ScrawlCrawl: Writing & Drawing in a Market

Tomorrow, Saturday Feb 26th, we are meeting up again for a SketchCrawl in Sheffield city centre. But this time it's with a difference - we're extending the idea and inviting writers to come out and join the sketchers, creating snatches of prose or poetry based on their observations, in just the same way.

The weather is still far too chilly to do anything outside and I've been desperately trying to think of another new venue that is free, warm, central and can accommodate us all.

Then I had a brain-wave: Sheffield has a covered market, crammed with over 200 stalls on two floors, selling everything from wet fish to bolts of fabric!

Castle Market is a rambling affair, housed within a building which, let's be frank, is far from a thing of great beauty, but with the various stalls, the local characters and the great views down onto the city centre from the glazed walkways, there is so much to draw that you could spend a year in there.

I'm told that the whole place is due for demolition in a year's time, so not only will it be a rich tapestry to inspire our writing and sketching, but it seems a nice idea to help record it before it disappears.

As usual, you are welcome to join or leave us at any point during the day, but if you would like to meet up at the kick-off, we will be meeting at 10am at the foot of the stairs at the Waingate entrance, opposite Castle Street:


I suggest that, amongst their usual gear, sketchers make sure they include a smallish sketchbook, as it will be busy and so it may well be necessary at times to work standing up.

We have permission from the market's Head of Security, but let's try to be as discrete as we can and not interfere with trading.

There are various cafes within the market where we can grab lunch, all of which are cheap as chips and will also present some creative opportunities. I suspect that, being a Saturday, we'll need to divide up to fit into them.

At the end of the day, around 4.00 - 4.30pm, we'll move on to the Old Queen's Head, 5 mins walk round the corner, at 40 Pond Hill (tucked behind the bus station) for the usual sharing of our work. This is the oldest domestic building in the city, unfortunately more ordinary on the inside than the exterior, but still quite cosy.

Email me for a map of the markets, or to go on my SketchCrawl mailing list. See you there!