IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Exchange Street, SHEFFIELD, S2 5TS

Looking down Exchange Street from the Markets complex. To the left, the Castle Market which is still thriving; inside there are clothing, book, shoe stores – that sort of thing – on two floors, and a food market. To the right, the former Sheaf Market and Setts Market lay idle for years and have now been demolished. The south side of the Castle Market, to the right, no longer operates.

Seen from the North Gallery outside the Castle Market, Exchange Street is a rather depressing example of run-down 1960s-style urban architecture.

The upper gallery. The signage and much of the decor is original 1960s. Wider view: Image

The eastern part of this segment of Exchange Street is a minor cul-de-sac, while the western pedestrianised bit goes through Image Mudford's Building, right, and its neighbour the Market Tavern, have been unoccupied for many years. (See Image)

When Chris Downer submitted his photo Image in 2008 he described the Castle Market as "thriving". Four years later it was closed, the steps to the upper level barricaded off (but still stinking of urine) and despite the "to let" sign (left of photo) I doubt that anything other than demolition and redevelopment awaits it.

The pedestrianised west end of former Exchange Street is home to market stalls. Castle Market building on the left.

An indoor market, incorporating offices, the bulk of which was built in 1960-65 to the designs of J.L. Womersley and Andrew Darbyshire. Inside it is full of character and, God forbid, not like the markets or shopping centres found in every other town in the land. Stepping inside is a little like stepping back in time, but in a charming way. When I visited the market was lively and bustling. The current narrow vision of urban regeneration militates against anything slightly individualistic. In 2013 the city council moved the market elsewhere and plans to demolish these buildings, replacing them, undoubtedly, with something which will make the city a bit more like everywhere else. Castle Market had been neglected and looked tatty in parts. That, and the extent to which it had retained its 1960s character, such a reviled decade, helped to seal its fate. See also: Image], Image] and Image

Chris Downer noted this pub already closed in 2009 Image but the building was still standing in 2012, presumably awaiting redevelopment along with the adjacent market buildings Image

The humble apostrophe is useful to denote the omission of letters eg they're (they are) or possession eg John's book (John, his book or the book belonging to John). Unfortunately, many find it confusing and put in apostrophes where they are not needed, often when pluralising words ending in vowels (banana's apple's etc). The term "grocer's apostrophes" (or should it be grocers' apostrophes?) for superfluous apostrophes came into use during the mid twentieth century when such use was common in the handwritten signs made by greengrocers although the practice is not confined to grocers; until recently, it was common to see signs for CD's in music shops. I'm not sure if the sign above, which was on the walkway on the upper tier of Image], could be classed as a grocer's apostrophe. It is certainly unclear what the signwriter meant. There is nothing missing between the F and the E, and it's not pluralising nor is it showing possession. Perhaps it's an acute accent which has slipped backwards from the É of CAFÉ?