Rochdale – Although I lived for seven years not far away in Manchester, and spent a few months teaching at a school only six miles away, I had never visited Rochdale before.
On 6th May 2017 I was there for an anniversary event and in the afternoon we were offered a guided tour of the city, which took us around the town centre and into the foyer of the splendid town hall. Before my visit I hadn’t realised there was a River Roch. It was presumably power from this and other local rivers that made the town an important textile area before its growth in the age of steam-powered mills.
Rochdale
We also visited the town’s main claim to fame, and one which brings tourists from around the world, although I suspect few actually stay in Rochdale.
It was here that the Co-Operative movement began with the Rochdale Pioneers setting up their store in Toad Lane.
On the guided tour we also visited the local museum where I picked up a leaflet on a town trail written the previous year. Of course we visited some of the places on this on our guided tour, including the magnificent town hall foyer, but there were others too.
Later in the afternoon I had some more free time, and went out with the leaflet to make a tour of the parts of the town we hadn’t visited. I didn’t actually go to Rochdale’s ‘Seven Sisters’, rather different from those I was famiiar with on the Sussex Coast, but there were views of them from various places around the town. As you can see from the photographs, the weather was dull, and later a little damp.
The Grade I listed Rochdale Town Hall has recently been restored and there are tours available. Designed by William Crossland it opened in 1871 to symbolise the town’s rich industrial standing in the textile trade. The tower was added in 1883 by Alfred Waterhouse, also responsible for Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum, to replace the earlier tower damaged in a fire.
I ended my walk around the town with a pint in one of the more depressing Wetherspoons I have ever visited, a poor choice, before rushing to catch the bus back to where I was staying the night.
I don’t think Rochdale will ever become a major tourist attraction, but it’s worth a visit.
More pictures on My London Diary at Rochdale.
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Tags: Co-Operative movement, peter Marshall, River Roch, Rochdale Pioneers, Rochdale Town Hall, Rochdale. Greater Mancester, Seven Sisters, Toad Lane, town trail