Despite currently being suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Macclesfield's popular Treacle Market marks its 10th anniversary this month.

Market organisers hope to celebrate the occasion at a later date like the countless others who have had to delay major milestones.

Organiser and co-founder of the market, Jane Munro, said: "It's wonderful that Treacle has been around for ten years and it feels rather sad that we won't be celebrating on the streets of Macc as we would have formerly done."

The Treacle Market started in July 2010 a month after the first Barnaby Festival.

Jane said the festival had demonstrated a real appetite for coming together creatively in the open air in the town and it was in this spirit that Treacle started the following month.

Initially, the fledgeling market was a small cluster of stalls at Waters Green and a handful in Marketplace, but over the following ten years has grown significantly to around 150 stalls covering many cobbled streets and radiating from the hub in Marketplace.

"We like to think Treacle was a pioneering market back then, bringing together a really eclectic mix of quality food and drink, craft and vintage in a way that simply hadn't happened before but is more widely seen now," said Jane.

It has determinedly retained the ethos it started with, focussing on high quality, varied stalls all tied together with a strong sense of community, live music and the distinctive personality of this creative town.

The camaraderie between the friendly talented traders is at the heart of it. Jane said there is always a playful element to the market and they have had donkey rides, an annual dog show, Punch & Judy, pumpkin trail and ferret racing- it's much, much more than just somewhere to buy fabulous things.

Jane added: "We are also profoundly grateful to the loyal visitors who have supported Treacle for ten years whatever the weather throws at us. Treacle traders marvel at that support and say that it only happens in Macclesfield.

"And we are so proud of our strong connection to the town and community that we care about. We are so pleased that visitors also come from far afield each month too and we have been compared to the very best of French markets which we love."

Treacle hopes to be back on the streets again on 30 August with a pared-back version of the market to reflect the requirements of social distancing at this time.

An opportunity to 'shop and go' rather than stay around and socialise and listen to music the way visitors have always done.

Jane said: "We look forward to the day we can get back to something like the way we have always done it at Treacle, with the sound of the church bells, live jazz and a very good lunch".