ARCADES PROJECT

Approaching its 150^th anniversary, Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade has survived being bombed in the Blitz, and has undergone several renovations since the war, but has retained its Victorian feel and is still a busy walkway between Snow Hill station and the city centre.

One of the entrances was destroyed by a bomb in 1940, though the Victorian clock on the wall down at that end of the arcade survived somehow and still chimes the hours. The other entrance, on Temple Row, is original, with its high stone arch and carved stonework figures guarding the doorway.

Inside, there is a good occupancy rate for the 40 or so shop units, with a big range of businesses going strong, from a florist’s (with beautiful curved shop front, suggesting an older window than most of its neighbours) to a Havana cigar shop, a beautiful shop specialising in hats and scarves, and an artisan bakery at one end. There are also a couple of nationally-known chains, but the vast majority of shops in the arcade are independent and local: lots of food and drink venues, beauty, hair, shoes, an optician, and a traditional sweet shop. Among the hospitality venues is a ‘not-for-profit’ bar, though it was closed the morning I walked past, so I didn’t get to find out how it keeps going.

There is an upstairs balcony, with a larger area half way along the arcade, above which there must once have been a glass dome, and below which runs a railway tunnel. I am guessing the Viennese patisserie which operated in the arcade for many decades must have had its tables out in this upper space, as its adverts talk of customers have great views down on the arcade below.

Large banners hang from the glass roof depicting the various stages of this arcade’s life, from its Victorian beginnings, through the World War 2 destruction to more recent renovations, and being voted Birmingham’s favourite building in 1988.

My pick of the arcade’s past

When plans for Birmingham’s first covered shopping arcade were made public in 1874, the inspiration was said to be the great ‘galeries’ of Paris, with the Great Western Arcade designed to be larger than London’s Burlington Arcade and ‘greatly surpassing it in design and general decoration.’ – Interestingly, the information boards in the arcade today suggest that Milan’s grand arcade was the inspiration…It was to be built over the railway line that Isambard Kingdom Brunel had built through Birmingham.

Gale force winds in 1891 sent pieces of iron crashing through the glass ceiling of Great Western Arcade. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, though the incident occurred during the evening rush hour, when crowds of commuters would often shelter in the arcade waiting for their trams home. The only minor injury was to a woman who was sat sewing in one shop when a piece of iron flew through the shop door splintering the glass in the door.

During the Second World War blitz a bomb on 24 November 1940 damaged one entrance to the arcade, and scaffolding was needed to hold the glass ceiling in place. During the rubble clearance which finally took place in 1952, workers unearthed the time capsule buried in the arcade foundation stone, which included newspapers from 1875 and coins of the day, though damp had badly affected the inside of the glass container by the time it was discovered. And the great glass dome which was the centrepiece of the original arcade was so affected by dry rot that it was pulled down and replaced in the same year, 1952.

A police constable who was thrown down the arcade by the blast of the bomb recalled the moment 53 years later when he told of how he flew horizontally through the shop door of a furriers and when he woke shortly after he found himself smothered in expensive fur coats. He reckons the furs might have saved his life as they cushioned his landing.

Sources for the above stories all from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk and specifically: 1) Warwick & Warwickshire Advertiser, 21 February 1874 – British Library Board; 2) Birmingham Daily Post, 12 November 1891, Reach plc; 3) Evening Despatch, 16 May 1952 – Reach plc; 4) Birmingham Daily Post, 25 December 1893 – 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 shop in the arcade

So many lovely shops, but I did love the hat shop – not many around these days, and they have a great stock of men’s and women’s.

Is there a website for this arcade?

There is a very good website for Great Western Arcade, with a potted history under the About page. Link to it here. The arcade is also active on social media.