hardy lane postcard

hardy lane postcard 1Originally uploaded by Carolyn Willitts

Flickr turned up a great selection of old Chorlton postcards plus some original pictures of old farms... A fantastic find for a Sunday evening. Though I've seen some of these before there are some new views. The postcard age of cheap and three plus postage deliviers a day was before 1914. It did record the everyday and ordinary street scenes as small companies produced views local to you.

The whole set of 21 is here. It's even worth reading the writing of the messages on the reverse side. Keeping well, weather fine...Top tip click the picture for the bigger view.

South Manchester Members Group

After the talk to the Chorlton History Group, April 23rd just gone, received an invite to speak to the South Manchester Co-operative Members Group. It's on Wednesday 10th June at Hardy Lane Co-op Rooms - where else? I know England are playing Andorra in a World Cup Qualifier but for once I'll forgo the football.

Looking forward to it as I've spoke at one of their meetings before on some other non-history subject. It's a small but appreciative group who are well informed on co-operative issues. They are also well informed about the Hardy Lane rooms so I might pick up some anecdotes about activities there from the last twenty odd years.

Farm Gate

Just off Hardy Lane on The Meadows is this old steel gate. It stands forlonely in an open green space with its 6 bars and a spot of rust. Is it a relic of Hardy Farm which stood behind that fence in the photograph? Why is it still here? You could think you were deep in the countryside but walk two minutes from here its back to suburbia.

Origins of M/c and Salford Co-op

"Manchester and Salford Society.—Few are aware that there is a Sunrise store in Manchester. The great Co-operative Society of the City and Salford situated in Downing Street is of this class. Mr. Charles Wright calls it the "Acorn" store, which —owing in no mean measure to his services as its secretary—is now an Oak store. The "Acorn" was sown at 169, Great Ancoats Street, in June, 1859. It began more hopefully than most stores. It had 111 members and a capital of £289. Its sales in the first week were £32. The rent of their shop was only £13, yet its receipts for the first complete year were £7,687."
The History of Co-operation by George Jacob Holyoake - taken from Chapter 12 published 1875 and revised 1906.

George Jacob Holyoake (1817–1906), atheist and freethinker, self-proclaimed 'agitator', champion of the working class, and co-operator, was born at Birmingham on 13 April 1817. There is an excellent website of Holyoake's writings.

He classifies Co-ops in the following ways :
"Co-operative Stores may be regarded as divisible into Dark Stores, Twilight Stores, and Sunrise Stores. The "Dark" Stores are those which give no share of profits to those they employ—give credit—which keeps up the habit of indebtedness in their members—and have no education fund in their rules. The "Twilight " stores are those which have some features or others of a "Sunrise" Store, but not all. "Sunrise" Stores are those which have the cardinal features of ready-money dealing, provision for intelligence, and who give the same dividend on the wages of all their employees as they give to the consumer who purchases at their counter, If "Sunrise" Stores increase it will be owing to the Women's Guilds, when they understand what true Co-operation means."

The website starts with the work of the Chartist, poet, author, and free thinker, Gerald Massey and has writings from other contemporaries besides G.J. Holyoake.

Funeral Directors

Next door to the Hardy Lane Co-op Rooms is a Funeral Directors shop - currently this is a firm called T.Broome though I'm told this is Co-operative Funeral Services trading under another name.

The picture is from the early 1950's when it was a branch of the Manchester & Salford Co-op Funeral department. Previously it is listed in street directories circa 1939 as a fruiterer.

The Equitable not the Industrial

The word Equitable is not used a lot in Co-operative titles but the Manchester & Salford Equitable Co-operative Society had it - probably taking it from the first of the modern consumer co-op societies the Equitable Pioneers. History books refer to the original shop and society in Toad Lane as the Rochdale Pioneers. But they called themselves the Equitable Pioneers in December 1844.

Back to Manchester...
"With the exception of one or two short-lived attempts to form other societies in the 1860s, their only rival was the Manchester & Salford Industrial Co-operative Society, which at one time had eight branches, but ran into difficulties in the later 1860s and went into liquidation in 1870"
- footnote page 13 from "Feeding the Victorian City -the food supply of Manchester 1770 - 1870" by Roger Scola (1992, Manchester).

Just started reading this book, or more like dipping into chapters, and it is very a comprehensive food history more like a massive Phd with all sources acknowledged. Now out of print but the local municipal library lends copies.

Previously I thought the Manchester & Salford Industrial was some short-lived one store society but now I need to know more.

Archive Work

The rainy days drove me to seek a visit to the Co-op Archives in Manchester. Best to make an appointment. Filling in a few gaps and it opens up new avenues of inquiry. Found some more information about the Barlow Moor Mixed Guild. In 1952 they celebrated their 21st anniversary with a party on March 15th of that year.

"The board of directors presented a beautiful birthday cake for the party, which in true Barlow Moor manner was appreciated. During the past three months there have been speakers, including an address by Mr. Jenkins, of the Co-operative Party, a film show, and a discussion with Royal Oak & Baguely Guild."
Manchester & Salford Co-operative Herald Pg 136, May 1952.

The discussion with Royal Oak & Baguely Mixed Guild took place in Wythenshawe and the topic was "The Future of the Co-operative Dividend"
Manchester & Salford Co-operative Herald Pg 107, April 1952.

It must have been successful because in 1953 they announced similar activities.."programme for the month will be a whist drive, a discussion with Royal Oak & Baguely, a C.W.S. film show, and a social evening."
Manchester & Salford Co-operative Herald Pg 106, April 1953.

The picture above is a 1930 advert in the M&S Herald. You are allowed to take photos without flash in the archives, and photocopying isn't allowed on old publications as it fades them...

The Seven of 1929

1929 is written in history books as the year of the Wall Street Crash. It was in late October. It was also the year when the Manchester & Salford Co-op opened a seven new stores. A new record for them. Here is a list of them, it includes Hardy Lane, and over the next few months I'll go and seek them out to see how they have fared over the last 80 years...

Ayres Road, Old Trafford - January 9th
Green End, Burnage - April 15th
Parrs Wood Road North, Burnage - June 15th (75th branch)
Warwick Road South, Firswood - June 22nd (77th branch)
Park Estate, West Timperley - September 21st (78th branch)
Hardy Lane, Chorlton - November 23rd (80th branch)
School Road, Sale - December 5th

Since found out the main Didsbury store on Wilmslow opened on Saturday 9th November - replacing the very small older store originally opened by the Didsbury & Barlow Moor Co-op Society (amalgamated with M&S Co-op 1901).

The numbering of the branches is taken from the story in the monthly M&S Co-op Herald and doesn't follow on correctly....mmmm.

The 1920's was a time of expansion for this co-op society. Year (new stores opened)
1920 (1), 1924 (4), 1925 (4), 1926 (4), 1927 (4), and 1928 (4). There were also some store closures which are harder to track.