150 Museum visitors on Heritage Open Days
The Rochdale Pioneers Museum welcomed more than 150 visitors through its doors during last weekend’s Heritage Open Days, both from the local area and as far afield as Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wales and even Sydney!
A number of taster sessions were held at the Toad Lane Museum, widely regarded as the birthplace of the modern-day co-operative movement, which is currently undergoing major refurbishment as part of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
On the Thursday, a tour of Rochdale Cemetery showed visitors the newly-restored graves of 15 of the Rochdale Pioneers, exploring their lives and influence on the development of the co-operative movement. On the Friday, archivists from the National Co-operative Archive in Manchester were on hand to show visitors to the Museum original documents and photographs documenting the history of the co-operative movement
. On Saturday, a variety of bee-themed family activities showed the links between bees and co-operation, and on Sunday visitors could sign up for a guided tour of the Museum itself.
The Museum will reopen fully later this year, and initial visitor feedback has been very positive, with the “good knowledge of the curators” singled out for special praise.
Chris Hall from Wrexham, called the Museum ‘fantastic’, saying: “I can’t wait to revisit when it’s complete!”
Mr and Mrs Booth from Ashton-under-Lyne, agreed, describing the Museum as “very interesting and informative”. They said: “The staff were wonderful and helpful. We will return!”
Pete and Pam Hubbard from Burton-on-Trent added: “It was excellent to visit the site of the first Co-op. The guides were supurb and knowledgable.”
See the latest pictures of the Museum’s refurbishment:
Published On: September 13, 2012
Written By: Natalie
Filed Under: Our Heritage
Co-operative Learning