On December 21st, 1844, the first Co-operative Pioneers trading store opened its
door at No. 31 Toad Lane, Rochdale, when a group of sixty local men decided to
help the working class people of Rochdale to be able to buy items of food at
discounted prices. They actually began their venture, though, thirteen years
earlier in 1830 at No.15, just down the road from their main Co-operative
Pioneers store, which is now the Rochdale Pioneers Museum. From then on the
Co-operative Pioneers Movement slowly began to gather pace and other stores were
to eventually open in nearby towns, including Oldham, but Oldham itself had
already had its very own co-operative movement in 1795 when some local weavers
established a supply company there, and, there had been other attempts to set up
co-operative movements eleswhere, especially in the London area in the late
18th-century when some corn mills and a Co-op store were established, however
these were not particularly successsful.
Memories of Rochdale (1996) gives the following historical information
called
'Cradle of the Co-operative Movement' and says:
"Rochdale is famous for being the 'home' of the worldwide Co-operative
Movement, which started life at No 31 Toad Lane in the humble premises first
opened as a shop by the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society in December
1844.
"
The little store established by the Pioneers began by selling only a basic
stock of commodities such as butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and candles, a
reflection of the desperate conditions for most working people at the time.
Trade developed rapidly however, and within a few years the Pioneers Society
was able to open branch shops in other parts of the town - the first was in
Oldham Road - and to move into an imposing four storey 'central store' higher
up Toad Lane. Unfortunately this building was demolished to make way for a new
road system. But an even more imposing symbol of the Cooperative Movement's
success during the intervening years has arrived in Rochdale with the opening
in 1996 of a spectacular new headquarters at Sandbrook Park for the largest
independent consumer-owned society, CRS Ltd. This has brought hundreds of new
jobs to the town and provided a significant boost to the local economy.
"The Co-operative Movement that was born in Rochdale has spread throughout
the United Kingdom and today it is one of the country's biggest retail
organisations, providing eight million members with a vast range of shopping
facilities and services, extending from banking and insurance to travel and
funerals. The idea has flourished too as an international network of 750
million members in more than 100 countries, with the 'Rochdale Principles' -
the decisions and practices of the first Pioneers - still referred to as a
guide to setting up and running co-operative enterprises.
"The original Toad Lane premises meanwhile have been lovingly restored as
part of a conservation area. Now the Rochdale Pioneers Museum is a source of
interest and inspiration for co-operators everywhere attracting thousands of
visitors from the UK and abroad each year."
Memories of Rochdale (1996) adds to the above and says of the Museum in
Toad Lane:
"Visitors to the Rochdale Pioneers Museum are struck by the
basic simplicity of the original Co-operative store, where the goods initially
sold were few. Close inspection of the poster on the wall reveals the Pioneer
Principles, which included: open membership, democratic control and political
and religious neutrality."
Sources & References:
Memories Of Rochdale with Forward by Phil Holland (Publisher), True North Publishing, Halifax, December 1996.
Cole, John, Rochdale Revisited - A Town And Its People, George Kelsall, Littleborough, Lancashire, 1988.
https://www.visitrochdale.com/things-to-do/rochdale-pioneers-museum-p85681
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