Shrewsbury Market and the Fair-haired Goddess

There was once a lovely, fair-haired goddess who worked at a stall in Shrewsbury Market. And without saying a word, she stole my heart.

This was a few years ago now.

The Prime Minister at the time was Edward Heath. British Leyland had just launched its new Austin Allegro range of family saloon cars, Princess Anne had announced her engagement to Mark Phillips, and the pop charts were full of records by the likes of The Sweet, Slade, Wizzard, 10cc, and a young and innovative David Bowie . . . oh, and Little Jimmy Osmond.

A golden age indeed.

I never found out the fair-haired goddess's name because I never plucked up the courage to speak to her.

I was a painfully shy 16-year-old. She would have been about the same age.

And forty years later, she remains one of my abiding memories of the market hall at that time.

Anyway . . .

My mother-in-law the other day asked me: "Have you been in the market lately?"

I had to admit that it was not a place I frequented these days, although I had heard good reports from my young sons who like its quirkiness and the many surprises it offers.

So I took it upon myself to pop in there on Saturday.

It really is rather fantastic.

The place was buzzing (which I hadn't expected). It was actually packed with customers.

A few years back it had become a rather neglected, slightly sad place with empty spaces where stalls once operated. Now, however, there's hardly a square foot that isn't busy. And it's wonderful to see.

I was really quite amazed at the variety of stalls and the choice of goods on offer.

There's classic Corgi toys, antiques and collectables, original artwork, kitchen equipment, bicycles and cycle accessories, garden plants, masses of fruit and veg, meat and fish and eggs, games, books, vinyl records (thousands of them), CDs, rugs, framed pictures, greetings cards, gift wrap, helium balloons, plates, ornaments, baking accessories, toys for your pet, belts and leather goods, American comicbooks, cushions, posters, needlecraft goods, hats, bags, and much, much more besides.

There's even a seafood and oyster bar!

Mother-in-law had been impressed by the Market Buffet so I decided to call in for a bite. I had a nice stilton and brocolli quiche with chips and salad, along with a frothy coffee. Just the job.

The very pleasant lady who served me recognised me from that rather  handsome photograph which accompanies this column and said some nice things about my weekly scribblings in the Shrewsbury Chronicle. Bless her!

And then it turned out that she had also known me years ago.

Yeah. I know what you're thinking. But no. This lady was not my fair-haired goddess from 1973, but what a story that would have been. What a novel that would make! I must develop that idea one day.

But no. It was simply that she had lived next door to us when we lived in Castlefields and she could clearly remember myself and my little brother and our mum and dad.

Small world.

Shrewsbury Market has been transformed recently: both its exterior and interior. It's had a good scrub down and, although I've never been a fan of the sixties architecture, it looks a heck of a lot better for a good bath.

It has a strong modern logo now which even adorns the high quality Shrewsbury Market carrier bags on sale.

The huge space inside is cleverly divided up into a network of intimate avenues and corners, the whole place made more pleasant by the green and cream canopies over the stalls and the Dickensian street lamps adding an old world charm.

All in all, I have fallen in love with the market again, even though that fair-haired goddess has long since gone.