This is how you honour a shop with history

Today over eighty people gathered on an indifferent morning to commemorate and indeed celebrate one of our local Co-ops.

Gathering for the event, 2026

What makes this Co-op as special is that it has retained its public hall which for nearly a century has acted as avenue for a variety of local community events.

So it was fitting that Chorlton Civic Society should erect a blue plaque to honour its place as a centre for education, social events and  home to the Co-operative and Labour Movement.

The plaque was unveiled by Kathy Lee who as a member of the Co-op Party was active in promoting the ideals of co-operation.

Kathy about to unveil the plaque, 2026

Unveiled, 2026

Many of those present will also remember that Kathy's husband, Lawrence Beedle played a unique role in recording the history  of all things co-op and retold the stories in his  blog.*

Sean, Cll Shilton-Goodwin

So much so that when Angela Downing began to explore the possibilities of a blue plaque it was to Lawrence that she first turned and much of what we now know about the hall and its activities is due in no small part to Lawrence's knowledge. 

Which leads me to thank Angela for liaising with Chorlton Civic Society's blue plaque committee and the Co-op who funded the plaque.

The shop was opened in 1929 to serve the new housing estates which were being built along and behind Barlow Moor Road.

Lord Bradley

At the time most of the shops had their own hall but sadly most have now gone and ours may indeed be the last in the Greater Manchester area.

Some of the Hall's friends

The Hardy Lane Co-op Rooms can boast a rich and diversified series of events which have taken place in its room.

They range from meetings of the Wood Craft Folk and Co-operative Guilds to pollical assemblies of the Labour and Co-operative Parties doubled up as election committee rooms and the venue for  heaps of social events from film nights to whist evenings.

All of which made today's unveiling very special, and so along with Kathy we had Lord Bradley who as Keith Bradley was elected in 1987 as the first Labour MP for Withington, and the present MP Jeff Smith, both of whom spoke of their vivid memories of the hall.  Cllr Mandie Shilton-Godwin and Shaun Fensom from the Co-op were also present and I think the ghosts of  all those who have in some ways been part of the hall over the last century.

Jeff Smith, MP

Shaun from the Co-op

The Friends gather

Location; Hardy Lane Co-op

Pictures: on the day from the collection of Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping, 2026

*Hardy Lane Scrapbook, https://hardylane.blogspot.com/

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

A tea trolley ….. the Chorlton and Manley Co-operative Women's Guild …. and that community venue

History comes in all shapes and sizes and none more so than the Hardy Lane Co-op store here in Chorlton which is just a tad short of celebrating its 100th birthday.

The Hardy Lane Co-op, 1966

That in itself would be worth commemorating, given that the Co-operative Movement was at the heart of providing good quality food and other products at affordable prices with the bonus that its members received a share of the profits in the form of a dividend on all their purchases.

It is a retail model which was already offering an excellent deal before the Rochdale Pioneers opened their successful shop.

At its zenith the movement had shops, factories, and ships providing families with all they could want from food, furniture, clothes and holidays as well as banking and a funeral service.  

It was organised through Co-operative Societies and for many households it was the place you went to for everything.

Household HintsCo-operative Wholesale Society, undated

And so embedded were the societies in the lives of working people that many can recall their “divi” number which customers proffered up every time they bought something.

R.A.C.S token, undated

We were in the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society which was a vast organization covering all of south London and into the Home Counties, and like other societies had both a political and educational wing through which it promoted the ideals of co-operation and a host of events designed to enhance cultural activities and international understanding.

And here in Manchester was the headquarters of the movement centred around Balloon Street.

What marked out the retail arm of most of the societies were the meeting rooms above the shops which could be hired for community use.

All of which brings me back to the Hardy Lane Co-op which is one of only a few shops which still have a functioning meeting space.

Over the last 97 years its room has hosted everything from the Chorlton and Manley Co-operative Women's Guild to the Woodcraft Folk, meetings of the Co-operative and Labour Parties to cinema nights and Whist events.  

Co-op products, undated

As such it has been at the centre of the community it was opened to serve.

Now I have already written about the Chorlton and Manley Co-operative Women's Guild.*

Yet to be written is the story of Barbara Castle’s visit.  She was a  British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving women MPs in British history.  

And with that story should be an account of the Woodcraft Folk’s activities and the many events held to promote Co-operative products and the underlying principles of the Co-operative Movement.

But I will close with the story of the tea trolley.  

It was an essential part of any meeting and would be trundled out at many of the meetings I attended there.  It was not as old as the tea urn or the big brown tea pot but old enough to have clocked up plenty of events.

That tea trolley, 2012

And I suppose in its way is a symbol of all those meetings going back almost a full century when the great business of the day stopped for light refreshments including Co-op tea and co-op biscuits.

Co-op tea, undated

Just leaving me to announce that Chorlton Civic Society in partnership with the Co-operative movement will be unveiling a plaque at the store to commemorate the historic role of the meeting room to the community.**

The ceremony will be on Saturday July 4th at 11 am.

Location;

Pictures; Barlow Moor Road, 1966, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, R.A.C.S., token undated from the collection of Andrew Simpson, remaining images from the collection of Lawrence Beedle http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

* On small things history turns …. commemorating the Hardy Lane Co-op https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2026/06/on-small-things-history-turns.html

** Blue Plaque for Hardy Lane Co-op Store https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Blue%20Plaque%20for%20Hardy%20Lane%20Co-op%20Store

On small things history turns …. commemorating the Hardy Lane Co-op

Last week I was reflecting and reporting on the story of one Co-op store with heaps of history.*

Some of Co-op Party behind the Guild banner, circa 1980s

It is the Hardy Lane Co-op on the corner of Barlow Moor Road and Hardy Lane, and it has been serving the community since it opened in 1929.

What makes the shop a tad unique is that it still retains its meeting room which for just under a century has hosted political meetings, been used as election committee rooms and been a venue for a host of other events from film nights to whist evenings.

And there will be many who remember it with affection as the place where they were introduced to the Woodcraft Folk, which “is a movement for children and young people, open to everyone from birth to adult, offering a place where children will grow in confidence, learn about the world and start to understand how to value our planet and each other”.**

Last year it celebrated its centenary and so just pips our meeting room.

I first washed up in the room sometime around 1979 where the local branch of the Co-op Party held its monthly meetings and there on the wall were the banners of the National Guild of Co-operatives and  the banner of the Chorlton and Manley Road Co-operative Women’s Guild.

Chorlton and Manley Coperative Women's Guild, 1937

"The National Guild of Co-operators was established in 1926 as an organisation of men and women aged from sixteen years, who are or are willing to become members of their local co-operative society, and are united by a common interest in the co-operative movement.

The guild has been instrumental in lobbying government on matters of national concern as far ranging as anti nuclear power issues and saving rural post offices."*** 

And close by was Chorlton and Manley Co-operative Women's Guild dating from 1922 which was a branch of the Coperative Women's Guild formed as The Women's League for the Spread of Co-operation in 1883, changing its name to the Women's Co-operative Guild in 1885 

It was involved in many campaigns, including the campaign for female favouring the less violent approach of the Suffragists.

The Guild continued to campaign until universal suffrage was finally granted in 1928.

Other campaigns included those around maternity rights and financial support for working class women, who often had large families due to a lack of access to contraception and sexual health information, and could try and procure backstreet abortions which were dangerous as well as illegal. 

The Guild supported the work of Marie Stopes in family planning and better provision of maternity and infant care. 

This led to the Shipley Society opening the first ever co-operative maternity care centre in 1920- which would have been a radical move in the pre-NHS years.***

Freedom of the Branch, 1947

And amongst all of that will have been the  Chorlton and Manley Road Co-operative Women’s Guild. 

As yet I know very little about its activities, but I do know that in 1947 Alice Lomas was awarded a certificate conferring “the Freedom of the Branch for services rendered to the Guild Cause during her membership of 25 years.”

During the 1920s and 30s Alice lived at 20 Provis Road in Chorlton. I know she was born in 1894 and married William Lomas in 1913.

And the rest as they say is all to be discovered and in the process, I rather think we will uncover lots more of the activities of the Chorlton and Manley Road Co-operative Women’s Guild.

In the meantime, the historic significance of the meeting rooms will be marked by a Blue Plaque on the exterior of the Co-op sometime in July of this year.

It is a fitting commemoration of the role the Co-op rooms have played in the community and reflects the history of the last century.

Location; The Hardy Lane Co-op

Pictures; Chorlton and Manley Road Co-operative Women’s Guild banner circa 1980s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Freedom of the Branch, 1947, courtesy of Dave King, Chorlton and Manley Road Co-operative Women’s Guild banner, 1937, from the collection of Lawrence Beedle, Blue Plaque, Chorlton Civic Society, 2026

*Just how do you honour a shop with history?....... https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2026/05/just-how-do-you-honour-shop-with-history.html

**The Woodcraft Folk, https://woodcraft.org.uk/

***National Guild of Co-operators, https://www.uk.coop/directory/national-guild-co-operators

**** The Story of the Co-op Women’s Guild Liz MvIvor, https://www.co-operativeheritage.coop/blog/the-story-of-the-co-operative-womens-guild

Just how do you honour a shop with history?.......

Now it’s not a silly question nor is it an irreverent one, but a genuine search for a fitting memorial to a shop that has not only sold its share of baked beans, but been at the heart of local politics and the community for 97 years.

Hardy Lane Co-op, 1959

The shop is the Hardy Lane Co-op on the corner of Barlow Moor Road and Hardy Lane and is the Hardy Lane Co-op.

It was opened in 1929 to serve the new housing estates which were being built along and behind Barlow Moor Road.

What marks it out is that it has a meeting room and has the distinction of being one of the last Co-op stores to retain a community space which can be hired out. Once there used to be hundreds of such spaces above Co-op shops across the UK.

But sadly most have now gone.

And the Hardy Lane Co-op Rooms can boast a rich and diversified series of events which have taken place in its room.

They range from meetings of the Wood Craft Folk to pollical assemblies of the Labour and Co-operative Parties as well as acting as election rooms for the two parties, and a heap of social events from film nights to whist evenings.

That banner, 1937

A favourite story of mine is the regular meetings of the Chorlton and Manley Park Women’s Co-operative Guild which was founded in 1922, and commemorated with a banner in 1934.

I remember looking up at the banner during meetings and events throughout the 1970s into the 1980s and beyond which were enlivened by some of the original participants of the local Guild who did “tea duty” in the interval having contributed to discussions of the Co-op Party on a variety of topics.

And so, I will be returning to all these moments in the story of the Co-op rooms, but for those who can't wait I can recommend that wonderful blog written by Lawrence Beedle on all things Hardy Lane Coop.*

The Hardy Lane store, 2009

Leaving me just to announce the news that a Blue Plaque will be installed on the wall of the Hardy Lane Co-op Store later this year to commemorate its historic and continuing place in the community.

Watch this space.

Location; The Hardy Lane Co-op Store

Pictures; Barlow Moor Road, 1966, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass the banner of the Chorlton and Manley Park Women’s Co-operative  Guild 1937 and the Co-op Store in 2009, courtesy of Lawrence Beedle

*Hardy Lane Scrapbook, https://hardylane.blogspot.com/