UP ON THE ROOF

You probably don’t think of Newcastle’s cherished Grainger Market as a venue with hidden doors, but it has a few. Tumble through the right one and you would find yourself ascending a concrete staircase that leads right up to the barrelled glass roof. Though inaccessible to the public, a metal ladder bridge leads over the roof’s signature arch, from which it is possible to peer into the market below. 

If you happened to be up there one cold October night in 1835, the view down would have been one of grandeur. Back then, the roof was made of timber, but had you looked through one of its little windows, you would have found a feast underway.  

To celebrate the opening of the market, a huge banquet was thrown; think tablefuls of local produce and pints of ale (or wine for the more genteel guests.) According to a local librarian at the time, the market was ‘irradiated by gas light … decorated with flags … and in the centre were two massive and elegantly shaped stone fountains.’ 

A markedly different view from today’s of the circus-esque red and white striped greengrocer stalls, and one or two confused-looking café-goers, waving up between sips of cappuccino