Smithfield

A new and different venue for today's panel hearing - the upstairs conference suites at London's Smithfield Market!

The tube strike meant a pleasant but brisk 3 mile walk from Albert Embankment, passing the usual places such as the Eye, Tate, St Paul's and also new places such as St. Bart's

Trading at the market begins daily at 3 am so it was more or less all over by the time I arrived at 9 o'clock.

When the original market was here fresh meat could only be transported "on the hoof" which not only resulted in congestion, with thousands of animals being herded into the centre of London, but it was also wasteful, as it was reckoned that each cow lost about 20 pounds in weight on a 100 mile walk.

Work on the current listed buildings began in 1867 and the whole project was completed a year later – a vast cathedral-like structure of ornamental cast iron, stone, Welsh slate and glass. It was a place full of light and air, consisting of two main buildings linked under a great roof and separated by a central arcade.

In the 1990s the market was modernised and upgraded to meet new EC regulations - this included the construction of new sealed loading bays, a new automated overhead meat rail system, new stalls and chiller rooms - all inside Grade II* Listed Buildings.  The underground area, no longer the railway sidings, became a car park.