Eagle-eyed travellers entering Ruddington this week may already have spotted a subtle new addition to our village gateway signs – indicating that things should be starting to get back to normal.
After a further break of three months, during the latest Coronavirus ‘lockdown’, it’s been confirmed that Ruddington Village Market will return to The Green in April. The smart new signs (below), produced in time for what would have been the ‘second birthday’ market in February, have since been sitting in storage until it was considered safe to resume the monthly event.
Mark Pinks, of the Ruddington Village Centre Partnership (RVCP) Market Team, reveals they originally started thinking about this bespoke signage way back in early 2019, when the event was at The White Horse Inn: “Every month, Stella (Dickie) and I would drive around the outskirts of Ruddington sticking little wooden stake signs on the roadside to advertise the next market. We must have looked quite dodgy loitering around the grassy verges late at night with a hammer and a torch!” he jokes. “So it became a bit of a dream to be able to add something permanent to the existing village gateway signs, but we knew that they needed to look good, and the market needed to be well established.”
The months then went by so quickly the duo didn’t have chance to do anything further with the idea for a while, and then COVID-19 shifted priorities: “But the ‘lockdowns’ did give us a chance to catch up on some of these side projects” reveals Mark “and we finally started to think about the design and costs last September and took the proposal to Ruddington Parish Council, who own the existing signs. It was great news when Parish Councillors agreed to let us go ahead with the signs last November.”
Like previous RVCP artwork, it was designed by Han at picturethis.studio to match the market branding. The signs were then manufactured by a company called Sign of the Times in Bedfordshire. Mark explains: “They made the existing gateway signs, too. After hunting for quotes from various companies, Sign of the Times turned out to be the best option after all, and they’ve done a brilliant job. They actually arrived just after Christmas, but we’ve had to wait until the market was back before we could put them up!”
After running another ‘virtual’ village market online via Instagram at the weekend, Mark went out to install the new RVCP signage beneath four of our five village gateway signs (pictured above) to promote the ‘real’ market’s return. These are on the A60 approaching Ruddington from the city, on Wilford Road by Sellor’s Playing Field, at the bottom of Clifton Lane, and coming into the village along Flawforth Lane. “The fifth gateway sign by Mere Way is actually ‘in hibernation’ while they finish the roadworks on the roundabout” says Mark “but, as soon as it reappears, we’ll add a sign to that too!”
Members of RVCP met last week and decided that, with the ‘stay at home’ guidance ending on March 29th, and the ‘rule of six’ making a comeback, it would be feasible to restart the market safely on Saturday 3rd April from 9am, although still with restrictions in place.
Market manager, Sue Matthews, says: “We are delighted to be able to bring the market back, assuming the ‘roadmap’ changes do happen as planned. However, it can’t be ‘back to normal’ yet until all restrictions are lifted. There’ll only be ‘essential retail traders’ in April and lots of COVID safety procedures in place. We’ll have all the same measures as at our December market; hand sanitizer stations, queue management, face coverings/screens for all traders. Also, volunteers will monitor queues and we will be asking all visitors to adhere to current social distancing guidelines.”
In order to allow more space for this, there’ll be approximately 20% fewer traders next month – meaning around 40 stall holders in total – all selling ‘essential’ provisions only. It will not be possible to have any additional attractions or entertainment just yet, but “Because it’s the Easter weekend, I’m sure the traders will have Easter themed goods on offer” says Sue. She adds: “The new signs look great – and show that we’re a regular attraction for the village.”
We’ll bring you more details about the businesses at April’s Ruddington Village Market nearer the time at RUDDINGTON.info.
