‘Keen prices, quality goods, friendly service’. Words on the caption of a photo from the Yorkshire Evening Post archive describing what shoppers could expect at Kirkgate Market in the 1970s. It was a decade which proved to be turbulent and traumatic for traders at Europe’s largest covered market. Fire devastated the retail gem in the middle of the decade while a strike at the end of the 1970s meant locked gates. These photos showcase the ups and downs of life at Kirkgate Market during the decade and bring into focus the news stories making the news and how traders bounced back from the brink of despair. Many of the images featured have never been seen before having being digitised from the archive for the first time. READ MORE: Lost city centre landmarks - The Leeds Skywalk LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia
1. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
A packed Leeds Kirkgate Market in September 1970. | YPN Photo: YPN
2. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
Shoppers look at the fruit and veg on offer in May 1974. | YPN Photo: YPN
3. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
Top Row pictured at 10.15am on a Sarturday morning in October 1970. | YPN Photo: YPN
4. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
A typical shoppers eye view of Scarrs. Pictured in January 1974. | YPN Photo: YPN
5. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
Kirkgate Market at the height of the blaze on December 13, 1975. | YPN Photo: YPN
6. Kirkgate Market in the 1970s
The aftermath of the devastating blaze in December 1975. | YPN Photo: YPN