Sharing Stirchley's Co-op Stories

Written by Richard Bickle, OurCoop Vice-President

Each year the Birmingham Co-op History Group, one of Our Co-op's member groups, takes part in Birmingham Heritage Week.

This year we were focussing on the story of the Ten Acres & Stirchley Co-operative Society (often known by the abreviation "TASCOS").  From humble beginnings with 20 hopunding members trading out of a rented cottage in 1875, the society grew to a peak of more than 60,000 members and 400+ ttrading outlets in the 1950s and 60s before becoming part of the the Birmingham Co-op in 1971.

Many local people have fond memories of the iconic department store cuilding on Hazelwell Street where they got their school uniforms, toys at Christmas time and had their hair cut in the basement, and the caring work of the funeral department, which continues to this day, has touched almost every famnily in the area.  Our exhibition boards coering these topics and more were warmly received as part of the history fair in Stirchley Baths.

Inspired by what our friends on Our Co-op's Northern Membership & Community Council had done to celebrate the 150th anniversdary of the Ripley Co-operative Society a few years ago, history group members Linda & Duncan Chew had created a co-op walking tour of the Stirchley that was lead by Richard Bickle - appropriately wearing an old TASCOS Bakery Department dustcoat!

Begining on the site of the cottage where the society began and taking in the first and second central premises buildings, butchery, fish, bakery, dentistry and funeral departments, the walk also paused at the new building that it is hoped will become the home of the Stirchley Co-op Development - a mixed use development of trading space for local workers' co-ops together with affordable co-operative housing.

Tribute was paid to the meory of Mary Cottrell, the first female Director of TASCOS, one of the first women on the City Council and a pioneering woman on the board of the Co-op Wholesale Society where she served for 37 years retiring at the age of 89!!

The walks then condluded at the tap room of Attic Brewery which is located in the old vehicle workshop, part of a complex of buisdlings that once housed the bakery, laundry, works and trasnport departments.

The Co-op Hsitory Group is open to all members of Our Co-op and the group meets on the first Tuesday of each month at The Warehouse, the Birmingham Friends of the Earth Building at 54-57 Allison Street in Digbeth, B5 5TH.