its shops, eateries and to visit the market.

Graeme Walker, pictured with his wife, Joy, has a thriving business on Alnwick market called Making History inspired by his love of history and re-enactment

Amanda Bird has left a high-flying career to turn her hobby of photography into a business, selling her atmospheric, scenic photographs and her water marble artwork on Alnwick market

A former molecular biologist who travelled Europe for work, Diane Mennim is now making a name for herself as a welder creating decorative products from old horse shoes, bicycle chains and metal bars

Tracey is a member of the committee that runs Alnwick Food Festival.
So when the planned closure was announced, she was very concerned for the traders and the gap the market would leave.
Graeme Walker, who runs a market business called Making History, remembers the day Tracey came to his stall and asked him what should be done. “I told her she would be the ideal person to run the market,” he said. The rest, as they say, is history.
“It was a whirlwind three weeks to get everything organised, but we managed to get the traders relocated into Northumberland Hall,” Tracey said. That kept the traders going and the market alive.
With help from her husband, Neil, and daughter, Coral, 15, Tracey set about planning to revive the market. They started an operating company called That’s Champion Ltd, after a popular Geordie saying, and invested in more than 30 gazebos.
“Everyone has been so supportive including the traders, local businesses, the community and county council, the town council and the Duke of Northumberland Estate,” Tracey said.
Alnwick has had a market for centuries, but in recent years it has struggled in the time when it was run by first one large private operator, then another.
“The advantage I have is that I love Alnwick and I know all the local businesses and traders, having promoted them through All About Alnwick all these years,” Tracey said.
With everyone, and particularly the traders, on side, the market soon took off after it reopened on the ancient setts in April.
“We are so lucky in Alnwick in that we have four huge tourist attractions,” Tracey said.
Alnwick Castle has been immortalised as Hogwarts of Harry Potter fame.
The Alnwick Garden is also a huge magnet for tourists, as is Lilidorei, a magical village of “clans” in the garden. Barter Bookshop, a secondhand book shop in the former railway station, is also a popular venue.
Tracey says the market is 70 per cent geared to tourists and the arty, crafty offer is something to behold. It also has some standout food businesses including bread, and a jam and preserve stall run by Mad Jam Woman Sandy Higson, who sports bright red hair and has attracted the likes of King Charles when he was Prince of Wales and TV chef James Martin to her home-made products. She featured on James Martin’s Saturday Morning ITV show on September 21. The Yorkshire-born chef loved her strawberry jam.
“When I started running the market I knew about 50 per cent of what I needed to know, and the other 50 per cent I have learned along the way,” Tracey said.
These days the market is certainly running at 100 per cent. The traditional market days of Thursdays and Saturdays are full, with up to 40 traders and a waiting list. Tracey introduced Tuesday and Friday as additional markets in mid-summer. Tuesday is sometimes busier than Saturdays now, but Friday is quieter. Tracey thinks that is because it tends to be a changeover day for tourists on holiday in Northumberland.
“We have new traders including people from Tynemouth Market who heard that Alnwick was doing well,” Tracey said. “We are also getting more and more tourists as well as locals shopping here. We can’t make the market any bigger, but we can make its reputation bigger, so that it becomes an attraction people want to see and shop at when they visit Northumberland,” she said.

El Guo sells colourful jackets and other fashion items on the market. They are designed and made in South Korea

Now 80, Sandy Higson is the “Mad Jam Woman” of Alnwick Market. Her home-made jams and preserves have found favour with everyone from King Charles to James Martin, who recently interviewed her for his ITV show James Martin’s Saturday Morning

Yvonne Andrews has been a market trader selling high-end fashion mainly on markets in North Yorkshire for 47 years. A member of the NMTF for all that time, she now trades on Alnwick market

And the traders are lapping it all up. Sandy said: “Tracey is amazing. She has done a wonderful job building up the market and adding new days.”
A trained dressmaker, Sandy learned from her mother who was an excellent cook and has been making jam and selling it on markets in Northumberland for the past 30 years. She is incredibly proud to have won some prestigious awards including the Dalemain Award in Cumbria.
Graeme of Making History said Tracey had not only saved the market but brought it back to its best. A history buff who loves re-enactments, Graeme has had a variety of jobs but turned his hobby into a business 11 years ago.
On Alnwick market which he has stood for four years he sells what he describes as generic leatherwear, including key rings and leather folders. But he can also turn his hand to making an array of historic items, from swords to a replica set of Roman armour.
Diane Mennim is much newer to market trading but is forging ahead with her unusual business welding metal including horseshoes, bicycle chains and metal bars, to create ornaments.
A molecular biologist who travelled Europe for her job, Diane took up welding when she began dating a farmer and he suggested she had a go at welding. Now her business has attracted the interest of a TV show which involves a mentor helping her develop it.
“This is my first year and it is going well,” she said.
Amanda Bird has also left a high-flying career as a client services manager to turn her hobby into a business. “I have always loved photography,” said Amanda, who sells her scenic framed photographs and her water marble artwork. The latter is now officially an endangered art. “So I am keeping it going,” said Amanda, who launched her business on the market four months ago.
Fashion is also a popular line on Alnwick market. Yvonne Andrews has been selling high-end fashion on markets, mainly in North Yorkshire, for the past 47 years, and is now doing well on the revitalised Alnwick market.
And El Guo, 25, who was born in China, sells brighter, younger fashion designed and made in South Korea. “I went to university in Glasgow and decided I didn’t want a career in the traditional way. I wanted to be my own boss.”
Her colourful jackets sell like hot cakes on the market, according to Tracey. “I welcomed El because we need that variety and her young, colourful designs are bringing new people on to the market,” she added.
Tracey — and just about everyone in Alnwick — is hoping she gets a new lease from the estate. And, if so, the future for this ancient market is looking bright.

Alnwick is famous for its castle, home to the 12th Duke of Cumberland who holds the ancient market charter, and as the fictional Hogwarts in the popular Harry Potter films