Page 268 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

The Story of the C.W.S.
3^ to 4 per cent. By Mr. Redfearn, of Heckmond%vike, a warning
was raised against reckoning upon such a return with a depreciation
fixed at 2h per cent on land and 5 per cent on buildmgs, and
Mr. ShiUito readity admitted the need of lower rates. And in 1897
an alteration of rules was made, by which agricultural land and
buildings were excepted from regular depreciation. The greenhouses
and fruit farm buildings, however, are now reckoned as for trade
and not, in this special sense, " agricultural."
Upon acquiring the land the Wliolesale Society lost no time in
commencing fruit growing. Fifteen acres of land m the first year,
and afterwards up to 60 acres, were directly' cultivated—under Mr.
Nowell—strawberries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries
naturally being the first produce, with tree-fruits foUo^^'ing. Since
these early days the farm of the C.W.S. has gro\ni to over 200 acres,
although only one-quarter of this ground is under fruit. Other
tangible signs of C.W.S. occupation quickly became visible.
Immense glasshouses (their collective length is now a mile and a
half) were erected, chiefly for tomatoes and cucumbers; nowadays
their roofs can be seen either from the crest of the approach from
Shrewsbury, or from the bluff of Grmshall far off, gleaming like a
lake in the sunshine. A water tower testified to the excellent
supply underlying the Bunter sandstones of the Roden plain;
electric light cables appeared, slung along this quiet country road
four miles from a railway station, and a village institute lifted its
red bricks at the farm entrance. Certam half-timbered thatched
cottages made way for artistically-less-desirable but much-more-
solidly-useful five-room dwellings, possessing apartments on the
ground floor measurmg 16ft. 4in. by 12ft. 6in., and 12ft. 6in. by
13ft. 6m. With land attached the cottages were let at 2s. 6d. weekly.
The Roden Estate Ues six miles from Shrewsbm-y and four from
Crudgmgton Station; and while the picturesque county town
became the depot for passengers to and from Roden, the prettj' and
secluded wayside halt of Crudgington upon its agricultural branch
line found a new interest in life when the fruit season came, and
with it the C.W.S. lurry daily. This was a horse wagon at first, but
the Manchester and IVIiddleton supplies are now conveyed to the
railroad by steam. Changes less immediately obvious comprised
an improved sanitation, improved wages for labourers, and the
introduction of a regular Saturday half-holiday.
A still greater innovation was the Roden Convalescent Home.
The Roden Hall was a small country house dating from about 1860.
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