View report page

for the accommodation of the traders and heard representations on
their behalf by the Federation of Street Traders' Unions, the Council
felt that there was no alternative but to license the traders to trade in
a portion of the south side of Southwark Park Road. In view of the
prevailing traffic conditions, however, it was decided that there should
be a trial period, in the first instance, of six months, to take effect from
the 1st February ,1954. The Council later decided that licences should
be renewed on an annual basis. I am pleased to say that the new market
has been worked satisfactorily and has been trouble-free throughout
the year.
Tower Bridge Road Market.
In September, 1954 a deputation from the Bermondsey Street
Traders' Protection Association and the Federation of Street Traders'
Unions attended before the Public Health Committee in support of a
request by the Bermondsey Street Traders that they should be licensed
to trade in Tower Bridge Road (west side) between the existing designated
section and Rothsay Street. The deputation pointed out that
the traders in Bermondsey Street, who had originally been moved from
Tower Bridge Road as the result of a Home Office Enquiry, found
business in Bermondsey Street very poor. They also stated that the
conditions which obtained when the compulsory removal took place
were now changed and that the traffic congestion in Tower Bridge
Road had been greatly minimised by the abolition of the trams. The
Committee considered that there was justification for the application
and recommended that the necessary licences be granted for the portion
of Tower Bridge Road in question, but that the views of the Home
Office be first obtained. The Home Office, on being consulted, had no
observations to offer, and 13 licences were accordingly granted. The
traders took up their new positions on 13th November, 1954.
London Bridge Area.
The market in Railway Approach, which was designated in 1952,
continues to run smoothly, and I am pleased to report that there have
been no prosecutions for unlicensed trading during 1954.
The New Caledonian Market.
To the people of Bermondsey today, the term "Cally", signifying
the New Caledonian Market, Bermondsey Square, has become as
common as the "Blue", a term affectionately applied to the street
market in Southwark Park Road. To an older generation of Londoners,
however, the "Cally" meant the fifteen acres of ground lying off the
Caledonian Road, Islington, where, on Tuesdays and Fridays in pre-war
years, as many as 40,000 people would swarm around the 2,000
stalls, looking for bargains.
The old "Cally" is no more—it was closed down on the outbreak
of hostilities in 1939, and, in spite of a vigorous campaign by the former
stall-holders, has never been re-opened (it is scheduled for a children's
playground under the L.C.C. Development Plan). But some of the