Before Preston’s Indoor Market is pulled down its being captured through the lens of city photographers.
AdvertisementDanny McCabe, 25, is snapping away at the people and stalls which make up the 1970s building.
Preston City Council has lodged plans to demolish the market hall, along with the car park and the bulk of Lancastria House, and build a new cinema and restaurant complex. The market traders are to move into the refurbished Outdoor Covered Market as part of the £50m scheme.
A second year photography student at the University of Central Lancashire, Danny has begun documenting the markets alongside four other fellow students.
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Danny said: “This piece of work began as a university assignment but it’s now become something that’s really personal to me as I’ve got to know many of the people who work and shop there every day. If plans go ahead to demolish the market in favour of a new cinema and restaurant complex, then generations to come won’t know what existed before and how the market played such an important role in the local community.
“I’ve spoken to people who have worked there from childhood for more than 30 years and others who fondly recall parents and grandparents bringing them as young children. Our aim is to capture and preserve these stories.”
The stall holders are being interviewed for their experiences in the market building, and the stories of their time there.
Pictures and interviews from the project, which sees students Lisa Oldroyd, Naomi Graham, Adam Pickford and Paul Sterritt working alongside Danny, are being housed in the Lancashire Archives.
Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, planning and rural services councillor Marcus Johnstone said: “I think that it is very important to collect, protect and to share the history of our county. This is an important role of the Lancashire Archives service.
“We are able to tell the stories of people and places, like Danny has helped to do for this project. I’m pleased that we have been able to help to record the history of Preston’s Indoor Market, and also that we are able to provide an appropriate base where it can be kept.
“We already have centuries-old documents about the market place, and these newly created records can add a current element to these.”
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Do you shop at the market? What do you think of the photo project? Let us know in the comments below