Royal Arcade, Keighley

The Royal Arcade in Keighley, West Yorkshire, is still going strong, although in the 1980s it was derelict and might well have gone under the bulldozer. Thank goodness it was bought by developers who wanted to restore its Edwardian/Victorian charm.

This arcade has a T-shape, with the name of the arcade standing clearly over the entrance in the main road (once called Fleece Street). From here there is a glass-roofed corridor of about 30m length, with shops along either side, opening out into a larger, open-plan area at the end, with its own glass roof.

The glass does not look original but a lot of the ironwork and shop fronts do. There’s a balcony running along the length section, still used as flats as they were when the Royal Arcade was first built around 1900. And then in the more open section the upper level is used by shops, and an information board, with beautiful ironwork both supporting the roof and in the staircase leading up to this level.

Some of the wooden fittings to the shop fronts look original, in the mouldings framing some doors, and in the doors themselves; there’s even a Yorkshire white rose carved into one shop front.

The tea room, florists and guitar shop were busiest on this late Saturday afternoon, giving a refreshing buzz to the open section. But occupancy rates overall seemed high, with a wide range of independent businesses ranging from hair and beauty to dog grooming, goth gifts to interior design, and baby clothes to sweets.

I also liked how the arcade has a proud connection to its past, not just in the Union Jack bunting, which was more likely up for the King’s coronation, but also with a fascinating wall of newspaper clippings depicting some of the major events of the 20^th century (Moon landing, JFK assassination, end of WW2) and some lovely photos of the renovation work carried out in the last 20 years, when old shop fronts were discovered in the basement levels.

A thumbs-up from me for this arcade, especially given its parlous state 40 years ago…

My favourite shop today

The Cake ‘Ole not only has great cakes and loose-leaf tea so is top quality, but it also just has a nice atmosphere and space, with seats inside the shop, but also out in the section under the glass ceiling, making it a great viewing point for arcade lovers.

My pick of the arcade’s past

Business was not always successful in this Keighley arcade. By September 1902, two years after the arcade opened, the two gentlemen running the florists in the arcade went into administration, and ceased trading. And in July 1904 the hairdresser operating out of No 1 Royal Arcade also went into receivership. Just 23 years old when he went bankrupt, the young barber said that when he opened up in the arcade three years earlier he owned nothing but a few razors and a couple of chairs; business had gone well for a while but he was losing money by the end.

A 14 year old boy who worked in the arcade as a ‘doffer’ (someone who removed full spindles and bobbins from a loom and replaced them with empty ones) in 1907 was arrested for helping a known thief slightly older than himself to snatch a purse and 6d from a little girl of 5 who had been sent out to buy butter for her mother. The repeat offender was sent to reform school, whereas the arcade lad was ‘bound over’ for six months (though it’s not clear what that meant in today’s legal language).

In 1912 a resident of the arcade, who described himself as a musician, was charged with breaking and entering into a neighbour’s property. His lodging had windows looking out on to the glass roof of the arcade, and he slipped across the roof one night, along the guttering into the home of the confectioner’s who had two shop assistants sleeping with her. One of these, Annie Cryer, said she saw a man in her room but could not identify him; evidence against the ‘musician,’ was that a pair of his felt slippers was left in the girls’ bedroom after he escaped. His defence was that he had been drinking too much. He was let off.

This arcade in films or books

I didn’t find any films or books set in Keighley’s Royal Arcade. In 2019 there was, however, a paranormal investigation team (who then published a video to YouTube) down in the basement of the arcade looking for ghosts…