Rochdale Local Studies Centre

Rochdale Local Studies Centre Discover the Local Studies Collection for Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton and Pennines. Please contact Local Studies at Touchstones Rochdale.

The strength of the Local Studies collection of the Rochdale's Arts and Heritage Service is due to the kind generosity of the people of the borough kindly donating their photographs and archives. We hope that these pages will help celebrate Rochdale Borough's unique history. Do you have photographs, maps, documents etc that you would like to donate so that future generations can marvel at the fasc

inating history of the Rochdale area? You can discover more by visiting the Link4Life website. New for 2017: Call in for FREE access to FindmyPast, as well as AncestryLibrary.

It's International Cat Day! To celebrate, here's a photo of one of our feline friends taking a stroll around the Town Ce...
08/08/2026

It's International Cat Day!
To celebrate, here's a photo of one of our feline friends taking a stroll around the Town Centre in the 1980s!

Found while looking for something else! A Gourmandizer in 1845! Made us chuckle, especially the bit where his wife stepp...
06/08/2026

Found while looking for something else! A Gourmandizer in 1845! Made us chuckle, especially the bit where his wife stepped in!

Where is it Wednesday?! Have a guess at where or what the street or building is, and if your feeling extra brainy have a...
05/08/2026

Where is it Wednesday?!

Have a guess at where or what the street or building is, and if your feeling extra brainy have a go at guessing the year the photo was taken!

To celebrate the beginning of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, we looked through some of Rochdale's most famous athletes, on...
25/07/2026

To celebrate the beginning of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, we looked through some of Rochdale's most famous athletes, one of whom being the famous Jock McAvoy. Born Joseph Bamford, he grew up in Rochdale and gave himself the ring name Jock McAvoy out of fear his mother would stop him from boxing in the brutality of the 1920s and 30s. He was known as the Rochdale Thunderbolt, fighting any man of any weight division, earning himself 132 recorded wins, infamously defeating Len Harvey in 1933 on the second time of asking, crowning himself Empire Middleweight Champion and reigning for an impressive 6 years.

We came across this letter today in a bundle of documents which when listed will be known at the Edwin Mellor Archive. I...
10/07/2026

We came across this letter today in a bundle of documents which when listed will be known at the Edwin Mellor Archive. It's a letter to Mr James Dearden Esq (Lord of the Manor of Rochdale) from a parent asking for some clothes for their son who has nothing 'deasant' to wear. Written in 1832 it's a heartfelt plea from a desperate parent! Any suggestions on the parent's first name greatly received 😊

It's can you help? Thursday! (Doesn't have the same ring...!)A customer remembers these shops on Yorkshire Street from c...
02/07/2026

It's can you help? Thursday! (Doesn't have the same ring...!)

A customer remembers these shops on Yorkshire Street from childhood, but not what they were (numbers 353 - 359).

Can anyone remember what they sold in around the 1970s?

Our trade directories stop in the 1960s!

Thanks as always folks!

Address

Norman Road
Rochdale
OL114HS

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 12:30pm
1pm - 4:30pm
Thursday 10am - 12:30pm
1pm - 4:30pm
Friday 10am - 12:30pm
1pm - 4:30pm
Saturday 10am - 12:30pm
1pm - 4:30pm

Telephone

01706924915

Website

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