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Castle Market Vs Sheaf Market


Sheffield History

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The gloves are off !!

Its the battle of the markets but which will win?

Which market was better : Sheaf Market or Castle Market ?

And why?

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Castle Market, cos I worked there! :P

Agreed, - Castle market was the best.

Sheaf Market was really the old rag n tag market brought indoors and sanitised a bit, and as such it was never as good as the old rag n tag market was, and found it difficult to compete with the established trade of the similar Castle Market just across the road. The Sheaf market didn't actually last that long either, - built in the mid 1970's, it had gone by the end of the 1980's.

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I'm going against the grain and sticking up for Sheaf Markets....


They were more interesting for me - whereas Castle Market was like a downstairs fishy shower cubicle type place


Sheaf Market had some great stalls, and some excellent unique items on offer

Castle Market seemed a bit less warm and friendly and more hustle, bustle and fish smelling :-)

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I'm going against the grain and sticking up for Sheaf Markets....

They were more interesting for me - whereas Castle Market was like a downstairs fishy shower cubicle type place

Sheaf Market had some great stalls, and some excellent unique items on offer

Castle Market seemed a bit less warm and friendly and more hustle, bustle and fish smelling :-)

Sheaf Market did have some great stalls as some of them were the old traders from rag n tag who had always provided an excellent market.

Castle only smelled of fish because,.... Well, er, - it had a fish market which sold fresh wet fish! Sheaf market didn't have a fish market as such, - although there may have been the odd fishmongers stall.

When I was a kid and went there with my dad the smell did annoy me and put me off, - but now I don't mind the smell of fish and regularly go to Tony Andrews stall to buy some.

As for Castle being "unfriendly", I can't say I agree. Markets were meeting places and everyone always seemed to stop for a chat and help each other out, - especially in the little café and greasy spoon stalls. ALL Sheffield's markets, - Sheaf, Castle, Rag n Tag, Setts were always full of friendly, local, Sheffield people. I never found any of the markets threatening even as a kid.

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Guest carlie167

Obviously I'm a bit biased but the Castle Market every time.

The whole layout of the building with the shops on the outside and the gallery upstairs made it all more interesting for me. I thought the Sheaf Market was a bit too boxy and square (if you know what I mean).

Unfriendly, never, in fact when I first started work there as a young 'un I thought the lads in the fish market were a little too friendly!

Seriously though, all the stall holders had time for a bit of banter, which I didn't notice when shopping in the Sheaf.

As I said before, I am biased and thought it was a great place to work and shop, and it saddens me to think what it has come to now, shabby and run down. Saying that, I always call in when I'm in Sheffield just to check how many more stalls are empty, and how many of the old names I remember.

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Obviously I'm a bit biased but the Castle Market every time.

The whole layout of the building with the shops on the outside and the gallery upstairs made it all more interesting for me. I thought the Sheaf Market was a bit too boxy and square (if you know what I mean).

Unfriendly, never, in fact when I first started work there as a young 'un I thought the lads in the fish market were a little too friendly!

Seriously though, all the stall holders had time for a bit of banter, which I didn't notice when shopping in the Sheaf.

As I said before, I am biased and thought it was a great place to work and shop, and it saddens me to think what it has come to now, shabby and run down. Saying that, I always call in when I'm in Sheffield just to check how many more stalls are empty, and how many of the old names I remember.

I don't think you are biased at all Carlie, - unless I am as well!

I couldn't have put it better, that's exactly how I see it as well

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I will always have fonder memories of the Sheaf market. Mostly this is due to the upstairs floating café where me and me mum used to have a chip butty and tea every Saturday morning. I also fondly remember the trapped sparrows that would fly around in the geometric metal tubing in the ceiling in there.

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Guest Trefcon

'trapped Sparrows in the geometric tubing' thats what I remember !!

Castle all the way for me, no smell of fish at all, untill you went into the fish bit. Lots of Game hanging up, Pheasant, Rabbit, etc, etc, And of course Harrington's, where I got my Star jumper, Harrington jacket, stay press trousers, Oxford Bags, etc, etc, oh, and the upstairs changing room with those steep steps up to it !!

My mother worked in the Fish Market, manageress at ?? in the corner, across from the whelk stall, next to the stall owned by that ex sheff utd player ??

Use to go there mid afternoon on Saturdays and get my mothers bags so she didn't have a lot of 'stuff' to carry home.

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Guest carlie167

The only smell I remember is the awful one of hops floating up from Whitbreads brewery, yuck, that was a smell. :mellow:

I never thought the fish market was particularly bad though but I didn't much like the huge crab boiler, now I couldn't have done that job for any money.

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The only smell I remember is the awful one of hops floating up from Whitbreads brewery, yuck, that was a smell. :mellow:

I never thought the fish market was particularly bad though but I didn't much like the huge crab boiler, now I couldn't have done that job for any money.

The brewery may not have smelled very nice, - but the finished product was OK.

I suppose it was the same with the stuff in the fish market, - there was always plenty of people buying it and eating it.

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The only smell I remember is the awful one of hops floating up from Whitbreads brewery, yuck, that was a smell. :mellow:

I never thought the fish market was particularly bad though but I didn't much like the huge crab boiler, now I couldn't have done that job for any money.

Jarvis Cocker used to work in Castle market scrubbing and boiling the crabs and the early Pulp even had a song about it called 'I scrubbed the crabs that killed Sheffield'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UdWwmOq27k

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I much preferred the Castle Market as I used to work there in my dad's shop at the end of the 1960's. His shop was Thomas Glossop and Sons and it was at the bottom of the fish market steps. I didn't mind the smell too much but they always used to have the windows open and it was really draughty working there in the winter!!

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There's a good look around the old Castle Market/Sheaf Market area and what's left of The Gallery in this video

 

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