But unlike the legend that the Crooked Spire got bent by a sneezing demon due to a virgin getting married below, the flea market is real, and a representation of Chesterfield to cherish.
Imagine a clutter of stalls offering endless character, odd curios riddled with backstory, and that’s just the stall-holders. Finding the thing you didn’t expect to find, be it that 1940s wall-clock that’s seen more household dramas than a Coronation Street DVD box-set, or that first-pressing of an Abba record that saw Auntie Shirley climb on the table at that family shindig, covering everyone with regurgitated Skol as she hit the high note on Dancing Queen. The Thursday flea market: a day out of fun and rummage.
9. Maurice Thorpe (ornaments etc)
"I’ve been on this market thirty-six years, and it’s the only one I do now… The best in the country. And the biggest one day flea market… No matter if they come from far south or far north, first thing they say to us is ‘Wish we’d got something like this in our town’." Photo: Derbyshire Times
10. Joe and Wendy Bailey (antiques)
Joe: "Great atmosphere." Wendy: "You meet a lot of characters. Everybody’s friendly. It’s like family." Joe: "There’s a couple over there that come all the way from Skegness. We all know each other. And we enjoy it." Photo: Derbyshire Times
11. Mike Norman (musical instruments)
"I think it’s great. It’s probably the best one around. Simple as that. Council do a good job of sorting this out and yeah, I’m a happy bunny." Photo: Derbyshire Times
12. Adrian Ashton (brass)
"It’s a grand market… it’s very busy. It’s certainly got a problem at the moment because of how people shop, but because it’s second hand goods, a lot of people can’t afford to buy new goods… so people actually come to these type of markets." Photo: Derbyshire Times