Market improvement work begins soon, New home for City Archives service
Written by Hitmix Local News on 21 May 2024
Work is about to begin on Newcastle’s historic market as part of a large investment in its future.
Refurbished stalls, part of High Street remodelled and rent-free stalls for traders on Mondays are all part of the £390,000 plan approved by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council last autumn.
The same number of pitches will be available for the busier markets and once finished the scheme will include four parking bays for very short stays and a public space running through the centre of lower High Street.
Stephen Sweeney, Deputy Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Cabinet member for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, said: “We all know the important role the market plays in Newcastle’s daily life. “This significant investment will upgrade stalls, support traders and make the whole area more appealing.
Money for the work comes from the Borough Council’s successful bid to the Government’s Future High Street Fund.
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The city’s museum and archives collections are now in one place for the first time as the City Archives moves to The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.
In 2022 it was announced that a £1.7m investment was being made into new facilities for City Archives reaffirming Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s commitment to heritage and culture.
Work has included the clearance of stores within the museum and a new state-of-the-art reading room has been built in the heart of the museum. It now holds 344 cubic metres of archives and local studies material creating an integrated world-class research facility for the study of ceramics and local history.
Council leader Jane Ashworth said: “As we get nearer to our centenary year in 2025, it is fantastic to have thousands of historical collections people can view and the new reading room will only help improve access to the archive collections.”
The collection includes books, audio tapes, files, maps, plans and Minton Design Folios (containing just over 30,000 individual designs)
