OUR new Love Local campaign returns this week, after its successful launch last week, with the focus falling on Ulverston’s Market Hall.

A devastating fire and increasing competition from supermarkets has not been enough to stop Ulverston’s Market Hall from being the thriving and varied delight it is today.

Traders fought back after the famous blaze of 1935, which saw the site gutted inside, to rebuild the following year and continue a trading tradition which began centuries ago.

Since being granted its charter in 1280, markets have been an essential part of the town’s life, and alongside the street market on Thursdays and Saturdays and livestock sales at the auction mart, the Market Hall has provided a focal point for people to gather and trade.

As Furness reporter, I’ve been based in the Ulverston office in nearby Market Street for the best part of three years, yet in that time I had never fully appreciated what was on offer beneath its transparent roof.

Open every day apart from Wednesday and Sunday, the site offers shoppers variety and friendliness aplenty.

You can see it as soon as you walk in, either from Brogden Street or New Market Street, with the friendly faces of helpful stallholders welcoming you.

For more on this story, buy The Westmorland Gazette out today (Friday, January 21).

For a video, click on the link.....

In the weeks to come we will be out and about throughout this newspaper’s circulation area with more ‘write up your streets’. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for our ‘Love Local’ feature, drop a line to, or email, Gillian Cowburn at the following addresses - Love Local Campaign, c/o Gillian Cowburn, The Westmorland Gazette, 1 Wainwright’s Yard, Kendal, LA9 4DP; email gillian.cowburn@kendal.newsquest.co.uk