David Cooper on Newport Market

The market was in Newport. I didn’t go there very much, I used to go there, I never went there when I was working on the farm, and I used to go there out of interest when I was a boy.

That was in, I’m just trying to think of the name of the street now. It’s now where, just a bit below, not Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s I think, Newport, just there somewhere.

That was a busy day; all the animals would be coming in in lorries and there would be a lot of bleating and baa-ing and pigs would come in, there would be a lot of grunting and squeaking of pigs.

There’d be, calves would be auctioned. The Auctioneer would stand on a board along the front of the animals and they’d sort of poke them around a bit and then do the auctioneer bit. Sometimes you would get older cattle would come in I think.

They would come in and I think they would probably just go for beef or ham or food, I’m not sure, I never really knew. But it was quite a busy day and probably a social day for the farmers as well. They’d meet up with friends and people they hadn’t seen for a long time.