Tributes to Wakefield's 'Chestnut Man' billed 'local legend'
There are plans for a permanent memorial to a street vendor from Wakefield after an "unprecendented" reaction to his death. Allan Jones, better known as The Chestnut Man, passed away last month, having been a regular fixture in the city centre for decades, most recently trading on Kirkgate.Allan, who was 71, inherited the stall from his father Jonah in 1980 and, accompanied by his beloved dog Albert, was trading until shortly before his death.Austin Riley, who described himself as one of Allan's closest friends, said he was "a character and a half".
Austin, 54, said he was 13 when he first met Allan at Thornes Park Fun Fair and began working as his assistant."We would travel up and down the country in the summer and be back in Wakefield in winter selling chestnuts."Allan's father opened the stall in 1959, trading underneath the famous clock tower at the old bus station and the former marketplace.Nadeem Ahmed, a Wakefield councillor born and bred in the city, said the stall was known to several generations of people.The reaction to Allan's death locally had been "unprecedented", he added."A lot of people won't know him as Allan, they would have known him as The Chestnut Man."He was the reason kids tried chestnuts in the first place."
Austin said: "He was a people's person. He liked to know all the gossip."He was always laughing and joking. I'll miss him truly deeply."A spokesperson for Wakefield Council described Allan as a "local legend".A fundraising page set up for a permanent memorial to him had raised almost £500 by Saturday afternoon."I'm hoping that he's recognised," said Ahmed."It's right that Wakefield recognises some of the people that were famous in their own way."
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