Castle Market or Moor Market: Which was better? Traders and shoppers have their say

It’s more than a decade now since Sheffield’s old Castle Market closed, bringing to an end many years of trading at the site.

But debate still rages about the move to the Moor Market, which opened in 2013.

Many shoppers look back fondly on the old market and were sad to see it move, in a break with history.

But other shoppers and some traders appreciated the switch to a modern building in a more bustling part of the city, with the Castlegate area having suffered a decline in its fortunes.

We spoke to traders and shoppers to get their views about which of the market sites they prefer a decade down the line.

‘Different kind of clientele’

Malcolm Davis has worked at The Nut Bar for more than 40 years, first at Castle Market and now in Moor Market.

He told The Star: “It’s a lot better here than it was at Castle Market. You get a different kind of clientele. We get more people coming in from areas like Fulwood, Totley, Dore and Abbeydale.

“It’s hard to compare this with Castle Market in many ways as when that started you didn’t have as many supermarkets so everybody came down. It was like their supermarket and it was really busy.

“As time went on Castle Market became rundown and people stopped going. There were a lot of people outside begging and some shoppers felt intimidated.

“At Castle Market, you could say on any given day how much you’d take within £10 or £20 but you have no chance of guessing here as it varies so much.”

‘I would go back tomorrow if I could’

Mark Holmes, who has run Punch Stores for the last 38 years, said: “I would go back to Castle Market tomorrow if I could. The layout there was so much better, as was the atmosphere.

“That was Sheffield’s market area for hundreds of years and for whatever reason that made the atmosphere better.”

Maxine Brown, who works at Turners bakery, said: “A lot of shoppers, especially the older ones, liked Castle Market. But we like it better in here because the conditions are a lot better, especially on a cold winter’s day.”

‘It was freezing cold in the winter’

Dan Wade, who works at Waterall Bros pork butchers, said: “Castle Market was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot in the summer but as a building it was quite solid. All the stalls there were full, whereas here you have some empty ones.

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“You get a lot of footfall here because they’ve done so much to develop this end of town. People say you could have developed the old market site but there’s nothing at that end of town now.

“I do feel the building here is too big for what it is. You could have halved the size, added another floor upstairs, given the height of the building, and incorporated a car park.”

‘I prefer it here’

Matthew Tissington, of Smith & Tissington fishmongers, said: “Personally, I prefer this to Castle Market. Although it’s gone downhill a bit since we moved here the facilities were a lot better when it opened than they were at Castle Market.

“I was only in Castle Market for a few years. My grandad was probably there for about 50 years and I’m sure he’d say he preferred it there.

“A lot of people are nostalgic about the old market but in terms of the location there’s nothing down that end of town. Things seem to be improving in this area much more than they are there.”

Ted and Maureen Lomas, who have shopped at both markets, said: “Castle Market was old, very old, and a bit smelly. It was past its time. There was a lot of choice there but it was falling to bits.

“The best thing they did was move it to here. It’s livened The Moor up, having the market down here.”