Dunstable Yesteryear - The cattle market in 1947

There’s renewed interest today in this Yesteryear photo of Dunstable cattle market which has just been featured in the calendar for 2027 published (price £5) by the Don’t Let Dunstable Die organisation. The picture was taken for the Dunstable Gazette in May 1947.

Farmers from all around the area would come to town every Wednesday to sell their livestock. The animal pens were a permanent feature on the Square, in the area where the Millennium Clock now stands. A weighbridge was positioned there so butchers could learn accurately how much they were getting for their money. The auctions could be very competitive – in 1938, for instance, there were no less than 22 butchers’ shops in the town.

Once the business had been done, many of the farmers would enjoy a pint or two across the road in the Saracen’s Head. Licensing laws were much stricter than today, but Saracen’s had special permission to remain open throughout Market Day – the only pub in Dunstable allowed to do so. It had a room set aside as an office where the cattle market paperwork could be completed.

The market closed on August 8, 1955.

Dunstable folk, pre-war, were used to the sight of market animals. A regular event on a Sunday evening in summer was a herd of more than 200 cattle steadily walking south along the Watling Street to Dunstable’s railway sidings. Police would stop north-bound traffic in Dunstable, and south-bound traffic would have to follow the herd, which was skilfully controlled by drovers. The animals would then be taken by cattle train to the wholesale market at Smithfield.

Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.