Geograph - photograph every grid square

The arcade is a small covered shopping area that runs between Western Road and Dyke Road. It was built in 1923-24 on the site of a former brewery and originally had seventeen shops, nine on the southern side and eight to the north. When Western Road was widened near the junction with North Street in 1934 the shops on the southern side were removed along with those facing Western Road leaving just the eight retail units. Over the years this has been reduced to the current total of seven. As such the arcade has become a bit of a backwater with the small units in recent years vacated at regular intervals, however, those who do find a fit stay a long time. For many years the mainstay was Gamleys toy shop which occupied number 11 for 65 years whilst Forfars operated a bakery at number 12a for 44 years. With the latter's closure in June 2015 the current longest serving business is cafe Arcadia which opened I'm the early 1980s.