The old Wakefield market used to be great when I was a kid - a wide range of food stalls, fresh cheese, a fish and meat hall, an egg stall, fruit and veg, shoes, clothes, a bit of everything. I remember the lady on the cheese stall, she knew everybody and everybody's kids, and gave all us kids a taste of cheese every week when our mums came for their half pound of Wensleydale. The sweet stalls, little sweet shops round the market house, tobacco shops, the pet shop and the second hand book stalls, they were all fantastic and a key part of my childhood. (Not so much the tobacco shops, perhaps - they just added to the general vintage 70s atmosphere - in more ways than one).
Now they've moved the market, cut it down to size and half-way ruined it. Still, I suppose we're lucky to still have a market at all, which is why it gets a grudging two stars. read more
