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

Lawrence Beedle ... my friend

 I have been thinking of my friend Lawrence who died recently, and as you do I have been reflecting on over 40 years of friendship.

Lawrence

We shared an interest in history and particularly the Labour Party and the Co-op movement which for Lawrence translated into a deep knowledge which was a product of years of research.

Co-op Spring fashions, 1939

I always remember the time he compiled a complete collection of local election results for Chorlton stretching back to 1904 which also included all the MPs elected for our bit of south Manchester charting the complicated journey of boundary changes. 

Nor was it just the obscure.  

His knowledge and understanding of Co-op history was so detailed he could talk with authority on the founding of Co-operation in Manchester, the advance of the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-op Society not to be confused with Marks and Spencer’s which carried the same initials on their shop fronts.  

And Lawrence could offer up the dates for the opening of the stores and exactly which Co-op store was best for buying furniture. 

Lawrence recounting when the Co-op went Self service, undated

Equally Lawrence was his blog on just one Co-op store … the one on Hardy Lane.   *

The blog ranged over all sorts of history from food to retail stamps, old 78 gramophone records and the story of Sanatogen that “Tonic and Restorative Wine”.

As he once said “before Lucozade there was Sanatogen”.

Now that blog is still live and is well worth a visit.

And all of this was done with joy as if the discovery and retelling was the fun.

And the fun also came in testing the past like the time he announced he was going to recreate some now forgotten war time dishes using the same rationed ingredients.

Orange curd, 1940

He started with the National Loaf from 1941 and accompanied it with Woolton Pie which consisted of diced cooked potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and turnips to which were added rolled oats chopped spring onions and vegetable stock which formed the gravy.  

Both the loaf and the pie were met with derision and even hostility during the war and so Lawrence just wanted to taste them himself and see what the fuss was all about.

I brought to the table a bowl of orange curd made from a 1940 recipe.  

We sat back and reflected that as vegetarians all three dishes were pretty dammed good, and the project was the perfect example of reenacting history.

And along the way we had touched a bit of the past even if it was a tad silly.

That silliness could also be the academic challenge, like the day he found a card of fuse wire, and challenged me to turn it into a history story, commenting,  “We’ve all got things at the back of a drawer. This must be 40 or 50 years old. Fuse wire in three different amperages. When did you last use fuse wire?

Winfield was the brand name for own label goods from Woolworths”. 

The Lawrence fuse wire challege

Of course there was so much more to him, from his days with Rabid Records, his fascination with the possibilities of the early internet, his contribution to the Unicorn Food Co-op, along with his impish sense of humour, his rabbit hole interests and much more.

So there you have it, my friend Lawrence.

Pictures; Lawrence, courtesy of Kathy his wife, and other images drawn from his blog, Hardy Lane Scrapbook

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

The co-op tower

Now  I am a great fan of all things co-operative.

After all the Co-op socities which sprang up in the 19th century offered quality food and other products at reasonable prices and for those who joined, provided a share of the profits at the end of the year.

Our family shopped co-op, I worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, and I have often written about them.*

So here is another story, this one from Salford, which Andy Robertson encountered earllier in the month.  

It is one of the 54 branches of The Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society which had been founded in 1860 and by 1911 had shops across Salford.

Its central store which included a grocers, and drapers had opened in 1887 was extended in 1903 and became a listed building in 1990.

The society also boasted a warehouse, bakery, diary, ice making and refrigerating plant, slaughterhouses and a coal office.

And since reposting the story several people have asked where this one was.

To my embarrassment I never asked Andy, where he took the pictures, but here is a list of all of the local co-ops from the 1911 directory which should allow someone to pinpoint our tower.

From the 1911 directory for Manchester & Salford

And spark a hunt for the rest.

Location; Lower Broughton

Picture; the co-op, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Celebrating some more of Salford’s finest buildings ........ the Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/07/celebrating-some-more-of-salfords.html

Collecting Co-op Societies ..... no. 7....... The Failsworth Industrial Society

Now I have just added another co-op society to my Co-op Hall of Fame.

Failsworth Industrial Society Limited, 2022

It is The Failsworth Industrial Society which was formed in 1859, with a co-operative grocery shop opening in Dob Lane on 28th March 1859. 

“Its first members were William Fletcher, James Taylor, Jock Whitehead, William Barlow, Charles Cordow, James Robinson, Robert Barlow, Thomas Hayes, Tom Taylor, Jonathan Taylor, Josiah Etchells, Ben Aldred, James Winterbotton and James Smith. Thomas Hayes played a prominent part in the establishment of the Failsworth Industrial Society and became the first Secretary of the Society. 

He drew up the rules for the Society based on those of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society”*

The Graver Lane store, 2022

And in the fullness of time I think I will go looking for these fourteen co-op pioneers.  

For now I shall just reflect that “it set up a laundry business in 1908, which would join with 10 other local societies in 1913 and this federal enterprise would grow to be the United Co-operative Laundries. 

The Society was also a partner in the formation of the Manchester and District Funeral Association and in 1932 joined forces with four other retail societies and the CWS in establishing the United Co-operative Dairies”.*

Our shop was opened in the Society's Golden Jubilee in 1909 when it had nearly 10,000 members and operated 43 shops. 

And it easy to forget that co-op societies were not just trading organizations, but had a wide range of cultural activities, including its own political party. 

The Failsworth Society had opened a library in 1873 and in 1909 it's valuable collection of 20,000 books was passed to the local Council as a nucleus to the first public library.

All of which has come from a most interesting history of the society produced by Jisc Archives Hub, which offers up the full history of the society, along with links to where its archives can be found and a select bibliography.

The Graver Lane store, 1960

Leaving me just to thank Andy Robertson who took these two pictures of the Graver Lane branch as was in Newton Heath.

Location; Failsworth

Pictures; former Graver Lane Co-op store, Newton Heath, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and in 1960, T Brooks, m35568, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

* The Failsworth Industrial Society,  Jisc Archives Hub https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/e6180c09-f6ab-3211-9c51-d688f328f48f

A “divi number” …..and a lost shop …….. in Droylsden ……. with a bit of our Co-op history

Now, like many of my generation, I grew up with the Co-op.

It was a movement which offered good quality food, clothing, and a heap of other services at affordable prices and gave its members a “dividend”. 

So, you might well be kitted out in your first baby clothes from one of their stores, later hold your wedding reception in one of its halls, and finally be buried by its funeral department, which plays on that phrase from “cradle to the grave”.

In the early years there were shedloads of small local co-operative societies, catering for a clutch of villages, a small town, or parts of our big cities.

Ours was the Royal Arsenal Co-operative, which operated on the south side of the Thames.

And while many people can still remember their “divi” number, which had to be offered up with any purchase, I long ago forgot ours.  

That said we still have a few odd bits which were bought from the RACS store on Well Hall Road, and I loved the way that on a Saturday in the 1970s I could cash a cheque from my Co-op Bank account at the Arcadia store in Ashton-Under-Lyne.

All of which is an introduction to these two pictures of No. 6 Branch of the Droylsden Industrial Cooperative Society, Moorside Street, Droylsden, taken by Andy Robertson on a day out last week.

If I have this right the Droylsden Co-op was started in 1872, although I have seen an early date of 1861, and it  ran till 1963 when it merged with the Ashton Society.

This will explain why its records were “Placed on permanent loan by Mr. G.R. Bennett, Vice President of the Ashton-under-Lyne and District Co-operative Society Limited, Registered Office, 'Arcadia', Stamford Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7NH. (October 1984).”*

On one level there is nothing exceptional about No 6, other that it has survived, and still carries a reminder of its origins which are there picked out in brick.

And here I cannot claim this short reference to the society is the first.  Others like Stephen Marland and Wikipedia have gone before me.**

Location; Droylsden

Pictures; No. 6 Branch of the Droylsden Industrial Cooperative Society, Moorside Street, Droylsden, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* Droylsden Industrial Co-operative Society Minutes and Reports. The records are held by Tameside Local Studies and Archives,  DD264, National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/4fb568b3-f861-4359-9755-b61acbe5e585

** Ravensbury Street – Droylsden Cooperative Society Store, MOOCH, https://modernmooch.com/2020/05/07/ravensbury-street-droylsden-cooperative-store/ & Droylsden Industrial Co-operative Society, Wikipedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Droylsden_Industrial_Co-operative_Society

In celebration of the Co-op …… Beswick Co-operative Society ….. and its store in Longsight

Now, the Beswick Co-operative Society knew how to build shops.

This is their Longsight store, which was opened in 1912, with later alterations.  

It is according to Historic England “Red brick with liberal dressings of green and buff glazed terracotta, red tiled roof with geometrical patterned band and cockscomb ridge tiles. Rectangular plan. 

Edwardian Baroque style. 

Two storeys and attic, 11 bays; projected ground floor with dark green Ionic pilasters between the shops and a central recessed porch with dark green surround, light green Ionic columns and segmental open pediment”.*

There is more, but it gets quite technical and anyway Andy’s pictures say it all.

So I shall say that the society was registered “on 4 June 1892. Its central premises were at 30 Aston New Road, Manchester. Its first president was Arthur Cuss and its manager was a John Dobson. Its first branch was opened on 25 January 1894 at the corner of Mill Street and Carruthers Street in Ancoats, Manchester.

By 1905 its central premises were listed as Rowsley Street, Manchester and it had 5,700 members. It had branches in Manchester, Ancoats, Ardwick, Bradford, Openshaw and a bakery, warehouse and stables Beswick. It traded in grocery, drapery, hardware, shoes and boots, butchering, furnishing, tailoring, coal, flour, baking and dressmaking.

By 1951 the society had 36,047 members and had its central premises at Grey Mare Lane, Manchester. 

It had added branches in Burnage, Clayton, Denton, Didsbury, Gorton, Levenshulme, Longsight, Rusholme and Withington. 

It had expanded trade into millinery, jewellery, ironmongery and tobacco. It also produced dairy goods, offered shoe repairing services and had business in meat preparation.

The society became a part of the Co-operative Retail Services in 1959.

Sources: The Co-operative Union directories, and the published history by AE Worswick, "History of the Beswick Co-operative Society Limited from 1892-1907.

Many of the records of the society, can be viewed by previous arrangement, Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Contact the Archivist at: National Co-operative Archive, Co-operative College, Holyoake House, Hanover Street, Manchester, M60 0AS,archive@co-op.ac.uk www.archive.coop”**

And that pretty much is that.

Other than to say in an age when supermarkets are pretty much just steel and glass boxes which could be anything from a warehouse to a modern railway station, the Longsight store is distinctive and is a celebration of the principle of co-operation which did much to improve the lives of working people in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Location; Longsight

Pictures; the Beswick Co-operative Society, Longsight, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* NORTH ROAD, Longsight 698-1/5/733 (East side), Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1271454

**Beswick Co-operative Society Jisc Archive Hub, https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/f2e8292a-178b-3996-b98b-07fd82464939