Women’s Town: The Female Force Behind Treacle Sundays

On the last Sunday of every month, the streets of Macclesfield’s town centre transform into a bustling market town. Organisers, volunteers and stallholders arrive at 5 am to start the set-up, raising blue-and-white striped pop-up gazebos and laying their wares on tables.

From 10 am onwards, people start to trickle along the cobbled streets, their numbers growing to the thousands as the morning turns to afternoon. Locals and people who travel in for the day meander slowly along the streets, smelling handmade soaps and turning over trinkets in their hands.

The Treacle Market, co-founded by Jane Munro and Debbie Quinn in 2010, has grown into one of Macclesfield’s largest and most recognisable events.

Scenes from the Treacle Market. Credit: Hannah Cochrane

Becky Thompson, along with her husband Andy, took over running the market in 2021.

“It was an offer I couldn’t say no to. It was kind of yes and think about it later. I didn’t have a clue at the beginning,” Becky explained.

“What we’ve tried to do is make the market more inclusive and attract younger people. We wanted to change the dynamic of artisan markets, which are typically middle-class and middle-aged. So we focused on things like more live music.”

Andy and Becky Thompson at the Treacle Market. Credit: Simon Brown

The artisan market boasts more than 140 individual stalls and brings a huge influx of visitors to the town.

Footfall data from Macclesfield Town Council supports this, as Treacle Sundays from March through to June saw spikes in town centre footfall.

April in particular saw a significant amount of footfall, with nearly 17,000 people attending the market and walking through Macclesfield.

Infographic depicting footfall data on Treacle Sundays. Source: Macclesfield Town Council. Credit: Hannah Cochrane, created via Canva.

In a 2014 article, co-founder Jane Munro reflected on the market’s beginnings: “This type of mixed ‘makers market’ was something quite new. The initial reaction was so positive, and locals were pleased to see a high-quality market back in its original home.”

Today’s organisers Becky and Andy moved to Macclesfield in 2003 and have always been ‘community focused’. Becky used to volunteer with S: Park, a community interest company which aims to help local residents get the best out of South Park, Macclesfield. She said that her role there led to her running the Treacle Market.

Becky works on the market throughout the month and gets up at 5 am on Treacle Sundays to help start the setup.

“My role involves attending quite a lot of council meetings. There’s a lot of licensing hoops to jump through, and I keep in touch with all our traders.

“I absolutely love it. I look forward to it every month,” Becky said.

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There is a strong presence of female stallholders at the market, with more female traders than male traders. Becky said she ‘absolutely’ sees the market as part of Macclesfield’s ongoing heritage of women driving its economy.

“We are busier than we’ve ever been,” Becky added.

“The Treacle Market really does put Macc on the map.”

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One female stallholder who also sees the impact women have on the market is Rachel Law, who sells a range of reconditioned second-hand tools and other vintage items, such as old children’s books.

Rachel Law in front of her stall. Credit: Hannah Cochrane

“There is a real warmth to the market, and I think a lot of that is definitely to do with the female influence. There is very much a ‘women supporting women’ vibe,” Rachel explained.

“There’s a strong maternal element when new traders come in, because female traders will look in on them, check on them and see if everybody’s okay.”

Rachel grew up in Macclesfield, but has lived in Whitchurch, North Shropshire, for the past few decades. After the Treacle Market launched, her parents told her about ‘how wonderful’ it was.

She was also inspired by the market being co-founded by two women to revitalise Macclesfield’s history as a market town.

“It feels really fantastic to be part of something that two women started. They pulled together this amazing mix of artisans and crafters and creators.

“I started doing treacle three months after it started. So, in all those years I’ve only missed a handful because it is just such a good market. It’s become such a massive part of my income and my life that I just don’t miss Treacle,” she said, adding that commuting to the market from her home in Shropshire is ‘absolutely’ worth it.

Infographic of reasons why traders love the Treacle Market. Credit: Hannah Cochrane, created via Canva

Due to Rachel selling tools, many customers approach her and assume that a man has reconditioned her wares.

“I get a lot of men coming up to the stall saying, ‘oh, has your other half done these?’ And if I have my dad or my partner stood next to me, they will speak to them. My dad and my partner will defer to me and say, ‘oh no, it’s her stall.’ But these men will still ask them questions,” Rachel explains.

“That really frustrates me because it’s like, no, this is mine. I did this, I pulled this together, I made this. I think it really matters to me that I’m a woman doing this. People assume that because they are tools, because they’re manual things, it must be a man that’s doing it.”

Rachel’s stall. Credit: Hannah Cochrane

Despite this, Rachel is glad to have her family’s support with her stall. She explained that there are ‘lots of mother-daughter combinations’ running stalls at the market, and she often has her own mum helping her out. For Rachel, one of the best aspects of the Treacle Market is how family-orientated the stalls and traders are.

While she doesn’t live in Macclesfield anymore, Rachel said she sees it as very much her hometown and praised the female-led aspects of it.

“I know there are a lot of female-led independent stores. I know the events team at Macclesfield Town Council is female-led, and the council do a fantastic job within the town, putting on their own events, doing lots of free family events and activities. I think Macc is an incredibly lucky town to have such a fantastic town council supporting them,” Rachel explained.

“There’s definitely a huge female influence in the town.”