Fridays is market day in Helmsley and its a trip to the bank, the post office and a quick look round the stalls before going to the deli in Perns and to their butchers counter to pick up some meat. This is when I spied a sign showing a new shop is about to open. Another brainwave from the Perns of the Star at Harome and this time it is a fish mongers.We are lucky there has been a market stall on Fridays selling fish for over 50 years. When I was a child I remember been lifted off the floor to see fish in large metal troughs covered in ice. Red faced fishermen would throw it on scales with little weights and wrap it in greaseproof paper and my Grandad would pay with it in shillings and pence and put it in a separate lino bag so not to get the smell on his bank papers. 20 and 30 years ago it was always where I would meet up with Mr Bobby Pearson, the local solicitor and a great friend of the family. Bobby as a small boy used to run round the village and sell kippers,goodness knows why . He taught me a great deal about fish and to this day I relate the now fish lady with the plastic trays and electronic scales to Bobby Pearson doffing his cap and exchanging pleasantries at the market stall . I am sure there is room for both the lady on Fridays and the new shop for the rest of the week. It would be a shame if the tradition went.
