Page 18 - Jigsaw March 2019

Glance at the past.......................................................................................
The Co-operative – Eric Franklin tells of their history in the town
The first mention of the Co-operative movement in this area was on 25th January 1868 in the Northampton Mercury. By then stores had been established in Titchmarsh, Raunds and Irthlingborough. By 1896 there was a store in Thrapston, situated on the corner of Market Road and Grove Road which is shown in this picture below, taken some 30 years later with the white awning.
In 1900 they advertised for a girl assistant aged about 16 whilst a year later “members of the Thrapston Industrial Co-operative Stores had their first annual outing when over 120 members and friends journeyed in brakes and other vehicles to Lilford Hall. The arrangements were expertly carried out by the committee. The company was shown around the aviaries and grounds... tea was provided at five o’clock. Afterwards cricket football and dancing were indulged in,
when the whole company returned at 9pm having thoroughly enjoyed the day’s outing” (Evening Telegraph July 10th 1901).
By 1915, when the 35th half-yearly general meeting was held in the Co-
Operative Hall, Grove Road, sales had increased over the year and stood at nearly £8200. There were 453 members.
In 1926, a few days before Christmas, a horse and trap was stolen from Thrapston Workhouse and taken to the Co-op during the night. The safe was stolen and found empty in a field at Cranford a day later. It was estimated to have contained about £25. The tools used during the theft were found in a garden in Market Road; a broken chisel and three screwdrivers. It is unknown whether the miscreants were caught.
By the 1990’s the store was in the High Street occupying premises now used by the carpet shop. The picture on the opposite page was taken in July 1994 and it has a “For Sale” sign on the wall. The reason for the move was to relocate into their current premises during the same month. The site was shown being constructed on the former Keystone Coaches in my article that came out in December 2018.
The store is shown on the right in July 1994, just as it opened.
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