Andy Hutchinson delves into the history of Thornton’s Arcade, the Ivanhoe Clock and meets two independent traders.
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00:00Hi and welcome to the latest edition of Leeds Den and today with me Andrew Hutchinson.
00:05It's the city centre's first arcade of attraction.
00:08Thornton's Arcade between Lands Lane and Brigate has been welcoming generations of shoppers for more than a century.
00:15The Victorian era gem first opened in May 1878 and was the vision of proprietor Charles Thornton,
00:22owner of the City Varieties, who submitted plans for the arcade on the site of the old Talbot Inn.
00:28Around the time of the arcade opening, a portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire was stolen,
00:33leading owner Charles Thornton to commission a likeness of her head in the arcade.
00:38A lot of shoppers who've walked along this arcade down the decades will be aware of this gem.
00:43The Ivanhoe clock is an example of a clock made by Potts, the famous clockmakers,
00:48and chimes on the hour and every quarter.
00:52The life-size figures are a Friar Tuck, Richard Coeur de Lion, Robin Hood and Gert the Swineherd
01:02from Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe.
01:05In the 1950s Thornton's Arcade received a much-needed lick of paint and in the 1990s the rotten roof was replaced.
01:12Leeds has forged a reputation as the Knightsbridge of the North over the years
01:17and Thornton's Arcade has been home to a range of fiercely independent traders down the decades.
01:23The first time when we came here was in the 1990s.
01:26It was a different business then where now I just feel that it's changed dramatically, is better.
01:35Leeds is a lot tidier, the city's a lot tidier, a lot of development going off,
01:40which brings a lot more people to this beautiful arcade.
01:44It's one of the oldest arcades in Leeds and people love coming here.
01:47The arcade has a real history and heritage, what's it like being right at the heart of that?
01:51It's fantastic. I've got my counter here and I've got the window right there
01:56and we can see into the arcade and we see families stopping to look at the clock,
01:59the way I did with my grandma when I was a kid before we used to nip into scorefields for some fish fingers.
02:05It's really nice to be part of Leeds history.
02:09We've got some people who started shopping with us when they were kids
02:12and now they've got kids of their own. It's just great, it's nice to have that sort of longevity.
02:16You won't find an arcade like this anywhere due to its history
02:21and because before it were dwellings, houses and so many fantastic shops here, so many independents.
02:27Leeds is full of arcades that are more than shopping centres, they're more like a working shopping street.
02:33It's a Victorian shopping street, it just happens to have a roof on it and they're fairly unique.
02:39And a bright future?
02:40Yeah, let's hope so.
02:42Thorntons Arcade is an example of a city gem which has been thrilling shoppers for generations.
02:50As shopping habits change, I really do hope that it has a future to continue what is a wonderful, wonderful shopping experience.