Preserving the heritage of the UK co-operative movement. Come visit us at Rochdale Pioneers Museum & The National Co-operative Archive!
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Welcome to the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement, where, on 21 December 1844 the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society opened their store selling pure food at fair prices and honest weights and measures. The business revolution that started here now involves a billion co-operators as members of 1.4 million co-operative societies across the world. Check out our website which covers the
museum and co-op archive at thttps://www.co-operativeheritage.coop
The museum is in a 18th Century building on an authentic cobbled street in the heart of the Toad Lane Conservation Area. The original shop has been beautifully restored for the enjoyment of visitors thanks to a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Enter through the green door below the ‘store’ sign and step back in time to 1844. You will be welcomed by the Museum Guides and will see a replica of the store as it would have looked to the Victorian customers, with scales and produce in sacks. You can even dress in Victorian clothes. Wandering through to the ground floor exhibition space you will see the Pioneers’ original minute book from 1844. You will find out about early co-operators like Robert Owen, discover what life was like during in the ‘hungry’ 1840's and find out about Rochdale Pioneers’ principles and legacy. Using the stair or lift in the modern access tower extension, move to the first floor exhibition space you will see a range of co-operative artefacts from delivery bikes to banners. Displays in this area are subject to change. The top floor of the Museum houses the Learning Loft which is used for meeting hire, lectures, workshops and education. When the room is not being used for these purposes, it also houses a screen and seats where visitors can relax and watch vintage co-operative films from our archive collection.
Footballer, Sir Stanley Matthews famously played for Stoke City and Blackpool. He advertised a range of football boots that he helped design for the CWS!
We have one of his boots in our collection, it is being put back in storage today. The boot is extremely light and made of soft leather, making the wearer aerodynamic as possible!
Volunteer with us!
Don't have time to commit regularly? We are looking for 'one off' event hosts who can help us with bigger events or trying something different. We have some events planned for Rochdale and Manchester as part of our 180 year anniversary and can offer some support with travel costs.
Find out more at https://ow.ly/SrMC50RuVIC
Photo credit Pexels - Liza Summer
Looking for something to do in Rochdale this Sunday 5th May? - call in to our neighbours Rochdale Town Hall to get involved with a free celebration of curiosity to link science with art and wildlife suitable for all audiences. Click the link below to find out more
https://www.rochdalescience.co.uk/events/rochdale-science-extravaganza-2024/
The Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) advertised their services through a variety of ephemera. Here, we have an example of a 1930’s CWS jigsaw puzzle given to members that endorsed the reliability of the services they offered!
“A Trainload of Good Things From CWS Factories – For Co-operators”.
These are our May opening hours for the Rochdale Pioneers Museum and the National Co-operative Archive. We look forward to seeing you!
🌎 Happy Earth Day! 🌿 On Saturday Rochdale schoolchildren's Pioneer Poetry Project showed off their creative approach to climate emergency through Green Grants and for 🌍💚🌳 Photography CR Ciara Leeming
Mary Macarthur was an activist, suffragist and trade unionist. After her death, holiday homes were set up in her name where women in need could go for rest and respite. Items from our are on display at the Rochdale Pioneers Museum.
Image ID: A black and white photograph of a group of women sitting in a large living room in a holiday home.
Today for @ARAScot it’s . This tiny seal was made by co-operator George Jacob Holyoake about 1834 and would have been used when sealing his letters with wax.
We hold over 4,000 letters and papers written by and to Holyoake among our collections.
See our website for more information on how to request items and book a space for research.
📸 A small, silver key fob on top of an envelope with has handwritten writing. The writing reads a seal made by GJ Holyoake while a worker at the Eagle Foundry Birmingham about 1834.
Are you joining us for our Public Museum Talk this afternoon? Then make sure to drop by at this fantastic event we are helping out with in the town centre as well! 🌱
Join us TOMORROW at Number One Riverside for the Earth Day event! 🌍
📅Saturday 20 April, 12-3pm
📍Number One Riverside
Come along to this family friendly, FREE event filled with amazing art installations, art activities and lively discussions about how we can reduce waste and save our planet 🙌
Find out more here: https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/whats-on/events/reduce-waste-rochdale-earth-day-event/
Touchstones Rochdale Community Arts North West Co-Operative Heritage Trust
For , we found this colourful cover of a Co-operative Travel Service brochure from 1959. By the 1950s, the Co-op Travel Service had become one of the largest travel agencies in Britain, organising air travel for co-op societies and members.
Image ID: A travel brochure cover reading "Holidays 1959", with illustrations related to travelling such as the sun, mountains, castles and people in regional dress from countries like Spain and Germany.
Whilst most of our collections are paper-based, we do have some objects. These two were recently found in the Co-op Group collection and though tempting when dealing with the pile of digital material behind them, they will not be tasted!
Image ID: A bottle of wine and a bottle of co-op whisky sat on a table, with some piles of papers behind them.
In our periodicals collections, we hold copies of Home magazine. They contain a mix of stories, household hints and reports of co-op movement events, but also ads like this colourful lingerie advert from 1963.
Perfect for today's as part of , isn't it?
Image ID: A colourful advertisement, with an illustration of four women in lingerie dresses and a promotion of Belmont Lingerie Fortnight in May 1963.
We have lots of in our packaging collections to choose from for today's
Many are cute and colourful! This little bird here was printed on CWS bird seed packaging, sold when keeping small birds as pets was widely popular.
Image ID: A drawing of a small, red and brown bird sitting on the branch of a tree. The CWS logo and name of the product, Pioneer Brand Bird Seed, are written on top.
: Today it's for . What could be bigger than the co-op movement?
Leading co-operator George Jacob Holyoake was born on this day in 1817. We have letters and papers written by and to him between 1830 and 1906 in the archives. See our website for more details.
Image ID: A black and white portrait photograph of George Holyoake.
Today's prompt from Archives & Records Association Scotland - ARA Scotland is . Here are some photos from our archive of the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) Tower. Completed in 1962, the tower stands 387 ft in height and is near the archive building in Manchester. Sometimes in the reading room you can hear the peregrine falcons which nest there.
📸-operative Union Photographic Collection
For today's theme is . We have 2 MA Library & Archive students working on collections at . They are researching, rehousing and cataloguing in order to allow better access to users of the 'Co-op Women's Guild' and 'Worker Co-op' collections.
Image ID: Image 1 features volunteer Ben holding an open archival box filled with material, he is looking excited to get stuck into organising the material. Image 2 features volunteer Catherine sitting at a large table in the reading room beside a display of Women's Guild archives including a colourful poster and books on book pillows
For @ARAScot today it’s
There are many examples of packaging in the archives including this label for beans and sausages. We hope you have eaten already!
You can see more examples of packing on our Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operativeheritagetrust/albums/72157715991138351/ You can also make an appointment to view items by appointment at the archive: https://www.co-operativeheritage.coop/visit-the-archive
We are taking part in this month! Today's theme is .
The co-operative made films to promote co-operative ideas and values as well as advertisements for particular societies or products. They were made for education, to show the manufacture and selling of products and events, such as the story of the Rochdale Pioneers.
Some of the films can be seen at the Pioneers museum, so do drop in if you are interested. We also have a special, film-related event in the pipeline for you later this year, so keep your eyes peeled for that as well!
📸 London Co-operative Society Education Film Unit c 1940
[image description: Two men standing in front of a van which reads ‘London Co-operative Society Education Film Unit’. A film camera on a tripod is next to them.]
@ARAScot
We are hosting a Warm Welcome Space this Wednesday 10th April to celebrate Eid! All are welcome to visit the museum for hot & cold drinks, snacks, crafty activities and a friendly welcome.
Why not pop down between 11am -3.30pm for a brew?
This Friday’s featured co-op is Incredible Farm, located just around the corner from us near Todmorden!
It is a unique project offering inspiring activities to engage and teach all ages about creating a sustainable food future. They not only produce & sell food with minimal impact on the environment, using permaculture methods, but also provide opportunities for the local community to come together and learn about growing food, agriculture and sustainable living.
Their produce includes fruit, veg and eggs, which you can not only buy directly, but also through Valley Organics Workers' Co-op, who we featured previously. They are also active planting trees in the area as well as hosting school, youth and Home Educated children groups. If you live locally, why not drop by for a visit or get involved?
[image descriptions: various photos of incredible farm, including the surrounding landscape, harvested tomatoes and grapes, geese and cows]
Don't forget to drop in for our Pioneer Egg-Hunt at the museum tomorrow from 10.30am-3.30pm!
We will have lots of activities for families and free hot and cold refreshments. We can't wait to see lots of you then! 🐣
Here are our opening hours in April for the Rochdale Pioneers Museum and National Co-operative Archive - no hidden April fools, we promise! We look forward to seeing you 😃
We thought we'd close out with two beautiful illustrations from the cover of Woman's Outlook magazine in the 1920s. Woman's Outlook was published between 1919 and 1967 and featured articles on topics ranging from household cleaning tips to reports on women's rights around the globe.
We have been celebrating women & co-operation at the National Co-operative Archive this month, our archivist and volunteers put together a lovely display of photos, pins and other printed materials selected from our collection. We also held a drop-in event for co-op staff on to show off some of our Women's Guild collection
Massive congrats to our winners! Our badge competition has finished and the winning designs will be available in the museum shop very soon- well done Asha, Reilly and Shanzhai Lyric!
Thanks so much to everyone who entered a design
Thanks to everyone who participated in our badge design competition - we've had so many fantastic submissions! Tomorrow afternoon, you can join us online to see the winning designs and chat to us whilst we make some badges together.
We will be streaming live from the museum via our Instagram and Facebook from 4.30pm.
Our badge design competition is nearly over- don't miss your chance to have your own artwork featured on a badge in the Pioneers Museum shop- details of how to enter here: ow.ly/yZ6h50QKhib
Are you keen to hear more about the story of the Pioneers and the development of the co-op movement?
Then come along to our public museum talks! We will be offering these regularly going forward, with the first one taking place on Saturday April 20th at 1pm. The talk will last approximately 45 mins and you are free to look around the museum on your own before or afterwards: https://www.facebook.com/events/328128483569957
Places are limited and need to be booked in advance: https://www.co-operativeheritage.coop/Event/museum-talk The cost is £3 per person, but we know that money can be tight, so if you want to attend, but don't feel able to pay the £3, please book one of our free tickets instead.
31 Toad Lane
Rochdale
OL120NU
| Wednesday | 10:30am - 4pm |
| Thursday | 10:30am - 4pm |
| Friday | 10:30am - 4pm |
| Saturday | 10:30am - 4pm |
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Here’s our collections manager Clare, talking about Mary MacArthur, her achievements and some of the objects we currently have on display at the Pioneers Museum. Mary’s legacy lives on in the work of charities such as the Mary MacArthur Holiday Trust in Cardiff. Which other collection objects would you like to hear more about? #coop180 #Coops180 #MaryMacarthur #WomensMonth #WomensHistory #WomenSupportingWomen #CoopHeritage #PioneersMuseum #CoopMuseum
To celebrate #RealBreadWeek, we visited the fantastic @leedsbreadcoop in Leeds: Our featured co-op of the week! Leeds Bread Co-op is an independent social enterprise and worker co-op, founded in 2012 and specialising in slowly fermented, hand-crafted bread. Their aims are focussed around the 3 elements of their name: Being a socially conscious community bakery for the benefit of Leeds residents; producing real bread in a socially and environmentally responsible way; and providing an ethical and enjoyable livelihood and workplace to their employees. All their products are made using simple, high-quality ingredients and don’t contain any processing aids or additives. We can also testify they taste absolutely delicious - we’ll definitely be coming back to re-stock their sourdough bread soon! For further information head over to their website. If you’re keen to get baking yourself, you can even book onto a range of baking classes with them - upcoming dates are: 20.04. Sourdough Class 22.06. Pastry Class 27.07. Italian Classics #Coops #Coops180 #LeedsBreadCoop #CoopMovement #ModernCoops #ModernPioneers #CoopHeritage #Leeds #RealBread #LeedsBread #CoopBakery #WorkerCooperative
Have you left Valentines to the last minute? Why not try this tasty recipe, as demonstrated by the Baum Rabbit- a delicious Macaroni Trifle 😍😍😍 Comment below if you’d like to see the museum staff do a taste test 🫣👇🫢 #coops180 #coop180 #ValentinesMeal #Trifle #macaroni #pioneers180 #BaumRabbit
Our final Friday feature of the month is the member-owned non-profit enterprise Scotland The Bread: An ambitious collaborative project to establish a Scottish flour and bread supply that is healthy, equitable, locally controlled and sustainable. Scotland The Bread sells organic wheat and rye grain and flour, milled in small batches on a UK-unique Zentrofan mill. Grown on Balcaskie Estate in Fife, their traditional heritage grains have been meticulously researched and chosen for their suitability for the Scottish growing conditions and climate, their biodiversity, considerably higher levels of vitamins and minerals than conventional grains, and their exceptional flavour. On February 24th, you can visit them at the second annual Scottish Festival of Real Bread hosted at Bowhouse: Come along for a day packed with workshops, talks, hands-on activity and the results of the 2024 Scottish Bread Championship (entries are still open until Feb 12th!). Even if you are not based in the area, you can still buy/stock their products or donate to their Flour To The People Solidarity fund to support others in doing so. #Coops #CoopMovement #ModernCoops #PioneersMuseum #ModernPioneers #CoopHeritage #Scotland #ScotlandTheBread #CoopBaking #ScottishCoopHeritage #ScottishCoops #Pioneers180 #Coop180 Scottish Co-operative Discovery Centre
We were closed to the public yesterday due to a private booking- but today we’re ready to rock and roll! Come visit today- 10.30am - 4pm #GoodMorning #MorningRoutine #DITL #MuseumLife #MuseumGram #Pioneers180 #CoopHeritage #Rochdale #RocknRoll #CoopMuseum
To celebrate #FruitcakeTossDay we’ve invited three local people to try their hand at this unusual #sport - don’t fear though, we used a toy fruitcake to avoid waste! #DressUp #museumstagram #fruitcake #Pioneers180 #CoopHeritage #Victoriana
Today, our collections manager Clare gives you all the insights into Scottish Bluebell Margerine. The Wigtownshire SCWS creamery producing it closed in 1989, but you can still see their 1970s tubs on display at the Pioneers Museum today! #ShowAndTell #Coop #CoopHeritage #CoopHistory #Scotland #ScotlandHistory #Wigtownshire #WigtownshireHistory #Bladnoch #BladnochHistory #SCWS #ScottishCoopHistory #BluebellMargerine #Margerine #CoopArchive
Happy #ShortbreadDay! This month, we're all about cooperation in Scotland. To celebrate today's special occasion, we've venturned into our archive: We've found a 1922 article by Women's Outlook on the oatcake department of Aberdeen Northern Co-operative Society. Of course, a simple shortbread recipe is included at the end! #Shortbread #Scotland #Aberdeen #AberdeenHistory #CoopHistory #SCWS #ScottishCoopHistory #CoopArchive
Another clip from the amazing @middletonpopstars performance of Gracie Field’s song ‘The Cwop Shop’ 😁😁😁
@middletonpopstars singing to us all about the joys of the c’wop shop! Originally a hit for Gracie Fields, the song was written by R P Weston in 1921 #CwopShop #CoopShop #Coop #GracieFields #ItsOurBirthday
It’s our birthday! At 8pm on December 21st 1844 the first ever ‘cwop shop’ opened the doors at 31 Toad Lane, Rochdale, Uk 179 years later, there are around 3 million Co-ops worldwide, approx 1.2 billion people worldwide are members and coops employ around 10% of the world’s population! Massive gratitude to the talented Middleton Popstars for helping us recreate the Gracie Fields classic song!
The best things in life are three! Especially on our end of Rochdale, there are some spooky residents buzzing around, so you always have to be prepared for a sudden moment of fear when you're out and about. If our mug can withstand an encounter with the Baum rabbit, it can withstand anything. If you'd like to have one yourself, simply enter our competition by commenting your favourite festive bakery item to our main competition post. #travelmugchallenge #travelmug #competition #giveaway #rochdalepioneersmuseum #coopheritage
Challenge #1 had an undisputed winner. But of course, one challenge is not enough! In our daily lives, we do not only take our teas and coffees down the stairs, sometimes we need to run across the street - and that's when you find out what your mug is really made of! Who will be the winner of challenge #2? #travelmugchallenge
We’re giving away one of our travel mugs to celebrate #InternationalTeaDay! Are you not entirely sure whether this is the right mug for you though? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered: It’s TRAVEL MUG COMPETITION TIME! We’d say the winner of challenge #1 is undisputed 🏆
Currently on display at the Pioneers Museum we have this gorgeous 1950’s jar that once contained mincemeat. The pie filling was produced at the Middleton Jam Works which opened in 1896 and created jams and preserves until 1968. Come see it on display over the holiday period. #coop #mincemeat #mincepie #middleton #coopheritage
We have a new addition to the museum team! Welcome… BAUM RABBIT! The Baum Rabbit is an old folklore tale of a ghost rabbit that haunts Toad Lane! Be sure to look for him during the upcoming Halloween season! 🐇
As #coopfortnight nears to an end, we would love to shine a light on donations. Please consider supporting the Cooperative Heritage Trust and the cooperative legacy by making a corporate donation or leaving a gift in your will. More information can be found here https://ow.ly/eQov50P073S Thank you to Totally Locally for designing our ad for free.
Education isn’t just something co-ops do - it’s #PartOfOurPrinciples This Co-op Fortnight @cooperativecollegeuk are asking everyone across the co-op movement to celebrate the difference that education makes and join them as a member. They’re also giving away an online course worth over £40 which focuses on the values and principles of the movement, perfect if you’d like to find out more about what makes co-ops truly unique. Read more > https://bit.ly/3gwvBGP
We cant be open, but we made some short films about some of the items in our collection and usually on display in our museum. How much tea do you think you may have drunk during the past few months?
