seen from
Kilvey Hill Swansea Market/Quadrant Centre vicinity Swansea Market, the
Quadrant Shopping Centre and the
St. David's Shopping Centre are in the middle of the city centre. The Quadrant Centre opened in the late 1970s and is dominated by chain stores; it has a
multi-storey car park that opens directly into
Debenhams on one floor.
Swansea bus station is on the western side of the centre, and
Swansea Grand Theatre is next door to the station on Singleton Street. A
Tesco superstore is immediately south-east of the Quadrant.
High Street High Street was once the main shopping street in Swansea and formed the central axis of the shopping centre. It was completely destroyed in World War II, leaving just a few buildings standing gutted, including half of the now demolished Woolworth Building, the Elysium Cinema building, the New Castle Buildings and smaller stores to the northern end including the historic Bush Inn (demolished in 2013). The High Street has a large indoor arcade filled with small local businesses.
Swansea Castle is to be found at the southern end of the street, and opposite the castle is Castle Square. Towards the northern end are
Swansea railway station and the Swansea Grand Hotel. The stretch between the castle and railway station is dominated by local retailers, discount retailers and eating and drinking establishments. The street becomes mainly residential to the north of the railway station. In this residential stretch, there is one wedged-shaped building on the corner with Prince of Wales Street: this is the
Palace Theatre, where
Anthony Hopkins staged his first professional performance. It is the oldest theatre in Wales, one of only two remaining purpose-built music halls left in the United Kingdom, and the first place in Wales to screen a moving picture. It was once used as a nightclub but is now mostly derelict.
The Kingsway Until the development of Wind Street as a nightlife zone, the Kingsway was the centre of nightlife in Swansea. While many of the bars have shut down due to competition from Wind Street bars, the largest night clubs in Swansea are still found here. Apart from the nightlife venues, The Kingsway has a number of banks, shops, fast food outlets and a branch of the
YMCA. Swansea's former main Post Office was on this road too but moved to
TGJones inside the Quadrant Shopping Centre about away. In 2006, the Kingsway was re-engineered to become a one-way street for cars. The southern traffic lanes are now dedicated tw- way bus lanes developed in conjunction with the
First Cymru's
Swansea Metro bus route. At the eastern end of the Kingsway was a large roundabout incorporating a pedestrian subway. The subway has been filled in and the roundabout replaced with a traffic light crossroad and wider pedestrian walkways.
Oxford Street Oxford Street is the main shopping street in Swansea which has major retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Next. The eastern end of the street, close to Castle Square, is pedestrianised and dominated by chain stores. The western end features mass-market/down-market multiple stores and links to two arcades of very small independent retailers.
Wind Street/Salubrious Place Wind Street () has a name which nowadays means different things in the two languages. The local English pronunciation has shifted from Street (i.e. with a meaning matching the Welsh name) to Street (which doesn't). Wind Street was once a haunt of the poet
Dylan Thomas and location of the covered alleyway 'Salubrious Passage'. It became a backwater in the second half of the 20th century when the commercial centre of Swansea shifted. It boasts the highest concentration of listed buildings in Swansea. During the Second World War, the pubs of Wind Street saw the visit of a young star-to-be. A group of American GIs stationed in Swansea entered the Adelphi pub. An Australian soldier also stationed in Swansea saw this and proceeded to taunt the young GI, who was drinking milk, that he was not strong enough to drink alcohol. Unfortunately for him he had picked on the young
Rocky Marciano who went on to become one of the world's greatest heavyweight boxers. Rocky floored him with one punch. Marciano himself confirmed this story. Following redevelopment at the beginning of the 21st century, the area is now known for its pubs, bars, clubs and restaurant. The street developed a reputation for drunkenness and bad behaviour, leading to the council introducing a curb on new pub and club licences in the city centre. In December 2010, Wind Street had the second highest number of reported crimes in the whole of England and Wales. In 2007 the development of the street's lower, south-eastern end was completed, as 'Salubrious Place', including an Aspers Casino, a Vue Cinema, a
Premier Inn hotel, parking and additional eating and drinking venues. The casino closed in 2012 and Salubrious Place went into receivership in 2013, though in 2014 new plans were announced to re-invent the area.
Princess Way Princess Way () links Kingsway Circle to the north with Oystermouth Road to the south. The northern section of the street is fully pedestrianised and is fronted with shops. The southern section is fronted with pubs, restaurants and offices and has a
Travelodge hotel, a
Vue cinema and Aspers casino. The central portion of Princess Way opens onto two
town squares. Castle Square links Princess Way with Castle Street. Castle Square is a concreted square that slopes upwards towards steps to
Swansea Castle to the east, forming an
amphitheatre-like space. It has grass verges and a few trees on its sides, and two fountains. The square is faced to the south by Caer Street which is lined with shops in buildings with a
mock Tudor facade. In July 2008, a permanent
BBC TV big screen was constructed on the southern corner of Castle Square, to show BBC coverage of
Beijing 2008 and
London 2012 as well as local content. St. Mary's Square links Princess Way with Whitewalls.
St. Mary's Church stands in the middle of the square. It is fronted by the
Quadrant Centre to the east; a clothes shop to the north; and offices and shops to the south.
Parc Tawe Parc Tawe is an area on the west bank of the
River Tawe in the
Lower Swansea valley. The area includes several "out-of-town" style stores and entertainment units. There are car parking spaces in this area, but at peak periods it is subject to traffic congestion. A highly visible building is the
Plantasia, a large triangular tropical plant house. Entertainments in the area include a 10 screen cinema and a
ten pin bowling alley.
Alexandra Road vicinity Alexandra Road is in an area to the north of the city centre at the foot of Townhill. It is home to a campus
University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) which has several premises in the area. Swansea College of Art's main centre is in a building that once housed the Dynevor Secondary school. The
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is here, as is
Swansea Central police station. The
Old Library building next to the old police station, on the corner of Orchard Street and Alexandra Road, once housed the central lending and reference library, which has now been relocated to the
Civic Centre. The old police station has been converted into flats for students of UWTSD. The old library is now part of Swansea College of Art and houses its
Stained Glass, Product Design, Automotive Design, Games Design, 3D Computer Animation and Foundation courses. The
BBC has two radio studios, a newsroom and general office at 32 Alexandra Road. It sub-lets part of its former building from UWTSD which now owns the building and hosts its Music Technology and Performing Arts courses. The Swansea Magistrates Court is located opposite the police station. The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church is in the far south of the area, on Kingsway. ==Entry and exit roads==