Holcombe Market

Market stalls have existed where Holcombe Road meets Tottenham High Road for well over 100 years. It has become known as Holcombe Market. The Hall family had one of the first stalls and has seen four generations running it for all that time. This makes Hall’s market stall the longest family-run business on Tottenham High Road. 

(The Halls’ fruit and veg stall. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Freddie Hall's 'fruit and veg' market stall has stood next to what was the Plough Pub since it was first set it up originally as a ‘fruiterers and poulterer’s’. The photograph shows Dave Hall (1955 – 2018)  one of Freddie and Jane’s sons who, with brother Andy, followed in their parents’ footsteps. He is standing outside the modern-day market holding a picture of the old stall.

(Dave Hall (1955 – 2018) with his family photograph of 1954 at his parents’ stall. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

The photograph has Freddie reaching up for a turkey hanging from a rack above. The large queue around the stall is likely the wait to get a turkey. This could be because rationing post-war made it harder to get meat. Rationing ended in 1954 suggesting that this photograph was taken around that time in the run-up to Christmas. Read more about the Hall family business and Holcombe Market - A century of family service at Hall’s Fruit and Veg.

(Jane Hall at her stall. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Holcombe Market had a revamp in 2016 with a new-look layout and modern stall units for the small businesses, with of course some amazing traders, some of whom have articles written about them or have an online presence. Until recently, although they have expanded elsewhere in Tottenham now, the market had the award-winning Prestige Patisserie (they were also semi-finalists of the Bake Off The Professionals). Another is of course the cheese shop Wine N Rind.Read more about the whole market Holcombe Market.