Whether it’s your default place to visit for shopping on your days off or just a necessary evil you dash down when nipping through town, Market Street is one of Manchester’s best-known streets.
And looking back on it over the years, Market Street has been one of Manchester city centre’smost popular streets even all the way back in the 1900’s.
Retailers have come and gone, trends flew by and consumables were snapped off the shelves, but the one thing that has kept this central street alive and beating is the people of Manchester.
The appeal of this high street really can’t be beaten and it seems its reputation has been following it around for over 100 years. If there’s one thing Market Street is never short of, it’s a crowd.
Have a look back over these photos of Market Street over the years – can you remember any of this?
ADVERTISEMENT
Market Street – Over the years
Market Street, 1823
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Shops and people galore, it’s almost like we’re looking at our modern day Market Street from 200 years ago. Oh wait, we are!
ADVERTISEMENT
In this photo from 1823, there are families, workers, friends and couples, just like the street attracts in this day and age, it’s lovely to see that this central point has seen many people and witnessed many special memories.
Considering Market Street is uphill and this picture is facing downhill, we tried our best to recreate this moment in the present day.
Market Street/ Cross Street, 1890
ADVERTISEMENT
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Gone are the Tudor style buildings of the previous photograph and in are the Victorian gas lamps and shop awnings.
It’s hard to make out what sellers and makers are perched up in each shop unit, but I want to visit whichever place is selling those fancy black top hats.
It’s great to see Royal Exchange has kept its legacy in our city even with all the developments happening in and around the city.
Market Street, 1905
Credit: The Manchester LibraryCredit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Alas, colour! There’s some lovely gold brand embellishing spelling out ‘Brothers’ and even a hanging sign to match.
ADVERTISEMENT
You’ll definitely never lose track of time, especially when there’s clocks sequenced in between the street’s high risers.
After some significant research the ‘Hope Brothers’ building may no longer be with us but a shop filled with Canadian sweet treats and coffee is, Tim Hortons.
Market Street, 1924
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
This image is taken from a shop window overlooking Market Street and although the picture may be black and white, it looks as though the sun is beaming down over Manchester, someone got lucky!
1920’s Manchester would certainly put a smile on Andy Burnham’s face, just look at how many trams are running in this photo.
ADVERTISEMENT
The clocks are no more and it seems the tram wires may have stole the skyline instead, our picture was taken from the top floor of clothing retailer H&M.
Market Street, 1940
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
There was a time when everyone’s favourite affordable clothing shop, also known as Primark, was a department store branded ‘Lewis’s’.
Known for its grand window displays and the infamous phrase “If something happened it happened at Lewis’s.”
On the left of this photo you can see an arch detailing ‘Lewis’s Arcade’, this is now where Cafe Nero and Costa stand proudly on one of Manchester’s finest retail streets.
ADVERTISEMENT
This photo was taken during World War Two and you can see in the windows a message – ‘Are you supporting the national effort?’
Market Street/ Cross Street, 1974
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Cross Street neighbours our beloved Market Street and is also where you’ll find a host of shops occupying the impressive perimeter of the Royal Exchange.
One of the city centre’s newest retail arrivals to nestle in this grand building is Astrid and Miyu, luxury jewellery makers and designers.
Manchester Arndale has seen a major facelift since this photo was taken as it opts for a more glass-heavy fronting and futuristic style.
ADVERTISEMENT
Market Street, 1984
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Now in the 80’s and florescent lights and neon colours were all the rage, something which you can see in HMV’s logo shining brightly above its shop window.
The music catalog maestros may not be sitting pretty on Market Street anymore, but you will still find them in the Arndale Centre spotlighting loads of incredible new music, like they’ve always done.
You might not be able to pick up a copy of Madonna’s ‘True Blue’ or Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, but you will get yourself a ‘Black Hoof’ from ‘Black Sheep Coffee’.
Market Street/ Mossley Street, 1985
ADVERTISEMENT
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
A shop called Pizzaland dedicated to all things pizza? Here’s another reason why the 80’s were one of the best decades.
This popular eatery chain shut down in the early 90’s and some of these sites went on to become Pizza Hut sites but ours became a Santander, now closed down to make room for Pop Mart.
If all this food talk has made you hungry, fear not, there’s a Burger King just next door, or explore all the various food options in Manchester via our foodie friend, The Manc Eats.
Inside Arndale Centre, 1978
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Manchester may be one of the most eccentric cities in the world with a constant array of new openings and arrivals but the trusty Arndale has been by our side since the very beginning, or at least the 70’s.
ADVERTISEMENT
The same can’t be said for this lovely sculpture by Franta Belsky, which was installed in 1977 and removed in 1988 after refurbishments to the shopping centre.
This big open plan mezzanine might not be present anymore but it’s clear to see that one thing certainly hasn’t changed and that’s our love of shops.
The retailers might not be the same, but this shopping powerhouse is never short on some incredible and wonderful vendors.
Outside of Manchester Arndale,Market Street, 1990’s
Credit: The Manchester Library / The Manc Group
Manchester’s Arndale Centre sees 41 million visitors each year and has undergone some very big changes throughout its time.
ADVERTISEMENT
We’re sure some of you looking at this picture will remember when the Arndale had its own deep blue awning and a few benches perched outside.
Whether its 1823 or 1990, one thing’s for sure, Market Street has always looked sharp!
Hardcastle Crags – the prettiest autumn walk in the North West with a great restaurant at the end
Daisy Jackson
This is the time of year where it’s particularly difficult to drag yourself off the sofa and into the great outdoors.
The weather isn’t quite crisp enough to feel festive and most of us (even the pumpkin spice latte, cardigan-clad crew) are missing the more reliable warmth of the summer months.
But autumn is here, like it or not, and it definitely has its perks.
One of which is the undeniable beauty the season brings.
It’s not just the blazing red, orange, yellow and brown leaves that suddenly take over the green spaces around the UK.
It’s also in the sunsets and sunrises that become so much easier to catch while the days are shorter (you have to admit, the commutes are prettier when they coincide with sunrise).
The riverside walk at Hardcastle Crags. Credit: Unsplash
And there aren’t many places better to soak in all the autumn beauty than Hardcastle Crags, just across the border in West Yorkshire.
The National Trust site sits between Leeds and Manchester and is a popular day trip destination for Mancs, given the trains that run regularly to Hebden Bridge.
A walking route around Hardcastle Crags at this time of year will take you through a landscape of blazing orange trees, babbling streams, and dappled sunlight.
When you catch a golden autumnal day the leaves will crunch underfoot, but even on a soggy day the leaf mulch has its own special kind of beauty here.
There are two walking routes between the main car park and Gibson Mill, a former 19th century cotton mill which is now home to a lovely cafe.
One will take you down to the river, where wooden boardwalks weave right along the water’s edge.
There are even stepping stones you can use to scamper across the river – a great Instagram pic, or just a way to keep the kids entertained for a few minutes.
A walk around Hardcastle Crags in Autumn. Credit: The Manc Group
The other route goes up through the upper woodland, where pine trees loom and you get a great view of the valley below.
For an easy loop, you can do both – a stroll through the trees, a stop for coffee and cake, then return along the river (or vice versa).
But with 15 miles of footpaths, you can explore way beyond that.
The National Trust’s list of walks includes everything from a wheelchair and pram-accessible estate track to peaceful woodland loops, to rocky scrambles and former railway lines.
And when you’re done with Hardcastle Crags itself, there’s a world-class restaurant in the gorgeous town centre itself.
Coin sits in the shell of the former Lloyd’s bank, with exposed brick and massive period windows, and specialises in natural wine and small plates.
When The Manc Eats visited, we found plates of freshly-cut meat and cheese served alongside ice-cold batched classic cocktails, where ‘quality is key, and it shines through on the plate’.
Our reviewer said: “With its higgledy-piggledy stone mill houses, surrounding woodland, hidden waterfalls and treasure-trove charity shops, Hebden Bridge is a popular attraction all of its own for those wanting to venture beyond the city. Coin is simply the cherry on top.”
In celebration of Momo Shop: a Chorlton favourite that has flourished since its rebrand
Danny Jones
It’s not often we go out of our way to hammer home just how staggering we found a restaurant, but after now losing track of the number of times that a member of our team has eaten at Momo Shop in Chorlton and come back near speechless, it deserves more than a review.
We regularly hold ourselves back and resist the urge to talk in superlatives wherever possible, especially because we worry we might be falling into the recency bias trap, but in this instance, we’re going to go out on a limb and fall on our hospitality sword. Well, this particular writer is…
It’s official: Momo Shop Nepali Street Food – for our money, anyway – is up there with one of THE best restaurants in Manchester right now.
And there are plenty of reasons why, not least of all because of the years of practice they have feeding increasingly discerning Manc diners under a different moniker.
Simple but charming – all the focus is on the foodAnd the food speaks for itselfSome of the most flavourful fillings you’ll find in ManchesterBusy any given night of the weekNo review (Credit: The Manc Eats/Momo Shop via Instagram)
If you don’t live in/frequent Chorlton, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that this gaff was a somewhat new addition to Chorlton, but in actual fact it’s been gradually growing a loyal and passionate following for more than seven years.
This is because before the miniamlist rebrand that saw the walls stripped back, the exterior painted blue and cutesy little bits of artwork hung amidst that familiar and atmospheric festoon lighting, Momo Shop was once The Little Yeti.
Its former iteration boasted hundreds of glowing reviews in its own right, which already plated up plenty of stunning Nepalese food, but since switching primarily towards serving a menu primarily made up of momos (Tibetan-style fried dumplings hand-folded into various shapes) they’ve well and truly shone.
Now approaching a full 12 months under the new name, the Nepali street food spot isn’t just one of a relatviely small handful considering how much great South Asian food there is across Greater Manchester, we’d wager it could be the very best representing that Alpine-Himalayan belt in our region.
Our latest visit was genuinely just as good as our first, second, third and so on – take your pick.
From the simply incredible deep fried pork dumplings and the deeply moorish butter sauce that goes with literally any momo filling, to the super traditional buffalo ones that are not only authentic but, come on, where else can you find such a unique meat in these parts? It’s some of the best food we’ve eaten.
And we don’t just mean of late; Momo Shop might genuinely among of the nicest scran we’ve had in ages and it’s no exagerration to say that the first taste we enjoyed from many of these flavours have formed some of the strongest culinary memories we’ve created in quite a while.
It’s also worth nothing that it isn’t just one main snack-sized dish. The chow mein, keema noodles and cheesy chops are showstoppers themselves, and we’ve already booked in again for a 30th birthday celebration purely so we can try those lambs ribs and their take on a shashlick.
Nevertheless, we love the idea of the numerous configurations and concotions by pairing different dumplings and owner Niti Karki gave us some pro-tips of the best duos and even let us in on the trade secret of her go-to combo when she’s hungover. Legend.
Once again, at the risk of sounding too hyperbolic, odd moments have felt like core foodie memories on a par with our favourite all-time meals.
Personally, I’m glad to report that this isn’t just a review: consider this a declaration that Momo Shop has quickly become my favourite restaurant not just in Chorlton but in all of central Manchester, something I haven’t had since the heartbreaking closure of Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun in 2023.
Plenty of varietyDamn straightNiti = absolute iconWe’ll keep your condiment secret forever, Niti…
There might be an element of the almost HakkaPo-esque style drawings, the colour palette and the carefully curated pop-punk, old school emo and post-hardcore playlist that’s over half a decade in the making that makes particualrly partial to this place
But before we wrap up this glorified love letter parading as a ‘review’, we also want to give a special nod to the charming staff and Niti’s mum, specficially, who was too modest to even let us share her picture, but whose wealth of wisdom, influence and experience has clearly inspired Momo Shop’s success.
Don’t be shy, Sue – the only thing more stylish than the food was you, girl. Pop off.
Put simply, we’ll be going back here as regularly as possible until we try every different momo + sauce variation there is, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.
If you are in the mood for more dumpling excellence, by the way, you might want to check out the unassuming Northern Quarter gem that is Chef Diao.
Thomas Melia -
21st February 2025 
