Trafford Centre 25th Anniversary 2023

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The Trafford Centre celebrates it's 25th anniversary this week. I can remember when it was first built and we said we would not be visiting it very often. We had been used to going to Manchester or Bolton for our shopping and had enjoyed the experience. 
Several things though changed our outlook, Free parking compared with rising costs in town centres, and the fact that everything was inside, so the necessity to wear a thick coat in winter wasn't needed helped. The final factor was that when our daughter came along it was an ideal place to take a pram or walker, and when she was a young teenager she could bring a friend and we felt safe letting them wander for a while.
Friends at work joked in later years that going on a Friday night, with my wife, had become our date night. In a way this was true as we used the experience to unwind after a hard day's work. We didn't necessarily go to shop just for a long walk along the two floors. Just after payday we would dine in a restaurant and towards the end of the month eat from one of the concessions in the food court. 
As an artist, who had spent several years painting local shopping centres, it seamed appropriate to paint images of the centre and the people who visited it. Some of these already show the changes that have taken place.
We still visit but try to go in the day when it is quieter. It is a shame that some of the major stores have gone, but there is plenty of scope still for the shopping concourse to be developed.