Me and my mates spent many a Saturday in the Castlegate in the early 80's, spent quite a few quid on badges, patches, posters and T-shirts in your shop, a great little outlet. Great memories of youth and far better days.
Many towns will need to consolidate their retail offering into smaller areas. The waterfront park is designed to be multi use including performance spaces. I have some reservations on how much parking will be available though, as the demolition of the Castlegate Centre also removed a multi storey car park.
Whats crazy is that underneath all that there was old shipping buildings with a network of buildings leading to the riverside docks me and my freinds used to explore it ..scary but overwhelmed with history and nostalgia ..all the old tackle and shipping equippment was still hanging on walls...
To: @jackiegeritz5345 - Ha, ha! I am of an age ot remember it well. On the corner opposite both the lifts and toilets and I believe originally, it was Hinton''s, the supermarket.
I live an hour ish away from here!! I have got pictures of it before it got demolished, and I love dead mall exploring and follow more than 5 dead mall channels!! 🙃 Can't believe this is gone now!!!! Love all of your videos, especially elephant and castle centre !! Lol 😆 so well informed and insightive!! It was back in the day when Grainger games 🎮 😪 were around is when I used to visit !! I miss those college days!!
Oh thanks so much! Yeah, I miss Grainger Games 🥲 I'll be back in Stockton in the next couple of months, so I'm interested to see how the area has changed since I filmed this...
Stockton (like Redcar and Durham) opened new retail areas just as internet shopping and out of town became dominant so have too many empty units and are depressing. The problems now are really down to bad planning and timing then. The Waterfront may be a good idea, like Hartlepool Marina and their maritime museum, I hope Stockton build on their railway history. Great video.
Thank you, and yes, it's a shame that a lot of towns and cities added retail areas right before that downturn. Some have made successes of them though! I'll definitely be interested to see what the project looks like when it's done.
Thing is Hartlepool had the drive to transform itself with the Headland and the marina. Stockton doesn't have that inner drive, that much of a character or perhaps even population to pull it off. This whole "redevelopment" they keep banging on about is a pie kn the sky.
@@jeniffer9248 totally agree. Every so often you'd see a story pop up about regeneration or a bit of "work" being done which was part of bigger overall plans that never came to fruition (and repeat) and I'm going back 30+ years.
This shopping centre used to be thriving back in the 90s and even the early 00s. If you want to visit a dying mall near here. Visit middleton grange centre in hartlepool. We have some shop units that have been abandoned for over 20 years here plus a 60s brutalist market thats half closed off due to the roof being unsafe. We are due a regeneration project on the centre but theres no date as of when that will happen yet. Alot of empty shop units in the place
remember when castle gate was built even then stockton was a busy market town with people coming into stockton from all over the north east - we had buses that came from far and wide and special market buses on certain market days,back then we had all day drinking in pubs on certain days and this brought the customers shoppers to stockton in droves.slowly over the years the trade has died a death due to politics and globalist traders in nearby shopping outlets and of course over inflated high street rents and rates etc...plus people dont shop like they did in the old days people buy chopped onions and sliced cheese in packs and not many people know how to cook fish lol we now live in very strange times
A lot of the shops within spencer market did get relocated, but they didn’t get the same incentives to relocate that the big brands did so not all of them managed to move to wellington square to take advantage of the higher footfall
That’s interesting! Thanks for sharing. But yeah, it seemed to me like Wellington was *mostly* national brands - maybe that will change a bit post-Castlegate closure…
Essentially Stockton ended up in a situation where wellington square was a lot of empty shop fronts after a few big names closed, I think it was ideal timing for them to try fill those empty units with the funding and castlegate also failing to fill units. the delicatessen that you pass as you come in from the bridge into the castle gate ended up in a much smaller unit so ended up getting rid of the hot food counter and a few of the businesses just shut shop totally (one of the butchers just retired)
I got super excited at the idea of a Brutalist hotel next door, (visiting Brutalist stuff is one of my hobbies) and then instantly deflated when you mentioned it had already started to be demolished. Awesome video!
Thanks bud! Yeah, I’d have loved to check out the hotel but a) demolition was already in progress and b) looked like it was locked up tight. So I had to settle for those images.
Great video, iv been covering this shopping center and its demolition. Im also documenting its redevelopment as it progresses. I tryed to gain access to multiple parts of the property including the Swallow hotel, unfortunately, the local council arent helpful in this regard.
I preferred Middlesbrough for shopping but I think now it’d be the other way around lol. Middlesbrough town centre has been bled dry and its heartbreaking
I live in Stockton on Tees. The Teesside Retail Park is for cars, as the bus services to the retail park are appallingly infrequent! The grossly oversized Park,The Globe Theater and the Hampton Hotel will not! attract well heeled out of towners into spending money in the town,they are de facto white elephants. The town needs good cycling infrastructure and integrated bus services,which are cheap and frequent for skint locals to access. This would widen the area for jobs opportunities and cheaper food shopping out of town. We urgently need social housing ,drug clinics and a plan to create jobs in the area for people on the lower educational scale.
what u mean “back in ur Grandparents day” 😳 it was back in my day lol 😂 & yeh we did the widest & longest Hight Street & Market - it was fantastic back then & ppl came from all over the place to go to our Market but now they’ve just TOTALLY ruined our Town 😢 & it’s quite sad to see 😢 xx
I live in Stockton-on-Tees. We are a very windy town, especially the high street gets windy. The High Street is going to be absolutely baltic in the winter and breeze coming off the River Tees will make it colder. I think in some ways the Castlegate and Swallow acted as a barrier for that wind. I doubt anyone is going to want to sit in the new park during the winter once it's opened, unless your one of the many asylum seekers or homeless people.
Totally agree with ya & that’s more or less what I’ve said about it & don’t forget about the smack heads taking over the new park thingy there gonna put ppl off going there for sure & like ya said it’s gonna be freezing 🥶
Despite how it looked here, it was always much more active than the town centre itself (which is still dead) and Wellington Square. Many happy memories here. It wasnt brilliant of course but It was all the town really had. I used to walk to college from it, as busses stopped right outside the castlegate and you could walk across the bridge, perfect length of walk to wake up too as well. Stockton's a dire town now. Don't miss it one bit. Nostalgia is all i have for it because all the good things are long gone.
Castlegate was a blot on the landscape. I can't wait until it has been completely removed from the face of the Earth. The criminals that built it had knocked down a quarter of an amazing Georgian Town and it turned the town centre into Swindon! In the early 60's I was growing up in Moat Street at the southern end of the High Street. Rat infested slums really, and needed to go, but the the buildings that were removed in the High Street were comparable to those still standing in Yarm or in the living museum of Beamish. Just a few miles away, Yarm is bustling and bright (although it does have a severe parking problem). Stockton is dank and depleted. The new park will give great views of the River and I'm looking forward to its inauguration. Anything is better than the monstrosity that was the Swallow Hotel and Castlegate Centre. May it never live long in memory or, as you put it in your video - rest in peace.
but the new park thing opposite the river will be nothing more than a place for the smack heads to go 😩 & apart from the views of the river what else will there be for visitors?? In the Winter 🥶 it’s gonna be freezing there cause we’ll get the wind 💨 & rain 🌧️ off the Tees making it freezing on the High Street 🥶 Stockton is nowt like it was they’ve totally ruined it now 😡 our Market has dwindled to a few stalls compared with years ago & what’s going on with them packing-up between 3 & 4 ffs 🤦🏼♀️ Stockton used to be worth going to now there’s nowt there 😡
im gutted its gone now. its gonna be a park for all the druggies to hang about in. i loved this shopping centre and i got mad nastolgia when you walked through. im defo subscribing! im a thornaby guy and im gutted
If it started raining when you were in Stockton High Street then a visit to The Castlegate Centre was ideal as it was indoors. The other shopping centrebis Wellington Square and completely exposed to the wind and rain. Why dont the council add a roof along the walkway and in to the section on Dovecot Street? It could be similar to the roof in Leeds Trinity.
Yeah, technically you're right on the money. I added the demolished tag because I was led to believe that demo would happen much quicker than it actually has... It's definitely all fully closed to the public now though, so maybe CLOSED would be more accurate. Cheers for the comment!
There used to be a mall called broadmarsh in nottingham. It was busy but closed due to a renovation plan that is in limbo. Buildings around it are being changed. Though. Broadmarsh used to be really busy. And had many oddities to it. Like design choices. And an old argos sign. But then lost popularity to victoria center in the 2010s. And now its destroyed. But victoria center is busier than ever due to the closure. And that is in a great state. And that isnt a dead mall yet. Due to possibly it being a 4 minute walk from the city square. And theres also freshney place in grimsby. Thats bigger than broadmarsh and about the same as victoria center.
Unfortunately I only made it to Broadmarsh after the majority of stuff was closed off, so couldn’t really do much filming! Is Freshney Place worth a visit would you say? I’ll check out Victoria Center next time I’m in town!
@@DeadMallWalking Yea. Freshney place is worth a visit. Its mostly empty during like winter seasons. But during summer and weekends its busy. Freshney place is kept open becuase of big brands. And due to people coming from cleethorpes on holiday. If your looking for quiet hours. Early morning is when its least busy. And the market and many other big brands are what is keeping freshney place alive. Though the market area is usally empty in early morning and evening.
@@bartdude2032 I go to freshney place alot and its busy. And yea. I have been through the market area. And that has many closed slots. And that is falling apart. Due to lost intest. But the main hallways have a few empty shops. About 5 spots are empty in the main mall. But alot more in the market area. Though in recent years its starting to get more popular. Due to bigger brands. Though an anchor store is empty still. So id say its worth visitng before summer and warm months. Its more popular than marion. So id say freshney place is dieing. But slowly getting alive again. But i only say that due to big brands coning there now. In a dead mall chart. Summer. Its not in. Winter. Its in the chart. But even then in winter theres usally alot of people walking. And theres no sign of it closing. Another thing is that its connected to many old buildings!
what was the reason for this? they couldve made it into a surgery and pharmacy, or opened up major chains like boots, tesco, kfc, mcdonalds. that wouldve revived it
A few more things. Initially the Castlegate was connected to a department store, named Uptons. Which had long gone after I was born. Below that was a gigantic restaurant called the galley, never saw more than 10 people inside despite having about 100 tables!!! As for more shops in Wellington Square. That's because the council essentially told them put up or shut up. Some retailers won't be returning, B and M been one of them, and local deli business Meynells almost didn't move over there.
omg Uptons was a great shop with a few floors & the Galley was always packed it sold gorgeous food 🤤 but ur making me feel old now lmao 🤣 oh & B & M have moved into the old Marks & Spencer’s & loved Meynells a lot bigger shop back then tho - I hate what they have done & are doing to out Town Centre it’s such a shame 😢
Just got my new council tax bill it’s spiralling out of control the council need to cut costs make saving and cap council tax bills for the next ten years it’s disgusting
Agree - my council tax bill costs more than all the rest of my utility bills put together each month and I live alone so get 25% discount on it - it's a real sore point with me. Pity the poll tax in the 90's was overturned due to the riots & non-payers. I for one think it was much fairer. Why should I be expected to pay the same (minus my 25%) when my neighbour has 5 working adults sharing the cost. I don't believe I use 75% of the services the council "provide" compared to a family of 5🤮
Great footage, mate! I’d for sure consider a return visit, although I’m not sure how much I’d be able to see from the ground right now? Feel like I might be better off waiting until some of the new retail stuff is in place!
Used to have a unit there 1975 +" Gotcha Covered" selling T-shirts
Bustling busy centre. Happy Days
Me and my mates spent many a Saturday in the Castlegate in the early 80's, spent quite a few quid on badges, patches, posters and T-shirts in your shop, a great little outlet. Great memories of youth and far better days.
Many towns will need to consolidate their retail offering into smaller areas. The waterfront park is designed to be multi use including performance spaces. I have some reservations on how much parking will be available though, as the demolition of the Castlegate Centre also removed a multi storey car park.
Whats crazy is that underneath all that there was old shipping buildings with a network of buildings leading to the riverside docks me and my freinds used to explore it ..scary but overwhelmed with history and nostalgia ..all the old tackle and shipping equippment was still hanging on walls...
I started work as a trainee salesperson in 1974 at the Stockton Electricity Board Showroom in the Castlegate Centre. ❤ x
To: @jackiegeritz5345 - Ha, ha! I am of an age ot remember it well. On the corner opposite both the lifts and toilets and I believe originally, it was Hinton''s, the supermarket.
The historical corruption involving this Mall is covered by Franklin Medhurst's, 'A Quite Catastrophe'.
I live an hour ish away from here!! I have got pictures of it before it got demolished, and I love dead mall exploring and follow more than 5 dead mall channels!! 🙃 Can't believe this is gone now!!!! Love all of your videos, especially elephant and castle centre !! Lol 😆 so well informed and insightive!! It was back in the day when Grainger games 🎮 😪 were around is when I used to visit !! I miss those college days!!
Oh thanks so much! Yeah, I miss Grainger Games 🥲 I'll be back in Stockton in the next couple of months, so I'm interested to see how the area has changed since I filmed this...
Thought i was the only person who remembered Grainger Games!
Stockton (like Redcar and Durham) opened new retail areas just as internet shopping and out of town became dominant so have too many empty units and are depressing. The problems now are really down to bad planning and timing then. The Waterfront may be a good idea, like Hartlepool Marina and their maritime museum, I hope Stockton build on their railway history. Great video.
Thank you, and yes, it's a shame that a lot of towns and cities added retail areas right before that downturn. Some have made successes of them though! I'll definitely be interested to see what the project looks like when it's done.
Thing is Hartlepool had the drive to transform itself with the Headland and the marina. Stockton doesn't have that inner drive, that much of a character or perhaps even population to pull it off. This whole "redevelopment" they keep banging on about is a pie kn the sky.
@@jeniffer9248 totally agree. Every so often you'd see a story pop up about regeneration or a bit of "work" being done which was part of bigger overall plans that never came to fruition (and repeat) and I'm going back 30+ years.
This shopping centre used to be thriving back in the 90s and even the early 00s. If you want to visit a dying mall near here. Visit middleton grange centre in hartlepool. We have some shop units that have been abandoned for over 20 years here plus a 60s brutalist market thats half closed off due to the roof being unsafe. We are due a regeneration project on the centre but theres no date as of when that will happen yet. Alot of empty shop units in the place
remember when castle gate was built even then stockton was a busy market town with people coming into stockton from all over the north east - we had buses that came from far and wide and special market buses on certain market days,back then we had all day drinking in pubs on certain days and this brought the customers shoppers to stockton in droves.slowly over the years the trade has died a death due to politics and globalist traders in nearby shopping outlets and of course over inflated high street rents and rates etc...plus people dont shop like they did in the old days people buy chopped onions and sliced cheese in packs and not many people know how to cook fish lol we now live in very strange times
A lot of the shops within spencer market did get relocated, but they didn’t get the same incentives to relocate that the big brands did so not all of them managed to move to wellington square to take advantage of the higher footfall
That’s interesting! Thanks for sharing. But yeah, it seemed to me like Wellington was *mostly* national brands - maybe that will change a bit post-Castlegate closure…
Essentially Stockton ended up in a situation where wellington square was a lot of empty shop fronts after a few big names closed, I think it was ideal timing for them to try fill those empty units with the funding and castlegate also failing to fill units. the delicatessen that you pass as you come in from the bridge into the castle gate ended up in a much smaller unit so ended up getting rid of the hot food counter and a few of the businesses just shut shop totally (one of the butchers just retired)
I got super excited at the idea of a Brutalist hotel next door, (visiting Brutalist stuff is one of my hobbies) and then instantly deflated when you mentioned it had already started to be demolished.
Awesome video!
Thanks bud! Yeah, I’d have loved to check out the hotel but a) demolition was already in progress and b) looked like it was locked up tight. So I had to settle for those images.
What went wrong haven't you noticed there's no factorys anymore... followd by the pubs then the shops.... we're post tapped out of oil....
Great video, iv been covering this shopping center and its demolition. Im also documenting its redevelopment as it progresses. I tryed to gain access to multiple parts of the property including the Swallow hotel, unfortunately, the local council arent helpful in this regard.
It used to be good though. There was nothing like doing Christmas shopping in Stockton when i was a kid
I preferred Middlesbrough for shopping but I think now it’d be the other way around lol. Middlesbrough town centre has been bled dry and its heartbreaking
@@louis-2197 well defo don’t go to Stockton cause there’s nowt there apart from Charity Shops 😫
I live in Stockton on Tees.
The Teesside Retail Park is for cars, as the bus services to the retail park are appallingly infrequent! The grossly oversized Park,The Globe Theater and the Hampton Hotel will not! attract well heeled out of towners into spending money in the town,they are de facto white elephants.
The town needs good cycling infrastructure and integrated bus services,which are cheap and frequent for skint locals to access. This would widen the area for jobs opportunities and cheaper food shopping out of town. We urgently need social housing ,drug clinics and a plan to create jobs in the area for people on the lower educational scale.
Back in our grandparents days this had the Widest high street in Europe I believe
what u mean “back in ur Grandparents day” 😳 it was back in my day lol 😂 & yeh we did the widest & longest Hight Street & Market - it was fantastic back then & ppl came from all over the place to go to our Market but now they’ve just TOTALLY ruined our Town 😢 & it’s quite sad to see 😢 xx
I love watching these videos so much! It fascinates me. Hope your channel continues to grow!
Thanks, I really appreciate the kind words!
I live in Stockton-on-Tees. We are a very windy town, especially the high street gets windy. The High Street is going to be absolutely baltic in the winter and breeze coming off the River Tees will make it colder. I think in some ways the Castlegate and Swallow acted as a barrier for that wind. I doubt anyone is going to want to sit in the new park during the winter once it's opened, unless your one of the many asylum seekers or homeless people.
Totally agree with ya & that’s more or less what I’ve said about it & don’t forget about the smack heads taking over the new park thingy there gonna put ppl off going there for sure & like ya said it’s gonna be freezing 🥶
Despite how it looked here, it was always much more active than the town centre itself (which is still dead) and Wellington Square.
Many happy memories here. It wasnt brilliant of course but It was all the town really had. I used to walk to college from it, as busses stopped right outside the castlegate and you could walk across the bridge, perfect length of walk to wake up too as well.
Stockton's a dire town now. Don't miss it one bit. Nostalgia is all i have for it because all the good things are long gone.
It’s like demolishing my childhood
Definitely is a horrible rust belt town I agree. That's why they made it smaller too many empty shops etc..
@@editname654 yep totally agree with ya 😢
Castlegate was a blot on the landscape. I can't wait until it has been completely removed from the face of the Earth.
The criminals that built it had knocked down a quarter of an amazing Georgian Town and it turned the town centre into Swindon!
In the early 60's I was growing up in Moat Street at the southern end of the High Street. Rat infested slums really, and needed to go, but the the buildings that were removed in the High Street were comparable to those still standing in Yarm or in the living museum of Beamish. Just a few miles away, Yarm is bustling and bright (although it does have a severe parking problem). Stockton is dank and depleted.
The new park will give great views of the River and I'm looking forward to its inauguration. Anything is better than the monstrosity that was the Swallow Hotel and Castlegate Centre.
May it never live long in memory or, as you put it in your video - rest in peace.
but the new park thing opposite the river will be nothing more than a place for the smack heads to go 😩 & apart from the views of the river what else will there be for visitors?? In the Winter 🥶 it’s gonna be freezing there cause we’ll get the wind 💨 & rain 🌧️ off the Tees making it freezing on the High Street 🥶 Stockton is nowt like it was they’ve totally ruined it now 😡 our Market has dwindled to a few stalls compared with years ago & what’s going on with them packing-up between 3 & 4 ffs 🤦🏼♀️ Stockton used to be worth going to now there’s nowt there 😡
im gutted its gone now. its gonna be a park for all the druggies to hang about in. i loved this shopping centre and i got mad nastolgia when you walked through. im defo subscribing! im a thornaby guy and im gutted
Thank you mate, appreciate that! Would really like to wander through here one more time. Will have to come check out its replacement in due course…
If it started raining when you were in Stockton High Street then a visit to The Castlegate Centre was ideal as it was indoors. The other shopping centrebis Wellington Square and completely exposed to the wind and rain. Why dont the council add a roof along the walkway and in to the section on Dovecot Street? It could be similar to the roof in Leeds Trinity.
great channel
Dead Mall Walking - Dying Retail & Malls im new here
Thanks!!
The most interesting section of Stockton High Street was demolished for the Castlegate Centre thanks to those crooks Poulson and Dan Smith.
Castlegate still stands, the only thing that's been demolished is the Swallow Hotel.
Yeah, technically you're right on the money. I added the demolished tag because I was led to believe that demo would happen much quicker than it actually has...
It's definitely all fully closed to the public now though, so maybe CLOSED would be more accurate. Cheers for the comment!
There used to be a mall called broadmarsh in nottingham.
It was busy but closed due to a renovation plan that is in limbo. Buildings around it are being changed. Though. Broadmarsh used to be really busy. And had many oddities to it. Like design choices. And an old argos sign. But then lost popularity to victoria center in the 2010s. And now its destroyed. But victoria center is busier than ever due to the closure. And that is in a great state. And that isnt a dead mall yet. Due to possibly it being a 4 minute walk from the city square.
And theres also freshney place in grimsby. Thats bigger than broadmarsh and about the same as victoria center.
Unfortunately I only made it to Broadmarsh after the majority of stuff was closed off, so couldn’t really do much filming! Is Freshney Place worth a visit would you say? I’ll check out Victoria Center next time I’m in town!
@@DeadMallWalking Yea. Freshney place is worth a visit. Its mostly empty during like winter seasons. But during summer and weekends its busy. Freshney place is kept open becuase of big brands. And due to people coming from cleethorpes on holiday. If your looking for quiet hours. Early morning is when its least busy. And the market and many other big brands are what is keeping freshney place alive. Though the market area is usally empty in early morning and evening.
@@bartdude2032 I go to freshney place alot and its busy. And yea. I have been through the market area. And that has many closed slots. And that is falling apart. Due to lost intest. But the main hallways have a few empty shops. About 5 spots are empty in the main mall. But alot more in the market area. Though in recent years its starting to get more popular. Due to bigger brands. Though an anchor store is empty still. So id say its worth visitng before summer and warm months. Its more popular than marion. So id say freshney place is dieing. But slowly getting alive again. But i only say that due to big brands coning there now. In a dead mall chart. Summer. Its not in. Winter. Its in the chart. But even then in winter theres usally alot of people walking. And theres no sign of it closing. Another thing is that its connected to many old buildings!
what was the reason for this? they couldve made it into a surgery and pharmacy, or opened up major chains like boots, tesco, kfc, mcdonalds. that wouldve revived it
A few more things.
Initially the Castlegate was connected to a department store, named Uptons. Which had long gone after I was born. Below that was a gigantic restaurant called the galley, never saw more than 10 people inside despite having about 100 tables!!!
As for more shops in Wellington Square. That's because the council essentially told them put up or shut up. Some retailers won't be returning, B and M been one of them, and local deli business Meynells almost didn't move over there.
I remember Upton's and that massive cafe. Old memories
Bro I can't believe you just reminded me of the Galley 😭. you remember the giant chip mascot statue they had in there for some reason???
omg Uptons was a great shop with a few floors & the Galley was always packed it sold gorgeous food 🤤 but ur making me feel old now lmao 🤣 oh & B & M have moved into the old Marks & Spencer’s & loved Meynells a lot bigger shop back then tho - I hate what they have done & are doing to out Town Centre it’s such a shame 😢
Just got my new council tax bill it’s spiralling out of control the council need to cut costs make saving and cap council tax bills for the next ten years it’s disgusting
Agree - my council tax bill costs more than all the rest of my utility bills put together each month and I live alone so get 25% discount on it - it's a real sore point with me.
Pity the poll tax in the 90's was overturned due to the riots & non-payers. I for one think it was much fairer. Why should I be expected to pay the same (minus my 25%) when my neighbour has 5 working adults sharing the cost. I don't believe I use 75% of the services the council "provide" compared to a family of 5🤮
0:55 working at a peacocks store in my area this saddens me
Not so ugly, if you ever saw the Elephant & Castle shopping centre in London, thats what you call ugly!
Just finished my second part of the Demo process. will you be visiting again or do you only visit the one time?
Great footage, mate! I’d for sure consider a return visit, although I’m not sure how much I’d be able to see from the ground right now? Feel like I might be better off waiting until some of the new retail stuff is in place!
all that way for crushed crabshells with a pint of coffee
Sounds delish…!
@@DeadMallWalking ur andrew dale
and ginseng.
👍🏼