“THE day they demolished the market, the rats moved out.

My mother was in town that day outside M&S; all of a sudden everyone stopped and started looking - a whole army of rats were on the move. The babies and the old rats where in the middle, protected by the strong young rats that built a barrier around them. Same time as it was disgusting to watch, it was also fascinating to see how organised they were. It left a life-long impression on the people who saw them.”

This remarkable memory, from Marta Dreifelds, came in response to this photo we published recently, of Bradford’s old Kirkgate Market when it was demolished half a century ago. The Victorian market was built in 1872 and there were protests when the much-loved building was demolished in November 1973, to be replaced by a new shopping mall. Now the Kirkgate Shopping Centre is to be demolished, bringing to an end another era of retail in the city centre.

Our photo of the remains of the old Kirkgate Market has prompted memories on social media, including the T&A’s We Grew up in Bradford Facebook page. Here are some of them:

Geo Khan: “A photographer had a monkey and camera with him. My dad paid him for taking my photo outside the main entrance to Kirkgate Market. I must have been 12 years old.”

Peter Ratcliffe: “Looks like sheet music....all that remained of Shuttleworth’s music shop?”

Recalling the protest, Jo Singh writes: “My mum was one of the overnight protestors who was arrested but then released.”

David Sands: “It was a peaceful protest, with no malice. There was no animosity towards the police. It’s a shame the council didn’t listen to them, because we could still have our Kirkgate Market, like Leeds have theirs.”

Shaien Akther: “It was a grand building. Once demolished, it can never be replaced, there are not many stone carvers around now.”

Michael Joy: “I have memories of selling fundraising flags on those steps. The little paper ones with a pin, when I was in the Sea Cadets. Would have been circa 1963.

Colin Saul: “I remember having pie and peas in the cafes and milkshakes at the milk bar when I was a kid, then when I was a little older buying clothes from Lord Anthony’s. It was a marvellous place.”

Ian Fowler: “I used to work in Kirkgate on the jeans stall on Saturdays in the early 60s with my brother Don.”

Maureen Rebecca Smith: “I worked in Kirkgate Market as a Saturday girl on various stalls in the late 1960s, even when I got a fulltime job for some extra spending money. Yes it was cold, the roof needed fixing but the town planners ripped the heart out of our city when they decided it had to go. Where did all the stone and the gates go?"

Ann Simpson: “I worked there aged 14 in a sandwich shop that sold hot pork and chicken down the side.”

Jayne Morris: “My mum cried when she saw it half demolished.”

Jean Ann Chippendale: “It was a lovely market. This beautiful building should have been left, not pulled down. Happy memories with my mum in there.”

Chrissy Pearson: “I loved going to the market with my mum, sisters and brothers at weekends and the fish market for pie at Tom’s diner.”

David Whithorn: “If the first Kirkgate Market lasted 100 years, and the second one will have lasted 50 years, what are the chances the new one will make it past 25? Something to be said for Victorian architecture, building materials and construction skills.”