Eastville Market Bristol: Archive photos from its 1980s glory days before IKEA arrived

Shoppers would travel considerable distances to hunt for bargains at Eastville's weekend market throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s. This was during an era when, every Friday and Sunday, vendors and throngs of people would pack the car park at Eastville Stadium, the original ground of Bristol Rovers FC.

Our archive photographs take us back to the market in 1981, when it was renowned for its outstanding selection of dressmaking and soft furnishing fabrics, alongside clothing, footwear, bedding, household items, cleaning supplies, meat, fruit and vegetables. Visitors arrived by the coach-load to hunt for discounted merchandise and watch market traders enthusiastically promoting their products.

The market had been operating there for three decades when IKEA purchased the location beside the M32 for their superstore in 1998, prompting the market to relocate just one block away to Eastgate Road. It continued to thrive for another ten years, though footfall began declining as out-of-town shopping centres emerged in the vicinity.

Eastgate Oriental City was established on the relocated site in 2007 and the market footprint shrank once more, although dedicated shoppers still flocked there for fruit and vegetables, fabrics, cakes, haberdashery, plants and gifts there. Eastville Market shut its doors permanently in April 2018.

What memories do you have of the market and its colourful characters?, reports Bristol Live. Please share them in the comment section below.

A cheerful stallholder at Eastville Market, 1981

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The old Eastville Market and Stadium site by the M32, pictured in 2010 after IKEA moved in

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Eastville Market, Bristol, May 1981.

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