What memories would you liked to of shared??

[Margaret Pilkington]

And what about your co-op number....vital for the Divi 2/6 in the pound....beats today's loyalty cards.
I remember running all the way along Nuttall Street reciting the number all the way10168......got to the co-op and couldn't remember what I had been sent for.....but I didn't forget the divi number!

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

And what about your co-op number....vital for the Divi 2/6 in the pound....beats today's loyalty cards.
I remember running all the way along Nuttall Street reciting the number all the way10168......got to the co-op and couldn't remember what I had been sent for.....but I didn't forget the divi number!

Am I right in remembering that there were little pink slips of paper that one had to stick on a sheet? I remember the Co-Op at the corner of Sparth Road and Lower Barnes St., across from the Forts. My grandad used to wrap shopping money in a piece of paper and pin it in the inside of my jacket so that I wouldn't lose it. One time the money was a five pound note ... one of the old ones ... I was informed, in no uncertain terms, that if I lost, it my death would be long and painful

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes Eric, after each purchase you got a little coloured slip......they were coloured different for each quarter of the year - each divi season....because the divi was paid quarterly, then it went to half yearly.
Our divi slips were put on a bill hook which lived on a nail at the back of the pantry door.
When divi payout was coming up, my mother(financial brain of the family) would take down the bill hook and carefully take off all the stubs and would work out how much had been spent over the quarter....so that she knew to the penny how much divi she had coming.
Invariably, the money was spent before it ever landed(in her head, if nowhere else).
Though sometimes there was enough for a treat.

[JCB]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

And what about your co-op number....

I can still remember my mum's number....6409 .

On the topic of co-ops , they had their distinctive smell , as did other shops . Not unpleasant smells , but enough to inform you of where you were if you had been taken in blind-folded .

Woolworths on Blackburn Rd had its own smell , and whenever you went into Woolworths in another town it was still the same .

Veevers on Peel St had its own odour .

The cloggers all had the smell of leather . There was a clogger in an old shack up Fern Gore . I think he was called John Roberts . Black clothes , black hands and black face . Not much more than a grunt when you went for your shoes to be repaired , but he did a good job and took pride in his workmanship . Totally different was Mr Eastwood , the shoe-repairer on the corner of Fountain St and Willows Lane . The shop had the same smell of leather , but he had a handle-bar moustache and was always smartly dressed and well-spoken .

I think my favourite shop , which had the smell of lamp oil , was the iron-mongers on the corner of Perth St and Fountain St . It was like going into Aladdin's Cave with all the ironmongery he had on display .

Then there were Woods' and Riley's tobacconists . When my dad took me into Riley's tobacconist's on Blackburn Rd I was fascinated by that very long and tall counter . It was like it was saying that the stuff in here is not for little 'uns , so you need to grow a bit bigger before you can buy 'owt in 'ere .

Not to forget the chippies . The aroma of paradise .

[Margaret Pilkington]

Bob Wilkinsons on Nuttall street....that was the iron mongers that we went to.....it smelled of Lamp oil and moth balls....unless he had just had a delivery of coal bricks, then it smelled of coal dust.
Blowers, at the bottom of Church Street smelled of sawdust and coffee...they would grind a quarter of coffee beans for their customers.....I never heard anyone ask for more than a quarter of coffee.

[westendlass]

I remember the little corner shop in Stanhill Village (next to the pub) was like stepping back in time in the seventies. None of your self service there. It was run by Jim and Doreen and was also their home, as you could tell when Doreen retired in to the back in the afternoon to make tea. There was always the smell of home cooking,it always smelled of cabbage or sprouts to me and they knew most of their customers by name. You had to ask for what you wanted and Jim or Doreen would reach to the shelves behind them and put it on the counter. I always spent my pocket money there,usually on a bottle of bitter lemon and a Granny Smiths apple. Everthing seemed so innocent then.

[Rowlf]

My mum's coop number was 1963 and I remember thinking that some day the date would be that. Well that certainly came and went !!!!!!!

[Aussie Irene]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

And what about your co-op number....vital for the Divi 2/6 in the pound....beats today's loyalty cards.
I remember running all the way along Nuttall Street reciting the number all the way10168......got to the co-op and couldn't remember what I had been sent for.....but I didn't forget the divi number!

Talking of divi Margaret, my husband tells the story, that when he lived in Park Rd the co-op was in Tremellen St, the next street, but he had to go with his truck to the co-op which was in Union Rd Oswaldtwistle near the Palladium for the weekly order, because the divi was about sixpence more. One day he forgot the divi book and when he got home his mother made him go all the way back with the book to get it filled in. Those were the days.

[Mnt Girl]

I just read through this entire thread. My goodness I can't believe how it took me back. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for reminding me of all the things that were buried somewhere in the back of my brain. Absolutely wonderful. I also went to Peel Park school and the names of the teachers came back right away. I think I had a special place for Mr. Gleave. He was so nice to me. Wasn't there another woman teacher who was rather scary. Seems to me that her name was Crabtree or something like that or maybe we just called her Crab. The days of Mable Horne are forever etched in my mind. What an absolutely terrible person she was.

[Accyexplorer]

"I remember when" I use to be able to go to the shops with a couple of shillings and I'd come back with pockets full of sweets,a newspaper and some spuds for tea....


CCTV put a stop to that

[developmentjunction]

My nan worked in the co-op when I was a little girl. She lived in Countess Street and we lived in Park Road. There was a stool by the counter and a lovely wooden floor.