ARCADES PROJECT

When Castle Arcade opened in 1889, the Mayor of Cardiff at the time said it was ‘equal, if not surpassing in appearance all of its predecessors.’ Many would argue that the same applies 135 years later.

This is an L-shaped arcade close to Cardiff Castle, with shops and offices over four storeys, so equal in height to Manchester’s Barton Arcade and the Byram Arcade in Huddersfield, but providing more of a ‘walk-through’ passage feel.

Window-like mirrors at two ends of one leg of the arcade give a feel of even greater space and length than the arcade really occupies. And it is worth walking up to the balcony just for the different perspective on this magnificent arcade, and a close-up to those mirrors and the lamps hanging down from the glass ceiling.

There is an enormous range of businesses operating out of Castle Arcade. Many are in food and hospitality, with an excellent bakery, cafes, restaurants (including a gin bar), but also a cheese shop and even a Welsh Cakes shop (‘freshly griddled every day’).

There is art and culture here, too, with Troutmark Books one of the oldest (if not THE oldest) tenants, Cardiff Violons operating above a hair salon on the 1^st and 2^nd floors, and an art gallery not far away, too, with a place called ‘Arthole’ opposite, which looks as if it caters more for those wishing to have a go at art themselves.

There are also barbers and hair salons, home décor, games, a crystals shop, a handmade ladies’ clothes boutique and a bridal shop soon to arrive.

A nice touch is the reminder every few yards along the walkway to ‘look up to balcony.’ Upstairs, as well as the violins shop, there are nail salons, wigs, alterations and a number of other concerns which have more discreet frontages, making it harder to know what they do inside.

There are a couple of empty units but with busy footfall and the sheer variety of tenants, Castle Arcade really is the top-drawer destination for anyone visiting the City of Arcades that is Cardiff.

My pick of the arcade’s past

A waitress in a restaurant in the arcade broke her leg in November 1892. She was apparently standing on a table when she slipped and fell, but in the ways of news story-telling of the day, there was no comment on why she was standing on a table in the first place, whether she was drunk or was goaded into doing something by diners beforehand.  All we find out from the newspaper is that her name was Annie Nolan, and she was just 21 years old.

The optician at No 37 in 1893 fell foul of Sunday-trading rules, but not for opening his shop. He was also interested in photography and lantern (slide) shows. He hoped that his proposal to run a slide show on a Sunday evening would be regarded as helpful as it would keep loafers off the streets of Cardiff and could be seen as ‘pure and elevating,’ as he planned to show pictures of the Holy Land and play sacred music, but what some called ‘religious bigots’ were campaigning against what they saw as the threat from France (the so-called ‘Parisian Sunday’) and stopped the slide show taking place.

A music-seller in the arcade took a case against a man who set-up a stall in a neighbouring street selling what were proved to be ‘pirated’ copies of sheet-music, not authorised by the publishers. This was the period – 1902 – when sheet music with the words to popular songs was the early version of a hit parade. Among the songs confiscated: “Oh Ho!,” “I can’t tell why I love yer but I do,” “Dolly Gray,” “For all Eternity.”

Alberta McCarthy opened her toy museum in the Castle Arcade in 1987. In her interview with the local newspaper she said her collection of old toys began because as a child she had been deprived of toys. Her oldest doll dated from the 1820s, a bear which pre-dated the notion of ‘Teddy’ Bear (which apparently began with Teddy Roosevelt in 1932) came from around 1900, and some of the Victorian dolls were modelled on infants who had died, the face being copied as closely as possible in the doll.

Sources for these stories all from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk and specifically: 1) South Wales Daily News, 4 November 1892; 2) Western Mail, 15 November 1893, Reach plc; 3) South Wales Daily News, 22 November 1902 – National Library of Wales; 4) South Wales Echo, 5 February 1987, Reach plc.

What memories do you have of visits in years gone by?

Have you got any good stories to add on the past of this arcade?

What’s your favourite shop in the arcade today?

Have you seen this arcade in any films or books?

My favourite shops in the arcade

Too many to choose from. I love the artisan bakery, with its spiral stairs up to a cosy seating area; the old bookshop next door is a marvel, as is the cheese shop over the way. And I just love the concept of Cardiff Violins, though sadly I had no reason to go in there myself.

This arcade on film or paper?

No 37 in the arcade features on a website mapping Doctor Who locations. And scenes in the BBC series Torchwood were also filmed in this arcade.

A poem by Gillian Clarke ‘In a Cardiff Arcade 1952’ is set in Castle Arcade.

Is there a website for this arcade?

Castle Arcade is part of the Castle Quarter, with an excellent website run by FOR Cardiff. Also active on social media.