CITY ARCADE

I recently went for a walk through the old City Arcade - a place that was quite magical for me when I was just a child.
It was a little corridor that weaved around from Hunter street and out to Newcomen Street in the Mall in Newcastle CBD.

I remember walking past on the way to our favorite and just about only coffee shop up that end of the street back in the 1980's with my mother - I was already a cappuccino freak in my early teens!
I remember the tobacconist who also sold a myriad of souvenirs and assorted wallets, and swiss army knives.

There were a few other shops that ran down the small arcade and it was always rather quiet and spooky. The Christian Reading Room has been there forever and there was also a florist for many years.
Everyone has their memories of the Arcade- it was one of those spots that made the Mall a special place. We no longer have Arcades in Newcastle although they are so very popular in Melbourne being a feature of the CBD. What have we lost?