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Approaching its 150th 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…
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Newport Arcade is a small, late-Victorian gem in this South Wales town a few miles east of Cardiff. The facade at the (Market) street end has a stone archway over the entrance, with the name Newport Arcade in classy black over the walkway. There are beautiful original spiral staircases in most of the shop units…
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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…
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Leicester’s Silver Arcade is a magnificent 4-storey building, with superb balconies running along each floor, looking down on the main walkway, which runs from Silver Street to Cank Street. There are a few anomalies around its exact vintage, however. The claim in glass above the main entrance now declares ‘1899,’ and Margaret MacKeith agrees with…
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Opened almost 100 years ago in 1927, Peterborough’s Westgate Arcade has kept its vintage charm, while the mega multi-storey Queensgate shopping mall grew up next door. There are two floors to this arcade, with a balcony running the full length of the arcade, marked by impressive pillars, which might well be decorative as much as…
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It’s hard to imagine today that Boscombe’s beautiful Victorian arcade used to host daily concerts, with an organ, an orchestra and singers on the balcony. It reminded me of Southport’s wonderful Wayfarers’ Arcade in the sense that it has seen better days, though I think even the Southport arcade has more connection back to its…
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Central Arcade in Newcastle is a superb two-storey building dating from 1906, with lots of original features on the inside, including the ornate brown tiling, the upstairs balcony, entrances onto three streets in the centre of Newcastle, and one shop that has been there almost since the beginning. Windows Music Shop is a beautiful place,…