Changing Leeds - How Kirkgate Market rose from the ashes in the 1970s

By Andrew Hutchinson

Published 23rd Jun 2020, 06:00 GMT

Updated 26th Jun 2020, 09:12 GMT

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It is the Leeds gem which has had a tough life with scars to prove it.

Fire all-but destroyed Kirkgate Market on the night of December 13, 1975. The cause remains uncertain to this day - there were suggestions either of an electrical fault or an overturned paraffin lamp. Either way, the flames spread quickly through Europe’s largest covered market and some 150 stallholders fled for their lives. These photos tell the story of how the market bounced back over the 12 months after the blaze. READ MORE: The night Kirkgate Market was devastated by fire | Walk around Kirkgate Market during the 1980s LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook

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Enjoy these memories of how Kirkgate Market bounced back after the fire in December 1975.

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Kirkgate Market at the height of the blaze in December 13, 1975.

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The morning after the night before in December 1975.

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Traders and shoppers get a close up view of the charred remains and twisted metal.

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Coun Irwin Bellow, leader of Leeds City Council and Coun William Hudson, chair of the Trading Services Commitee address the traders at an emergency meeting in the Corn Exchange the morning after the fire.

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Marquees are put up as temporary accomodation for market traders who were affected by the fire.

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By January 1976 plans had been revealed for a replacement hall in the north-east corner of the complex.

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Leeds Public Works department employee Harry Blackburn updates a noval sign on Harper Street in March 1976. The sign - a pictorial progress report - gives the cheering news that the rebuilding of the fire ravaged market hall was on schedule.