Broadmarsh Has Fallen | Nottsflix

[@rw3313]

I was store manager of Freeman Hardy Willis in the Broadmarsh centre 1975 / 1976 and it was the most exciting retail venue I have ever managed. The centre promotions brought customers in by the droves which enabled me to double my targets week in and week out. So much so It was enough to catapult my career to some of the largest stores in the country such as Birmingham and Newcastle. Lunch in the Wimpy, fantastic staff and bulging tills, they were some of the happiest days of my career.

[@jlworrad]

Being from Leicester, Broadmarsh had a glorious golden halo over it, by which I mean the only Games Workshop in the Midlands. About once every couple of months my family would get in a Barton’s bus, travel an hours ride, then go shopping. There was a McDonalds nearby too, which Leicester also didn’t have. When the Broadmarsh shopping centre is your equivalent of Las Vegas that’s... pretty crazy to say the least. But such were the times.

[@Windowswatcher]

Considering the Nottingham Council has so often mis-judged the times and has wiped away Nottingham's historic features, I don't really hold out any hope for the future of the site because of my lack of confidence in the planners. I only visited the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre a few times and I didn't rate it at all, but I'm not keen on these places anyway. Now that 'retail' in general is under threat who knows what will be the future of the malls in the future. The open space within the city, Slab Square, hasn't been improved greatly either so the poor planning has continued. I can't really visualise the size of the space but I think some green space is needed, perhaps along with elements that look back to elements of Nottingham's past. Not exactly 'museums' but perhaps some places where crafts take place - that also house working models of lace machinery, hosiery etc. However, I'm also aware that vandalism could rob the area of any attractiveness, as so often happens with new developments after a short time. Nottingham, having so much of its history stripped away, seems to have left Nottinghamians with less pride in its city. Sad that.

[@jezzaus2124]

Even as a kid I remember thinking Broadmarsh was an absolute hole. At the same time it is incredibly nostalgic for some reason. Must be the walkthrough. Great video once again 👍

[@Jiren261]

Broadmarsh in the 90s/early 00's was my go to shopping centre as it had Wimpy, Forbidden Planet & a game shop called Wiz Kids that sold cheap games (think CEX before CEX). Then FP moved to Maid Marion way & Wiz Kids shut down and I only ever used BM as a cut through.

[@romystumpy1197]

There was alders department store,BHS, Wilko's etc ,what an eyesore now

[@talachedaka2000]

I used to love the Buddhist shop Evolution! I loved that shop...

[@TigerBoyX15]

Yes Evolution great shop..I cried when it closed down..my local one was in Hammersmith West London.🌼🏹🏹

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

Come off it, the inflation in 1975 or the fact it spanned the side of a cliff have nothing to do with the disaster of today. It didn't FALL down, it was pushed and judging by the really hard work they had to put in to destroy it, it was bloody well built and would have stood for another 100 years. What happened is that the council never conducted property due diligence into the project, the contractor massaged their financial position and the scale of the project was motivated by GREED. All it needed was a face lift and a bit of help from the council in the form of rent control and rate relief. Literally thousands of people would love to set up a shop in Nottingham town centre but the reason they can't are the extortionate leases and business rates. Greed and incompetence, and nobody is being brought to account. Ditto Robin Hood Energy, ditto the Castle.

[@-Steven-]

The only thing I remember about broadmarsh was the 3 wooden animals/bugs I used to play in when I was a child (i was born in 1968) the amount of times I bashed or cut my knees, shins, arms on them was crazy but I still enjoyed them until they took them down because of health and safety. I guess us kids were more resilient back then unlike nowadays if some kid gets hurt the parents instantly blame others and talk about suing instead of blaming themselves because they were to busy smoking, texting, talking on their phone, or just basically expecting others to watch their kids for them and even though it was an eyesore I really miss broad marsh and the fond memories I had there.

[@David-dl6zg]

Ahh the Frog! slide in its mouth and out it's bum.

[@pauldenison2960]

An interesting and informed analysis of the story of this unloved shopping centre! The Broadmarsh Centre always lived in the shadow of its much superior cousin, the Victoria Centre. While all the shops nearby had to live in the shadow (literally) of the Broadmarsh Centre itself. Glad its gone -- it was an architectural and town-planning crime. Thank you for crediting my dad (Guy Denison) in a couple of your b&w pics. He was a very keen local historian and would have been fascinated by people like yourself doing this sort of stuff on the internet.

[@DJ-uk5mm]

I’m only halfway through but I had to stop to say thank you for putting this together is an excellent analysis the only person I could’ve suggested was perhaps a little bit more of the original history of the site showing the little lanes and the beautiful old buildings that existed before the wholesale demolition not by the Luftwaffe but by Nottingham City Council in the 1970s

[@Nottsflix]

Thankyou! If you want more about the area before the shopping centre was built, I did 3 videos before this one which are about that: kzbin.info/aero/PLk9l6W4W6PcfmOaIz_bt6orhO3lZgnAwV

[@wildfloweratheart1111]

Thanks for taking the time to make this! Really interesting to learn what a shit hole it was even back when it was first made 😂

[@gleadhill79]

Victoria Centre is what happened to Broadmarsh! The main retailers moved over to the shiny new Victoria Centre and any retailer left was finding it hard to cope with the last faithful shoppers as they were few and far between. My mum worked at the Gas & Electric Showrooms when they were in the top of Broadmarsh, she was busy if there were 3 customers a day!! So sad, cos in it's hay day it was the 'go-to' place for anything and everything you could ask for. Memories of a town centre that is no longer recognisable from my youth 😥 P.S Wimpy was so much better that McDonald's or Burger King...they had Nickerbokergorys (or however you spell it?!) the Ice cream in a glass 💖

[@Pr3stag3]

I have lived in Nottingham all my life and the broadmarsh shopping centre was always classed as the dirty little outcast it was a filthy place that always held the "lower quality" branded stores. The trouble with the place was the way it was a kind of gate keeper to all of Nottingham city centre for people coming from the South. Many people just used it as a thoroughfare to get to the good part of the city. It didn't help with being so close to that dirty diesel filled bus station which gave it a distinctive smell all the time. It suffered massively from a lack of investment it was pretty much doomed from the early 2000's. I don't like what it looks like now but I am glad it has been pulled down.

[@quinterbeck]

24:27 - This accurately captures exactly how I feel. All I want is to be able to walk across the site from the station to St Peter's without walking through a building. Streets please.

[@greebo6549]

Broadmarsh used to be a lovely little shopping centre, under cover bus station, lockers to store luggage if you were catching the national express bus later, Wilkos, wimpy, lovely model kit shop, few decent Poundland type shops, and lots of other shops, then signs went up about redevelopment with pretty images , then all the shops closed down, demolition started, Covid hit, and I believe the owners went bankrupt, … must admit, not been to Nottingham since late 2019

[@mrbojangles7577]

There are a lot of high end retail jewellers in Nottm. Someone's got some money somewhere.

[@Seb512]

Great points, though if you seriously think in-person retail is dead, then go to Meadowhall - like going back a few years but in a good way. Nottingham's public transport has been going downhill very recently, and has turned away drivers who used to come in from nearby rural towns until parking went up to £5 an hour. We need a park but also a smaller leisure centre in the Broadmarsh area to get the best of both worlds

[@LavenderLinguist]

Amazing work Krawec!! Here are my takeaways: *"Less and less" is fine ;) *Broadmarsh had fountains?! *Broadmarsh had INTERACTIVE ANIMAL SCULPTURES?! *Bezos jumpscare is the worst jumpscare *Every single stage of Broadmarsh's existence has been atrociously timed :( *That read of the intu monopoly report was like being in the board meeting, I bet the voice actor is cute *The closing statement for this series was FANTASTIC

[@Bothychickens]

Yes, the animal climbing sculptures were awesome

[@MrTimdriver]

An absolutely wonderful episode Michael. I also hope it turns out to be not rubbish, however I fear the worst. Greetings from east Germany me duck.

[@henriettahenson]

I knew even at an early age that broadmarsh would go even in 1973.. I still went shopping there but then but I had a feeling it was inferia to the Victoria centre..

[@undergroundbass946fm]

Brilliant, let's hope the next episode is Broadmarsh in a much better state!

[@ducky169]

Not many youtuber alerts make me go- ohhhh, looksie here! Nice work

[@Timnormas]

Another top quality informative, educational, and extremely entertaining video!

[@SWRural-fk2ub]

Nottingham definitely needs more green space, not repeat development, so I hope that's what happens here. Restoring the river Leen would do the trick. You need water in the centre of cities. Look at Bristol which is about the same size as Nottingham..

[@katiecollison6629]

Well have just seen your video on Broadmarsh😕 it's now 2024 & we still have the shell of it & no real design as what they are going to do. It's so sad what has happened to the city. From a person born & bred in Nottingham

[@bbasmdc]

Brilliant mix of excellent analysis and dodgy humour! Well done and please keep up the good work.

[@jarredbrown3785]

I’ve been waiting for this instalment for so long! 🙌🏼

[@professorpodcast3029]

We have a very similar shop centre in Dundee, the Wellgate Shopping centre was built on the site of a small medieval, and very steep lane called the Wellgait, the Shopping centre opened in 1978, it included: 2 large department stores, many shops, the new Dundee City Records, the Dundee Central Library, and a series of small market stalls on the top floor, known as the inn shoaps, the Inn Shoaps closes in the 1990s and were replaced by TK Maxx, a new food court opened in 2000, but by the 2010s, the Shopping centre was derelict, most shops are now closed or on their way out, the real thing that killed it was the opening of the Overgate Shopping Centre on the west side of town, in 2018 there were plans to save the shopping centre, by building a new cinema, Dundee city centre currently has no cinemas and this would be fantastic for shoppers, these plans were accepted, but no w0rd about them has come since, going in the centre now when I head to the records, I fell sad and disappointed at my surroundings, hopefully the Wellgate and Broadmarsh will rise again, let me know what you think?

[@Nottsflix]

Wow, that does sound very similar! I think shopping centres are going to become a lot less common in the years to come, and I think its unlikely that most cities will be able to support more than one when faced with online shopping competition etc. The Intu Broadmarsh plans also included a cinema and bowling alley, and there was meant to be a greater focus on activities and experiences rather than traditional retailing, so there was potential there, but Covid has made such things increasingly risky investments so I doubt developers will be putting much money into those things any time soon. If social distancing continues, cinemas will have to open with significantly lower capacity and that would make them quite financially vulnerable. We'll have to wait and see. I am very excited to get to the cinemas again eventually.

[@professorpodcast3029]

@@Nottsflix yep, I think that Shopping centres need to adapt, and that medium sized cities like Dundee and Nottingham need to learn that there is not a demand for 2 Shopping centres in cities of their size, I believe that most cities should only have 1 Shopping centre rather than 2 ones that both fail at being Shopping centres and fail to compete against eachother

[@realtimefpv7875]

Great follow up to the previous Broadmarsh videos Michael. I’m excited to see what comes next. I hope they get it right

[@samuelshoesmith]

I love your videos. Please make some more!

[@eddiewillers1]

Broad Marsh was supposed to have been opened as an 'Arndale Centre' - something even more faceless - and I well recall that the shine wore off quickly as the Victoria Centre (which had the benefit of a relocated Central Market as part of its appeal) filled up with classier stores such as Jessops/John Lewis. I recall walking up Carrington Street to Lister Gate and the big Woolworths store there, before the area was enclosed into the centre proper. That must have been around 1969-70.

[@toi_techno]

The intro must have given people from Nottingham the same feeling New Yorkers get when they see famous building there get destroyed in films

[@gloriastroedecke2717]

I only lived in Nottingham for four months but I grew very fond of the whole city. It hurt when I discovered Debenhams closed and then I heard about Broadmarsh. Very sad. I loved my brief time in Nottingham and I grieve the loss of various places my friends and I went.

[@professorpodcast3029]

I'm not from Nottingham, I have never been to Nottingham, I'm from Dundee, the only reason why I discovered this channel is because my teacher is from Nottingham and he told us of the city, I googled "Nottingham History" and this came up

[@Nottsflix]

Well I hope it has made you want to come to Nottingham

[@chelseabissell1455]

Great video! Thanks so much for doing these I always love them!

[@chuckm]

Great vid as always!! Love your work mate

[@lornagibson1832]

Another excellent video, thanks Nottsflix :)

[@Freedomofspeech-zw4jx]

Broadmarsh will always be a curse for the people of Nottingham, it will never be a modern built up area but a wreck. I miss the third class shopping centre it was, now it will remain a demolition site for decades.

[@rpg6128]

It must be fun to explore the ruins of broadmarsh. I think of doing every time i pass it

[@iridial3]

Great video, keep em coming.

[@TigerBoyX15]

What upset me was the Sneaky Act the Council did ..by suddenly turning The Flying Horse Pub..into retail space..no consultation....That was a Fabulous Pub.... with various bars and a Landmark...Crap Corrupt Council..always has been 🌼🏹🏹

[@rexter6944]

Brilliant thanks 👍 hope to see one about Victoria centre 👍

[@diabolicalartificer]

I remember going into and through the Broadmarsh in the late 70's to go to HMV buying records or shoplifting stupid things like tubes of glue. I had a few run ins with skinheads in the bus station early 80's. Anyone remember the wooden caterpillars? Also went on a school trip to look at the caves under it, what's happened to them in this "redevelopment"? I live in Lincolnshire now, went back to Notts last year, the place is like a frigging ghost town. Got mightily pissed off with all the God freaks & their PA systems in slab square.

[@nicoladavison3777]

The council need to sort out the mess they have left the city Center in so many main retailers have been lost and will never return jobs have been lost housing is low begging is up does this make anyone want to live work or visit !!!

[@tobermorywomble6446]

Many of the observations in this video are about trends, which are applicable to all city centre shops. And certainly to the Victoria Centre as well. The Broadmarsh Centre was working fine until the Co-op closed their store. This had provided a conduit between the Lister Gate and Middle Hill elements of The Centre. The subsequent closure of the C&A store was a further substantial blow, with the demise of BHS finishing things off. Although the episode of the Broadmarsh Centre was significantly more successful than that of the nearby Mount Street shopping arcade.

[@Nottsflix]

I did struggle to find information about specific Broadmarsh shops moving away or closing down and how that impacted the centre, accelerating the decline, so, as you say, I ended up covering more general trends in the decline of the British retail sector. Thankyou for the extra info!

[@eddiewillers1]

Wow - someone who remembers Mount Street! I used to walk through that appallingly brutal and empty arcade to get to the bus station for the bus to Bilborough.

[@tobermorywomble6446]

@@eddiewillers1 The original scheme for Mount Street was that the Midland General (later Trent and National Bus) buses should drop off their passengers in the bus station. Had this come in to practice, all people travelling to the terminus on the buses would have had to walk past the shops in the Mount Street shopping arcade. But for whatever reason the decision was taken that passengers should alight from the buses on Maid Marian Way. Adjacent to Chapel Bar / Angel Row. With the result that the only people passing the shops in the arcade were heading to get on a bus, which is when people usually have less time and inclination to shop. As most people left and entered the car park above directly on to Mount Street itself.

[@nozeycow024]

I was born in Nottingham

[@SimonLloydGuitar]

Shopping malls suck the energy and joy out of a city almost as much as modern architecture does.

[@grimreboot]

Alas.... Broadmarsh was never the same the day Greggs went.... then Wilkos....

[@Nottsflix]

Fopp was the major loss :-(

[@grimreboot]

@@Nottsflix Excellent video dude..! That old documentary clip is a gold mine still....! :)

[@_newphonewhodis]

@@Nottsflix Fopp was a bloody disgrace :’( Turfed out of Queen Street, and then again screwed when Broadmarsh tanked. Was kinda surprised they bothered making that move - but then again it was the only shop I would actually visit inside the centre so for me at least it had the pull factor. Would have liked them to have been assisted to move to the old Post Office building.

[@YoloMenace001]

This is Nottingham's version of Jay Foreman: John Hood

[@officalbrandonperfect]

Broadmarsh was half empty by the time it had closed - even if the centre had been rebuilt I don’t think it would have been any better

[@grokknar]

I too hope that whatever gets put there isn't rubbish.

[@lunarose9]

I know Ewan through various local climate actions. It was a really big surprise to see him mentioned.

[@WhosPhotoTube]

At least the caves are still there.

[@powderscofield6518]

Visions of an undead shopping centre now rising in my mind...will Broadmarsh rise again!?!

[@serenityinside1]

Hopefully not 🤞 !

[@bringmeblueskies]

had lot of fun at Broadmarsh banks on my bmx

[@talachedaka2000]

Im from Nottingham and Broad Marsh really was dire, much like everywhere else in Nottingham honesty. The worst thing about Nottingham for me is the plethora of terrible people that live hers, ruining it for everyone else. Also, Nottingham has so much potential but the council refuses to do anything decent.

[@themiddleplace]

"I don't want anything that's not a god damn water park" Top chick!

[@mustardsallysoserene1499]

I love the last line. 🤣

[@kenstevens5065]

Perhaps the flying saucer should be re-directed above the City Council chamber. If Nottingham had a large out of town shopping area like Leicester or Sheffield to compete with they wouldn't have taken the importance of retail so much for granted and left redevelopment too late. Never mind they got their tram.

[@HoneyHotTapBenjamin]

''That was 2019! ... Then Covid happened''.

[@Mustaine1ify]

I only used Broadmarsh as a cut through to get to the King John. 🍺

[@paulbateman858]

Great vid, entertaing too.

[@jaketurton6950]

Excellent

[@adrianbacon6677]

I hope its not more student accommodation!!!

[@themiddleplace]

Well on that note if they filled it up with noodle shops I'm sure it would be a roaring success! 😃

[@MsCharlieBrown78]

Situals was the place to go!

[@nickabbott2242]

The Broadmarsh was always a bit of a dump

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

How are the mighty fallen.

[@needley]

L is for Labour / L is for Lice

[@drtdmartin]

-4 Funny, hard hitting and imaginative

[@wanwandokko]

Great work. One policy by the labour ran city council proved to be another nail in the coffin..car park taxes, the extortionate cost to park a car in Nottingham was and still is a disgraceful attempt to damage business in the name of "green credentials " utterly void of logic the labour council despise commerce. Just a green open space will provide all we need for a southern entrance, a few upmarket cafés and open air performance seating..job done, low cost sustainable

[@helicopter269]

To much drama

[@prakkari]

Rest assured that you will get more rubbish.

[@avacash7631]

Brutalist crap good it gone

[@emmacollett2629]

To be fair, it was shite. But hasn't the shopping centre that had aJohn Lewis also closed?

[@Nottsflix]

No - the Victoria Centre, including the John Lewis, is still open.

[@romystumpy1197]

No there was a bhs,and alders,Wilko's etc

[@dunkdman]

Yet another informative brilliantly made video , thanks 👍👍👍🥸