ARCADES PROJECT

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 structural. Most of the shop units seem to have a staircase up to the first floor, and some of the shop units once had accommodation up there either for the owner or for shop assistants.

These days there’s a nice mix of the classic arcade independent shops like barbers, tattoo parlours, beauty salons, clothing alterations, phone repairs, but also some unique businesses like the chocolate shop and the ethnic clothes, and then a rather special community shop focusing on health and well-being, but more on ‘Soul Happy’ below under the ‘My Favourite Shop’ heading.

There are also jeweller’s, an optician’s and both menswear and a ladies’ boutique. And I was really pleased to see a good old-fashioned greengrocers down at the far end of the arcade – you don’t see many of them around these days, and they were doing a good trade, too, when I walked past (this unit was always a butcher’s in recent years, and I gather the fruit & veg people only moved in late 2023)

Quite a few units sit empty just now (summer 2024), which is a shame for such a pretty arcade in a busy city centre. Efforts have been made to keep the place attractive, with fresh paintwork on the shop fronts, a lovely colourful umbrella decoration overhead just below the glass ceiling, and apparently regular pop-up shops, giving new start-ups a chance to try their arm at retail.

In a nice piece of arcade continuity, the barber at No 4 is in the same unit as the original barber in the arcade almost 100 years ago (the difference being that the original guy offered the flat upstairs for any budding barber joining his team).

My pick of the arcade’s past

When the arcade was being built in 1927, a mediaeval wall was discovered several feet below ground, and a human skull (with no other bones nearby) was found in the middle of this stone wall. The arcade first opened in the spring of 1929.

The Peterborough Women Unionists opened an office in the arcade in 1929; The Citizens Advice Bureau was based in the arcade in the late 30s and into World War 2. A florist and greengrocer was at No 6; a draper at Nos 23-25; and a furniture shop at No 16. After the war Marjorie Winston’s lingerie shop opened at Nos 18 and 22; there was Richard Addy’s menswear; and a barber at No 4 (who offered the flat above the shop for accommodation when advertising for a new hairdresser in 1950); Pat Mills’ women’s wear at No 10.

In 1963 Christmas lights came to Peterborough for the first time, and the Arcade Tenants’ Association were the proud instigators of the idea, claiming the illuminated angels they would be using had originally looked down on Regent Street in London. They hoped this would draw more shoppers to the arcade, but were torn between wanting other Peterborough streets to follow suit so the whole town centre could be lit up, and wanting no more lights elsewhere so that ‘more people would come to us…’

There was a smash and grab raid on the jeweller’s in the arcade in April 1967. Nothing unusual in that, in terms of arcade stories. But after the shop manager confirmed that a brick had been thrown through the shop window overnight, and 88 rings stolen, mounted on four trays, the twist in the tale was that the rings were pushed through a letter box at the local newspaper office that morning in a brown paper bag, which also contained a scrawled note saying simply: ‘Sorry, drunk.’ There was no subsequent report of the culprit ever being found…

Sources for the above stories all from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk and specifically: 1) Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 18 October 1963, National World Publishing Ltd; 2) Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 10 April 1967, National World Publishing Ltd.

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

Soul Happy describes itself as a wellness centre, with lots of events and classes to improve your fitness and well-being. But I loved it also for the arty things on sale in the shop, all sourced as locally as possible. Its apothecary shelves bring people from all over the country apparently. Depends largely on volunteers so only open currently 3 days a week (but let me know if that changes)

Is there a website for this arcade?

Westgate Arcade has its own page on the overall Queensgate Shopping Centre website. A link to this site is here – each business gets a decent summary, though I can’t help thinking they could have made more of the arcade’s heritage and history.