KINGSLAND Market was a wonderfully colourful, noisy place where local Southampton people mingled among the market stalls, snapping up bargains and enjoying friendly banter with the traders.

In fact Kingsland Square was such a centre for the local community that on New Year's Day in 1980, the market was the venue for a special turkey lunch for dozens of homeless men who slept rough on the city's streets.

Today, the stalls piled high with fruit and vegetables, meat, household items and second-hand bric-a-brac together with the stall-holders' calls are only memories but there was a time when Kingsland Market was alive with shoppers.

Back in 1920s, the market boasted a Punch and Judy show, a so-called dentists who charged sixpence (2p) to pull out a tooth, racing tipsters and street entertainers including an escapologist.

According to the history books Southampton had a market as far back as the Middle Ages while KIngsland began in1880. A 19th century newspaper report said: "Some days ago residents were surprised when men started work on the square in front of the KIngsland Tavern putting in drains and levelling the area.

"Inquiries revealed that a market for coster-mongers was to be held there. Resident of South Front have already voiced their objections to the work on several grounds, those of nuisance and expense being the principal among them.

"According to one resident there are enough nuisances in this quarter without adding to them."

The market was adopted by the council in 1926 when the weekly charge for a pitch was ten shillings (50p) and amongst the items for sale were health elixir, hair restorer and 'Dr. Strong's Infallible Remedies'. "

During the hard times before the Second World War, many a penny-counting family played the waiting game at the stalls, when the game dealers and butchers, keen not to have too much stock on their hands in those pre-refrigeration days, sold off meat to the highest bidder.

In 1980 it was Miss Marjorie Dabbs, of Winn Road, Southampton who came up with the idea of a special lunch for the homeless. With the help of the Salvation Army the men were served a menu of soup followed by roast turkey, which had been donated by nearby shops and stall-holders.

Sadly, when Kingsland Market stalls became isolated from the main Above Bar shopping centre the number of people using the market began to dwindle and even the development in the 1980s of a £176,000 permanent roof which covered the stalls was not enough to keep the market profitable.