Market Square Heroes

"Market Square Heroes" is the debut single by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1982 with "Three Boats Down from the Candy" as the B-side. The 12-inch single included an additional track, the 17:15-minute-long "Grendel", making it an EP in terms of overall length.

Themes

The A-side is an anthemic rock song whose lyric vaguely describes the rise of civil unrest under some charismatic leader in the face of increasing unemployment; the original title was "UB 2,000,001". According to Marillion's singer and lyricist Fish, the "market square hero" is a "would-be revolutionary with all the necessary charisma and presence of a leader without direction or goals, just a sense of frustration and anger". The track was the band's "first attempt at deliberately writing a hit record and a 'simple' rock song to juxtapose against our meandering but dynamic 'epics'."

Members of the band have attributed the inspiration behind the main character in the song lyrics to a person they knew in Aylesbury who went by the nickname of 'Brick'. In a 2009 interview, Mark Kelly stated: "I don't know whether Brick was a leftie, a militant or a skinhead but he was the inspiration for the character singing, "I'm a Market Square Hero" Fish made reference to this theme and introduced Brick as a "leftie hero" before he performed the song with his former Marillion bandmates in Aylesbury at the 'Hobble on the Cobbles' concert in 2007. Brick died in 2011.

Market square

The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day.

A typical English market square consists of a square or rectangular area, or sometimes just a widening of the main street. It is usually situated in the centre of the town, surrounded by major buildings such as the parish church, town hall, important shops and hotels, and the post office, together with smaller shops and business premises. There is sometimes a permanent covered market building (the cloth hall), and the entire area is a traditional meeting place for local people as well as a centre for trade.

The largest Market Square in Europe is the Main Market Square of Kraków, Poland designed in 1257. Incidentally, the longest such square is also located in Poland, in the town of Pułtusk.

Main Market Square, Kraków, Poland

Main Market Square, Kraków, Poland

Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington World of Adventures Resort (often abbreviated to just "Chessington" or "CWoA") is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex that lies 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Central London, England in the Chessington area of the Kingston upon Thames borough. Historically opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, a theme park was developed alongside the zoo, opening on June 7, 1987, making it the first themed amusement park in Britain. Owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments since 2007. Chessington has two on-site resort hotels, the Safari Hotel opened in 2007, and was followed by the opening of the Azteca Hotel in mid 2014.

Chessington Zoo has over 1,000 animals, including western lowland gorillas, sea lions, and Sumatran tigers. It is split up into several areas: Trail of the Kings, Creepy Caves, Sealion Bay, Children's Zoo, Amazu, Penguin Bay and the Wanyama Village & Reserve as well as a Sea Life Centre.

Chessington World of Adventures theme park centres around immersive areas and high quality themes from around the world. It currently has ten areas including the Market Square, Mystic East, Mexicana, Pirates Cove, Transylvania, and Forbidden Kingdom. Land of the Dragons opened in 2004 for children although it includes the intense spinning coaster Dragon's Fury, and in 2010 Wild Asia replaced the area known as Beanoland. In 2012 Africa replaced ToyTown, and following this Chessington introduced the new area ZUFARI in 2013. Major attractions include: Vampire, Bubbleworks, KOBRA, Zufari: Ride into Africa and Scorpion Express.

Market Square Shopping Centre (Australia)

Coordinates: 38°08′53″S 144°21′41″E / 38.148°S 144.3615°E / -38.148; 144.3615

Market Square Shopping Centre is located in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The shopping centre was named after the original town square of Geelong on which the shopping centre is constructed. The centre is surrounded by Little Malop, Moorabool, Malop, and Yarra Streets. Market Square is located on the southern side of Malop Street opposite the Westfield Geelong shopping complex, the two of which together make up Geelong's Central Shopping Complex.

Stores

Market Square contains numerous speciality stores such as Dymocks and Harris Scarfe. In 2006, an extension into the former Safeway section of the centre saw other large chains move in, including the return of JB Hi-Fi to Geelong, and an EB Games.

History

The 1980s saw the first of many urban renewal proposals floated for the central Geelong area. The Geelong Regional Commission on November 6, 1981 released a plan that would see a massive shopping centre extend from Little Malop Street through to the waterfront. This proposal did not proceed, but a scaled down version of the plans can be seen in today's centre and the Bay City Plaza development.