The woes of being a Peterborough Market stallholder during one of the wettest months on record

Though the sunshine is now, somewhat reluctantly, starting to return, it’s fair to say much of this summer has been a real washout. Even after the sixth wettest July on record, August is struggling to deliver the kind of weather we spend the long winter dreaming about.

While the deluges and floods may have been depressing and – in the case of holidaymakers – wholly inconvenient, you can at least draw comfort from the fact that your livelihood wasn’t affected.

Unless you’re a market trader, that is.

With fewer local people going out shopping and fewer out-of-town visitors strolling about, the wet weather lumbered our al-fresco market traders on Bridge Street with tumbling sales and takings.

So just how badly were traders affected by the dreary weather? We decided to ask one of Peterborough Market’s stalwart stallholders for some insight.

Steve Wetherill owns S.J.W Fruit and Veg. The Spalding man was the first trader to open a stall when the market opened for business in Bridge Street last September.

A market trader since the age of 12, Steve is keen to point out that inclement weather is part and parcel of the industry:

“We market traders are tough old buggers,” he says, “we take the rough with the smooth; the heat with the wet - you name it.”

However, even Steve was taken aback by just how severely the endless days of rain impacted him and his fellow market traders.

“Everybody just dispersed,” he recalls, “Bridge Street just emptied.”

The 51-year-old told the Peterborough Telegraph that sales at his stall can be 30 per cent down on a wet day, and yet only 5-10 per cent up the following day if it’s dry.

“One bad day needs three or four good days to build up what you’ve lost,” he explained.

With the heavens opening on a near daily basis, Steve spent much of July pondering this unsettling notion as what few people there were on Bridge Street “weren’t even stopping to look.”

“People walk twice as fast in the rain,” he noted, “even with umbrellas.”

He lamented that he and his fellow stall holders would have faired much better had they still been in the old covered market, which was demolished last year:

“Although we’ve got shelters and awnings, it’s not the same as being under cover - rain doesn’t come down straight.”

Despite spending weeks on end twiddling his thumbs, Steve reveals packing up early was never an option:

“You’ve got to be there for the customers,” he said. “If someone comes for something and you’re not there then they won’t come back tomorrow.”

“You’ve got to grin and bear it.”

Steve points out that he wasn’t the only one to struggle during the deluge. “It has been tough,” he shared, “but tough for everybody - not just for me”

Looking to the heavens today, he strikes a cautiously upbeat tone

“Today is ideal conditions,” he notes, “not hot, not cold, and there’s no sun, so nothing’s melting.”

Smiling wryly to himself he adds: “We just need a few more days like today.”