Rooftops of Shrewsbury: The Market Hall

(DISCLAIMER: As an overall nice human being, I do not force entry, vandalize, steal, or disclose means of entry or location if it isn't obvious. I do this to protect locations and respect them. Trespass without forced entry is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. I do not condone breaking and entering, and I do not condone what I do. I'm a danger to myself and a terrible role model )

Hello Everyone. Привет if you're in Russia.
I'm learning Russian, for those of you who don't know, and I really love it. It's a little fact about me that has absolutely no relevance to the blog content itself.

Today I'm looking at the Market Hall, in Shrewsbury. Or, as the title suggests, I'm looking at everything else, from the Market Hall. I did a blog about this place back in 2014, but the photos from that blog were actually taken in 2011, so Shrewsbury has changed.

Usually I start my blogs with an external shot of the place, but why take one from ground level when I have one on my computer from another rooftop?

So this is the Market Hall, and if you're even slightly familiar with Shrewsbury, you'll know that the majority of the locals HATE it. This is a perfect example of 1960s architecture, and many regard the demolition of this buildings Victorian predecessor as a tragic loss to the town.
I have a photo of that too, but I didn't take it.

I mean, obviously. My parents weren't even embryos when this picture was taken, and to the best of my knowledge, I'm not a time traveler, yet. 

But it's a gorgeous building, sadly lost.

Shrewsburys older buildings are widely adored, and any 1960s inclusions are widely despised. I happen to have a perfect solution- open up rooftop gardens!

Think about it- If the buildings are so ugly then the one place you don't have to look at them is when you're on the roof checking out the view from them. They're completely flat, the views are incredible, and the local papers are always harping on about the evil rooftopping fad that's gripping Shrewsbury, so clearly there's a market for a good view. Put a park on the rooftops of the unpopular 1960s buildings, and people would love it. Both the Market Hall and Princess House overlooking the square would make perfect spots for this. They wouldn't even need to charge admission, people could just go up there to chill.
Make it happen, Shrewsbury Business Improvement District! You're a collection of all the most influential and powerful people in this town, sort of like a little Shrewsbury version of the Illuminati, self proclaimed on your own website "dedicated to making Shrewsbury a better place to live, work, visit and invest." I know some of you read this! Make this happen! Stick a statue / bust of me up there for having the brilliant idea, and see if some пизда puts a party hat on its head.
The Illuminati totally owe me a statue, seeing as I'm the closest thing Shrewsbury has to a super villain.

Yeah, I'm totally prodding a hornets nest with a stick if I mess with the Illuminati. If I die in a horrific accident, you heard it here first, it wasn't an accident.

Anyway, on with the view!

 Over there is the shopping centre, the rooftops I've blogged about before.

I have to admit, I was unaware that we now had a Wimpy. This was a clothes shop last time I looked.

This building, Bodycare, is an important one to me. Prior to being made into flats, it was a derelict gym, and one of Shrewsburys longest lasting explorable locations. I first got in around 2010 and they converted them into flats in 2016. For years, I kept the location of Shrewsburys derelict gym a secret, but revealed that it was here in a follow-up blog when the flats began being constructed.

There's a weather vain up here, where it's mostly overlooked. I actually went onto those rooftops some time ago too.

Over there is the pub/club, Monty's Tower. It's not an actual tower though, it's that curved chunk of modernity.

And right over there is the theatre!

I'm not sure what's being constructed on the left of this picture, but right next to it is Alberts Shed, which is a fantastic little venue, and a breath of fresh air on the Shrewsbury nightlife.
In the centre of the shot is Rowleys Mansion, which dates back to 1618 and was lived in by a wool merchants. It's believed to be the oldest brick building in Shrewsbury.

And here's Palmers Cafe, formerly Claremont Church. This was another one of the first places I explored back before it opened as a cafe, but only two photos exist from that night...

It looks nothing like that anymore!

The rooftops of this street have also been blogged about before.

And just up this road is the old Pooks building, which I blogged about last year.

Looming over the background is St Chads church.

I can't believe I've actually held onto that spire, very early on in my time as a rooftopper. In just one night I realised that up until that point, I hadn't really been living.

There's Maplin.

And down this road is the Square and the Music Hall.

The tobacconist in the left of this image, Adlard, is owned by the family of Charlie Adlard, a Shrewsbury resident famous for drawing the Walking Dead comics.

And there, of course, is the clocktower. It sure is surreal to think that I've been up there. Not only have I been up there, but my friends and I actually climbed into the parts of the spire that protrude outwards diagonally, and got a group shot. It's not the best shot in the world, but fuck it, let's brag.

My posse, in 2011, crammed into the spire of Shrewsbury Market Hall. Those were the days!

But that's it for todays blog post! One thing I love about doing this blog, and living my excellent life, is that I can explore an ugly 1960s building one day, and then just down the street there's a cellar which dates back to the 1200s. I love this town. But best of all, this is the second blog post on Shrewsbury Market Hall now, with almost ten years between the dates of the photos, and it is great that doing this blog has given me the opportunity to capture my towns growth, and publish it for people to see in a way that wasn't possible years ago. We may have missed the old Market Hall before it got demolished, but thanks to the internet, we now have an amazing means of recording history. Just look at some of these photos, capturing construction work, businesses like Wimpy that popped up without me even noticing, and the Palmers cafe that I explored when it was a derelict church. The world is always changing. We're surrounded by impermanence. I love the fact that we now have the means to capture and record it.

Next blog post, I'm out in the countryside checking out a nuclear bunker, and then I'm off to Telford, where my stalker lives. So next time you see me after that, I might be being forced to strip on webcam and violate myself at gunpoint for money. If you see this, please pay generously. The best thing about this location in Telford is that me and my friend took some video footage, so I'll finally be able to update my Youtube channel.
Speaking of which, apparently there may be a rooftopping documentary in the works, by one of the Birmingham rooftoppers who I mentioned in my blog about the Cobweb Cottage. There's a whole community out there, and I never knew.

In the meantime, share this blog wherever you want, Like my Facebook page, Follow my Instagram, Subscribe to my Youtube, and see if I ever update my Twitter.

Thanks for reading!