The Evolution of Glasgow's Barras Market

Glasgow's Barras Market, the culmination of hundreds of years of barrows, or barras, in a city where the lack of a horse and cart meant the only way you could move your goods around the streets was with a barrow. But barrows were much more than that. In addition to moving goods to and fro, barrows could be used as a static platform from which to sell your wares, a bit like a mobile shop, I suppose. And for traders unable to buy or rent a shop, barrows were the next best thing; a cheaper alternative. Street traders in Glasgow needed a license in the old days. I imagine they still do. Armed with their license they could wheel their barrow through Glasgow's streets and seek out prime locations that might give the best sales opportunities. Not all traders could afford to own their own barrow. Thankfully, barrows could be hired. Back then - and we're talking the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - street traders were known as hawkers; they hawked their wares around the streets. It almost sounds like a derogatory term, perhaps in the same way that the term 'peddling' does. But these were legitimate traders just trying to earn a living. But as Glasgow grew to become Second City of the British Empire, and the city's streets became clogged-up with horses and trams and carts and people... ... well, the hawkers and their barrows started to get in the way. And so street traders found themselves constantly moved on and hassled by police and the authorities. Something had to change. Ever since medieval times Glasgow, like most towns and cities, has had markets. There were markets for everything: fish, beef, mutton, dead meat, clothes, cheese, birds, dogs and rags. And the rest. The Bridgegate, or Briggait, was an area with a number of clothes markets. These were run and used mainly by the Irish, and came to be known as Paddy's Market. Over the years Glasgow's clothes markets have come and gone, occupying any number of locations in the Bridgegate, Glasgow Green, Greendyke Street, Jail Square and Shipbank Lane. In the 1920s Maggie McIver expanded her barrow-hire business in the Calton. She bought land just off the Gallowgate and created a market area where traders and their barrows could trade without being constantly moved on. Maggie even went on to build the Barrowland Ballroom above that first market. And so The Barras Market was born. It grew from those early days. More land was acquired, and what had initially been an open market was covered over with huge sheds to protect the traders and their goods from inclement weather. Inside, all manner of goods were sold: clothing, bric-a-brac and bargains in every shape and form. And so it is today in the weekend Barras Market, one of the largest and most exciting indoor markets in the country. The Barras. #barras #glasgowhistory #markets