December 2020
The Visit
Like with most of the Royal Arcade site I have had my eye on this one for a while, being a local lad I have many memories visiting Crewe with my mum and dad whilst I was growing up and have many memories of the different shops in the town. Demolition has now begun on the complex with huge sections disappearing every week. Over the last month or so I've been able to visit several times and tick off most of the units before they are demolished. Santander is one of the more prominent sections of the building standing on the corner of the Royale Arcade with a lot of passing foot fall, I spent about an hour in the bank as I worked my way around the whole site avoiding secca.
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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, one of these units was wedged between the two entrances to the British Home Store which acted as an anchor to the development. This unit would initially open as Times Furnishings which sold genetic items of furniture as you would expect. The unit was later converted into 'Tom's' which was a discount retailer similar to Home Bargains and B&M today. A few years later the unit was converted into 'Pizzaland' that sold a variety of pizza and pasta products. Eventually the unit was acquired by the Abby National who converted the first two floors into a bank with the top floor becoming storage space, following the purchase of Abby National by Spanish Banking Group Santander in 2004 the branch was rebranded under the new Santander UK branding.
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, the plans have recently been revisited by Cheshire East Council who have now approved plans to demolish the Royal Arcade site 13 years after demolition should have originally taken place. Santander was actually the last tenant to move out of the building in October 2019 moving just 100 metres down the road to another location. Demolition work has now began on the Royal Arcade site, 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
