Ok, went to the market for the first time on Saturday. Have to say, it is excellent and well organised, and worth going to for the veg stall alone. There is nowhere else in Forest Hill or Honor Oak that has that range and quality of veg. Sainsburys have lost some business from us and it has not effected our occasional visits to Dartmouth Road.

It is also, a wonderful setting and very handy we could let our 6 year old run around while we got on with the shopping.

However, in all the other places I can think of long-term successful markets, these are in a commercial area and act as an attractor for the shops, and vice versa. In this sense, it is in the wrong place! For those businesses concerned about this, why not set up your own market? Touché.