November 2020
The Visit
I have had my eye on this one for a good number of years now, being a local lad I have spent a lot of time in Crewe town centre over the years. The inevitable demolition of this building has been on the cards for as long as I can remember. The site has had 24 hour secca on it for a couple of years now (possibly in response to someone getting on the roof back in 2018
), so it has been difficult to see everything. However demolition has recently started on other parts of the building with security being relaxed as a result of this, so I saw my opportunity and went for it. I initially got into the BHS unit and spent a good few hours exploring the three floors and roof eventually making my way along the roof and in to the Gaffers Row Pub which I wasn't expecting to be able to visit.
[0] - H Bullock & Son
History
On 24th April 1956 the foundation stone of what was to become the town of Crewe's Royal Arcade Shopping Centre, the stone was ceremoniously laid by the Mayor Thomas Talbot. Plans for the shopping complex date as far back as the 1930s and provision was made in the Crewe Corporation Act of 1938, this Act received Royal Assent in June 1938 but work did not start until the mid-1950s due to the outbreak of war in 1939. By this time the local council had entered into a contract with a development company called Ravenseft Properties Ltd who specialised in post-war redevelopment who oversaw the development of the building which was done is several phases through the mid-50s and 60s. Over the last 60 years businesses have come and gone with the complex consisting of around 50 different units in total, the largest of these units was home to the Crewe branch of British Home Stores (BHS) which opened in the late 1959 and continued to trade until 2016 when the company entered liquidation and subsequently closed.
In the mid-2000s plans were announced to demolish the Royal Arcade site and neighbouring Bus Station and transform the area into a modern shopping and leisure destination, however these plans for later be postponed as a result of the global recession, however in recent years these plans were revisited by Cheshire East Council who 13 years after demolition was originally have now approved and commenced clearing the site for redevelopment. Following the closure of BHS in 2016 the unit has sat empty and shuttered ever since. Demolition work has now begun on the complex with all tenants having been evicted slowly over the last few years, the unit has remained relatively untouched since its closure with contractors just starting to remove asbestos from the roof space at the time of my visit.
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Cheers for looking 
Canon EOS 70D, 10-18mm EFS
Canon EOS 70D, 10-18mm EFS
