ARCADES PROJECT

The Arcade in Colne is a 1920s passageway that runs from the main road in Colne, Market Street, to Post Office Yard at the back. There’s a definite sense of community in here, even though there is only a handful of shops, and most of them are fairly recent arrivals in the arcade.

It’s a real mix of businesses, too, from the uber trendy but also vintage bakery (small-scale ‘real bread’), and once they sell out for the day, they close up the shop, to the vintage sweet shop; from the second-hand emporium which spills out into the arcade walkway with its wares, to the café and the more modern vaping shop. There’s also a wool shop and an interesting window dedicated to the Colne Dynamoes, a local football team, whose short-lived history (1970s to 1990) saw a dramatic rise to win silverware at Wembley and then their complete demise as a club a few years later.

I’m not sure the glass ceiling to this arcade dates back to its origins almost 100 years ago, but the wooden fittings and frames to the shop fronts almost certainly do. The rusting metal gate that closes at the end of each day and keeps people out when the shops are closed is probably not its most attractive feature, but I like this little arcade and the lively buzz of its traders. I just wish the baker hadn’t sold out of bread before I got there…

My favourite shop today

Has to be the artisan bakery back at the far end from the High Street. I just need to get there earlier next time before they sell out of bread and shut up for the day…

My pick of the arcade’s past

This arcade was probably originally called Wildman’s Arcade, and then ‘Arcadia’ before taking its current title of simply The Arcade. (Thanks to local historian Wendy for feeding me that useful piece of information).

Robert Wildman, whose name was attached to the arcade in early days, ran an ironmongers and sports outfitting shop in the arcade out of Number 8. He died in 1944 aged 79 after 40 years playing violin in the local Colne Orchestra. He also seemed to play the role of local estate agent, advertising properties for sale in the window of his shop in the arcade, and running de facto a branch of the Halifax Building Society.

In March 1947, the Ministry of Food put out an appeal for Guides, Scouts, Brownies and Cubs across the country to collect jam jars. The jars were needed, apparently, because fuel shortages meant supply problems for manufacturers so the government began a nationwide campaign. The Arcade in Colne was the local collection point on evenings and Saturday mornings. The target was to collect 20,000 jars in Colne alone, but one month in only half that number had been collected.

A lorry driver from Hull got into difficulties reversing into position just behind the arcade in 1957. He was carrying tons of heavy equipment and as the vehicle approached the rear of the arcade one of his wheels sank into a deep space, which had previously been a basement dwelling for shops in the arcade. At the time it was found that one of the shops in the arcade had a trap door leading down to this basement level, which included a passageway connecting all the shops in the arcade.

Stories in this section courtesy of www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, British Library Board, 1) Burnley Express, 3 May 1944, National World Publishing Ltd; 2) Barnoldswick & Earby Times 14 March 1947 National World Publishing Ltd.; 3) Nelson Leader 14 June 1957, National World Publishing Ltd.

This arcade in films or books

I’ve yet to find this arcade in any film footage or in any books I have read. Can you help?

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?

Have you seen The Arcade, Colne, in any film or book?

What’s your favourite shop in the arcade today?

Is there a website for this arcade?

No website, and as far as I could see, no social media for the arcade itself, but several of the businesses in the arcade are active on social media platforms.