IT is hard not to be affected by this beautiful, evocative photo of an iconic Hereford bull being paraded around the Langford sale ring at the former Hereford Livestock Market in January 1963.

Photographer Derek Evans must have been pleased too, for it was selected for the 1963 Photography Year Book – a selection of images chosen from around the world as the outstanding efforts in their field.

Evans had some good material on his doorstep though, didn’t he?

The annual Hereford bull sale was an international – and some would say glamorous – affair in the city, attracting buyers from across the world: Australia, South America, North America, and Russia.

In Catcher Media’s previous project, Chewing the Cud: Memories from Hereford's Old Livestock Market, at least one interviewee alleged that the Russian buyers were accompanied by KGB minders wearing heavy, dark square-shouldered coats and dark glasses!

Nonetheless, deals were struck with a handshake and the sale celebrated in the evening in the ballroom at the Green Dragon Hotel, with Juliana’s discotheque providing the entertainment for the well-dressed crowd.

But for many Herefordshire people market day was a part of their weekly routine, perhaps buying a chicken or two and five pound of potatoes, not £5,000 deals and dancing the night away.

Derek’s photos of the market are being added to the online collection as part of the Herefordshire Life Through a Lens project

www.herefordshirelifethroughalens.org.uk