A MARKET stall which sells tripe is set to end its 140-year association with Barnsley.
J and M Gosling, which was established in 1877, will close when Barnsley Council decides to move tenants at the town’s meat and fish market, on Cheapside, at some point this year.
Although its loyal customers remain, the historic stall will not go when businesses are moved into new premises as part of the town centre’s redevelopment.
Wendy Nicholls, who has run the stall for the last 12 years on behalf of its owner, Newark-based Steve Short, said: “It’s not the traditional food that most people think it is. When you think of tripe, it conjures up images of little old ladies buying it, but it’s very much multi-cultural.
“Customers had talked about a petition to keep us open but the decision has been made and we won’t be moving.
“When the council decides to close the Meat and Fish Market, where we have been for so long, we will cease trading.”
J and M Gosling, the only tripe specialist in Barnsley, is one of just two in South Yorkshire, with the remaining one being situated at Doncaster Market.
“There’s been a big decline with footfall at the market in the last decade,” Wendy said. “We have our regulars and a few newer customers as Polish people like to use it in their cooking in things such as stews, and we also have an Indian gentleman who curries it.
“It’s sad but it’s thought it’s now run its course in the town and we will be closing.”
