I used to remember getting the bus every Saturday with a save away bus pass in the 80s to Birkenhead and I remember the market being insanely busy. I never ventured further than outdoor/indoor market because it had it all! Once in a while I’d stray to Argos, Dixon’s, Currys, Beatties and Tandy but nothing could beat the hustle bustle of the market.

First step to getting more people shopping in Birkenhead? Free car parking, simple.

Such arrogance from these councillors

The same council that allowed the memorial playing fields at Ingleborough Road to be developed for housing when there are numerous brown field sites in Birkenhead. Why? ...you don't need me to tell you. When you have a council that is prepared to allow football and money to over-ride the memory of the 88 gallant young men who gave their lives for this worthless shower then common decency has failed.

I remember as a kid the place was bustling, you could get everything you wanted there. Now, it just looks awful. I wonder if there will be a mysterious fire like there was with the old cinema on Conway St, give the council the excuse to bulldoze and give us a monstrosity. Wirral Council are a shambles and out of touch with the Wirral public. Birkenhead deserves better and Wirral deserves better!

car parking charges have killed Birkenhead.

breaks my heart, the bloke who said no money, no industry nailed it.

It’s virtually the same for Halifax and Bradford in West Yorkshire, and dare I say it most northern markets!

I worked there in Coleman's. I remember getting breakfast from Betty's Butties and fruit and veg from the guys in the stall across from the one I worked in they were mental and always busy. Savaway bus pass would take you all over Merseyside and only cost a quid. What a life, now it's a dive and a shame.

I worked in birkenhead market in the 90s...it was packed every day! Living in greece now but still excited to get shopping back in birkenhead/ liverpool

This is a really well balanced and realistic video of pretty much every town and city market today in Britain. Great work.

Very sad to see this,I remember in the 1970s you could hardly move in the market cus it was so busy lots of wonderful memories though.

"We need to re-invent the Market" I thought that was the reason nothing ever gets done. Always trying to get credit for "re-inventing" instead of just REPAIRING. WBC are the scourge of this Town.

I was a Birkenheader born n bred but I never liked the place or the people. I never fitted in because everyone had such a chip on their shoulder and work there was scarce. Such a depressing area. The local council have robbed the local people for years with parking charges and speed cameras everywhere so is it any wonder why such a delicate local economy has suffered? I left 10 years ago and I've had a better life. I have no regrets.

Four years later and wow, this Phil Davis has made a massive difference. He's done...erm, he's done...oh, that's right - nothing. Another toothless, unimaginative, ineffective Council womble. Well done phil

A well-made and balanced video. I grew up in the town and, like most of my contemporaries, moved away because there weren't the opportunities. I understand the anger of some of the people in the video at B'Head's decline, but the reasons for the de-industrialisation of the north are complex and some of the problems are insoluble. On a recent visit to Birkenhead, I could see a slight resurgence based on the small local trading that's mentioned in this video. A city like Cambridge, (where I live now) has such high overheads that all the local businesses are forced out of the centre - this is an advantage that Birkenhead has and it makes it fertile for local business creativity. I hope the market survives - makes me nostalgic for the stall that used to sell ex-jukebox vinyl.

Unfortunately, supermarkets selling more products and then online has been the death of towns like Birkenhead . I remember how the town was in the 70s 80s and early 90s.

It was more than thriving.you literally could not walk down an Isle. It would take an hour to get to one end to the other. And if you lost your partner you was lucky to find them again!!. Them politicians tucked tail and ran. Like they always do.

It’s much bigger than this. Our whole culture and way of life has been systemically destroyed over the last few decades. Government, both local and national should get out of the way and let people get on with their lives. But they won’t. Thanks for the vid.

All shops should be in one place basically a mall, because it makes no sense to have them miles away form each other, people don't want to walk miles to get to a shop etc

Very well put together this. My mum keeps saying that Birkenhead was thriving when she was growing up 80s/90s with the bars/clubs and the market. There's nothing there now really, the place is a ghost town. Needs to change, adding to the beautiful park already there that was the idea behind NYC's Central Park.

City council killed it. Bury it. Great job council you killed it. Shame.

turn it in to a farmers market with fresh seasonal products from local farmers

pack up n walk away , its time to go !....i was a market trader years ago in the so called world famous BURY MARKET , the internet has killed these places off !

Only one thing to say, so sad. Back in the 80s it was buzzing. Every stall was open and doin' plenty of business. Used to sit off in the cafe, 'Millies' after doin our buying. I bought most of my clothes from Birkenhead market, especially jeans

Greedy councils charging for parking and again the greed that is charged for the tunnels deffinatly doesn't help birkenhead. Every corner there are now homeless beggars even pestering people as they que in the mcdonalds drive through in the rock retail park. Not all but lots of the locals in truth are rough and scruffy if im brutally honest so its not exactly a place most would want to travel for a day out.

I noticed charitys, pubs, £ shops, gone from Birkenhead Town, now thay does not seem very optimistic, one other issue is each time a new store opens it is the same things as other stores, I have noticed them and them again; tattoo, barbers, nail, phone shops open then shut down again and again, it is as there is to many of them in Birkenhead, unless they had a u.s.p how are they going to compete with shops that already exist, also obviously online purchases can actually be cheaper and more convenient at times, sure not all the time but unfortunately I think online will eventually destroy all brick stops.

I worked for the Market for a nuber ov years and it was due to it being placed under private management separate from local councils hi rents and no matanice and no money spent on it God love the store owners there all really good people

A very good documentary. Though one way of bringing people back would be to reduce or completely remove parking charges. These charges and the fanatical enforcement of fines have put many off going to Birkenhead for shopping.

Update:house of expensive = obsolete, used as a temporary july19 virus testing location until they do some massive Birkenhead regeneration plan

Remember as kid the market being packed it was stuggle to get in or out. Live in NZ now. Revisted Birkenhead last month. Guys sitting on a Sofa outside their shop on the mainstreet. Stores shut up and weeds growing everywhere. I was looking forward to sampling rollmops and the cold beef pies with gelatin sold in the market. Alas all gone.

Is all about theme, Barras market did the Hong Kong market and done very well.

When people talk about Wirral waters - it’s absolutely absolutely dreadful. They are building the slums of the future by the docks.

A very fine report. Leisure time is the key and many markets are now must go places. Give people a reason and they will go. There's no point relying on footfall from M&S etc. The fishmonger is totally correct. The guy Phil is also correct but you wonder if the execution of the plan is beyond the capabilities of those who could make it happen at an administrative level. I hope they prove everyone wrong.

That stall that sold them grey wolf fleeces and blankets will always stand strong haha

Used to love going to the book/magazine stall with my nan used copys of dandy/beano and topper 5p a go! Loved it!

That man at the start tried hitting me with a wet floor sign 2 days ago

I remember having a wee once in Birkenhead. Good times

I was in there yesterday. I remember 10 years ago, it was thriving and busy. It saddened me to see so many places closed OMG, the shop at 3:40 is my favorite place to buy fish!

That politician is so out of touch… people in Liverpool get on the ferry to Birkenhead… you can’t do that… and why would anyone want to come to Birko from Liverpool?

Thank you for this interesting show.

I'm Birkenhead born 'n' bred and I remember the market being mad busy when I was a kid in the 80's. The problem with Birkenhead as a shopping centre is that it will always be competing against online/other providers so ultimately it will lose the battle UNLESS the council stops charging tunnel or parking fees (which will never happen) or they turn it into a more "exclusive" boutique-style place (along the lines of Liverpool One) to try to bring in more affluent buyers from outside, but that would also fail because of the economic climate+situation that the locals are inside. Nobody needs or even WANTS to visit Birkenhead anymore. Why? Because it's a frigging dump LOL And as for the idea of spending a billion quid to move its location...That is NEVER gonna happen, it's just typical bullsh*t promises from politicians who don't care and have no intention of ever implementing this plan...they have to say something to try to appease the vendors, but you can see in this video just how much the bigwigs wanted to chat with the "real" people LOL It's all crap and the market will close up forever in the next decade, and Birkenhead will continue to decline EVEN MORE (if that were possible!) Ahhh, good old Birkenhead...what a sh*thole!!! How could anybody ever improve this place? Seriously???

The old market didn't burn down...it was burnt down🤫 Took the planners a couple of attempts too,it was grade2 listed .... it was standing in the wrong place for the carbuncle now standing on the site.

so weres he from not a local guy talks out is ares

Blast from the past. B area ticket 13 years old off to town on Saturday with mates. Late 80s. Market I thought reeked of fish. It was insanely busy. Shame Thanks to the likes of ebay, and Amazon etc.

That food market near the sea just seems to be empty most the time, I bet when they open, people look and think "do you have thay product " no sorry " what about ... product" no sorry" the other bits just seem to sell things only a some people would buy, so basically they are better off just walking about 5 to 10 minutes away or less, to Birkenhead Town.

Rotterdam V Birkenhead… hardly comparable… culture versus ‘goin for a Bevvy when I get me dole…’ …

i live like 10/15 minutes away from there at 12:41 i walk down there to go to the bus station for school but ive left school now im now year 12

I've only just seen this, 3 years later 😬🤣 But that fella was right, he's on cloud 9! How do they expect to run something like that when even a small market can't get the workers 💁 It's a simple solution really .... Less fees, more stability and security, update it yes but have a variety of things that people want from a market. Utilize the space more efficiently. The shops with shutters down, want to attract more people, make it attractive 💁

A good report Elizabeth. Now do a follow-up report contrasting Birkenhead with other local areas which have fared better and why. You should do more stuff like this. I like your approach and you look great btw 😔

It definitely needs to be like that other market or something else

Black Dahlia has a channel

6:23 best shop at the market and funniest person I still go there

That other market has people who don't talk pigeonon unlike Birkenhead market...

audio is very very very quiet... oh so quieeeeet..

When I was a child Birkenhead market was always busy, now it’s dead, such a shame 😢

Phil Davies a waste of space true and its still the same today ,No change ,but hey we now have new council office buildings

Can someone please do something with the volume control for this essential video. It's set too low and even when I turn up my laptop volume, it's still too low, I can't make out what's being said. Thank you

internet shopping has totally destroyed the high street . ebay and amazon are so easy . and safe .

The place is dead now but it never use to be

Yes many many useless shops well not useless but places that people will less likely go, that and empty shops, probably as it cost to much to get more to use them

If it was nearly dead then sure as hell will be after this Kung Flu BS

Birkenhead....the One eyed town!...lol

I used to collect the rubbish of the market stalls in birkenhead in the late 80,s,great job,dead busy the market qas,sso sad now

few dinosaurs there

It's even worse now its like a ghost town now so so sad 😞