Bigg Market has a particular significance in Charlie's story: the Univision Gallery on the market gave him his first exhibition in March 1965. Harry Lord, the gallerist, took the work and showed it. Charlie had been painting for less than two years. The show sold well.
He returned to Bigg Market as a subject throughout his career. The market's Victorian commercial buildings, the pub fronts, and the particular light of a covered urban space recur in his Newcastle work.
