An old-fashioned market, Leeds Kirkgate Market

Hello everyone!

This morning I was looking at photos of Leeds, when I realised that I was missing a market in my blog entry: "La compra de la semana". Although to start with I had thought about editing the entry, this market is so special I thought that it deserves an exclusive entry to my blog. Today I am going to talk about Leeds Kirkgate Market.

This market is located in the centre of the city. The main entrance is found on Vicar Lane but there are various entrances, both on the side streets and behind. It is quite big, so finding it is not difficult. Also, it appears as one of the buildings that Leeds has included on the map, since it has the wonderful honour of being the biggest, covered market in Europe. It was built in 1822, although not all of the market was built then. It became so large as it was built in parts, at different times. Although it was the start of the XIX century when it was built, the oldest bit that you are able to see, the main part of the building, was constructed in 1904. (Apparently they moved it but it is the same market).

Apart from its size, Leeds Kirkgate Market is known as the start of the multinational British retailer, Marks and Spencer, which was founded in 1884. For those that don't know, Marks and Spencer is like 'el Corte Inglés' in Spain, but they have internationalised themselves into the beast. The truth is that the history of how Marks and Spencer' grew is, more or less, interesting, so I will explain it to you quickly.

Michael Marks (one of the founders) was a Polish refugee that emigrated to Leeds in 1882. He worked for some time until he met a man called Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst. This man lent him 5 sterling pounds (I guess that was a lot of money at that time) to set up a little 'Penny Bazaar', which we know today as 'pound shops'. Well, Dewhirst no only lent him the money and taught him English, but he also was the one who introduced him to Thomas Spencer, a banker from Yorkshire. After one year they had formed a special friendship and when Michael Marks obtained a permanent position in Leeds Kirkgate Market, he offered Thomas Spencer to become a partner in his business. From then to what we know now: 703 shops in the UK and 361 distributors in 40 countries (almost nothing).

Actually, Leeds Market is like a neighbourhood market. It has many different areas, including: butchers, fish mongers, fruit shops, florists, market stalls. On top of all of these areas that appear before you there are also electronic shops managed by Pakistanis that unlock mobiles, very worth it. The prices are very good and the quality is the best. The only 'disadvantage' is that if you live near to the campus, it is a little further away than the rest of the supermarkets that I mentioned in “La compra de la semana”. Anyway, if you feel full of energy one day, you should go for a nice walk through the lovely city of Leeds and fill your cupboard with things from this place. Also, let me tell you that it is not only a place to buy food. Oh no, if you walk through the entire market towards the south of the building (or you can walk around it and continue all the way via George Street), you will find that there is an outdoor bit in the Spanish 'mercadillo' style. You can find clothes, old CD's and exotic food to smoking paraphernalia like water pipes, flavoured smoking papers or interesting lighters. I strongly recommend visiting it, even if it is just to have a look and get to know Leeds a little better. (I don't have photos of the 'mercadillo', sorry).

I hope that you will find it interesting and please feel free to comment if you want. And if you have enjoyed reading this, it would be great if you could click on 'Like' at the end of this post.

Enjoy and behave!

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