Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 5th January, 2024)

It has always been a lovely little arcade,and aren’t those tiles just beautiful.. I just hope this isn’t on the demolition list….Thank you Brian.

It's lovely in the Royal Arcade but sadly not much used. There used to be a coffee shop selling wonderfully aromatic loose coffee beans and ground coffees, reminiscent of Makinson's Coffee Shop in the Makinson Arcade. I sincerely hope the Arcade is never demolished and that it comes into its own when we get the "Wonderful New Wigan of the Future" that we are promised! It is a little gem. Both the Arcades we have left, The Royal AND The Makinson, are really beautiful if you stand at the entrances and study them, but they need shops and customers to keep them going. Lovely photo, Brian.

I was in last week eating a full English breakfast, cooked by an attractive Vietnamese lady, but I think the Royal arcade as now been spoiled by all those over weight cig smoking customers who sit outside the cafe next to the standishgate entrance.

Must have been raining . That chap has left his wet footprints on the floor tiles . Those blue discs stuck on the ground remind me of the COVID epidemic .
Not sure what Vax on Vax off Vegan is , but specialist bespoke shops are the only way for these small shops to survive. .
Sell what the supers don't . O for a violin shop or one that sells hand carved chess sets .

Yes, a lovely little arcade with nice independent shops and kept clean and tidy.
I am sure there’s some kind of preservation order to prevent demolition or redevelopment.
Thanks Brian.

I love this Arcade. It’s all been said. I go here for a newspaper in the little Newsagents and the lovely little cafe with the old fashioned
mismatched cups and saucers. Also the Haberdashers down at the end. I hope it does keep on going for years and years.

PS I will send Brian recent picture of Grimes Arcade, What a contrast!!!!

Every Saturday I would go shopping in town with my Mam, one afternoon we had just reached the Royal Arcade and I told my Mam that I wanted to have my ears pierced, I was all of sixteen.. she was aghast ,my Mam was hard as nails but when it came to her children she couldn’t cope with us having any pain. Anyway off I went .. the shop I’m sure used to be on the left hand side going down , anyway it was closed, I waited a few minutes in case it was closed for dinner .. I went back to my Mam to tell her that they were closed.. she had her hand over her eyes until I told her that I hadn’t had them done yet..at the time I laughed about it until I lost her and realised how much she thought about me thinking it would be painful.. mind you there’s no pain involved at all bless her.

I have always had a nice feeling when going through this arcade,hope it picks up and gets busy again.

Jolly good, Colin

That’s true Maureen you can never have a better ‘friend’ than your own mam. Especially when the ‘chips are down’!

I love this arcade,and the 'New Day' cafe is lovely.x

You must have caught this on a rare moment. I go down this arcade at least twice a week and I can honestly say I have never seen it so quiet. All the shops are occupied and most have a continuous stream of customers. Long may it continue!

I've just this minute walked through this arcade, I've not seen a que for a paper before. But yes there was a que. But let's face it, we're else do you get a paper from unless you walk right to the top for one.Good photo Brian.

Smashing photo Brian, love shopping in the Arcade.

Veronica, that’s so true, I used to look forward to Saturdays to go shopping with my Mam and we always ( apart from ear piercings) had a good laugh.

Elizabeth, I’ll have to have a look at that New day Cafe.. I’ve been down there this morning but just as a short cut .

I remember a friend’s husband saying when questioned about how much space should you keep away from another person in a queue - his reply was…”The length of a coffin!” That was during Covid. It’s stuck with me whenever I see footprints like those blue ones on the floor. So many people died during that awful time.

Veronica, social distancing was one of the great benefits of Covid, personably I think it should still be observed.
When queuing in India you would not believe how close people would get!
Well meaning but that’s the culture, the closer you get the sooner you get served!!!

You would think the shop owner would scrap that old sticker up,and also pick up that disgurded tissue

Forgot to say, if you look up as you are walking through there are some cracking photos from around town.

Such a lovely, lovely arcade. Very classy. Loved the tiled flooring and glad to see that it still survives. Hopefully the developers won't spoil this.