When was this photo taken? the town seems a lot busier in the photo than it is nowadays.

Looks like the turn of the 1990's to me. The CCTV is up and it looks pre-Liberty's. Also the style of dress suggests not long out of the 1980s. Could this have been one of the first French market days?

I think the date of around the early 1990's is right. I had only recently moved to Newhaven and used to thoroughly enjoy these markets. It was something that always brought big crowds into the town centre not only Newhaven residents but from other nearby towns as well. Frequently they would be French markets with traders coming across on the ferry for the day.