Nestled away in the city centre, it’s easy to miss Bridlesmith Walk, the entrance no bigger than a small passageway. But wander down the walkway and you’ll find a whole variety of small businesses ranging from the beauty-based to the beer-serving. That’s why, for this month’s theme of empowerment, we wanted to shine a light on these independent owners taking on the big boys, and encourage you lot to have a gander down one of Nottingham’s secret shopping streets…
Despite not being a particularly big city, Nottingham is packed with charming little nooks and crannies, places you’re unlikely to know about unless you’re following a recommendation, or have accidentally taken a wrong turn - but places which are filled with unique shops and micro communities, ready to be explored. An example of which is Bridlesmith Walk.
Stationed just off Bridlesmith Gate and leading up to Weekday Cross, the Walk is a thin, covered passageway with a bright glass roof. Originally named King John’s Arcade and built in 1882, it’s now home to a series of independent shops including a piercing studio (Rogue Piercing), a tattooist (Revenant Tattoos), a hairdressers (The Gate), a salon (Regent Beauty), White Rabbit Teahouse, and two interconnected bars (The Herbert Kilpin and Junkyard) serving some of the best beer in the city.
A tiny strip of Nottingham, it’s impossible to be located in the Walk without a feeling of belonging, Aiden from Rogue Piercing tells me. “There is a real sense of community here,” he explains. “A lot of our team go to The Gate to get their hair cut and we share supplies with Regent Beauty if we or they run out. All of the business owners and staff regularly pop in to check on each other and that really is a great feeling.” Aiden adds that the walkway has always felt “wholesome” and “peaceful”, tucked away from the busyness of the town centre. “We joke that you have to seek us out, which makes the whole experience special.”
A tiny strip of Nottingham, it’s impossible to be located in the Walk without a feeling of belonging
That the smallness of the area adds to its charm seems to be a sentiment shared by the rest of the vendors too, with Anna from Revenant saying that “there's something exciting about finding a favourite spot in a city that is slightly hidden away”, and Frances from White Rabbit Teahouse commenting that one the reasons she was initially drawn to Bridlesmith was because she “liked this hidden feel to it. It was a little bit out of the way, but still close enough to town that you didn’t have to wander off the beaten track to get to us.”
However, it’s not surprising that these tucked-away shops are worried about the cost-of-living crisis and how it will affect spending - particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, which was already difficult for small business owners in the city centre, during which many people avoided leaving the suburbs. “Obviously it is different from when we first opened,” Frances, who has been on the Walk for ten years, comments. “We couldn’t open during COVID and it took a long time to build a customer base back up, and our older customers still don’t come into the centre as much. And now we’ve been hit with a new period and the tearoom is really quiet again, because people don’t have as much money to spend.”
“I do think that small businesses have a strong sense of resilience, though,” she finishes. It’s a sentence mirrored by Aiden, who adds that “COVID and the cost-of-living crisis have brought struggles to all of us on the Walk but we have all managed to pull through. We are all super passionate about what we do, so I think that has really kept us going.”
We laugh about how you can come to the Walk and get a complete makeover including piercings, tattoos, a haircut, beauty treatments, new clothing, a new job and a delicious meal
Issues around neighbouring Bridlesmith Gate haven’t made things easier. Well-remembered by many in Nottingham as the main shopping spot in the city, thanks to it being pedestrianised in 1973, Bridlesmith Gate was once packed with thriving trade. However, in recent years, it has been described as a ‘ghost town’- something that is only now starting to change with the opening of new stores like 101 Vintage, Sneakrverse and Stick and Ribbon. The striking new mural artwork, which was created by artists including Laura Decorum, Dilk, Lesser Than Three, Kynobi, Zena Kay and our own Emily Catherine at the end of last year, has helped too - adding a feeling of colour and excitement back into the area. So, though the cost-of-living crisis is frightening, there is still a definite feeling of hope among the vendors nearby.
Regardless, it doesn’t seem that Bridlesmith Walk or any of its tenants are going anywhere any time soon. In fact, they’re as proud as ever. “We laugh about how you can come to the Walk and get a complete makeover including piercings, tattoos, a haircut, beauty treatments, new clothing, a new job and a delicious meal,” Aiden says. Whatever you’re after, this resilient little walkway is well worth visiting.
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