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Worcester Street, KIDDERMINSTER, DY10 1EL

The local branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland. Currently the first floor is to let. The branch will close on the 15th August 2018 but customers can use branches of the NatWest Bank, which is part of the same group. They have a branch in Kidderminster.

Although there are some old buildings in Worcester Street, this group are late 20th century. The Royal Bank of Scotland were due to sell their branches in England & Wales to the Spanish bank Santander, but were to retain their NatWest Bank branches. The deal collapsed in late 2012, when Santander pulled out. Update May 2018: The bank have announced this branch will close on the 15th August 2018 but customers can use branches of the NatWest Bank, which is part of the same group. They have a branch in Kidderminster.

This end of Worcester Street was once one of the town's main shopping areas. Today it is populated by many charity shops, a Poundland, a pawnbroker, a bank, a few other stores and some empty shops. The net effect unfortunately is to give it a run down feel. This charity shop is set up to raise funds for Happy Staffie Rescue, which rehomes Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

This end of Worcester Street was, and possibly still is, one of the main shopping streets in Kidderminster's town centre. However, in recent years, there have been many store closures here and a very large proportion of the shops in the street have re-opened as charity shops. The shop on the left at number 26, is run by Mind, the mental health charity. That on the right, at number 27, is the new furniture and electrical store of the British Heart Foundation. It replaces the store at Market Street, which was destroyed in a fire in October 2011. See:- Image Update April 2018: No. 27 is currently empty and to let

For several years this was used by the charity British Heart Foundation for the sale of electrical goods and furniture. They have now relocated to elsewhere in the town. The empty shop joins several others at this end of the street, giving it a rather run down feel. Those shops that survive are overwhelmingly bargain type stores and charity shops. In the present economic climate it is difficult to see this situation being reversed. It could be argued that Kidderminster, like a lot of similar towns, has far more shop premises than it needs. Only time will tell. The shop when in use by British Heart Foundation:- Image

There have been some road changes in this area recently. These include the addition of keep left signs and a cycle lane, coloured green, along a large part of Worcester Street.

Cash Generator is a national chain of pawnbrokers. The windows of the Kidderminster branch are stuffed with items for sale which were left by people desperate for cash and who were unable to redeem them. Appropriately it sits next door to the local branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, whose actions played a significant role in contributing to the financial crash of 2008. The bank had to be bailed out by taxpayers and at the time of writing the UK Government still owns 81% of it.

One of Kidderminster's oldest surviving pubs, The Swan has been in existence as a pub since at least 1849, when it was known as The Junction. It became The Swan in about 1872, about the time when a pub of the same name in Swan Street had closed. Today it remains a popular pub, situated in the town centre opposite the Town Hall.

A popular bar with younger people. Often has live music. Next door is S Whitehouse, a butcher. Update February 2018:- The bar is now called The Vault. See:- Image

The Swan pub in the centre of Kidderminster. To the left of the image is Kidderminster Town Hall.