I mention this because, at meetings of this kind, it is often remarked that certain buildings, now lost to us through demolition, still retain a particular affection in the minds of local people. I often point out, while acknowledging certain losses, that I find it remarkable Burnley has managed to retain such a surprisingly large number of buildings and artefacts from its past.

This is, however, no compensation for a number of local people. The absence of some of the buildings is still keenly felt and inevitably included among them is Burnley's old market hall, the subject of today's picture.

The following is from the Burnley Express of October 3rd, 1936: "The Market Hall, opened on January 1st, 1870, cost £12,306 to build, and is one of the most solid constructions in Burnley. Its walls are 6ft. thick at the basement level, 3ft. 6in. at ground level, and 2ft. 6in. at the top. The interior is 180ft. long and 110ft. wide and contains 80 stalls. The tenants are very carefully selected by the Markets Committee, with the result there is not only a big variety of stalls but the quality of the goods on sale is much higher than is often found in public markets."

The article goes on to describe the open market which attracted large crowds each market day. There were 230 stalls, a third of which were devoted to the sale of fruit and vegetables, huge quantities of which were sold to visitors. In addition, there were stalls for refreshments, drapery, shoes, hardware and a host of other things too many to list.

I was interested to find out, through the kindness of Mr Colin Hill, the current markets manager, something about five shops in the market ground. If you look at the picture, a small part of the market ground can be seen in the bottom, right. It comprised the area between the eastern wall of the market hall and Market Street and included the covered area, in which (as you can see) there were several stalls.

These stalls, five of them in 1914, constituted the Fish Market and, although I cannot be sure of the publication date of today's postcard, I feel sure the two stalls shown were part of that fish market. "The Trader", a local publication, commented in December, 1935, that "People who have not visited Burnley for two or three years are very much taken aback when they go to the open market. They hardly know it for the same place. Gone are the old-fashioned fish market slabs on the outside of the Market Hall. Gone are the rough pavements that used to make the aspect on that side so uninviting to shoppers. Instead of all that they see a smart shopping aisle with five of the smartest lock-up shops in the town all tenanted by local tradesmen who are very much alive to the wants of the public".

I have a picture of these lock-up shops which would have made an ideal image for this column except that it is screened. Many of you will remember the shops, again five of them. They stood on the site of the covered area on the extreme right of today's picture and were built in 1930. The businesses situated here comprised: A.E. Rose, a pork butcher and bacon cutter, and the separate firms of Percy and Tom Brown, who were both fish and poultry dealers. The two other businesses, at least in 1935, were Richard Whitehead, a grocer specialising in butter, bacon, ham and cheese, and Henry Tattersall, a family butcher specialising in beef, lamb and mutton.

Mr Whitehead's shop has long since interested me because, before the last war, perhaps the best grocer's shop in Harle Syke, where I live, was known as Whitehead's. When I found out Richard Whitehead lived at 5 Oaken Bank, which in the 1930s was just outside Harle Syke, I wondered if the management of the shops might be connected. Later, I discovered they were and have added that piece of information to a history of Briercliffe shops and shopping to be published soon by the Briercliffe Society.

The Express article of 1936, from which I have quoted, revealed other interesting information about Burnley market. I have mentioned before that Burnley market dates from 1294 and was held for more than 500 years near St Peter's Church. There is evidence that stalls were being set up in the lower part of what is now Manchester Road in the latter 18th Century, but it was not until 1829 that a Market House was built in the area of the Market Hall shown in today's picture.

The story is quite interesting and revolves around the failure, in 1824, of Holgate's Bank. This bank was Burnley's only locally owned venture of its kind. Its failure was consequence of the financial difficulties of one of its largest depositors. This occasioned a run on the bank. There was something of a panic because of the already depressed state of local trade and this precipitated a spate of selling property caught up in the collapse.

One of these properties was Thorn Croft, the land between the Thorn Hotel and the Brun. The land had previously been part of the farm attached to the Thorn itself. A good part of this land was acquired by a partnership which built a market house close to where the present 20th Century market hall stands. The venture was not a success, partly because the investors did not control Burnley's all-important Market Charter.

The official chartered market continued using stalls set up in what is now Manchester Road and St James's Street and was a rival to the new market house. In 1861 Burnley was incorporated as a borough and the right to hold a chartered market fell to the council. This situation needed clarification and, in 1865, Burnley Corporation obtained an Act of Parliament which gave the council powers to control all markets in town. A year later, Burnley bought out the private market company for £20,000 and decided to replace its market house with the building in today's picture.

Lastly, it should be pointed out that, for most of the time Burnley Council has controlled the market, it has generated an annual profit which has been used in relief of rates and, more recently, in relief of council tax. Between 1906 and 1936 these profits amounted to just over £100,000 which reduced the rates by that sum. Did you realise that if you shop in Burnley's market you not only support local businesses but also help to reduce council tax?