LIFE, it would seem, is slowly returning to normal.

Schools and shops are reopening and, in terms of our town centre, traders are getting back to business at Colchester Market.

The Government recently gave the go-ahead for open air markets to return, as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions.

It’s a welcome sight and all part of the rich and chequered history of the town’s market, which is believed to date back as far back as 1189 when Colchester was granted its first Royal Charter.

This confirmed the town’s right to hold a market – the legal basis for the market now.

Over the past half-a-century it has had various locations in Culver Street, Vineyard Street car park and Colchester High Street in addition to its current home in Lion Walk shopping centre.

There were market stalls in the High Street until the 1960s, when a boom in the ownership of cars pushed a move to Culver Street.

The introduction of the one-way system in 1963 and plans to create further shopping at Culver Street saw it moved again to outside the old public library.

In 1981, it moved back to the High Street but concerns were voiced about the stalls and the effect on shops which, in 1989, saw it decamped again, this time to Vineyard Street.

A move back to the High Street was short-lived in 1993 and it then moved to Culver Street before being successfully restored to the High Street in April 2015.

Now, hopefully, the market has settled in Lion Walk shopping centre after a successful trial and hopes it will become busy again now lockdown is easing.

Thousands of customers have enjoyed using the market over the years, snapping up bargains and enjoying the variety of goods on offer as testified by the photos on this page.

The market was forced to scale down earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several essential traders continued to operate but now more are set to return, albeit it as part of a phased approach.

Colchester Council, which runs the market, says stallholders will return on a gradual basis with normality hoped for by early July.