Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Old Birkenhead Market

As a follow-up to my original question ... It would appear that they weren't filled in, the ground level was lowered to the basement and the current car parks are at approximately that level. This would tie up nicely with some of the replies, thank you.

Thanks to all who posted the photo's; they bring back many memories.
I lived in this area as a child.
In the early to mid 70's, I worked in an office on the top floor of a building in Hamilton St, overlooking the Old Market.
It was always condensed with people and so much noise.
My colleague and I would nip into the market to by fruit for lunch and oh how lively it was.
I went to the Market with my toddler, he was only 2 and he went missing. I was frantic, running everywhere looking for him and I eventually found him sitting on the steps at the back of the Market with an older Gentleman, Oh was I fortunate!

great pics.i remember going there with my mum.

i remember going to the old market, remember my dad taking me once and buying me a skirt with big red roses all over it! i thought it was great----well it was for the time!!
i also remember Ely and the way he used to juggle those dish's, how they never got broke or chipped i'll never know!
going to the market these days isn't the same, going to the old one was like an event!!

i used to love the smell of the old market, all the different smells intermingling it reminds me of the good old days.

I know I've posted about this before, but I can't find it now. In the 1940's my gran or grandad often used to take me to the market. We would always buy some treacle toffee, which was in large thin slabs. When we got it home, I used to be allowed to break it up with the toffee hammer. I've still got that hammer.

does it still have stinky fish market? Not been there 4 at least 20yrs.

That toffee hammer looks big opposed to the ones you get now.

Modern toffee hammer

Ha! a mere toy. Mine's 7" (my toffee hammer that is)

Little bit of info on toffee hammers.

A toffee hammer is a very small hammer designed for breaking up sheets or slabs of hard toffee, such as bonfire toffee, into small pieces suitable for consumption. A toffee hammer is sometimes included as a novelty item in gift packs produced by toffee manufacturers.

Toffee hammers were used by suffragettes, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union, for breaking windows as a form of protest during their campaign for votes for women.

The term "toffee hammer" may also used to refer to any unusually small hammer, for example in orthopedic surgery

There were toilets in the main market hall, but I believe they were only ladies' toilets. If you entered the main hall via the entrance closest to the Market Street/ Hamilton Street and walked along that aisle past Leon's Toy Stall (oh, the memories! ), the toilets were situated on the right. I think they were upstairs, and were part of the market offices.

Access to the country stalls was nearby, down some steps.

While I'm on this thread, I have a couple of questions of my own to pose.

Does anyone have any idea of the layout of the stalls in the main hall during the 1960s? I can remember a few of them, but would like to know more.

Also, does anyone remember the 'Market Carnivals' of the early 1970s? Probably 1972 - 1973.

Finally, I was wondering if anyone else found it rather suspicious that the market managed to survive for so many years - including the era of gas lighting - and then suffered 2 fires within a few years of each other?

It certainly made up the minds of the traders who were fighting to stay put!

good to see them pics of the market, I can still remember it vividly as I lost all my christmas presents as my mum had left them in Millies cafe, she was a good friend of Millie and decided to leave them there so I wouldn't nose if they where at home.

Just where the man is standing to the left of the bus stop across the road.

Go back to page one of this thread and you will see a picture of a man attempting to cross the road nearest the camera. Lokk over the road and you will see a bust stop and to the left of it a man. Then you see a set of railings and that was the underground toilets.