Over the Remembrance weekend I was thinking about my granddad who was in the Machine Gun Corps in WWI and stood for most of his life on the fish market when it was in a shed. I wondered what he would have made of the new outdoor market.
I hate that market with a vengeance. It’s claustrophobic and spoils the setting of the market hall. I know there were stalls there years ago but at least they were removable, not a permanent iron pseudo Victorian monstrosity. I don’t visit very often but there always seem to be more empty stalls than those in use. And whose bright idea was it to put the fish stalls amongst everything else? I grew up with that smell and it really is something that should be kept to itself. And how sad to see only two fish stalls left… My granddad would be turning in his grave if he hadn’t been cremated.
I also hate the way that Broadway feels shut in now that the site of the old 60s market has been built on. Mind you I can remember when the other side of Broadway was sunken gardens were the Arndale is now. Used to love going there and rolling down the grassy slopes, possibly followed by tea or ice cream at the Odeon cafe. See the picture below for a good idea of what it was like.
The other picture shows the old fish market, before the 1960s redevelopment. Our family’s stall was at the far end away from the camera and I bet some of those boxes in the middle background have our family name on. It was literally a shed behind the town hall but served its purpose well and was always busy. I remember going down on Good Friday with my granddad’s lunch as they had to be open then. I also remember him going to Fleetwood to buy fish and often coming back with something unusual, such as what we called crayfish but may have been langoustines.
Sadly when he died the firm ceased to trade under our family name but two of his colleagues carried in on in the new fish market. But now that market is but a shadow of its former self. That’s progress I guess…
