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Then and Now: Market Street

Shoppers mingle with traffic in 1970

But more than 30 years later, it is pleasing to see that traffic at the Spring Gardens end of Market Street is no longer allowed to mix uncomfortably with shoppers as it did in 1970.

Fashion outlet Miss Selfridge now stands on the spot once occupied by Jackson the tailor, pictured, and is just one of many stores to benefit from the pedestrianisation designed to ease congestion and make shopping a more enjoyable experience.

Manchester's showpiece shopping artery was made car-free in 1985 with a pedestrian zone capable of handling more than a million shoppers every week.

The street has been pedestrianised since 1985

Architecture lovers may also want to look upwards at some of the older buildings along Market Street and see traces of fine red brick, red terracotta and red sandstone that remain.

The archive photograph is part of a collection chronicling the changing face of Manchester during the past 250 years.

The collection of 77,000 images that can be found on computer at Manchester Central Library.

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