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Market Hall 1835 - 1963

Yes, you are both right, we as youngsters were brought up , in one of the most industrial community's in Britain, yet names you thought would go on for ever, Lucas, Austin, Birmetals, and so many others I could name now gone for ever , and the whole of what was Industrial Birmingham, turned over to service industry's and of course high Tech. Change has come very quickly for our Generations, it was some what slower for the previous ones, and it leaves a bit of a hole, except for our memories!!
 
A few images of the Hall. It all looked incredibly organised and neat. Source: British Newspaper Archive

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When my nanny and I visited the city our first port of call was the Bull Ring Then we went to the Market Hall, for a dish of cockles and then on to Woolworth restaurant for our meal. Such nice memories, I was between 8 and 10 years old and this was in the period 1946 -1947.
As I have recorded in another thread the Bull Ring was a magical place for a youngster.
 
The Market hall used to have a roof until it was bombed. I used to go every Saturday with Mom into town and visit the Market Hall every week. Then one Saturday we went and found it had been bombed, I think the night before. I can't remember what specific items we went there for.
 
The novelty of a fish stall in Birmingham, this one in the Market Hall. Viv,

Screenshot_20230712_152852_Chrome.jpgSource: British Newspaper Archive
 

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Great photo's Janet, that's how the market became roofless, and if I remember rightly as a boy in the 50's there was a mine or bomb displayed where you could make a donation !!
 
This photo shows the Market Hall (without its roof) and jam-packed with market stalls in the early 1960s. Despite its days being numbered by the time this photon was taken, it looks to have been buzzing right up until its end. This is how I remember it. Very busy and it was slow progress to get to the stalls you wanted to see.

Soon after, the ground beneath the Market Hall became Manzoni Gardens.

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Source : British Newspaper Archive
 
In 1939 we moved to Shirley and every Saturday our Mom took me and my 2 sisters to see our Nan in Aston, we caught the 154 Midland Red to the Bullring walked up the hill past Woolworths to the Market Hall for some cockles and mussels it had a roof on then, then continued to Martineau Street to catch the 3X Witton tram getting off at Queens Road where our Nan lived (the road I was born in in 1930). Eric
 
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