ALTRINCHAM MARKET HALL

ALTRINCHAM MARKET HALL

Altrincham Market Hall

Now has a Wall of Shame

Their negative reviews from

TripAdvisor or somesuch

Posted near to an exit

Which prove enlightening

A list of regrets for the loss

Of the ghosts of markets past

Altrincham Market Hall

Where people could once find

Big pants and sweatshirts

Tracksuits and sausages

Old books, reading lamps

Assorted sweeties and nick-nacks

Wool and thread, buttons and bows

The simple poetry of birthday cards

Altrincham Market Hall

Now containing a food space

Selling exotic foodstuffs

Full of long trestle tables

Hipsters and families mingle

Forced to sit with strangers

With democratic cutlery pots

Still water sitting in carafes

Altrincham Market Hall

This recent gentrification

Has led to a boiling schism

Between the fans of the old

And those embracing the new

In a four-weekly Sunday cycle

Design - food - vintage - crafts

A community displacing another

Altrincham Market Hall

Now so "controversial”

It’s get out with the old

Swing in with the modern

Not so many tracksuits

More artisan bread bakers

Vegan pizza options replacing

Sizzling onions in a burger van

MAWH, April 2018