What to see, do and experience in Tynemouth's famous market
By Ben Boyd
Tynemouth Market fills both platforms of Tynemouth Metro Station in an idyllic seaside town, offering a range of products and services in their 150+ stalls every Saturday and Sunday.
Tynemouth Market has excellent links to public transport as the Metros whiz past every few minutes bringing visitors via St James in Newcastle, which literally drops you off in the midst of the market. Go North East's Coaster '51' Service from Gateshead Interchange which goes through Newcastle's Market Street too, stops in Tynemouth town centre. For those with cars, there is on-site paid parking on the West Side of the station.
The market's glorious Victorian era station is a grade 2 listed building, which opened in 1882 as a railway station, then it became the first section of the Tyne & Wear Metro network in 1980.
Social Socks is a sustainable sock brand which launched in June 2022, they aim to give the world and owner Marc Bucci's daughters a brighter future through greener methods of production and reducing everyone's carbon footprint.
Marc's stall, is just one of the 150+ available to peruse in the market, however it is extremely unique in its aim. At Tynemouth Market today, he said:
"The reason why I set-up Social Socks was to raise awareness for the impacts of climate change. I am a father to two young daughters and I wanted a way to give back."
Tynemouth Market gives a lot back to its community and traders are local people who know or now live in the North East, this means that there is a real community feeling in the market, and people within the North East echo Marc's sentiment and they too, want to give back.
He continued: "With every pair of socks you purchase from us, we plant a tree and donate 10% back to charity and we are completely single-use plastic free. All of our products and packaging are plastic free and we ship our products in FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified envelopes."
Sophie Henderson is a landscape photographer in the North East and is the owner of the Sophie Photography brand that can be seen all over the North East including the Metro Centre, The South Causey Inn, and her stall has been at Tynemouth Market for the past 7 years.
The North East is home to some spectacular sights both natural and man-made, but in-order for everyone to see and witness them all, photographers like Sophie capture the moment and let people who have never been to the likes of the Sycamore Gap, see what sort of sights are so close to home.
She said: ''It's quite surreal really (people buying her art), for me it is just a hobby and a passion, so for me it is strange that people like it so much and want it on their walls, it's really flattering.''
Tynemouth Market is very well known in the North East, and is flooded with visitors every weekend. The popularity of the market can help small businesses like Sophie's flourish.
When asked how having a stall at Tynemouth helps promote her work, she replied: ''It is so well established and it has such a good following, it allows me to showcase my work to such a variety of people every week.''
There are a variety of food vendors in Tynemouth Market should you get hungry during your visit.
In Tynemouth Market you don't have to leave the station if you get hungry. A variety of vendors are on hand for whatever you could be feeling.
Spicy dishes from Curry Me Away, act like you're in the Alps eating tartiflette with a visit to Cheese Sir, or feast on stonebaked pizza with some Greek street food on the side.
Use the interactive photo on the right to click through each vendor to find out which stall is which before you get there and some information on what each vendor offers. Bon appetit!