Leeds nostalgia: Multi-million pound scheme planned for Leeds

Our archive picture shows the scene between Willis Ludlows store and the north door of the market, which was to have been a multi-million pound development.

Note the ‘Pedestrians Cross Here’ sign, the milk float and the dark, upper floors of the building opposite the market - whether this was due to the build-up of soot over the years and a lack of cleaning or a trick of the light (the exterior being in red brick and showing up almost black on the picture) remains unclear.

The market has, of course, undergone numerous regeneration programmes over the years, some going back many years. Kirkgate Market was even being improved in the 1850s, demand being so high that a new extended market was built in 1875, called Leeds New Market.

This addition included 90 shops, a market square and a new fish market.

In the late 1800s, the council decided to create a new hall and launched a competition for the design, budgeting £80,000 for its construction. It was finally created in 1904.