'There's no characters left'

Traders and customers' sadness as shutters come down on market for final time

- ADAM MAIDMENT

THERE'S a real sense of sadness that fills the air as you walk through the last remaining stalls of Church Street Market in the city centre. Once alive with fresh vegetables, exotic fruits, books, hats, and grilled cheese sandwiches, it's now filled with removal vans, bare floors, and signs giving away tubs and jars.

The market, on the outskirts of the Northern Quarter, has been a part of the city for more than 50 years. But at the end of Saturday, it closed the shutters for good as developers inch closer on the progression of a new 22-storey build that will stand in its place.

Whilst other traders have come and gone over the years, it's been a consistent home to Manchester Bookbuyers, run by Edward Hopkinson for the last 54 years, and the McCall family who run both an Afro-Caribbean grocers and an organic store for almost the same amount of time.

"It's the end of an era," one customer says as she passes into the grocers on Wednesday afternoon to wish owner Mark McCall a fond farewell. "It won't be the same," she reminisces. "It's just not our city anymore."

Mark, whose family has run the McCall's business for some 127 years, has accepted things are what they are. Their eviction has been looming since plans for a new development on the site were first filed back in 2018. Having passed through different developers and contractors over the years, the plans are now full steam ahead and the traders have been told to up sticks.

Mark says it is the end of the business and he won't be relocating. There have been some health issues for himself and members of the family, and he says the move has forced his hand to make himself a priority after running the business for nearly 50 years.