Brenda’s shops were the centre of the community

Next week, a funeral takes place which will definitively close a chapter on one family’s colourful contribution to South London life, writes Yann Tear.

Brenda Black will be taken to Hither Green Crematorium on Wednesday for a 2.30pm service. And on that final journey, the funeral procession will pass, briefly, the back entrance of an area she and her husband Bob made their own in Molesworth Street.

For one last time, she will pass what was The Black Market.

For 30 years, from 1970, the couple ran businesses in Lewisham Model Market, which became known as The Black Market for two obvious reasons – because of its mainly West Indian products and customers, and because of the family surname.

The Blacks went on to have six stalls or shops over the years and became very much the focal point of this bustling slice of Lewisham life.

Brenda, who lived in Ladycroft Road, started off 52 years ago with a small wooden barrow-type stall selling baby dresses that she hand-made on her sewing machine.

She and Bob soon expanded and rented a shop next to their pitch, selling kids’ socks and underwear and ladies’ tights and underwear.

They were very busy, especially with the tights, supplying most of the nurses from Lewisham Hospital that shopped in the market.

As the years went on, they moved on to selling the latest fashionwear and school uniforms.

They ran a family-friendly business, helping so many customers over the years by letting people pay in instalments, or even take the goods and “pay whenever they had the money”.

They always kept their prices low, so it was affordable to everyone and the fashionwear they sold was always the latest “must have” items.

From skinny jeans to baggy jeans and Puffa jackets.

In the early days, Brenda would hand make many items that they would sell, including the tartan Bay City Rollers outfits that became so popular among pop fans of tender ages. Another massive fashion phase, in the early 1980s, were leg warmers.

The Black Market was a big part of Brenda and Bob’s families’ lives for decades, with them passing on some of the business to their daughters and the many granddaughters working there from a young age.

Their daughter, Carol, then had two stalls selling cosmetics, toiletries and make-up.

Another daughter, Linda, had a stall selling baby clothes, socks and pyjamas, which was eventually taken over by boxer Errol Christie, their long-time friend who would visit them at home every Sunday for a cup of tea.

Their youngest daughter, Janet, had a stall selling younger kids’ fashion and a shop selling children’s high-end party dresses and formal wear.

Zoe, their granddaughter, would start early every morning and unload the stock from the shops, getting it set up for the day’s trade.

Janet (whose surname is now Lowther) said: “Customers had a great relationship with my mum and dad for so many years, even after they retired in 2000.

“We would be stopped daily by people who recognised them. They all remembered the makeshift changing room which was just a piece of material pegged on either side to a stack of two boxes. But it worked.

“The market was such a vibrant place in the early days, with the record shop, called Lee Sound City, blasting out reggae with people congregating outside to dance.”

Jamaican patties and Jamaican bread, yam and sweet potatoes, and all the items you wouldn’t find in supermarkets, were available.

Anyone in Lewisham that was “rocking” a leather coat would get it from the large selection that Harry and Andrew Costi-Mouyia sold on the walkway into the market.

But all good things come to an end. Such is the relentless pace of change.

“By the time Brenda and Bob retired, in 2000, the market was a shadow of its former glory,” Janet said. “It was a shabby, run-down looking place, which is sad because it was such a goldmine and a valuable piece of Lewisham history.

The closing of the Black Market was such a big loss to the Lewisham community.

“Eventually, all the traders moved out and it was derelict for many years, until it was opened as a trendy Street Feast Market with vendors using the original shops, unchanged from their former glorious days, with some of the original “graffiti” of our children’s heights marked on the walls.”

It has since closed again and sits as an unused empty space.

Bob passed away in December 2019, aged 89. Brenda died on September 14, aged 93.

“I posted about her passing on the Facebook page “Catford and Lewisham – Way back when,” and within minutes people were leaving such wonderful and kind comments about my mum and dad,” Janet said.

“Within a few days we had more than 500 comments, messages of condolences, wonderful memories from old staff and customers to these two Lewisham legends.

“The whole family have been overwhelmed and thank everyone that remembers my mum and dad, and their amazing kindness throughout their years as market traders.”

 

Pictures: The Black family