Now the old Smithfield Market Hall always seemed to me to me to sum up the sad decline of this bit of Manchester.
Once it was a bustling hub of activity dominated by Smithfield Market which had opened in 1822 and according to one writer was so extensive that, “it would be difficult to point out anything in the three kingdoms of nature - animal, vegetable, or mineral - that cannot be procured here.”*
But things change and with the removal of the wholesale market out to the east of the city in the 1970s the area lost much of its purpose.
For many this was further underlined by the loss of all those pet shops on Tib Street which like the wholesale markets drew people in.
And the old Market Hall on Swan Street just epitomised that decline.
Its once bright stonework had been darkened by the soot of countless coal fires and industrial chimneys and these were then plastered with all manner of posters for long forgotten concerts, companies that had ceased to trade and products which no one used or could remember.
I visited it around 1986 when it was being used as a skills training centre for young people and more recently there were grand plans to settle the archives of the County Records Office in the building.
But the students moved out and the County Records office went to Central Ref after the library’s makeover.
And while the old Market Hall stood empty the surrounding area was transformed.
The Victorian wholesale fish market was converted into a craft centre, new small businesses opened up accompanied by a mix of quirky restaurants and bars and added to all these were those fascinating wall paintings some of which dominate gable ends and make the Northern Quarter an interesting place to visit and to live.
And not to be left out the Market Hall has had its own transformation, starting with those walls which have been cleaned and extending to the restoration of the inside.
So it is fitting that Peter should have painted the Market Hall leaving me to hope that it finds a new purpose to match the exciting developments around it.
Peter used an old photograph from 2000 and he pointed out "that the shutters and windows have been overlayed from reference to how the hall was in 2000 I have guessed at the actual because I only had part of the hall to refer to. So in that respect although the painting is © 2016 it is from a reference taken in 2000."
And for those interested in the hall's transformation, Peter added his photograph taken a few days ago.
Location; Manchester
Painting; Smithfield Market Hall, © 2016 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Photograph; the Hall in 2016, © Peter Topping,
* Duffield, H G Stranger’s Guide to Manchester 1850
 |
| Peter's painting of the hall based on an earlier photograph he took in 2000 |
But things change and with the removal of the wholesale market out to the east of the city in the 1970s the area lost much of its purpose.
For many this was further underlined by the loss of all those pet shops on Tib Street which like the wholesale markets drew people in.
And the old Market Hall on Swan Street just epitomised that decline.
Its once bright stonework had been darkened by the soot of countless coal fires and industrial chimneys and these were then plastered with all manner of posters for long forgotten concerts, companies that had ceased to trade and products which no one used or could remember.
I visited it around 1986 when it was being used as a skills training centre for young people and more recently there were grand plans to settle the archives of the County Records Office in the building.
But the students moved out and the County Records office went to Central Ref after the library’s makeover.
And while the old Market Hall stood empty the surrounding area was transformed.
 |
| Peter's photograph of the hall in 2016 |
And not to be left out the Market Hall has had its own transformation, starting with those walls which have been cleaned and extending to the restoration of the inside.
So it is fitting that Peter should have painted the Market Hall leaving me to hope that it finds a new purpose to match the exciting developments around it.
Peter used an old photograph from 2000 and he pointed out "that the shutters and windows have been overlayed from reference to how the hall was in 2000 I have guessed at the actual because I only had part of the hall to refer to. So in that respect although the painting is © 2016 it is from a reference taken in 2000."
And for those interested in the hall's transformation, Peter added his photograph taken a few days ago.
Location; Manchester
Painting; Smithfield Market Hall, © 2016 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Photograph; the Hall in 2016, © Peter Topping,
* Duffield, H G Stranger’s Guide to Manchester 1850
No comments:
Post a Comment