This was a challenging local history blip...

... as part of a my occasional series of Harrogate Then & Now.

When I found the original 1905 photo of the entrance to Prince's Arcade, in the Library Archives, I was sure I knew the building as it is today. The street is actually very close to the library but I was mistaken about which building was involved. 

The only clearly unchanged part of the building is the structure above the doors which continues to a small turret on the roof. To complicate matters, the visible section to match the original is partly covered by a TO LET sign.

I haven't yet discovered when the colonnade was incorporated into the two shops. However, round about the time of the photo the small colonnade or arcade was occupied by a classy cafe, a hairdresser and a palmist. As frequently happens in these situations, the numbering of the shops has also changed slightly in the process, making it more difficult to trace occupiers in local directories of the time.