Eagle Centre: Paradise lost is revamped and reborn

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“I was sure it was this way” A lost shopper follows the “yellow brick road” trying to find a stall

The new glass front and steps leading to the Eagle Centre revamped market

An aerial view of the hexagonal market roof before it was knocked down

Shoppers admire the market’s hexagonal roof but find the layout confusing

The new revamped Eagle Centre Market, which opened in 1992, after the orginal hexagonal one was demolished

WHEN Derby’s Eagle Centre development opened 30 years ago, it was described as “Paradise Found for women.” What the men thought about shopping there in the 1970s isn’t recorded.

Certainly, the centre was an improvement on having to shop outside in cold, wet streets or across the road at the Morledge open market, alongside the River Derwent.

But, paradise? That’s doubtful.

Perhaps the biggest change for Derby shoppers, in 1975, was the new inside market built on the edge of the Eagle Centre.

For 40 years, people who enjoyed pottering around market stalls had had to cross the busy Morledge to the site of the open market, which is now occupied by the Crown Court.

On winter days, it was cold and uncomfortable, with stalls covered only by tarpaulin, but it had given many generations pleasure, particularly those who liked to hunt for bargains and barter with traders for lower prices.

Now, suddenly, stallholders and customers were faced with a whole new way of shopping.

Everyone knew it would be more comfortable, but many hated the loss of the familiar and traditional. People from both sides of the counter complained, accusing the council of making change for change’s sake.

Several traders claimed the new market would be “a town planner’s day dream and a trader’s nightmare”.

The Eagle Centre finally opened on November 20, 1975.

The shops were welcomed but there was great confusion over the market and, though there was plenty of opportunity to spend pounds, it was not possible to spend a penny. The lack of toilet facilities was, however, remedied later.

The alarm bells should have been ringing long before the opening.

In a feature on the new facilities, the Derby Evening Telegraph wrote: “Newcomers to the covered market at the Eagle Centre may be forgiven if they are reminded of a maze. Such is the labryinth of stalls – 276 of them – that it is easy to become temporarily lost.”

But, the paper assured readers, there would be no difficulty in traversing the market once direction signs, some illuminated, were installed.

In fact, the confusion continued and matters went from bad to worse. Only traders appeared to know where anything was situated and they claimed they were constantly being asked for directions to specific stalls.

The main problem seemed to be that stalls were in hexagonal groups of six. The question everyone, other than those who had planned and built the place, asked was “why?”.

To attract custom, people had to know where to find you. Make it difficult or awkward and they would go elsewhere. And many of them did.

Within months, traders were complaining that the recession, along with high rents, the cost of alterations and loss of custom meant they were struggling to make ends meet.

An attempt was made to solve the confusing layout by installing ground directions, but shoppers claimed it was like “following the yellow brick road and getting nowhere”.

By the 1980s, the complaints were as vociferous as ever. Then, in 1990, fate appeared to take a hand when it was found that the fire regulations had been contravened and the immediate closure of the market was ordered while it was redesigned and rebuilt.

It was almost a relief to customers. But, for the traders, whose livelihoods were under threat, the move gave new hope. With the promise of a new-look £5.5m building, many happily agreed to relocate temporarily to an outdoor riverside site behind the bus station.

It was a cold, draughty spot which left many struggling to keep their businesses going but, after 18 months in the wilderness, the rebuilt market opened. It was the glass fronted building with walkways, that we know today. Mercifully the aisles were wide and straight, instead of the old mosaic design, and there were ramped entrances for the disabled.

Markets have been the backbone of Derby’s shopping scene for centuries.

There are still some who recall the days of the old Cockpit Hill market on the cobblestones opposite the bus station, where the attitude of the traditional traders was “make me an offer”.

Goods had a marked price but wheeler-dealing went on until a price was settled. It was almost like an auction and, though many went to buy, lots of people just went along to enjoy the chat and the banter.

One well-known Cockpit character would often begin trading, saying: “Now then, let’s start. If I don’t sell anything, my mate will sack me, my wife will divorce me and I won’t be able to buy any tea, so let’s be ’avin’ you.”

Those were the days...

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