Swansea Market

I visited Swansea’s indoor market recently for the first time in many years and I’m happy to report that it appeared to be thriving! It’s a bright and open market hall with a full array of fruit and veg stalls, clothes, bric a brac, etc, and a lively selection of places to sit and eat or buy takeaway.

The market has been on it’s present site since 1897, when the market was fully covered for the first time. Made of wrought iron and glass, it was the larget structure of it’s kind when it was built!

The original Oxford Street market, seen here on the right.

By the 1920′s Swansea Market had over 670 stalls

Sadly this building was badly bombed during the 2nd World War, and the rebuilt market was opened in 1961.

Devastated by bombs in WWII

One of the highlights of a trip to Swansea market is the fresh laverbread on sale – this seaweed is a staple of the full welsh breakfast, rolled in oatmeal and fried. Laverbread is a nutrition powerhouse, full of protein, iron, iodine and vitamins A, C, D and B2. My favourite thing about our visit, though, was the fresh welsh cakes being cooked on the spot. Welsh cakes are a little like flat scones, but usually eaten without any topping. They usually contain raisins or currants and a sprinkling of nutmeg or cinnamon. A bag of warm welsh cakes, eaten as you meander round the market is a wonderful thing to do on cold November day!