Drake Circus Plymouth (1971-2004)
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- Опубликовано: 2 ноя 2017
- A compilation of pictures I found of the old Drake Circus shopping centre in Plymouth before its closure and demolition. Video contains some nice pictures I found from the 1970's and 80's where it was very eye catching, clean and full of life. Then it shows the decline around the early 2000s where the centre started to visibly decay and less and less people shopped there then to its inevitable closure and demolition in 2004. Also includes a short section on the new Drake Circus shopping mall which was completed in 2006.
I do much prefer the old Drake Circus to new modern giant shopping mall. Despite its flaws it did have character and more of a Plymouth feel, the new mall just feels like every other mall. Lifeless and corporate with nothing unique about it plus very loud and overcrowded.
Music used:
Quiet Riot - Breaking up is a Heartache
Lion - Victims of Circumstance
Thanks for posting this. It brings back a lot of fond memories for me of living in/near Plymouth in the 70's and 80's. I used to love Drake Circus shopping centre. I moved away in the 90's but have returned to visit many times and I can't say I'm that impressed with the new shopping mall. A bit soulless and looks like any other shopping mall. I know the old one had declined (sad to see the photos of it looking really run down and derelict) but I still think it had more character than the new centre. I loved the old C&A store and those outdoor escalators. Plus the Arcadia shop (didn't it become an Athena poster shop later?) and used to shop in the big Tesco there. Fond times.
I agree. I moved away late 9ps and think the new thing is an absolute monstrosity. Aproaching Charles Cross fro Cattedown roundabout is so surreal with that beautiful ruined church and then that weird spaceship looking cladding. could have used glass or something. por poor Plymouth, decades of bad planning and awful decisions have accumulated to quite a mess and now just empty and soulless. at least it used to have people everywhere and be full of life.
Was in Plymouth last month and visited Drakes Circus. The shopping centre is nice but you could be anywhere. It looks like any modern shopping centre in any modern city.
My God, 1950/60s architecture was just horrific. A blight on so many of our poor old town centres that got wiped out in WW2.
It's a damn sight better than that modern art monstrosity we have now. What is it even supposed to look like? Giant waffles?
@@Fireglo Looks like we have different tastes! I guess it would be boring if everyone liked the same stuff. Cheerio!
@@Fireglo You seem to have some bizarre longing for the windswept old Drake Circus. I think a much larger and exciting new modern shopping centre which brings new life into the city is much better than the tatty old vandalized concrete maze that was the old Drake Circus - but hey, each to their own.
@@GN10Gaming nostalgia isn't logical. Most people have a longing for the past. I would most likely feel nothing for the old centre had it not been a part of my childhood.
Don't get the wrong idea it's not like i'm obsessed thinking about the old centre everyday. I went through a small moment of nostalgia for the centre for which I then Googled tons of images and tried to find any video footage of it which surprisingly there was pretty much none despite it standing for almost 30 years. I put this video together to help others who may wish to see loads of photos without having to scour the internet for them. I just wish the closure was halted for another year then I would have been able to revisit it on Google street view as it didn't come to the U.K. till around just a year after the demolition.
@@Fireglo was a real throwback to 1984 for me ! cheers - i wonder how long before the decline and fall of Drake Circus III?
I was brought up in Plymouth. Lived on North Hill in the sixties....worked at the City Public Library, which was a lovely place. I understand it doesn't exist any more... so sad.
I remember Royal Parade was a kind of concrete wet wind tunnel.... but that the walk from North Hill down to the centre through Drakes Circus ( which was not a shopping mall then, was fairly pleasant. From this video I would judge Plymouth to be a right mess now. Perhaps time to re visit and see the changes 😞 I plan to visit this year 2024
Regular visitor to Plymouth from about 1970 (year of birth) to 1999, went up to visit stay with grandmother on father's side of the family every 3 or weeks, plus fortnight long stays over the summer holidays split between gran's house in Northumberland Street, Weston Mill and grandfather's caravan at the caravan park at Stoke beach (now Revelstoke Caravan Park). The part I remember most clearly is the C&A logo at the entrance and my favourite shop in Drake's Circus, to the right of the top of the escalators which sold toys, Dinky die-cast models when I first went there and the Britains Stargard and Aliens range after about 1982.
Some of the shots of entrance in the video show the mini-carousel at the foot of the escalators, I remember seeing that on quite a few occasions when I went into town with my parents.
As a kid of the 80's (born in 79) I have so many of my fondest memories of Plymouth city centre and the way it was. Same as anybody my age probably, talking about going up the escalator and around the corner to Arcadia and into the 90's seeing both locations of Purple Haze up there when I was in the Art College. Shame things have to change although I expect at some point, people will be waxing nostalgic about the current mall when its days are over.
Remember this area very well! I remember being at the Art college across the road watching the whole demolition process from the library window, 2004 that was. And going back earlier to the mid/late 90s, always used to walk through there to get to the now old library. Fond memories :)
Oh geez art college. So how is working Starbucks going? :P
Ha! I don't even have that! xD i went and became a performance poet ;)
You should make an update video showing the recent decline.
They should never have got rid of Burton's corner and the row of old shops down to the Unity. They should have some way incorporated those buildings into the interior design of the mall.
Interesting video and brings back lots of memories.
I remember Drakes Circus being built in the late 60's. On top of Bretonside waiting for the No.12 to Crownhill after judo, looking at the huge hole in the ground that would become the spiral carpark. Also remembering the Unity in the mid 70's before the conservatory was built and the bar being on the left as you walked in.
Yes me too, fond memories of the “Unity”.
I remember Drakes Circus in the mid 1960s A quite pleasant walk with flower beds it was with the Museum, Art Gallery and Library near by together with the lively Arts College and its students plus one or two ( or three) cafés with names like 'The tarantula Coffee House". Does anyone remember?
@@daydays12 I was fairly young at that time so I don't remember those cafes although there was a bistro on what was Old Town Street between the Unity and the steps to get up into Woods. That was in the mid to late seventies though.
@@vinbar35 Thanks for that. Do you still live in Plymouth? I live in France now.
@@daydays12 I moved away from home to Leicester in 1986. Chances of moving back pretty much off the table due to house prices down there.
Great memories of the 70s and 80s.... ( born in the 70s).. Going up the escalator , wondering what new toys / action man or 2000AD comic books you 'd see in the arcadia shop on the right 😊.....Anyone remember the white mechanical horse ride on the first floor outside C&A ? It was there many years !
I remember the shopping centre well in my childhood days in Plymouth.
Regardless of the Covid problems, the retail sector was in trouble long before (was in town retail for 14+ years) and my surprise has been that the clever folk behind these developments hadn’t looked to the future? Perhaps it was the eye watering rents in prospect that clouded their vision? Going to be very tricky here on in. Thanks for a very interesting film. Best wishes
It's certainly ironic that the council gave all those small businesses under Bretonside the boot to build an unnecessary Cineworld and chain of restaurants then Cineworld announces their closure and most people are avoiding restaurants because of masks, screens and test and trace. We gained nothing new and lost Plymouth's only rock venue.
I grew up in Plymouth. I now live in Spain after 18 years in London. Best move I ever made! Your future will certainly be richer culturally if you adopt the culture.
As a turkish person i was there in 2000. i am very lucky that i see old shoping stores in plymouth before demolition. Best wishes to all plymouth people..
Great days! I was 16 in 1965 and worked in Burtons and remember the old “Guinness” clock opposite!
If you have pictures from the area please share. There isn't a lot available online.
Unfortunately not, if only we had had iPhones then! Moved from Plymouth 25 years ago, but still loves pics and books of the old Plymouth.
Nice to hear from you! I was 17 in 1965.... and loved walking down from North Hill where I lived to the 'centre' Crossing the old Drake's Circus was pleasant in Spring and Summer.
@@daydays12Happy days!😀
Yes indeed!!😀😀
I remember seeing the new one being built with my dad , walking through the tunnels
I love going there because there’s everything I’ve ever wanted there
Wow what a video. Brought back some memories there
It had real, proper character - could've been revamped (for less money) yet kept it's cool structure of outdoor / indoor that would now look so interesting.
The soulless, mish-mash of architectural bad ideas that stand in it's place will be remembered as one the single worst ideas in modern Plymouth history...
How the building design got the go-ahead is an utter mystery. It blocks the sea view, covers over where there were deep, green walkways and trees, and it looks utterly fucking shit. Like, laughably so.
Further still, hoovering up all of the most popular mainstream shops in the city centre and cramming them into the current 'Mall' has upset the balance of the whole city centre.
And they've now opened another ridiculously ugly, huge, out of touch looking building just across the road where the historic Bretonside Station one stood.
A garish, glaring 'entertainment' cube where people can, I guess, enjoy homogeneous mainstream movies and junk food... just like the 'Warner Village' - that ALREADY EXITS about 5 minutes away... I mean... why?
Why there? Again, further blocking the Barbican view and detracting from the actual soul of what makes Plymouth an interesting city.
The people in charge of these decisions are clearly utter fucking morons with no real connection to city itself.
I guess corrupt building contracts have probably also played a part in the utter ruin of Plymouth's City-Centre.
The problem is the Plymouth Council is trying to make the city something it's not: a thriving "student city" despite having one of the poorest universities in the country. All of the changes have been trying to make the place more attractive to students and increase the economy. Any student who genuinely cares about their future career wouldn't go to Plymouth University. It's full of students who barely scraped a pass on their A levels and locals who didn't have the drive or sense to relocate to a good Uni.
Couldn't have said it better myself..
Tell us what you really think Jackpot.
@@donbrogan3158 As a great philosopher once quoted;
"Plymouth is a mediocre city, full of cheapy people."
Done and dealt. x
I agree 200% + with every word you said!! Thank you for your excellent comment.
Great days, great days
I was born in Plymouth 1946 and lived there untill 1978, I had good memories of Plymouth. I suppose I have returned to see family about 6 or 7 times The place looks run down, stores I loved- gone. Entertainment has gone- Lots of non Plymouthians, I feel I made the right decision to cross the pond with my wife and 5 children. 😊
I remember the old one, but it was in its last years. Was completely neglected. Makes me sad. Seeing how it was once enjoyed so much. I used to enjoy the little water feature through the centre but PCC won’t maintain it. Another quirky feature left to nature 😔
In 1973 I walked all round Guz looking for a pair of straight trousers because we weren't allowed ashore in rig. To no avail whatsoever unless I wanted to look like my grandad.
Great video and taste in music!
I was only 6 when it finally got demolished and I remember how open everything was and looked. Looks like a concrete jungle now...
It certainly looked nice in photos from the 70's and 80's but it really looked like a dump in the early 2000's. The council just let it crumble and degrade.
Brilliant city in the 60,s70/80s even into the early 90,s , now the city looks like after the apocalypse especially the bottom end .
The council went after the £ with student accommodation to the detriment of the retail shops. Now it’s just sad.😢
Even lost the best coffee shop in Plymouth The Americano shown in this video and replaced it with just another expensive watch shop. Now 2023 also cut down most of the trees.
It’s definitely a sad shadow of its former self.😢
Oh yes.... cutting down the trees is one of the latest last straws.
@@daydays12Exactly. Why have nice palm trees, flower beds and greenery when you can replace it with paving slabs 😅
So true. Greetings to you from an ex Plymothian now living in a French city which is making an effort to 'green' the centre, and which provides free public transport on the weekends. Both of those things are good for the shops in the centre. People like and are attracted by trees and plants and grass...with nice shops cafés bars and restaurants near by. @@neilhilton35
Unfortunately Plymouth needed rebuilding fast after the war so all of its city centre was rushed. But the end product of redeveloping plymouth didn't look bad at all... for about 30-40 years though and i guess it was unfortunate that drake circus aged the worse out of all plymouth city centre buildings. Royal Parade needs some work done since the building House of Fraser lies in needs a real clean. But the council is making some work to improve the city over the coming years. I do look forward to seeing what they come up. Hopefully something unique to give the more of a character to plymouth's shopping centres.
The concrete Drake Circus shopping centre was built in the 1970's. It was the Guinness Clock building before that.
Plymouth was "rebuilt" by 'planners' who had no connection with the city and were obsessed with cars and concrete and pushing people out into desolate 'estates' . No sense of place and no sympathy for people. A catastrophe.
I would like to say that the mall isnt an improvement but its just a 200 million pound car park .. ... they should have used the money to cover both runs of the city centre.............same old Plymouth , run by people who take back handers and who hasn't got a clue about the city's needs ..... I love Plymouth but the people in charge haven't got a clue
I was born in 2000, so I have very faint memories of town pre-mall. I remember the old M&S and the giant Mothercare in town :D
I'm on another nostalgia binge and I just found out that that Mothercare was the first building to be demolished, in early 2004. Mad how I was probably still 3 the last time I went there yet I can remember it, I remember the Thomas the Tank Engine ride in there. 21 years ago now. Yet I can't remember what I ate for tea 2 days ago... 🤣
As a frequent visitor to Plymouth since the early 2000's, I do remember this shopping centre. Does anyone know what year the original "Guinness Clock" building was demolished, and also when did the 1971 shopping centre begin construction?
In Plymouth Historian Chris Robinson's book "Plymouth: Then and Now" (First edition) he shows the last known photograph of the clock taken in July 1965 and stated this was not long before demolition. That's the best estimate I can give you. late 1965/early 1966.
@@Fireglo Ah, many thanks.... I do actually have those Chris Robinson books, I guess I ought to read them more carefully! The photos in them provide a fascinating insight into the history of a city that probably changed more than any other, due to WWII. Although it can probably be argued that Plymouth has changed more in the last twenty years, than in the previous fifty.... Many thanks for these photos!
At the risk of upsetting people with fond memories - I won't take those away from you - but I always found it hard to believe that after the devastation of the blitz Plymouth came back with Soviet-era megalithic architecture which I aways found utterly soulless - I was stunned as a teen in the early '70s thinking the city would be buzzing after dark for it to turn into a glorified mausoleum! I was in Drake Circus just before it was demoed - just the most desolate of places. I think I still have a few C&A garments in the back of a closet somewhere - I think my Golden Age would be turn of the century... Good film with lots of interesting insights.
I mean I do quite enjoy desolate eerie places. I often watch Backrooms and Dead Mall videos on RUclips.
I agree..... ghastly car and concrete driven monstrosity... totalitarian style architecture as you say, with no sense of place. Plymouth never seems to have recovered from that second disaster. I was brought up there in the fifties and sixties. My mother was in the WRNS during the war and experienced the blitz of Plymouth. My father was in the Royal Nay during the war. What a horrible 'tribute' to their bravery.
@@daydays12 And just when it was beginning to look humane, the #%$!*&^ Council chopped down all the trees - whose side are they on? Very sad, has such an amazing situation & location, should be one of the stars of English cities!!
@@SmallWonda I was horrified when I heard about that ( the tree destruction).... they did it secretly in the night didn't they? What are/were their priorities? Thanks for replying to my reply!
@@daydays12 $$$ Very sad - I hope the residents got answers & results - I hear it was the usual - "It's an improvement - we're working to make your city better" Quick sell off & build more - I will be watching to see what transpires - I like trees, I can't see why small enterprises couldn't have popped up in between and I'm sure there are still plenty of brown field sites around the city which would be ideal for development...
All hail the king of bargain pasty shops, Thomas Earnshaw 1:58
I used to go to the popular shop on top of escalator to buy toys and trump cards.
You mean Arcadia, I loved that shop too, to go upstairs you had the wide shallow stairs to ascend.. sadly we don't have any nice shops like that anymore, the shops nowadays are crammed with worthless Chinese tat that will never last.
@@nortoncommando770 Yes it was Arcadia. I remember Bruce Lee at the time was famous in the West and even had dedicated regular magazines on kung fu. Those were the good old days in Plymouth.
Now that was a great shop I remember it very well born 1965 freedom field’s hospital..used to love going in there looking at all the Action man toys
I preferred it as it was before. Should of knocked down the bottom of town like Colin Campbell carpark buildings, Toys R Us car park.
I live like 9 to 10 min away i love ittt
where did you find the pictures from 06-03-04 starting at 2:43
All pictures came from Google search.
@@Fireglo i just found them thanks
I thought Plymouth was a dump now. But it actually looked worse then if that's possible
The new mall might be cleaner but it's soulless.
Is that Mal Edgson and Don at 0:50?
Who?
Miss all the diversity of different shops
Not got the quality no more
Watched the town change to what it is now and yet again the city center is changeing again in 2020 and 2021 lots being moved and lost again
I love this music. Who is it?
Quiet Riot - Breaking up is a Heartache
Lion - Victims of Circumstance
back when LIDL was truly awful
One eyesore replaced by another eyesore. When will Plymouth learn?
Plymouth never has learnt... mistake after mistake from when the concrete horror was originally imposed on it by "planners". I lived there from when I was 1 in 1947 to 1970. I remember the walk from North Hill to the the 'centre' in the early/mid sixties was pleasant...passing the Museum, City Library, the Arts College and a Drakes Circus with flowerbeds pretty in Spring , Summer Autumn... and several lively cafés.
3:03 yeah I’ll use your bed. It won’t be cramped in it will it?
Old Plymouth was better.
What a dreadful soulless place. (Shops were nice). The new mall is so much better. The huge footfall proves that.