Draft:Tooting Market: Difference between revisions

Tooting Market in 2022

Tooting Market, which sits at number 21-23 on the High Street in the borough of Tooting in South London, is one of London's oldest indoor markets, having existed since the early 20th century. It is home to a variety of traders, including multicultural food vendors, retail shops, tailors and fabric sellers and hair and beauty salons.

Blue plaques hang above the High Street and Totterdown Street entrances to the Market, which were unveiled at a ceremony on Sunday 2 October 2022. These two community-funded plaques recognise the contribution of people from all over the world who have come to Tooting and feature the words of Edward Mears, winner of a local schools' competition. The inscription captures the multiculturalism of the borough: "Incredible. Invincible. A community of all, for all. We are Tooting."

Many migrants have traded at Tooting Market over the years and it is also where some well-known British high-street names began their fledgling businesses. Tooting Market in its current incarnation was founded in 1930, as per the inscription carved into the red and white entrance fronting the High Street. The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) has detailed reports of the grand opening in October of that year. Advertised in the Streatham News on 24th October 1930 as the Greatest Shopping Centre in South London a half page spread announced the NEW TOOTING MARKET with Bargains for All, trams and buses passing the door and Tooting Broadway Underground close by.   

The Market however has a history that predates 1930, to an earlier site in the Mitcham Road, Tooting. The Mayor's words at the opening ceremony in 1930 referenced this:

"The last time I was in a place called Tooting Market it was a shambles of smoking embers with ramshackle ruins...Sir Alfred (Butt) was most prompt in rendering financial assistance to the more distressed of the stallholders and out of evil good has come."

Tooting & Tooting Market 1916-1930

Tooting borough in the early twentieth century had extended at a notable rate. This was largely due to the construction of the Totterdown Fields Estate, with over 1,200 homes built between 1901 and 1911, and the arrival of a tramline from Central London, completed in 1903.

In 1896 its population was just over 7,000 but this increased to 36,000 by 1911. Many families had moved out of the East End of London when slum clearance began and sought a better way of life in the suburbs. The daily needs of the inhabitants were met by a rapidly developing shopping district, with markets in Tooting well before 1930. Tooting Market and Blunt's Market, both in Mitcham Road, and the parade of shops at Amen Corner known as Furzedown Market, all started trading in the early 1900s. There was also a market at Tooting Junction dating from the late 1920s.

Leisure pursuits were fulfilled by Tooting Library in Mitcham Road (1902 with an upper floor added in 1908), the Lido at Tooting Bec (1906), and the creation of numerous picture houses from as early as 1909, culminating in the construction of the Granada Cinema in Mitcham Road in 1931, now Grade 1 listed and a Bingo Hall. The Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall was built in November 1910 as a venue for concerts, talks and films and had a capacity to seat almost 2,000 people.

A decade or so later the extension of the Underground to Tooting Broadway, completed in 1926, also proved a huge benefit for the area. In his book Days that are Gone, published in 1947, AJ Hurley writes, "Immediately as the news spread that the Tube was coming to Balham and Tooting property at once began to increase in value, and enterprising businesses quickly bought up available sites for future development. Many of the smaller shop holders sold out at a good profit and, especially in the vicinity of Tooting Broadway and Mitcham Road, the seal of prosperity was set on the trading enterprise."

The covered Tooting Market

A letter dated 21 January 1916 to the architects' department of the London County Council (LCC) on behalf of Mr S Frost, the owner of the site, proposed a plan to erect a building at 19 Mitcham Road which would provide a trading shelter for costermongers..

A Streatham News article from 14th July 1916 reports that the newly constructed Tooting Market is now completed. This is a much needed improvement and people who patronise the class of trader will find greater convenience than hitherto."  A 1921 plan shows the covered market at 19 Mitcham Road and the open yard behind accessed by a narrow passageway. During a court case in 1929 a magistrate enquired why East End street traders came to Tooting to ply their wares, in this case silk stockings. A police constable explained the appeal of the district: Tooting was thickly populated and a good marketplace.

By the end of that same year the stallholders of Tooting Market in Mitcham Road, were most likely benefiting from this thriving marketplace. However on Christmas Eve 1929 they were served with notice to quit after 14 years of trading, operative on 19th January 1930, when the site was purchased by developers. The site had been bought by Messrs Woolworth's Ltd. who intended to build a large store at Tooting. Reports from the time underline the importance of the market to both stallholders and customers.

In some quarters the sale was seen as a benefit to the area. A Streatham News article on the 10th January 1930 mentions the sale of Tooting Market and the ambitious scheme of development on the site, suggesting it would increase the importance of Tooting Broadway as the business and social centre of Tooting. There had apparently been good demand for houses for owner occupation during 1929 and also keen demand for main road sites for business purposes. Older properties were being demolished to make way for modern garages and the erection of manufacturing or other business premises.

However for the current stallholders the sale would have presented an end to their livelihoods. A reporter who visited the market after the news of the imminent closure found them worried at the prospect of having to leave, but hopeful of being able to avert what would be for some of them a great calamity.  Were the market to close, about 200 people would have been deprived of their means of livelihood. According to newspaper reports, one of the stallholders said the notice "had come as a bombshell. I don't know where to go if the market is abolished. We are taking legal advice and are thinking about claiming compensation. The least we expect is an extension of the notice."

On 7th January 1930, the M.P. Sir Alfred Butt intervened and attempted to settle the dispute between the stallholders and the owner of the site Messrs Woolworth's Ltd. On 10 January it was reported that the stallholders' notice had been extended and that they were well satisfied with the arrangements made."

Fire of 1930

On 30 January 1930 Tooting market was engulfed by fire – an incident luckily without fatalities.

The stallholders suffered heavy losses in the fire which was reported as the demolition of their little livelihood with some having failed to renew their insurance policies due to the imminent closure of the market. The fire was thought to have originated in a shirt stall within the market, although nothing was proved to this effect.

The new Tooting Market 1930-1950 (today's site)

James Evans Powell bought the site on which Tooting Market now stands. Born in 1880 of Welsh parents at Newton near Glasgow, Powell studied at an agricultural college in Yorkshire in his youth. The 1921 Census records him as a manufacturing chemist in Croydon, an employer at 3-5 Frith Road, aged 41 and unmarried.

Land Registry records on Find My Past confirm that in July 1925 James Evans Powell became the freehold proprietor of 23 High Street, Tooting, and the adjacent six cottages in Angel Court. According to reports ‘the latter had been condemned for many years and were in the worst part of Tooting.’ At some point he also acquired the adjoining premises at number 21 which would give the entire plot a wider frontage onto the High Street. By the beginning of the new decade 50 year old James Evans Powell was, according to rate books, the registered owner of the site proposed for the new Tooting market.

Shortly after the Mayor’s assurance the market’s architect John James Joass made an application to the London County Council (LCC) on 11th February 1930 for ‘the covering over of Angel Court next High Street.' An entry in a 1930 Rate Book shows that the buildings at 21/ 23 High Street and Angel Court were demolished, creating the entrance to Tooting Market. These were subsequently  developed by architects Messrs Belcher and Joass of Saint James's Place, and builders Messrs White and Johnson of College Place, Chelsea.

The new Tooting Market opened on Thursday 23rd October 1930, and the event was comprehensively reported in the local newspapers the following day: ‘Enthusiastic scenes were witnessed yesterday at the opening ceremony. Thousands of people congregated inside the premises and in the streets adjoining, thus giving a tremendous send off to the new project.' By January 1931, three months after opening, the market was deemed to be an undoubted asset to Tooting and a ‘boon to the housewife.’

Second Fire July 1933

Tooting Market was struck by another fire in July 1933. It was the biggest blaze South-West London had known for many years and strenuous efforts on the part of over forty firemen were needed to subdue it. Damage was estimated at £20,000.

It was reported that the fire had broken out shortly before 2am and flames thirty feet high were soon shooting through the roof. Within a few minutes the whole of the Totterdown Street end of the market was a sheet of flames and the entire north wing, over 100 yards long, was destroyed. However despite the scale of the fire it reopened just a few months later in October 1933.

In 1934 there were 31 stalls in the market, almost half of which were run by traders from the old market in Mitcham Road. A number of these were from Jewish families which reflected what was happening in high streets in the first half of the 20th Century, as Jewish families moved out of central London and set up businesses in the suburbs, particularly in Tooting. Many of them were bespoke tailors such as the Cedar, Shavick and Krett families.

The Emanuels were an old established Jewish family of fruiterers and greengrocers who feature throughout much of the old and new market’s history. They ran a stall at the High Street entrance for over 50 years. 

Notable traders

Records from the early 1930s how new names such as grocers Cohen and Freeman trading as Bargain Centres (London) Ltd.  Jack Cohen went on to establish the supermarket chain we know today as Tesco’s. In the book Nothing like a Dame (2007) Dame Shirley Porter says that her birth in November 1930 coincided with her father Jack’s preparations for his Bargain Centre stall in Tooting Market.  

Retailers during the 1940s

In the 1940 Post Office Directory for Tooting Market there are some familiar stallholders from 1934: the Emanuels, Jack Cohen (Bargain Centres), James Powell (two stalls), Eggee Ltd and Fred Romaine the fishmonger.

The 1940s would have been a challenging time for the Tooting Market stallholders, in a period of rationing and queues. The scheme for food rationing introduced by the British government in 1940 was designed to ensure fair shares for all at a time of national shortage. Everyone, children included, was given a ration book with coupons. These were required before rationed goods such as sugar, meat, fat, bacon, cheese and eggs could be purchased. Housewives had to register with particular retailers, so many in Tooting would have turned to their well trusted stallholders in the market, hoping too that as regulars they might also get ‘something under the counter’.

Post Second World War

As female fashion developed after the war, the trend for affordable ready-to-wear clothes was reflected in the High Street shops, and not least in Tooting Market where Jack(ie) Brafman, the self-styled ‘Yiddisher Dior’ traded as a ladies’ outfitters having taken over the business from his parents Morris and Bella Brafman. Jack was to become one of the most popular traders in Petticoat Lane. He is still remembered in Tooting Market for his distinctive sales patter, selling dresses at rock bottom prices. On the 1939 Register he is shown as an ‘auctioneer’- a glorified term for a market trader delivering his sales pitch.

Another notable trader was Charlie Watkins. It was in Tooting Market in 1949 that Charlie Watkins and his brother opened a record stall and started a mail order service for sheet music. Named Melody Corner it proved an instant success. Recognising the need for superior sound amplification Charlie Watkins would go on to found WEM (Watkins Electric Music) famed for manufacturing PA systems and  loudspeaker stacks. His equipment would provide the major element in the ‘Sounds of the ‘60s’ and significantly change the music festival scene.

Tooting Market 1950s onwards

Life was still difficult for many post-war, but it did gradually improve during the 1950s. All rationing came to an end in 1954 giving way to wider choice and availability. This would have likely led to fierce trading at Tooting Market as stallholders competed for the housewife's custom, particularly with the advent of self-service cut-price grocers such as Anthony Jackson, whose Food Fare stall opened in Tooting Market in 1956. He would have sold all the key convenience food staples popular at the time such as spam fritters, salmon paste, and tinned fruit with evaporated milk.

Change of ownership 1957

On 15 July 1957 James Evans Powell died at his farm in Bletchingley aged 77. Newspapers at the time reporting on Mr Powell's death mention his early career with Hall, Lewis and Co's Wagon Finance Company, his involvement with the building of Tooting Market, and his brief time as a Wandsworth Councillor. It was noted that during his twelve years at Court Lodge Farm he had become a well-liked and respected member of the local farming community.

On 19 July the funeral and interment were held at St Mary's Church, with Mrs Daisy Boddington aged 67, and her younger son George W.F. Boddington, as the chief mourners. Old stalwarts of the market also came to pay their respects, namely Louis Pater the ladies' outfitter, Fred Romaine the fishmonger and Mr Emanuel the fruiterer. As James Powell was a single man with no children, the future ownership of Tooting Market was uncertain. All became clear once probate was granted in early September 1957 and the details of James Powell's will were released, stating that Mrs Daisy Lilian Boddington was to inherit. News of the James Powell's £80,000 bequest to his housekeeper was reported in the papers.

George Walter Frederick Boddington, born 1927, was the younger of Daisy's two sons. Her elder son Edward William Studholme Boddington did not feature in the will and James' sister only received an annuity of £250.  Daisy's husband Frederick Boddington, a fireman, had died aged 66 in 1957 prior to the death of James Powell, having lived apart from his wife for ten years.

Daisy Boddington was now the new owner of Tooting Market. James Powell would have needed a manager to oversee the market whilst he was living at Court Lodge Farm and it's possible the young George Boddington might have assisted in its running. George and his wife Eileen had moved into 35 Montana Road in Tooting by 1948 once James and Daisy had moved permanently to Bletchingley, so were living within easy reach of the market.

Market to cater for late night shoppers

In 1960 the market's opening hours were extended to cater for late-night shoppers. Mindful that this would give housewives, especially those who went  out to work, more free time at the weekend, the shops would remain open until 7.30pm on Fridays as from 3 June 1960. The scheme was welcomed by the stallholders who promoted special offers as an incentive to their customers, as contained in the 27th May 1960 issue of the Streatham News.

Tooting Market 1960s

Whilst commenting on the new initiative George Boddington praised the market for the very wide selection of goods on sale as he looked down the arcade at the open-fronted shops selling food, clothing, fabrics, jewellery, household articles and records.

In 1960 George Boddington made a detailed planning application for a new stall within the market called Beauty Box, likely tapping into the blossoming cosmetics market which accompanied the London fashion explosion of the 'Swinging Sixties'. In the 1960 Post Office Directory there are still some long-familiar names in the market such as Emanuel, Pater, Romaine and Brafman. The range of goods on sale had not changed a great deal over the previous two decades, with traders still catering for the shoppers' everyday needs. But there were newcomers such as Express Key Cutting who offered a 'while you wait service'.

Richard, a Tooting resident, recalled how as a young boy he helped out for an hour after school, clearing up 4 days a week at 5 shillings each time.

Tooting Market 1980s onwards

Entries in the 1980 Post Office Directory indicate that perhaps tastes were starting to change, with the appearance of stalls selling jewellery, gifts, greeting cards and a sandwich-grill bar, however largely Tooting Market still featured long-standing traders. Emanuel G Ltd. Greengrocers, Pater Textiles Ltd., Brafman Jack Ltd. ladies outfitters, Eggee Ltd and Express Key Cutting were still trading, as were O'Grady's Pet Stores and Garfield's Shoes. Stannard now appears, having taken over the butcher's stall at number 25 in the late sixties (Stannard's still exists as the longest-serving trader in Tooting Market today).

In 1980 the Boddington's had a tobacconist's stall at number 1 Tooting Market, run by Peter Boddington. It had a prime position on the corner of the High Street entrance, opposite Emanuel's Greengrocer's. Peter was known to be a chain smoker himself. In 1997 he hit the headlines due to his protracted two-year legal battle with a railway operator which had imposed a cigarette ban on its trains."

BBC News reported on the long running case after the Lords dismissed his appeal. Peter Boddington's battle had cost him dear as he was reported to be out of pocket tens of thousands of pounds. Commenting on the outcome BBC News explained that Mr Boddington "now travels home on trains operated by Virgin where he is allowed to puff away."

Change of Ownership

Records show Peter Boddington as a director and his mother Eileen as a secretary of The Tooting Development Company, operating from Stall 1 of Tooting Market from 1995. Eileen Boddington died in 2002, and son Peter in 2004 at the age of 50. He was outlived by his father George who died in 2009 aged 82. The market then passed to Patricia Boddington, George's second wife. In 2010 Tooting Market was sold to its current owners. This marked the end of a continuity of ownership that had lasted for 80 years, featuring just two names - Powell and Boddington.

Tooting Market today

Tooting Market today continues to be a central part of the borough's life and commerce. The Market today is home to a wide range of traders including retail shops, hair salons and food and drink vendors that reflect the multiculturalism of the borough - offering cuisines including Mauritian, Guyanese, Japanese, Jamaican, Italian and Portuguese. It has played host to variety of music, cultural and community events and has now extended beyond the indoor market to include a street market in summer.

However, constants remain from it's original incarnation. More than 90 years on, there is still a fruiterer at the High Street entrance, although no longer run by the Emanuel family. The family-run Stannard's butchers is a Tooting Market institution and currently its longest-serving trader, having been established in 1966. This was the site of James Powell's original shop in 1930, shown in photographs at the opening. A butcher's shop has therefore existed on this same site for 95 years.