Stallholder writes book about beloved Charlotte Street Market
The book’s launch will coincide with Portsmouth Museum’s centenary exhibition
A stallholder in the old Charlotte Street Market is launching a book he has written detailing the history of what was Portsmouth’s busiest shopping street.
Charlotte Street Market attracted thousands of visitors every Friday and Saturday until its demise after the demolition of the Tricorn Centre in 2004.
“I had a stall in the market, I sold fruit and veg in Charlotte Street,” said author Gary Litchfield.
“My stall is still running on Commercial Road, its run by my friend and he is the fifth generation of the family to run that fruit and veg stall,” he said.
Gary ran his stall for many years and remembers the market fondly, and wanted to make sure that the legacy of Charlotte Street Market is properly celebrated.
“When you go into bookshops there's loads of books about Portsmouth pubs and the dockyard and the football club but nothing about our market, so I wanted to write a book while people still remember the market,” he said.
He started writing the book and collating hundreds of photographs four years ago.
“I interviewed traders who worked in the market, and there's a bit about how the market got started,” he said.
“The book is mostly pictures, there are over 160 pictures and some have not been seen before and people have dug them out.”
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The book was finished to coincide with the Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery’s city centenary exhibition, which will open in October.
“I helped the museum and supplied them with a lot of photographs,” said Gary. His book will also be stocked in the museum’s gift shop once it has been released.
The book has gone to print and will be officially launched at Gary’s old stall on Commercial Road, opposite the Cascades Shopping Centre, on October 23 and 24.