More stories ….. from that Co-op shop on Hardy Lane … a carpenter and a blue plaque

Now for anyone who delves into the past there is one over arching observation and that is the simple one that the work is never done.

And that is particularly so of the Hardy Lane Co-op store. 

It was opened in 1929 to cater for the new housing estates which were being developed on either side of Barlow Moor Road, and like all co-op shops it was built with a public hall.

Ninety-seven years on that hall is still at the heart of the community, and during that near century it has been a venue for heaps of educational, social and political events.

Many people will have their own fond memories of “doing the hall”, and on Saturday I discovered a chap who added another story.

I didn’t catch his name, but he described his own connection with the venue, which was that as a carpenter and trade unionist he attended branch meetings of his union in the hall in the 1980s.

It was a snatched conversation and I missed the name of the union but I think it might have been the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers (ASW) which merged with  the Amalgamated Society of Painters and Decorators (ASPD) in 1971 and later became known as the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians.

I should have pursued the conversation but didn’t, which was a great pity.

That said someone may remember being in the same union and attending branch meetings in the rooms above the co-op.

We shall see.

Suffice to say that the conversation was occasioned by the unveiling of a blue plaque sponsored by Chorlton Civic Society and supported by the Co-op.

The event was of special significance because our hall maybe the last still in use across Greater Manchester.

So, with that in mind fifty or so “friends” gathered to see the plaque unveiled and listened to some of us who had memories of meetings and social events in the hall.

Leaving me just to say if you have your own memories and want to share them do make contact.

Location; Hardy Lane Co-op

Pictures; the Hardy Lane Co-op, 2026, courtesy of Peter Topping, the carpenter and the unveiling, 2026 from the collection of Andrew Simpson