When I moved back to the UK from Australia in 2016 I landed really early at Heathrow and I got the tube into London dragging my 2 suitcases. I came to Smithfield’s market and I decided to go through the market rather than walk around. As I wearily dragged my cases through a witty marketeer shouted to me: ‘Chucked you out has he luv?’ I said no I’ve just emigrated back from Australia. He said ‘What? Really?’ ‘Yes’ Then he said in a strong cockney accent ‘well welcome home luv’. Brilliant memory I love Londoners 🥰
@KeaTiki There was absolutely NO way that "Sausages" could be used as a meaty pun so he basically just RAMMED it into the end of the video because, why not? As a dog from back in the olden days used to say...... SAUSAGES!!
I still remember picking up the family turkey there a few days before Christmas in 1970. It was a huge bastard and I carried it home on the tube all the way back to Barking Station, and then on the bus to my parent's house in Becontree. I still have the arm and shoulder muscles to prove it!
Green Lanes (yes, ending with "s") was supposedly the drovers' road bringing meat on the hoof down to Smithfield. Along its route were the various Greens where the livestock could graze: Palmers Green, Bounds Green, Wood Green, Ducketts Common, Elses Green (now Manor House) and Newington Green
In my years in the Ambulance Service this was one of the stations we rotated through, it's the brick built shed outside the main entrance of St Bart's Hospital that looks like a public toilet in the middle of the road. Night duty there was surprisingly busy as we covered the residential area north of Smithfield as well. The hot fried egg and bacon sandwiches from the Smithfield Cafe were a real delight for "dinner" on nights. Also if you were inclined, a pint at the end of night shift was welcomed by more than a few. I always got a good deal on fresh meat and poultry from the traders in the market before I went home in the mornings. Thank you Jago for revitalising the memories.
Jago, showing your age there! When a market is 2am - 8am its not a matter of when us youngsters have to get up... But rather how late we have to stay up 😂
Nice to see the market again. I worked in the area in the late 60's as a telephone engineer. Did you notice the spiral roadway to the underground goods yard? Apparently horses would pull carts up the ramp and there are refuge cutouts in the walls to avoid breakaway carts. Great video
I hope this becomes a series. When I was a kid my Dad was a greengrocer and he used to take me up to (old) Spitalfields market with him and it was amazing for a young kid. The place was full of old cockneys and shady people with scary sounding nicknames that you apparently didn't want to be owing money to. The market traders used the "handwritten invoice on a metal spike" filing system and worked almost entirely in cash (nudge, wink) and there was plenty of stuff for sale in that market that wasn't fruit and veg if you knew where to look. Del Boy would have fit right in (and in fact my Dad probably bore a bit too much resemblance to Del Boy for comfort). Back in the 1980s some of the market porters still used handcarts instead of forklifts because all the passageways were so narrow, it was like stepping back in time. There was also a group of homeless people that had had a permanent bonfire going there for decades living off of fruit and veg that literally fell off the back of a lorry. They may have turned the site of old spitalfields into trendy restaurants and wine bars now but a lot of the original architecture still remains despite it being a "mixed use development" now.
You just described perfectly the market I remember. Back in the 70s my dad would wake me spontaneous at 3 or 4 in the morning to go there. I remember the geezers with the carts, you had to be careful and they smoked cigarettes while moving the meat. One I remember had a gap in his front teeth where he could jam the ciggi in when he had to talk.
You truly have a genius for presenting...what shall one say...historical geography? The history of a place? The puns in the first minute were brilliant...and yet, as if that were not enough, you then got into some really serious history...you are truly uniquely skilled at what you do. Sincerely--from thousands of miles away in western Canada--thank you!
The serendipity that there is a Smithfield market in London, and a town in Virginia USA with the name, which gave rise to a large company specialising in ham!
Walking Geese from Norfolk was true, in fact what is now my paddock used to be a safe overnight pen for the Geese, and there was i believe a building for lodging the drivers next to the local pub.
It’s a special feeling when your day starts so early, when most people are asleep. Sad to see this early morning world of meat selling and 5:30 am pubs go after so long. We have a coffee break at 5:30 am at the brewery where I work-just the 2 or 3 of us, the rest of the world still silent as machinery whirs away.
Back in the 90s, I used to deliver there regularly in a large articulated lorry. Deliveries were usually timed at 3/4am and the bonus was seeing the people streaming out of the clubs in the area. Watching girls with purple hair and very short skirts dodging market porters with huge loads balanced on a two-wheeled barrow was great fun. The traffic was always a nightmare and if you weren't familiar with the market, you could end up going round twice. On one occasion I was stationary for so long that I fell asleep and was woken up by an irate driver banging on the window.
I was given to understand that one of the problems of redeveloping the site was the cold storage areas. It was said that they would take years to defrost.
Very entertaining and informative. One pub you didn't mention, which I frequented regularly, is the Rutland Arms (Bishop's Finger) which can be glimpsed in the video if you know where to look. I understand that it had an early Market licence, but also a Pool of London licence, determined by the tides, consequently the weirdest licensing hours I've ever encountered.
The workers of the Meat Market are not the only people who make use of those Cafes and services as they are also week morning hot spots for the countless underground workers who can get near it and is bloody reasonable for prices (when you want something hot to eat and drink at 2am in the middle of London and can get a good amount for under £5)
Another one, so comprehensive, that I had to watch again to catch all the points. Mind you it is difficult to learn while one is in fits of laughter :)
Another interesting and informative video - I enjoyed all the meat based puns. I used to work in an office on Holborn Viaduct and one of its sides overlooked Farringdon Street. I often walked up West Smithfield past the meat market to any one of the many sandwich bars that used to be in the area. I discovered Cloth Fair after wondering down one of the little alleys around Bart's Hospital and the beautiful church @2:20 called St Bartholomew the Great. The writer and artist, Molly Parkin, spent many a debauched night in the market and I recall reading about some of her sordid exploits.
Fabulous, I loved the puns. I'm one of those many viewers that were / are hoping for more videos on London's historic markets and this one was special. Thank you.
Many moons ago a railway modelling acquaintance had a penchant for fictitious liveries and vehicles. One of his inventions was a double ended GWR Toad brake van on bogies. When asked he would say it was designed for and used on the fast meat trains from Birkenhead to Smithfield. A visitor to his layout some months later pointed it out to a friend and our modeller considered his work done.
Jago is another example of a RUclipsr who is doing more interesting and entertaining work than most of what passes for professional entertainment these days. If that sequence of meat puns had been part of a sketch on (America's) Saturday Night Live, it would soon be viral. The relative anonymity of most of these talented RUclipsrs is unfortunate, but only partly. It gives us all a chance to discover fantastic talent like Jago, who make subject matter that would be mundane in most hands (and often not of great interest to ourselves) absolutely compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
Great video. Only would say that the sidings on the railway (shown at 6.15) are probably the remains of the widened lines closed when Farringdon platforms were extended for Thameslink purposes. I think the actual sidings are now a car park under Smithfield which you can see at 4.57...Thanks.
I'm somewhat saddened that this meat market is being closed down. Whatever happens there I hope none of it is torn down, it really would be an affront to the heritage of the site. Btw, all of the meat puns in the beginning? Well done.
Sadly, it will probably end up like Covent Garden, overpriced trendy shops and stalls where the "In" people shop so they can pay triple the price for something the seller got on Ebay.
Feel the same way as you. Like a listed building sites like this site should be listed to prevent generic crap moving in and instead stay as a cultural asset. I reckon Khan and his boys are eyeing up the place for sure. Just not Halal enough for him so no wonder it needs to be torn down!
Far as I know it's going to be the new site for the Museum of London which will preserve a lot of the building and make it a more useable space. Also I think the low emission zones meant having a large market so central couldn't be justified
Thanks for this potted history. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, while working for some trade journals at offices within the scent of the gin distillery at Broad Yard, Clerkenwell, I would often arrive at Holborn Viaduct station and walk through some of Smithfield (not a direct route) to work. On the return walk the first of the refrigerated lorries would have arrived for later unloading.
I was lucky enough to visit the site this week and see how the development of the new site for the Museum of London is going. It is a vast project, currently using more scaffolding than any other project in the whole of London. There is even a train line running through the site. The whole project is extremely ambitious and impressive, and the museum there should open in 2024. It will deserve not just one visit, since it is vast. Sympathetic development like this deserves support.
Wanted to get a sense of where the new Museum of London was going and found your awesome video... AND SAUSAGES - dying - absolutely perfect and that entire part was incredibly well-done! Great video and thanks for making it.
Smithfield also lends its name to many roads and streets in North America... in my part (southwestern Pennsylvania) there’s a Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh, along with a popular bridge, plus in my town (Canonsburg) there’s a residential street called Smithfield, a few blocks away from the town center.
I'm so glad you hoofed it over there and via shanks pony, showed us the beautiful buildings that make the 60's ones look tripe. Another bit of dry English humour that leaves a blank expression on my wife's face when I translate what I am watching. Thank you so much for sharing and stuffing so much in to the report.
An episode with a rare distinction-the Jago video with most puns-quite an achievement! I reckon 23 in less than a minute. Not counting sausages. As an aside (topside? silverside?) I remember a railway treasure hunt in East Anglia where I failed to work out the station with the clue "Carving pork?" Also defeated by "Sounds like a metal plater". The answers? Sheringham and Cromer.
I remember doing volunteer work, cleaning up the foreshore at Greenwich once, when I picked up a spiny rock. Took me a moment to realise it was a (hopefully bovine) vertebra, which was a mild shock untli I remembered about Smithfield.
I have been to Smithfield twice as a truck driver, it remains quite an impression that old building which still has quite a history, it did impress me at the time.
Omg the bit with the flock of geese and the little slippers to protect their geese feet from the cold OMG SO CUTE!!!!! I mean yeah they're being taken here to be slaughtered but OH MY GOD CAN YOU IMAGINE how adorable that must've been to watch?!
Punorama= the linguistic equivalent of Cinerama. I love puns so even after the first minute my brain was still in meltdown, I had to watch the whole video several times to make myself immune from the 'punishment.' Really enjoyed the video and the language juggling, so thanks. PS I guess Smithfield security are always on stake out! ( apologies for my pathetic attempt of homage to the author) .....Drew
About 40 years ago, when I lived in Stoke Newington, I and some friends would occasionally go to Smithfield early in the morning just to have a few beers at the early openers
Jago, I enjoyed the video. In the late 1096s I use to walk through the market on my way from Holborn Viaduct railway station to St John Street. I would be fascinated if you could make another video about the intriguing circular ramp in West Smithfield which, I believe, led down to a GWR goods yard.
Me and my son found a small stretch of Thames shore in Greenwich that at first seemed like perfectly normal pebbly shore, on closer inspection every other stone was bone!! We collected a bag of this to one day create some kind of chymera!!
as a local resident I am excited to see the new development that comes to the site. whilst it's history does bring colour, for us locals is a very strange place. it's always deserted during normal social hours. it therefore creates a feeling of unease, its the type of place people scurry along and don't hang about. I am looking forward to the area being busy during the day and feeling more alive.
Wot, no whale meat? As in "whale meat again", that famous wartime ditty. (The words were substituted by army types, sceptical of what was in the tins they were given to eat.)
@@andyjay729 Yes, but probably not through choice - think of a steak - that tastes like fish crossed with iron fillings! Family folklore as to how it tastes.
Why is that after being away from London and the UK for 46 years you not only make laugh but nostalgic and home sick? The 277 bus ended it's route there in my day. The pubs were open first thing (,for me) in the morning. So chop chop look forward to the next market or tube station. Thanks again.
Very interesting thank you. Last year I was lucky enough to be shown around the undercroft which stretches for a very long way and also gives access to what used to be known as the widened lines between Farringdon and Blackfriars. At least the project will retain the buildings although the loss of the market will, as you say, get rid of a lot of local colour. Incidentally St Bartholomew’s Fair became a “den of iniquity” and was closed down in 1855.
Of course from a railway point of view Smithfield had a subterranean goods yard that connected at Farringdon on the line that went via Snow Hill and Lydgate circus now part of Thameslink. The spiral access road from street level is still there.
I used to live nearby (overlooking Leather Lane market) and one of my favourite tricks at the end of an evening with the lads was to get a (shared!) taxi home to my area so we could all go for a full english breakfast and pint of bitter. At 4am. Nobody thought I could pull it off.
Brilliant video, in the early 2000s I worked for a digital agency above the market, the offices run the length of the market, some people would cycle in the office as it was the quickest way to get from desk to meeting.
I have always believed that what is now the adjacent underground car park was built as a short term holding area for live stock that had been walked to the market - it certainly goes down much deeper than the nearby railway lines. Also Holloway Road got its name because it was used by endless streams of drovers walking livestock to Smithfields. The livestock had countryside notions (similar to Martini rules)about when and where to defecate; anytime, anywhere. The resultant mess was shovelled to the sides of the road and gradually built up so that the road itself appeared lower than its surroundings, hence hollow way. I used to work for a nearby location catering firm and we found Smithfields very useful for short term parking when we could not find a spare parking meter. One more white van around Smithfields was never noticed, so no nasty tickets.
Ridden my motorcycle round the market several times recently, whilst waiting for family members attending St Barts. Wonderful place. Thank you for more stuff to tell them after I pick them up to go home. :-)
Great intro! I worked across the road for Brewin Dolphin Stockbrokers for 12yrs from 2002. Fabulous area full of rich history which is still evident to this day. Will be a shame when they move the meat market. It won’t seem the same without it around and the smell of fresh meat, blood and disinfectant from washing the place down each day.
I've been going there for a few days every year since 1973. It's been one thing that's been consistent in my life through many employers and different addresses all over the country., The place has changed a lot in the years. When I first used to go there nearly 50 years ago there were barrow boys called 'bummereers' whose barrows were passed down from generation to generation, and you employed them to go to the stalls pick up your meat and deliver it to your van. At the time I was studying to be an engineer and did the odd pick up for my mothers wholesale butchers on the Isle of Wight where I was born. Later in the eighties I had moved to London and was working for a food machinery company and was sent there to repair machines. I carried this on when I went self employed in the nineties. I now have lived in Bath for 19 years and still go up to Smithfield twice a year to do service contract work. I knew a lot about the place as I used to do history re-enactment for a few years and in our research we thought the name came from the field of smiths or tradesmen such as Blacksmith, Silversmith etc. Most skilled trades people went through their apprenticeships then became journeymen and finally Smiths. We do know there was a lot of trades around the Smith fields as many things were made there by the meat markets, a source of food for the city and often crowded. It will be a sad day when they move out, but none of the customers I deal with in the market mention this so I don't think it will be anytime soon. In fact one of them has moved their shop across the market recently because of the new railway line that was being built behind their original shop. I'm surprised Jago didn't mention this as most of his videos are train concentric It's a bit of a pain getting in there now because of the congestion charge and the difficulty in parking and to be honest if you can deal with the usual daytime traffic in London it's better to go there when it's quiet as the market police generally find me somewhere to park if I arrive outside market hours. Saying that it's quite a nice experience driving past all the London landmarks at 2 am in relatively quiet traffic, almost as good as when I first moved there in 1981. I could not live in London now it's far too hectic and restrictive but I do miss it. I used to go to the pub then a gig/club and finally drink in the market pubs till daylight and get a bus home. Now I often see the party goers waiting for taxis outside the clubs I used to go to when I arrive for work. When they do move the market I hope they don't do what they did when they moved Covent Garden market to the south bank as now you have to pay to even enter the market with a vehicle which is a big con. As the site at Dagenham is outside the congestion zone and nearer the traffic routes I guess it will be easier to get to if you are on the East side of the country but what about the small traders and London restaurants that go there to buy fresh meat daily? I also wonder about trade there as a huge amount of the large trucks which arrive come from the continent and southern Ireland, how is that going to be affected after Brexit?
One of your best! Have enjoyed wandering at Smithfield i the wee hours once. It reminded me of Baltimore Maryland's markets, which have unfortunately had a rough few years.
In Melbourne, we had a market ( sure, not with this history ) that served as the main meat and produce market for the growing city. The city outgrew the market ( Then the 'new' one itself was outgrown ) but we managed to hang on to " The Queen Vic ", which now thrives as a market for those who prefer their meat and fresh produce to arrive at their door without the intervention of a supermarket chain. Londoners could do worse than following our example. I'd link to the market site but they currently have some hideous and embarrassing Christmas promo on there.
My niece lives just nearby and was part of a local group the strongly petitioned the government to preserve the building. It was a tough fight they almost lost.
I'll take a pun't on you having 100k subs by Christmas. I have got to know Smithfield pretty well over the last forty years or so, but haven't been up since first lock-down. Good to see the old place again.
Smithfield cafe is great - really great value for what you get too! Smithfield market is one of my earliest memories of London, as a child it baffled me because it seemed so old fashioned - the area will miss it
Seeing your delicious meal at the end reminded me of the amazing "Regency Cafe" in/near Victoria. It really is a fantastic cafe with plenty of interesting adorments, and i think its been in a few films (Snatch ? Layer Cake ?) - maybe a series on significant cafes of London could be awesome ! Shame my favourite on Charing Cross Road is long, long gone :(
The markets’ underground caverns were used for scientific experimentation during WWII, I understand, and the soul of Sir John Betjeman whose flat was between Bart’s and the market likely weeps as much as mine at the prospect of this “redevelopment” that’s on the cards. I’m so glad Jago is giving us these vignettes for the historic record before such landmarks vanish for good. Two vids in one day? Ambassador Hazzard you are really spoiling us.
Crossrail has a new video out,as they are running test trains,and guess what,Smithfield has its own station,so everything is up to date,in Kansas City,( which like Chicago,and Omaha,had extensive stockyards,and butchers[ Hormel,being best known,home of Spam],so we do get our digs in!! Thanks for a really meaty history lesson,and since you covered practically all the puns,I forgo,any other comments! 😊 THANKS!!!Jago,you are something else,Wow!!!
Great video, once again. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on Greenwich market. Also, if you do a video on borough, I believe it has some connection to the nearby Maltby Steet market (aka Rope Walk). Near rope walk is a plaque on the railway arches about an air raid shelter in the arches that received a direct hit. Very somber
I was a Posty in The 1980s worked in King Edward Building next to Barts Hospital . At Christmas time I'd creep out for pint in those pubs then came back and do my Walk .then back in the pub at 12.30 job done.
Took a tour with a historian in 2019, my wife booked it after we had done something similar in Barcelona, she didn't love the cold meat market, but I enjoyed the history, we walked the whole area and up to the teaching hospital too. Sad it will be gone but I got to walk in there while it was still an active place doing its thing.
I stumbled ont Spitalfields market during its swansong and didn't realise it as I was new to London. So glad I caught a glimpse of what it was like. A piece of history but needed to move.
David Jason's cousin Pete Bryant was a Smithfields barker, he was the chap that told me to go up there on boxing day and fill up a chest freezer with turkeys penny on the pound. There used to be a "hotel" across that stayed open 24/7 for food and booze, of course I remember St Barts for the three student nurses I was having relations with and who actually convinced me to train as a nurse myself as at the time I was aide and assistant to Sir Anthony Tippet at Great Ormond Street and he like moses on the red seas parted a wave through the bureaucracy in registering to train and signed my application with a flourish and couple months later I was off at a mental hospital in Brentwood learning me stuff.
@@JagoHazzard A Little reading, and the BT Museum near the Mermaid Theatre (actually its closed , but worth a look at the regal ciphers etc , more phone boxes down around the Soho/ Tottenham Court Road area.
Just down on the corner of Farringdon Street and West Smithfield at the very end of the market is a wonderfully creepy Crossrail entrance to the Snow Hill basement. Surprised it didn't get a mention! Don't think Snow Hill / Holborn Viaduct has been mentioned on the channel before ( I could be 100% wrong).
Turkeys had their feet dipped in tar, then sand applied, according to Daniel Defoe, with the walk from Norfolk taking up to 3 months. There was a contemporary reimagining of this happening in an obscure bit of British cinema, from the early sixties, which for the moment I am unable to track down, non of the usual suspects giving up this information. Another fact-filled video Jago, one of your best I think.
Love all your videos and this is my first comment to you. This one was excellent, great history lesson and very well produced. Loved the opening puns and the picture pairing. I would consider you as the Bob Monkhouse of the 21st century! 😅😂 That is a compliment BTW.
The Cock Tavern closed about 8 years ago. I occasionally ate there, although it was nothing to look at; more a canteen than a pub. The Hope and the Fox and Anchor had far more appeal; The Hope used to do great sandwiches. I worked in the area from 1986 to 2010. It had a fantastic atmosphere, particularly when I first arrived there - before it was gentrified. I got into the habit of buying a triple smoked ham from the market every Christmas, usually around 7 or 8 kg. Not sure what I'll do when it moves.
It's RARE to see this many puns in one video.
I thought it was over-done, by a turn.
Thankfully!!
What PUNishment can be dealt for this outrageous act though?
@@tinplategeek1058 It meats the requirements to be minced to a pulp, and stuffed like a sausage.
@Harris Pork Don't hog the comment section.
When I moved back to the UK from Australia in 2016 I landed really early at Heathrow and I got the tube into London dragging my 2 suitcases. I came to Smithfield’s market and I decided to go through the market rather than walk around.
As I wearily dragged my cases through a witty marketeer shouted to me:
‘Chucked you out has he luv?’
I said no I’ve just emigrated back from Australia. He said ‘What? Really?’
‘Yes’
Then he said in a strong cockney accent ‘well welcome home luv’.
Brilliant memory I love Londoners 🥰
A superb return! Our banter is unmatched! Thank you for giving me such a good laugh this morning 😂
Great story 😂
Those jokes in the first minute are priceless.
Very well done
Definitely on form 👌
Agree
I like to think yours was an unintentional pun
@@maryapatterson k
"...also, sausages" got the biggest laugh from me.
Yes, that was my favourite too!!!
Me too. It was the way it was not so subtlety hooked on at the end. :)
@@mikemidulster Let's face it, the guy is a genius!!
4:14
@KeaTiki There was absolutely NO way that "Sausages" could be used as a meaty pun so he basically just RAMMED it into the end of the video because, why not? As a dog from back in the olden days used to say...... SAUSAGES!!
Thankfully no german sausage puns. Those are the Wurst 😉
But he IS a bit of a BRAT of the WURST kind.
I still remember picking up the family turkey there a few days before Christmas in 1970. It was a huge bastard and I carried it home on the tube all the way back to Barking Station, and then on the bus to my parent's house in Becontree. I still have the arm and shoulder muscles to prove it!
"I point-blank refuse to show a photo of Mel Gibson" - spot-on, and hilarious. Nice one. I am pretty sure we all agree with this sentiment.
Indeed. I only wish many of my fellow Scots wouldn't reference Mel in that movie which was a work of arrant fantasy when mentioning Wallace.
Have you seen what they erected in front of the Wallace Monument? 😕
Green Lanes (yes, ending with "s") was supposedly the drovers' road bringing meat on the hoof down to Smithfield. Along its route were the various Greens where the livestock could graze: Palmers Green, Bounds Green, Wood Green, Ducketts Common, Elses Green (now Manor House) and Newington Green
Those were some prime jokes you had there Jago - a proper Sunday roast for those of us who enjoy a hearty spoonful of wit!
In my years in the Ambulance Service this was one of the stations we rotated through, it's the brick built shed outside the main entrance of St Bart's Hospital that looks like a public toilet in the middle of the road. Night duty there was surprisingly busy as we covered the residential area north of Smithfield as well. The hot fried egg and bacon sandwiches from the Smithfield Cafe were a real delight for "dinner" on nights. Also if you were inclined, a pint at the end of night shift was welcomed by more than a few. I always got a good deal on fresh meat and poultry from the traders in the market before I went home in the mornings. Thank you Jago for revitalising the memories.
Sad to hear this market is to be moved. Still what’s 1000 years of history when money and gentrification beckons 😢.
In 2019 I visited a "market" in Dallas that was all gentrified boutiques in the shell of an old farmer's market.
Agreed!
Jago, showing your age there! When a market is 2am - 8am its not a matter of when us youngsters have to get up... But rather how late we have to stay up 😂
There was a time when I would have taken that option... ah, memories...
Just roll over from fabric next time!
@@katherineyesilirmak6426 Eyyy, glad someone mentioned the club!
came here for the history originally, got blessed with comedy and history big dub
Nice to see the market again. I worked in the area in the late 60's as a telephone engineer. Did you notice the spiral roadway to the underground goods yard? Apparently horses would pull carts up the ramp and there are refuge cutouts in the walls to avoid breakaway carts.
Great video
I hope this becomes a series. When I was a kid my Dad was a greengrocer and he used to take me up to (old) Spitalfields market with him and it was amazing for a young kid. The place was full of old cockneys and shady people with scary sounding nicknames that you apparently didn't want to be owing money to. The market traders used the "handwritten invoice on a metal spike" filing system and worked almost entirely in cash (nudge, wink) and there was plenty of stuff for sale in that market that wasn't fruit and veg if you knew where to look. Del Boy would have fit right in (and in fact my Dad probably bore a bit too much resemblance to Del Boy for comfort). Back in the 1980s some of the market porters still used handcarts instead of forklifts because all the passageways were so narrow, it was like stepping back in time. There was also a group of homeless people that had had a permanent bonfire going there for decades living off of fruit and veg that literally fell off the back of a lorry. They may have turned the site of old spitalfields into trendy restaurants and wine bars now but a lot of the original architecture still remains despite it being a "mixed use development" now.
Great insight
You just described perfectly the market I remember. Back in the 70s my dad would wake me spontaneous at 3 or 4 in the morning to go there. I remember the geezers with the carts, you had to be careful and they smoked cigarettes while moving the meat. One I remember had a gap in his front teeth where he could jam the ciggi in when he had to talk.
Fascinating to hear about what it was like. Thanks for sharing this
You truly have a genius for presenting...what shall one say...historical geography? The history of a place? The puns in the first minute were brilliant...and yet, as if that were not enough, you then got into some really serious history...you are truly uniquely skilled at what you do. Sincerely--from thousands of miles away in western Canada--thank you!
Or the history of a plaice?
I was planning a trip to London, but I decided not to brisket.
The serendipity that there is a Smithfield market in London, and a town in Virginia USA with the name, which gave rise to a large company specialising in ham!
Walking Geese from Norfolk was true, in fact what is now my paddock used to be a safe overnight pen for the Geese, and there was i believe a building for lodging the drivers next to the local pub.
It’s a special feeling when your day starts so early, when most people are asleep. Sad to see this early morning world of meat selling and 5:30 am pubs go after so long.
We have a coffee break at 5:30 am at the brewery where I work-just the 2 or 3 of us, the rest of the world still silent as machinery whirs away.
Back in the 90s, I used to deliver there regularly in a large articulated lorry. Deliveries were usually timed at 3/4am and the bonus was seeing the people streaming out of the clubs in the area. Watching girls with purple hair and very short skirts dodging market porters with huge loads balanced on a two-wheeled barrow was great fun.
The traffic was always a nightmare and if you weren't familiar with the market, you could end up going round twice. On one occasion I was stationary for so long that I fell asleep and was woken up by an irate driver banging on the window.
I was given to understand that one of the problems of redeveloping the site was the cold storage areas. It was said that they would take years to defrost.
Videos are very good, they make self isolating a lot easier. Only until Tuesday for me, but I'll keep on watching.
Very entertaining and informative. One pub you didn't mention, which I frequented regularly, is the Rutland Arms (Bishop's Finger) which can be glimpsed in the video if you know where to look. I understand that it had an early Market licence, but also a Pool of London licence, determined by the tides, consequently the weirdest licensing hours I've ever encountered.
That’s the best bit of info of all. A Pool of London pub licence that allowed opening to move with the tides. Thanks.
"also sausages" - I almost spit out my coffee. Thanks for that, made my day already!
Van you explain this reference to this dutchman?
The workers of the Meat Market are not the only people who make use of those Cafes and services as they are also week morning hot spots for the countless underground workers who can get near it and is bloody reasonable for prices (when you want something hot to eat and drink at 2am in the middle of London and can get a good amount for under £5)
I was very impressed by the prices at the café where I stopped. The quantity and quality was spot on.
Another one, so comprehensive, that I had to watch again to catch all the points.
Mind you it is difficult to learn while one is in fits of laughter :)
Another interesting and informative video - I enjoyed all the meat based puns. I used to work in an office on Holborn Viaduct and one of its sides overlooked Farringdon Street. I often walked up West Smithfield past the meat market to any one of the many sandwich bars that used to be in the area. I discovered Cloth Fair after wondering down one of the little alleys around Bart's Hospital and the beautiful church @2:20 called St Bartholomew the Great.
The writer and artist, Molly Parkin, spent many a debauched night in the market and I recall reading about some of her sordid exploits.
Fabulous, I loved the puns. I'm one of those many viewers that were / are hoping for more videos on London's historic markets and this one was special. Thank you.
Many moons ago a railway modelling acquaintance had a penchant for fictitious liveries and vehicles. One of his inventions was a double ended GWR Toad brake van on bogies. When asked he would say it was designed for and used on the fast meat trains from Birkenhead to Smithfield. A visitor to his layout some months later pointed it out to a friend and our modeller considered his work done.
Jago is another example of a RUclipsr who is doing more interesting and entertaining work than most of what passes for professional entertainment these days. If that sequence of meat puns had been part of a sketch on (America's) Saturday Night Live, it would soon be viral. The relative anonymity of most of these talented RUclipsrs is unfortunate, but only partly. It gives us all a chance to discover fantastic talent like Jago, who make subject matter that would be mundane in most hands (and often not of great interest to ourselves) absolutely compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
6:03 that "Here" helped me for real
Probably one of the best intros to any RUclips video. Plus a great video to follow it.
*When the market goes, it will take a thousand years of history with it* is a melancholy epigraph for all London. Great video, JH!
Great video. Only would say that the sidings on the railway (shown at 6.15) are probably the remains of the widened lines closed when Farringdon platforms were extended for Thameslink purposes. I think the actual sidings are now a car park under Smithfield which you can see at 4.57...Thanks.
Love your work.. 22 puns, give or take, in about a minute. Pretty good!
Cheers
I'm somewhat saddened that this meat market is being closed down. Whatever happens there I hope none of it is torn down, it really would be an affront to the heritage of the site.
Btw, all of the meat puns in the beginning? Well done.
Fancy, expensive shops will move in.. probably.. classic
Sadly, it will probably end up like Covent Garden, overpriced trendy shops and stalls where the "In" people shop so they can pay triple the price for something the seller got on Ebay.
Feel the same way as you. Like a listed building sites like this site should be listed to prevent generic crap moving in and instead stay as a cultural asset. I reckon Khan and his boys are eyeing up the place for sure. Just not Halal enough for him so no wonder it needs to be torn down!
Yes the Bis Tof the Video
Far as I know it's going to be the new site for the Museum of London which will preserve a lot of the building and make it a more useable space. Also I think the low emission zones meant having a large market so central couldn't be justified
Thanks for this potted history. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, while working for some trade journals at offices within the scent of the gin distillery at Broad Yard, Clerkenwell, I would often arrive at Holborn Viaduct station and walk through some of Smithfield (not a direct route) to work. On the return walk the first of the refrigerated lorries would have arrived for later unloading.
The first minute or so is relentless. The amount and quality of the puns is an astounding piece of work, chapeau sir.
I was lucky enough to visit the site this week and see how the development of the new site for the Museum of London is going. It is a vast project, currently using more scaffolding than any other project in the whole of London. There is even a train line running through the site.
The whole project is extremely ambitious and impressive, and the museum there should open in 2024. It will deserve not just one visit, since it is vast. Sympathetic development like this deserves support.
Wanted to get a sense of where the new Museum of London was going and found your awesome video...
AND SAUSAGES - dying - absolutely perfect and that entire part was incredibly well-done!
Great video and thanks for making it.
You certainly brat your wurst with this one. Bravo, sir... loin
Smithfield also lends its name to many roads and streets in North America... in my part (southwestern Pennsylvania) there’s a Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh, along with a popular bridge, plus in my town (Canonsburg) there’s a residential street called Smithfield, a few blocks away from the town center.
I'm so glad you hoofed it over there and via shanks pony, showed us the beautiful buildings that make the 60's ones look tripe. Another bit of dry English humour that leaves a blank expression on my wife's face when I translate what I am watching. Thank you so much for sharing and stuffing so much in to the report.
I love how you quickly shove “ *sausages* “ into the end of your brilliant opening monologue❗️😂
You've excelled yourself this time, Jago! I never sausage a display of punnery before.
Great video jago, amazing British history, puns galore, love it😂, as usual beautifully shot and narrated 👌👍😀
An episode with a rare distinction-the Jago video with most puns-quite an achievement! I reckon 23 in less than a minute. Not counting sausages. As an aside (topside? silverside?) I remember a railway treasure hunt in East Anglia where I failed to work out the station with the clue "Carving pork?" Also defeated by "Sounds like a metal plater". The answers? Sheringham and Cromer.
I remember doing volunteer work, cleaning up the foreshore at Greenwich once, when I picked up a spiny rock. Took me a moment to realise it was a (hopefully bovine) vertebra, which was a mild shock untli I remembered about Smithfield.
I have been to Smithfield twice as a truck driver, it remains quite an impression that old building which still has quite a history, it did impress me at the time.
thank you for butchering all those puns
Omg the bit with the flock of geese and the little slippers to protect their geese feet from the cold OMG SO CUTE!!!!! I mean yeah they're being taken here to be slaughtered but OH MY GOD CAN YOU IMAGINE how adorable that must've been to watch?!
Punorama= the linguistic equivalent of Cinerama. I love puns so even after the first minute my brain was still in meltdown, I had to watch the whole video several times to make myself immune from the 'punishment.' Really enjoyed the video and the language juggling, so thanks. PS I guess Smithfield security are always on stake out! ( apologies for my pathetic attempt of homage to the author) .....Drew
About 40 years ago, when I lived in Stoke Newington, I and some friends would occasionally go to Smithfield early in the morning just to have a few beers at the early openers
Jago, I enjoyed the video. In the late 1096s I use to walk through the market on my way from Holborn Viaduct railway station to St John Street. I would be fascinated if you could make another video about the intriguing circular ramp in West Smithfield which, I believe, led down to a GWR goods yard.
Me and my son found a small stretch of Thames shore in Greenwich that at first seemed like perfectly normal pebbly shore, on closer inspection every other stone was bone!! We collected a bag of this to one day create some kind of chymera!!
as a local resident I am excited to see the new development that comes to the site. whilst it's history does bring colour, for us locals is a very strange place. it's always deserted during normal social hours. it therefore creates a feeling of unease, its the type of place people scurry along and don't hang about. I am looking forward to the area being busy during the day and feeling more alive.
Wot, no whale meat? As in "whale meat again", that famous wartime ditty.
(The words were substituted by army types, sceptical of what was in the tins they were given to eat.)
Whale meat actually used to be a staple in Japanese school cafeterias.
Incidentally, there's a Japanese band called School Food Punishment.
Yep, in the UK, whale meat was fairly easy to get right upto the late 1960's
@@robertwilloughby8050 Now that's something I didn't know. So the Beatles probably ate whale meat as kids...
@@andyjay729 Yes, but probably not through choice - think of a steak - that tastes like fish crossed with iron fillings! Family folklore as to how it tastes.
Why is that after being away from London and the UK for 46 years you not only make laugh but nostalgic and home sick?
The 277 bus ended it's route there in my day. The pubs were open first thing (,for me) in the morning. So chop chop look forward to the next market or tube station. Thanks again.
Very interesting thank you. Last year I was lucky enough to be shown around the undercroft which stretches for a very long way and also gives access to what used to be known as the widened lines between Farringdon and Blackfriars. At least the project will retain the buildings although the loss of the market will, as you say, get rid of a lot of local colour. Incidentally St Bartholomew’s Fair became a “den of iniquity” and was closed down in 1855.
Of course from a railway point of view Smithfield had a subterranean goods yard that connected at Farringdon on the line that went via Snow Hill and Lydgate circus now part of Thameslink.
The spiral access road from street level is still there.
I used to live nearby (overlooking Leather Lane market) and one of my favourite tricks at the end of an evening with the lads was to get a (shared!) taxi home to my area so we could all go for a full english breakfast and pint of bitter. At 4am. Nobody thought I could pull it off.
Your content is always full of meaty historical tidbits! Thanks for the hilarious commentary. Always a pleasure to watch.
Absolutely superb. I think you can expect Tim Vine's crown in the post any day now. Also sausages.
Used to work nights in the City, Smithfield (along with the old Fleet Street) was a good place for refreshment.
Brilliant video, in the early 2000s I worked for a digital agency above the market, the offices run the length of the market, some people would cycle in the office as it was the quickest way to get from desk to meeting.
I have always believed that what is now the adjacent underground car park was built as a short term holding area for live stock that had been walked to the market - it certainly goes down much deeper than the nearby railway lines. Also Holloway Road got its name because it was used by endless streams of drovers walking livestock to Smithfields. The livestock had countryside notions (similar to Martini rules)about when and where to defecate; anytime, anywhere. The resultant mess was shovelled to the sides of the road and gradually built up so that the road itself appeared lower than its surroundings, hence hollow way.
I used to work for a nearby location catering firm and we found Smithfields very useful for short term parking when we could not find a spare parking meter. One more white van around Smithfields was never noticed, so no nasty tickets.
very good.
thinly sliced and well marinated. delivered in style.
Ridden my motorcycle round the market several times recently, whilst waiting for family members attending St Barts. Wonderful place. Thank you for more stuff to tell them after I pick them up to go home. :-)
Great intro! I worked across the road for Brewin Dolphin Stockbrokers for 12yrs from 2002. Fabulous area full of rich history which is still evident to this day. Will be a shame when they move the meat market. It won’t seem the same without it around and the smell of fresh meat, blood and disinfectant from washing the place down each day.
I've been going there for a few days every year since 1973. It's been one thing that's been consistent in my life through many employers and different addresses all over the country.,
The place has changed a lot in the years. When I first used to go there nearly 50 years ago there were barrow boys called 'bummereers' whose barrows were passed down from generation to generation, and you employed them to go to the stalls pick up your meat and deliver it to your van. At the time I was studying to be an engineer and did the odd pick up for my mothers wholesale butchers on the Isle of Wight where I was born. Later in the eighties I had moved to London and was working for a food machinery company and was sent there to repair machines. I carried this on when I went self employed in the nineties. I now have lived in Bath for 19 years and still go up to Smithfield twice a year to do service contract work.
I knew a lot about the place as I used to do history re-enactment for a few years and in our research we thought the name came from the field of smiths or tradesmen such as Blacksmith, Silversmith etc. Most skilled trades people went through their apprenticeships then became journeymen and finally Smiths. We do know there was a lot of trades around the Smith fields as many things were made there by the meat markets, a source of food for the city and often crowded.
It will be a sad day when they move out, but none of the customers I deal with in the market mention this so I don't think it will be anytime soon. In fact one of them has moved their shop across the market recently because of the new railway line that was being built behind their original shop. I'm surprised Jago didn't mention this as most of his videos are train concentric
It's a bit of a pain getting in there now because of the congestion charge and the difficulty in parking and to be honest if you can deal with the usual daytime traffic in London it's better to go there when it's quiet as the market police generally find me somewhere to park if I arrive outside market hours. Saying that it's quite a nice experience driving past all the London landmarks at 2 am in relatively quiet traffic, almost as good as when I first moved there in 1981. I could not live in London now it's far too hectic and restrictive but I do miss it. I used to go to the pub then a gig/club and finally drink in the market pubs till daylight and get a bus home. Now I often see the party goers waiting for taxis outside the clubs I used to go to when I arrive for work.
When they do move the market I hope they don't do what they did when they moved Covent Garden market to the south bank as now you have to pay to even enter the market with a vehicle which is a big con.
As the site at Dagenham is outside the congestion zone and nearer the traffic routes I guess it will be easier to get to if you are on the East side of the country but what about the small traders and London restaurants that go there to buy fresh meat daily? I also wonder about trade there as a huge amount of the large trucks which arrive come from the continent and southern Ireland, how is that going to be affected after Brexit?
That was puntastic!!! The video was great and the intro monologue was the gravy on top.
Amazed how they got paxoed in so tightly, I think he had the help of the intelliegence service for 120seconds for a couple of mins pies.
This video is a masterpiece on the level of Jay Foreman banter
This may be one of your best videos Jago and that is saying something and yes the Punfest at the start was sublime lol
We’ll meat again, don’t know rare, don’t know hen.
Veal Meat again.
The sheer volume of meat related punt shot out of this video left me like a swiss cheese. You my man, are a comedic genius!
One of your best! Have enjoyed wandering at Smithfield i the wee hours once. It reminded me of Baltimore Maryland's markets, which have unfortunately had a rough few years.
Should add the Baltimore in Maryland in the states.
In Melbourne, we had a market ( sure, not with this history ) that served as the main meat and produce market for the growing city. The city outgrew the market ( Then the 'new' one itself was outgrown ) but we managed to hang on to " The Queen Vic ", which now thrives as a market for those who prefer their meat and fresh produce to arrive at their door without the intervention of a supermarket chain. Londoners could do worse than following our example. I'd link to the market site but they currently have some hideous and embarrassing Christmas promo on there.
My niece lives just nearby and was part of a local group the strongly petitioned the government to preserve the building. It was a tough fight they almost lost.
I'll take a pun't on you having 100k subs by Christmas.
I have got to know Smithfield pretty well over the last forty years or so, but haven't been up since first lock-down. Good to see the old place again.
Smithfield cafe is great - really great value for what you get too! Smithfield market is one of my earliest memories of London, as a child it baffled me because it seemed so old fashioned - the area will miss it
Seeing your delicious meal at the end reminded me of the amazing "Regency Cafe" in/near Victoria. It really is a fantastic cafe with plenty of interesting adorments, and i think its been in a few films (Snatch ? Layer Cake ?) - maybe a series on significant cafes of London could be awesome ! Shame my favourite on Charing Cross Road is long, long gone :(
The markets’ underground caverns were used for scientific experimentation during WWII, I understand, and the soul of Sir John Betjeman whose flat was between Bart’s and the market likely weeps as much as mine at the prospect of this “redevelopment” that’s on the cards.
I’m so glad Jago is giving us these vignettes for the historic record before such landmarks vanish for good. Two vids in one day? Ambassador Hazzard you are really spoiling us.
If you ever do a video about the Caledonian Market don’t forget to include the now extinct Junction Road railway station.
Definitely! The more I learn about that place, the more there is to talk about.
I live in Dagenham and had no idea it was moving down to the dock. Ha learn something new everyday. Especially on these videos!
Crossrail has a new video out,as they are running test trains,and guess what,Smithfield has its own station,so everything is up to date,in Kansas City,( which like Chicago,and Omaha,had extensive stockyards,and butchers[ Hormel,being best known,home of Spam],so we do get our digs in!! Thanks for a really meaty history lesson,and since you covered practically all the puns,I forgo,any other comments! 😊 THANKS!!!Jago,you are something else,Wow!!!
Great video, once again. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on Greenwich market. Also, if you do a video on borough, I believe it has some connection to the nearby Maltby Steet market (aka Rope Walk). Near rope walk is a plaque on the railway arches about an air raid shelter in the arches that received a direct hit. Very somber
I was a Posty in The 1980s worked in King Edward Building next to Barts Hospital . At Christmas time I'd creep out for pint in those pubs then came back and do my Walk .then back in the pub at 12.30 job done.
Took a tour with a historian in 2019, my wife booked it after we had done something similar in Barcelona, she didn't love the cold meat market, but I enjoyed the history, we walked the whole area and up to the teaching hospital too. Sad it will be gone but I got to walk in there while it was still an active place doing its thing.
Thank you for this video. I had a great uncle who worked at Smithfield Market
I stumbled ont Spitalfields market during its swansong and didn't realise it as I was new to London. So glad I caught a glimpse of what it was like. A piece of history but needed to move.
David Jason's cousin Pete Bryant was a Smithfields barker, he was the chap that told me to go up there on boxing day and fill up a chest freezer with turkeys penny on the pound. There used to be a "hotel" across that stayed open 24/7 for food and booze, of course I remember St Barts for the three student nurses I was having relations with and who actually convinced me to train as a nurse myself as at the time I was aide and assistant to Sir Anthony Tippet at Great Ormond Street and he like moses on the red seas parted a wave through the bureaucracy in registering to train and signed my application with a flourish and couple months later I was off at a mental hospital in Brentwood learning me stuff.
Thanks for another great video. I listen to a Tudor channel and some of this video links to what I've learnt there.
I didn't realise there were two different sizes of red telephone box.
You need to work on your Lorentz transforms. Of course the real trick is to get more space inside.
I think those were a K2 and K6, Ks 1,3,4,5 also exist. I think I just lost any coolness I might have had.
I keep thinking I should do a video on the types of phone box. They’re genuinely iconic, but I know so little about them.
@@JagoHazzard A Little reading, and the BT Museum near the Mermaid Theatre (actually its closed , but worth a look at the regal ciphers etc , more phone boxes down around the Soho/ Tottenham Court Road area.
@@JagoHazzard a big yes please to telephone boxes!
Love your narrations Jago!
Just down on the corner of Farringdon Street and West Smithfield at the very end of the market is a wonderfully creepy Crossrail entrance to the Snow Hill basement. Surprised it didn't get a mention! Don't think Snow Hill / Holborn Viaduct has been mentioned on the channel before ( I could be 100% wrong).
Not yet - it will get a brief mention in an upcoming video, but I do want to do a fuller video on the subject.
Turkeys had their feet dipped in tar, then sand applied, according to Daniel Defoe, with the walk from Norfolk taking up to 3 months. There was a contemporary reimagining of this happening in an obscure bit of British cinema, from the early sixties, which for the moment I am unable to track down, non of the usual suspects giving up this information. Another fact-filled video Jago, one of your best I think.
Love all your videos and this is my first comment to you. This one was excellent, great history lesson and very well produced. Loved the opening puns and the picture pairing. I would consider you as the Bob Monkhouse of the 21st century! 😅😂 That is a compliment BTW.
The Cock Tavern closed about 8 years ago. I occasionally ate there, although it was nothing to look at; more a canteen than a pub. The Hope and the Fox and Anchor had far more appeal; The Hope used to do great sandwiches. I worked in the area from 1986 to 2010. It had a fantastic atmosphere, particularly when I first arrived there - before it was gentrified. I got into the habit of buying a triple smoked ham from the market every Christmas, usually around 7 or 8 kg. Not sure what I'll do when it moves.
You are surely the best RUclipsr in Hazzard county.