Page 263 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

Placing a Jam Factory.
The range of production extended also. Dunston and Irlam
were busy ; a cabinet factory at Broughton was followed by one for
tailoring; creameries were established in Ireland; the Littleboro'
Flannel Mill was acquired, corset roalung entered upon, and the
Tobacco Factory begun. Of these works more will be said in other
chapters. Permission was given to enter mto the paper and the
saddlery trades, the resolution becoming effective in regard to
saddlery in 1896. Cattle dealing was resolved upon, and the manu-
facture of coloured cotton goods was considered, although it was found
that in this case the step was not warranted by the trade. Amidst
these beginnings came a new and separate factory issuing from the
original works at Crumpsall. Jam boilmg at this centre had become
of such importance by 1891 as to need special accommodation.
Permission was sought and obtained to buy land adjacent to the
works at Crumpsall, but the negotiations fell through. Eventually
the Committee fixed upon another site, near to Park Station and
the Oldham Road out of Manchester. Here they proposed to lease
six acres for 999 years at a yearly chief rent of £302. 10s. Poor
people ask nothing about jam except the price; others are open
to aesthetic appeals. A jar of preserves from some place with an
idyllic name, in a fruit-growing country, might be uiferior to jam
from Oldham, but it would admit of a more attractive labelling.
And although the general body of delegates to C.W.S. meetings
are not usually inchned to weigh such considerations, there were a
few who objected to Park. As one might suspect, a touch of irony
is in the name. One delegate went so far as to say that the surround-
ings were "the vilest possible," consisting of chemical works, bone
factories, Corporation tips, and a cemetery. This stigma indignantly
was rejected by the co-operators from the district ; and the recom-
mendation of the Committee, having substantial advantages behind
it, was carried without a division. But, again, no agreement was
reached upon the conditions of the lease, and eventually the site at
Park was abandoned. The Committee looked for another, adjacent
to railway and canal. Amongst possible purchases they considered
one at Romiley, in Cheshire. In 1893, however, they asked power
to obtain six acres of freehold land near Middleton Junction,
between Manchester and Rochdale, and assent was given imme-
diately. Nine acres eventually were bought for £3,820.
Works on the site were erected ready for business in June, 1896,
and some three thousand tons of preserves Avere made in the first
twelve months. The manufacture of pickles and sauces was also
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