Talk about markets in Brighton and it will usually not be long before the name of Harry Cowley is mentioned.

Harry was a chimney sweep who moved into markets as a young man in Brighton. He was instrumental in persuading the council to start the Open Market off London Road in 1926. It was rebuilt in 1960.

He also ruled the Saturday market in Upper Gardner Street with a rod of iron and few people got the better of him.

But he was best known for fighting what he saw to be injustices and he would use unconventional methods to achieve his aims.

After both world wars, Harry felt strongly that servicemen and their families were not being properly housed.

He formed a band of vigilantes who went round looking for empty houses which were then occupied and given to service families.

His clarion call was: “This don’t come right to me.” There was an enormous crowd at his funeral and the Cowley Club in London Road has been established in his memory.

But there were markets before Harry and after he had gone. The busiest one for many years was on the site of what is now Brighton Town Hall.

When the town hall was built, traders moved to a site opposite in Market Street, where flowers and fruit were sold.

In 1960, the market was relocated to Circus Street and civic buildings were planned for the former site, as the town hall was becoming overcrowded.

But they took a quarter of a century to be built and the forlorn red-bricked remains, known as the Floral Hall, were converted into a so-called temporary car park. The offices arrived eventually, along with a much-needed new hotel.

The downside was that the development was built across the foot of Market Street, blocking views and access to the seafront.

There was also a fish market in Brighton for many centuries, below the cliffs on what is now the Lower Promenade. But in 1960 the council decided to move that to Circus Street as well, on hygiene grounds.

Fishermen vainly pointed out few people would go to the new location and that the historic site was ideal but the council went ahead anyway.

However, when the seafront arches were revamped by the council in the 1990s, a new fishing quarter was created complete with a museum. It is on the original market site and admission is free.

The man behind the new fishing quarter was Labour councillor Andy Durr, who is also a historian. He has a passion for both the seafront and the fishing industry.

Time has gone by and even Circus Street has passed its sell-by date. There are ambitious plans for the site now that the markets have moved to Hollingbury. They include offices, affordable housing and a dance studio.

The Open Market, which eventually became rather run-down, is being rebuilt with a strong emphasis on organic produce. More affordable housing is also being provided.

Harry Cowley would have been pleased about that.