Photo of long-gone attraction at Milton Keynes city centre brings memories flooding back

A photo of the city’s indoor market taken in the 1980s will bring back happy memories for hordes of local people.

The market hall was a popular feature of the new shopping centre when it opened in 1979, just a few doors down from McDonald’s.

It boasted permanent stalls that rapidly become popular. There was a fabric stall, a greengrocer, fish shop, cheese shop, cooked meats counter and a sweet stall among others.

The photo belongs to centre:mk but was published this week on the popular Milton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page, where it prompted a huge response from people reminiscing about shopping there

Another long-gone favourite at the centre was C&A, which occupied large premises at the John Lewis end. Once a staple for fashion, it closed in the late 1990s due to competition from other brands.

BHS was another flagship store when the shopping centre opened, but this closed in 2016 and the premises are now occupied by Primark. By that time, Woolworths – another formerly much-loved store, had already closed down.

Virgin Megastore was a highly popular haunt for fans of CDs, DVDs and video games but that closed down in 2007, to be replaced by after by Zavvi, which sol similar products. However, two years later Zavvi closed down.

What stores do you miss at the city centre and do you think it is better now? We’d love to hear you recollections of days gone by.