HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's
Festival of Britain Mural




Sunday 4 March 2012

Hyde Co-operative Premises

As previously stated in other blogs on this site, Hyde's Co-operative movement was established in 1862. A few of the shops and premises have been shown before. The full extent of the co-op shops and premises in the Hyde area is shown in the following photo's. Most of the addresses are known, but there area few I'm not quite sure on the precise location, listed below, again any help would be appreciated. Co-operative Laundry Newton Wood Grocery Newton Cottages Central Drapery & tailoring Gee Cross Grocery & Cottage Newton Branch Grocery & Butchering Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

10 comments:

Werneth Low said...

Thank you for this interesting post. The Co-op in Hyde was one of the mainstays of community life. There was a sense of belonging and loyalty - it wasn't just any shop, it was YOUR shop because you had a stake in its business. There won't be many folk in Hyde today of my generation who won't be able to reel off their check number - 5164 was ours. You had it imprinted on your brain from a very early age by your mother and to forget to give it when making a purchase was a capital offence! I remember divi day when my mother and hundreds of others would queue up at the Greenfield Street store for the payout. Today I guess people would say it wasn't worth having, but in the old days it went a good way towards strengthening a family's weekly budget. Another way of doing that was the "Club Card.". I suppose, looking back, this was a respectable way of getting tick. You took out a card for a given amount and repaid it at the rate of a shilling in the pound over 20 weeks. It enabled you to buy clothes, shoes, furniture, carpets etc from the "Emporium" on Greenfield Street.

One of the photos shown is of the Co-op at Gee Cross. This shop played a large part in my childhood years as we lived next door but one to it. The building, on Stockport Road, still stands and is now the Tesco Express. The cottage alongside is long gone and the shop has been extended sideways into that space. As the Co-op it had two departments with a separate door to each - butchery was on the left and grocery on the right. My father, Harold Ollerenshaw, used to supply sawdust for the butcher's floor from his joinery shop behind our house, and during the war he had an "understanding" with the grocery manager whereby he was able to get "under the counter goods" which were not freely available in the time of rationing.

All this reminiscing reminds me of loose biscuits, sugar in blue bags, cheese, butter, bacon and so many other things weighed out to your requirements. Oh, and Dolly Blue!

CeeCee said...

I used to work at the Hyde Lane branch in the mid 70s and it was still known as that although it had been Market Street for quite a while. Some of the houses on Queen St still came in to pay the rent to the Co-op.

Tom said...

Fantastic post Paul... I'm reminded of an old saying..
"If she fell off Co-op roof... she'd land in divi".

Jean said...

Newton Wood is the area on Victoria Road where the War Memorial is. The shop is still there.

Anonymous said...

Barry in Oz here, I'm interested in the term 'Hyde Lane' which has been mentioned a few times. I was born in Hyde in 1946 and have never heard the eterm, It was always Market street. I left Hyde in 1961 so when did the name change ?

Hyde Lad said...

HydeLane/Market St
In the early days before around 1890, Market St started at Greenfield St and went down to Newton Street, numbering downwards. Hyde Lane started at Corporation St and went up to Stockport Rd, numbering upwards.
Around 1890 the first change occurred when Market St numbering was reversed, starting at Newton St and then carrying on further up to Vernon St. Hyde Lane was then restarted at Vernon St up to Stockport Rd.
The second change came about around 1912, when Market St was further extended to it's present position and Hyde Lane was no more.

Tom said...

Thank's for that explanation Paul.. I was bought up with it being called Hyde Lane by my parents and grandparents and it just stuck... it's like I'd still say that the corner of Union Street/Market Street would be opposite the Cheshire Cheese pub just further up from the P.S.A. If I was asked where Nelson Street is I'd say 'Up Hyde Lane to the Crown and turn left.

Lizzy said...

My dad still always calls it Hyde Lane

Anonymous said...

Seeing the photo of the Warehouse & Slaughter House, took me back to my days at 'Greenie' when we'd all 'Bail-Out' at dinner time and walk up Railway St for a smoke.

The building is directly facing Hyde Fire Station, and is still in use and surprisingly little changed considering it's age.
It also still bears the writing, bright and clear, across the brickwork.

Robert Marshall said...

My great-great grandfather was Robert Rose who was Secretary of Hyde Cooperative Society during its founding years and was in position for their jubilee in 1912.

Whilst researching my family tree I came across an online publication at https://archive.org/details/jubileehistoryof00jone that others may be interested in?

If anyone has any other information about my family pre 1953 I'd be interested to hear from you. My father was Robert Marshall who was born in 1925 and lived in either Frances Street or Rhodes Street before the war.

Thank you