The great pet market at Club Row, immediately south of the Old Nichol/Boundary Estate, was shut down in 1983, after a protracted battle between animal-rights campaigners and market traders whose families had had pitches there for decades.

The first picture shows a dealer from the 1890s, who seems to be catering for the lovers of song-birds. For many of the poor, a window box of plants and a bird singing in a cage were the only ways to import a little rus into the urbe. Pubs around the Nichol hosted song-bird competitions, with prizes for the loudest/most tuneful chirruppers.

The cuttings below the vintage pic speak for themselves, telling the story of the early 1980s battle to have the market closed.