After Feller the butchers announced it was closing earlier this year, we are featuring some Oxford Mail archive photos.

These include Haymans serving up alligator meat, and a visit from an African elephant called Bully.

He was lucky enough to be fed lots of fresh fruit in 1988.

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In recent years, the city council's policy of splitting up empty retail units has paid off and the vast majority of them have been filled.

Oxford Mail:

Worcestershire-based Pershore Seafoods opened in 2019, on the site of the former Haymans shop, which closed in 2017 to focus on trading from the Fishmarket on Osney Mead industrial estate.

Oxford Mail:

The Teardrop bar opened the same year, and there have been other new businesses starting up, some initially as pop-up shops.

This has included a new bar run by Tap Social, and a new Italian deli and bar called Il Corno.

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Oxford Mail:

And Gulp Fiction opened as a new bookstore for the market, which also serves coffee and beer.

READ MORE: Michelin-starred chef will open restaurant

Customers at the market were asked by landlords the city council if they thought the market should have longer opening hours and now some traders do stay open for longer.

The market is an ideal location for shoppers who want to support independent retailers when they are buying festive food and gifts.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23975049.michelin-starred-chef-open-new-restaurant-henley/