“IT WAS incredible - one lady had to rush home and bake two more batches of scones, the bread stall sold out in two hours and the brownies did too.”

Paula Connor describes the impact of the inaugural Fine Food and Local Produce Market that brought crowds to Ilkley on the first Sunday of the month.

“The response was amazing - people had to go off and restock. There was such a buzz - the producers were more than happy.”

With a wide variety of artisan and organic food including cheese, chutney, meat, fruit and vegetables, gluten-free sweets and savouries and olive oil, the market in South Hawksworth Street, offered shoppers the chance to meet the people behind the produce.

“I noticed a lot of people chatting to producers and others - it had a real community feel to it,” says Paula, a local artisan who led efforts to secure the venture.

With friend Bernie Baldwin and other local people, she formed an organisation ‘Real Food Ilkley’, which joined forces with local producers and sellers to get a feasibility study off the ground.

“We took a proposal to Ilkley Parish Council and asked if they would let us do a feasibility study,” she says. “We did it in 2015 and consulted with the public, retailers and Bradford Council’s markets service.”

She adds: “The idea was that there is no point in setting up if the public didn’t want it. We aimed to protect and support our local retailers and work with them - we did not want to bring in a lot of business from outside the area. We wanted to encourage our local micro businesses and producers to work with us.”

A decision was made not to allow hot take-away food and take-away drinks. Explains Paula: “We have a lot of fantastic cafes and restaurants in Ilkley and we want visitors to the market to use those.”

Half of the 14 stallholders at the first market - which can accommodate 16 - were from the immediate area, three came from within a ten mile radius, three within 12 miles and one from around 20 miles away.

The market is also home to a pop-up community hub where two groups will be able to showcase the services they provide. “We are hoping to have one that has a health focus and another with a community focus,” says Paula. “It will give them the opportunity to advertise themselves and put themselves in a position where you can recruit new volunteers.”

Fairtrade Ilkley and Dementia Friendly Ilkley occupied the hub at the first market. The next sees Community First Responders and the local community enterprise Outside the Box.

Local food entrepreneurs are also being encouraged to come up with ideas for start-up businesses, which could display their services in a specially-provided gazebo as they establish themselves.

Some traders reported increased footfall during the morning and an official survey is planned among retailers to discover the true impact of the market.

“We will be looking at referrals - stalls buying from other stalls and from local businesses,” says Paula.

Ilkley joins two other regular produce markets within the district - Saltaire Local Produce Market run by Bradford Council, held on the second Saturday of every month and Baildon Farmers’ Market, run by Baildon Town Council, on the fourth Saturday of each month. Each popular event offers different wares and atmospheres.

Bradford Council’s market promotions officer Diana Greenwood is pleased to see another market in the district: “Local markets support local traders, local businesses and the local economy,” she says. “They reduce food miles and offer consumers the chance to purchase responsibly-sourced and traceable local produce. People are becoming more aware of what goes into their food - not just where it comes from but how it has lived.

“Local producers offer specialised knowledge. The traders are passionate because it is their product. We often see return customers who have a good ‘catch up’ with traders at the monthly events.”

Adds Paula: “You cannot put a price on face-to-face contact with someone who is passionate about their product. There is real value in knowing about the traceability of your food. And talking to the person who has put it on the stall for sale.”

Officially registered as a community interest company and not-for-profit organisation, Real Food Ilkley is hoping to become involved with further projects and stage more events locally.

*Ilkley Fine Foods and Local Produce Market takes place on the first Sunday of the month at 10.30am to 3pm. For more information about stalls contact Pauls on ilkleymarket@gmail.com; community groups can email bernie@realfoodilkley.co.uk.