South Yorkshire Times, March 26th, 1960
Kilnhurst Hard on the Heels of Original Pioneers
To commemorate the Jubilee Coming of Age of the Kilnhurst Cooperative Society in 1910, an interesting and very well written handbook was produced by the then secretary (Mr. T. Palfreyman), and in the endeavor to place on record a fitting Centenary Souvenir which will give a complete picture of the society’s progress so as to be of interest and value to present-day members and friends of the society, it will perhaps serve our purpose to take out salient features of that delightful account of the ” first fifty years” of the Society’s life, and let it form the foreground of their present effort to trace the society’s activities through 18 years. The first signal honour the society can claim with some pride was that Kilnhurst was “one of the first three” societies to be formed in South Yorkshire – and this, only a matter of 18 years after the inauguration of the first Co-operative Society by the Rochdale Pioneers! We hope to show that, from these humble beginnings, and despite many adversities, the Society has made consistent progress right up to the present day.
As far back as 1862, and on several occasions since that date, attempts have been made to establish the Society in Rawmarsh where membership has always been numerous but it was not until 1945 that a permanently successful venture in the way of a shop in that area was made. “Good resolutions” were instituted early by the society’s forebears, for in 1864, it was “Resolved to do all our trade, as far as is practicable with the North of England C.W.S. Limited.” – and from the fact that their trade with C.W.S. in 1959 was £220,000 it is obvious that the Society is still endeavoring to keep that good resolution.
In 1866 the society ventured into the Butchery trade but it is explained that through lack of experience, it did not prove successful. The society have, however, for many years past carried on a highly successful Butchery Department at Kilnhurst with a branch at Rawmarsh and a mobile shop serving the surrounding district.
New Look
Around 1880, there developed a serious slump in the society’s fortunes, due, it was stated to the efforts of a committee which “did not grasp the affairs of the society in a business-like way.” Thanks, however, to the good work of the stalwart Secretary, in the person of one John Dyson, aided by one or two Board members, a “new look” in the way of Committee, Check System, and management was introduced, and “all was (eventually) well”.”
Industrial disputes, strikes and the like through the years, have constituted the greatest drawbacks to the society’s welfare, but at the same time, it was in these same “hard times” that the “Co-op” proved to be the real help and standby of its impoverished members in those unfortunate periods.
To give some idea of the extent to which the general co-operative movement, and the Kilnhurst society in particular, was spreading so far back as January 1889, a letter is still in the files, from a Kilnhurst emigrant to Australia, asking for “an exact copy of the rules and principles of the co-operative system, as this is a country where such a boon as co-operation is unknown to the working class.”
Weathered the Storms
And so, in the second half of the Society’s “centenary” story – the period 1910-1960. In patriotic compliance with the many salvage drives that were instituted during and after the two World Wars, much of the material which would otherwise have provided useful records and comparison is, unfortunately not now available. Sufficient remains, however to show that through the many trials and tribulations, our society weathered the storms, and continued to serve its members as well as prevailing circumstances would allow.
Food rationing, depleted staffs, lack of transport and all sorts of similar draw-backs and difficulties, all combined to make the task of a thriving Co-operative Society arduous, but Kilnhurst “came through”, having performed “our national duty we hope, well and truly.”
The Society record with pride the names of two promising young grocery assistants, Cyril Windle and Harry Woffinden, who in the Second World War made the Supreme Sacrifice.
In an effort to comply with the national call to economise in the use of petrol, a system of depots in various districts was instituted – the idea being that supplies could be delivered to these depots, and alternately collected from there by the members during prescribed hours. The scheme was not highly successful and many members were lost thereby.
Another venture, instituted between the Wars but which did not, alas, survive the rigors of wartime trading, was a grocery travelling shop.
Alterations
Through the years, as may be well imagined, various alterations and modifications to the Central Premises, have been carried out, among the more recent being the re-siting of the General Office on the ground floor and the formation of a new Mantles Department, out of the old General Office Building. In order to rehouse the Furnishing Department, and provide additional shop-room for the Butchery Department, the old United Methodist Chapel building, more lately used as a billiard hall and clothing factory, was purchased and has provided the Society with an up-to-date and commodious Store.
In 1944, the Society’s first venture in the acquisition of branch premises was embarked upon. The general store at Meadow View belonging to Mr. E. R. Gilbey, was purchased, and, after various modifications carried out, from time to time, to the premises. The society now have a branch store which is geared to cater for all the needs of that district for some time to come.
Hard on the heels of the above acquisition, the opportunity to purchase the Grocery and Butchery Business of Mr. H. Hirst of Claypit Lane, Rawmarsh, presented itself and thus, a long-deferred dream of adequately serving our members at Rawmarsh became a reality.
It was soon found that the premises were inadequate, and a temporary Butcher’s Shop was built, to be followed, as soon as restrictions were lifted, by the building of the present Grocery Store – the original shop being turned into a Butchery Shop.
The erection of the new building involved considerable difficulty and expense as the site, though commodious in every other respect, had previously been a clay quarry with the result that, before being able to erect the building it was necessary to sink pylons to a depth of some 30 feet. The society have been completely repaid however for any trouble and expense incurred, as in the comparatively short period of its life, the branch weekly sales have increased from £20 to £2,000!
Homes
Private properties have been bult, from time to time at Spring Vale Road, Kilnhurst, Park Lane, Thrybergh, and Meadow View, many of which have served a useful purpose as the Society grew, as homes for managers and employees.
The tendency in later years for Co-operative Societies to act as merely private property owners has considerably declined and the Society, in general alignment with this trend offered for sale the cottage properties at Kilnhurst and Rawmarsh to sitting tenants at extremely low prices.