Really Rough Ships

[alf corbyn]

have a look around your home town. co-op shops, petrol stations banks. they used to have lots of food,and other types of factories, especially around manchester and the north east. and are still a lot bigger than tescos

[robpage]

have a look around your home town. co-op shops, petrol stations banks. they used to have lots of food,and other types of factories, especially around manchester and the north east. and are still a lot bigger than tescos

Goliath Footwear was founded in 1880 by the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) under the name of the Heckmondwike Boot and Shoe Works. The factory was based in Heckmondwike in West Yorkshire and was the second Co-operative Wholesale Society shoe factory to be founded, after the Leicester factory on Duns Lane. The Heckmondwike Boot and Shoe Works was designed to manufacture hard wearing work boots. Initially, premises were rented on Beck Lane, but in 1884 Brunswick Mill was purchased and the factory moved. The works usually employed between 300 and 400 people and on average produced between 6,000 and 8,000 pairs of boots per week. Goliath famously made lightweight football boots for Sir Stanley Matthews, who played football for Blackpool, Stoke City and England. Matthews made several visits to the factory and put his name to a brand of boots. Goliath was a major supplier to British Industry, with clients such as British Aerospace, The Ministry of Defence, Rolls Royce, and the Coal Board.
In 2003 the Co-operative Wholesale Society sold Goliath Footwear. However, the company still continues to operate as one of the United Kingdom’s leading suppliers of safety and occupational footwear.

The dairy division was sold off to Dairy Farmers of Britain , and that went bust a few years ago

The Co-operative Wholesale Society began cabinet making in 1893. The Birmingham factories, which opened in the 1920s, were equipped with large, well-fitted workshops. They produced for the supply of regional furnishing needs. The Cabinet Factory, Hay Mills and the Bedstead Factory, Belmont Row were also used for the production of pianos. The CWS encouraged piano buying, with good pianos at moderate prices. The work was transferred to Belmont Row from the Cabinet Factory and then returned after the reorganisation of the factories in 1932.
T J Henson opened the Enfield Cabinet Factory on 27 March 1930. It was a large factory, fitted with the newest machinery for mass production. A number of the machines had been specifically made to CWS specifications. now all gone

Crumpsall Biscuit Works opened in Lower Crumpsall, Manchester, in around 1873. The factory created numerous products and had four departments: the biscuit factory; the cake factory; the sweets and toffee department; and the drugs and sundries section.
The works at Crumpsall boasted of being “the only 8 hour day biscuit works in England” and had numerous facilities for its employees including a cricket club; football club; tennis courts; a bowling green; a recreation ground; a dining room for over 600 people with discounted refreshments and free warming of packed dinners; a library; and board and card games.

In mid 1939 Treforest Aerated Water Factory became the fourth CWS aerated water factory to be set up. The other three were at Middleton, Nottingham and Brislington. It was based at Treforest Estate, Glamorganshire, South Wales and produced non-alcoholic refreshments. This factory closed down in the late 1980s

The Custard , Tinned milk , and cheese factories went to Dairy Farmers with teh rest of the Dairies


Two large food processing factories were established on salt marshes in the centre of Lowestoft in the 1890s and early 1900s by the food producer Maconochie Bros. By the early 1930s, the two factories had passed into the ownership of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and within a short time, thousands of co-operative food stores were being supplied with a wide range of quality "Waveney", "Unity" and "Wheatsheaf" brand products produced in Lowestoft. It is estimated that at least 14 million households purchased these well known food brands. In later years, Crosse & Blackwell, ASDA, Tesco, and Sainsbury products were produced at Lowestoft in addition to those for the Co-op.
A major landmark in Lowestoft, the factories employed at one time around 1000 people and provided a substantial income to the local economy. For many years considered one of the largest food production complexes in Europe, the factories were sold by the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1994 and shortly afterwards the canneries were closed by the new owner leaving only a modern ready meals unit and a sauce and pickle factory in production. These closed a few years later after which the factories were sold and demolished with a job creating business park being planned for the site. Today nothing remains of the large original factory buildings.


The factories at Pelaw wetre for pharmacuticles , drysaltery . Polishes and houshold goods , Shirts , suits , underwear , tailoring as well as a cabinet makers .

Tha bakeries are all long gone

The BAnks and funeral services remain and the supermarket sector bought Summerfields a few years ago

The factories that I saw having 20+ years service in the Co-operative suffered from underinvestment and a lack of forward thinking in the management structure . In the Dairy sector they were 20 years behind , but today are still the biggest Farmer in the country . There was a strange heirarchy , that had evolved , almost on feudal lines , the lay men in the boards were often nodding heads to the management , A lot of factories , a lot of men , all gone .

[Ron Kendall]

The Coop had an aerated water factory in Workington for a lot of years, which became the milk distribution centre, and is now the site of a Police Station. They are very big in the travel industry, having many shops, and a tie in with Thomas Cook. If you are a Coop member you get dividend [cash] twice a year, and other perks.

[robpage]

The travel group is merged and is 30% Co-op and 70% Thomas Cook owned . This is not directly part of the Thomas Cook Tours operating company as it is just the UK travel agency division of that group , which was a subsiduary of the group . It meant that two companies that had marginal profits , or in the case of Thomas Cook's travel agents a loss , saved millions of pounds in operating costs , closed 200 stores , but saved the majority of stores and jobs . The joint venture will be targeted to add £32,000,000 to the CWS profits this year

[Peter Trodden]

Did the crew on the Progress,after buying their Beer and Bacca on board, get Divvy.?
ttfn.Peter T.

[John Gill]

Reminds me of a Watts Watt boat i was on in the 50's- unlucky or what! Sailed on Friday 13th, hit the knuckle on the way out of the dock. Three failed to join, fridges packed up after two days, the cook went mad and threw himself over the wall. Got so bad the Old Man positioned the second mate on the wing of the bridge to shoot an albatross for good luck.

[Tony Wilding]

HI JOHN, do you remember which Watts Watts ship that was, ?

[Captain Kong]

I have found my photo of the CWS PROGRESS, HER IT IS

[Trader]

I remember her from my early days in Manchester.

Alec.

[Bob Petty]

Great stories about the Co-op thank you all.
One more thing, who remembers Mom's Co-op number, I remember as a kid standing in the front room window counting in the coal bags in as the Co-op coal man carried them down the ally.
Like all Mom's of the time could not pull a swifty on her.